After Qingyu defeated him so quickly and effortlessly, Okamoto began questioning his life.
He was an Ace Trainer who had already conquered half of the Eight Gyms, a strong contender for next year's Champion title!
And now some Gym Leader he had never heard of had completely crushed him?
Was that right?
What was more, in this battle that had ended in no time, Scyther had made no mistakes and had reacted quickly enough to follow all his commands.
Then was I the problem?
But I shouldn't have made any mistakes with my commands either. Surely the gap between me and this Gym Leader Qingyu wasn't so vast that I couldn't even perceive it?
That made no sense...
Just as Okamoto began suspecting that he was actually his team's weak link, Qingyu walked up to him.
"You used type advantages to seize the initiative. That's pretty good for a rookie Trainer."
"But it looks like you already have some battle experience, right?"
"Your commands were decisive, and your assessments of the situation were mostly correct. Those aren't things a rookie could manage."
"If we hold you to a higher standard, though, you have plenty of room for improvement."
Okamoto raised his head and met Qingyu's gentle smile.
He hadn't expected this Gym Leader to find even tiny details to praise when he had barely managed to fight back.
Still, when someone led with praise before criticism like this, the part after the turn was usually the real point.
Okamoto said nothing, quietly waiting for Qingyu to continue.
He was curious, too. Just how many flaws had this Gym Leader spotted in him?
"Besides choosing counters before a match, processing information during battle also reflects a Trainer's skill. That's something you still need to improve."
Qingyu continued.
After observing the entire