"Larvesta! Damn it..."
Baojian recovered from his dizziness, only to find that Larvesta had already lost consciousness.
He knew full well how vast the gap between himself and a Champion was, but getting one-shot still left him both furious and powerless.
"Again!"
Baojian sprang to his feet. After recalling Larvesta, he released his second Pokémon.
"Gabite!"
The bipedal land shark let out a hoarse roar.
Baimu raised an eyebrow and looked at the surrounding students. "Can anyone tell me what Pokémon that is? What type is it?"
"I know! Gabite!"
"Dragon! A Dragon- and Ground-type Pokémon!"
The students eagerly answered. Most of them wore the uniforms of the new Team Plasma, styled somewhat like medieval clerical garb.
Naturally, the original Team Plasma emblem was gone from their chests, replaced by a different pattern.
Baimu turned back toward Baojian and saw the boy's face filled with resentment as he kept muttering about being underestimated again.
Gabite, meanwhile, had vanished without a trace. Only a small hole remained in the ground.
Scream Tail warily perked up its ears, listening for movement underground as its round body slowly rotated.
He smiled. "Fly up, Scream Tail."
"Yii?"
Scream Tail looked blankly at its Trainer, then seemed to realize something. It began gulping in air, its body swelling to the size of a small hot-air balloon in the blink of an eye.
Its whole body gradually lifted off the ground, floating above the battlefield.
Baimu said to the gasping students around him, "See that? A qualified Trainer must not only use the right moves, but also make full use of a Pokémon's own abilities."
"..."
Baojian stared wide-eyed. Seeing Scream Tail turn belly-up with its back toward the ground, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
He shouted, "Don't come out, Gabite!"
But it was already