Beast Tamer Xiaoming

Hearing the voice, Xia You turned to look at him.

"Your challenge?"

"That's right." The man straightened his clothes and smiled confidently. "My name is Xiaoming, the powerful Pokémon Trainer known as the 'Beast Tamer'! Since I began training, I've never been defeated. Well? Do you dare battle me?"

Beast Tamer Xiaoming?

After glancing at the Sandshrew beside his feet, Xia You wore a look of recognition.

"I don't mind." As he spoke, Xia You looked around and couldn't help asking, "But where are we going to battle? There are streets all around here, but no battlefields."

Thanks to Pokémon battles becoming organized under the League, popular, and widespread, simple battlefields were a common sight in city parks, schools, along riverbanks, and inside shopping malls, much like the outdoor basketball courts lining the streets in his previous life.

Unfortunately, the area Xia You was currently in was some distance from any public battlefield.

"Not here, of course." Xiaoming pointed toward Vermilion City. "I built a Personal Gym out in the wilderness a little way ahead. There's a battlefield there. Follow me."

With that, he headed off without giving Xia You a chance to object.

Xia You shook his head at the Pokémon beside him, then followed.

Walking one behind the other, they left Cerulean City. After another ten-odd minutes, they spotted a simple camp made of fencing and tents a short distance ahead.

Outside the camp stood a huge sign with large lettering: Unofficial Pokémon League Gym. Current winning streak: 92.

Between Xiaoming's confident expression and the wording on the sign, it was easy to tell that he was an extremely self-assured Pokémon Trainer.

He was also very eager to draw attention.

Still, with his face, somewhat stocky build, and thick, upturned eyebrows, the longer Xia You looked at him, the more he seemed a little goofy.

Seeing Xia You staring at the sign, Xiaoming said proudly, "My goal is a hundred consecutive wins. Once I reach it, I'll travel around to train, challenge the various Gyms, and collect Badges."

"That sounds pretty impressive." Xia You shrugged and offered a compliment, though his expression showed little admiration.

They entered the camp and arrived at the so-called Personal Gym.

Through the tent's open entrance flap, Xia You immediately spotted several Pokémon training on their own.

Butterfree and Beedrill flew through the air, colliding as though practicing close combat, while three Rattata on the ground wore training devices and seemed to be working on their endurance.

"Well? My Gym's pretty nice, right?" Xiaoming stepped into the Pokémon Trainer's command area and said to Xia You, "Now, once I beat you, I'll have ninety-three consecutive wins and be one step closer to my goal!"

"That really would be worth celebrating." Xia You walked to the opposite side and said seriously, "I can tell you're a formidable opponent, but I haven't lost once since I started traveling either!"

Just as he'd said, hadn't he been winning all the way since he received Ralts?

They both had winning streaks. Why should either fear the other?

Beneath their feet lay a battlefield of packed earth. Though unremarkable, this was the most common kind of outdoor battlefield in this world.

"Is that so? Then one of our records is bound to be broken today!" Xiaoming spread his hands as though there was nothing he could do about Xia You. "All right, back to business. The rules for this battle are simple. We each use one Pokémon, and whoever remains standing at the end wins!"

Xia You nodded. "All right, understood."

Taking a whip from behind his back, Xiaoming flicked it forward and shouted, "Sandshrew, show them what we can do!"

At his words, the Sandshrew beside him slowly ran onto the battlefield.

Apart from standing on two legs, this Sandshrew looked much like a pangolin from Earth. Overall, though, its body was rounder, and its hard, dry, ocher skin had a bricklike pattern that made it look like a brick wall.

Xia You took out his Pokédex and pointed it at Sandshrew.

The Pokédex said, "Beep. Sandshrew, the Mouse Pokémon. Ground-type. It dislikes water and digs deep burrows in dry places to live in. When danger approaches, it curls into a ball to protect itself."

In terms of type matchups, both his Grass-type Bulbasaur and Water-type Squirtle had an advantage over the Ground-type Sandshrew. Although Xia You could no longer remember the precise details of the story, he remembered that this Sandshrew had defeated Ash and the Team Rocket Trio before, so he didn't dare let his guard down. After thinking carefully for a moment, he waved his hand and sent out his ace Pokémon-Kirlia.

Looking at the maidenlike Kirlia, Xiaoming said in surprise, "That's a pretty unusual Pokémon you've got, but it doesn't matter. Whoever you send out, the result will be the same. Let's go, Sandshrew! Use Rollout!"

Sandshrew sprinted forward on all fours. Once it had built up enough speed, it curled its body into a complete sphere and rolled toward Kirlia at tremendous speed.

"Kirlia, use Double Team!"

Dozens of illusory copies instantly sprang from Kirlia's body. Sandshrew was moving too fast to stop, and only after rolling along its original path did it look back and realize that what it had passed through was merely an illusion.

"Kirlia, use Confusion!"

Kirlia raised a hand, and a glow suddenly enveloped Sandshrew. At that very instant, a whip cracked, and Sandshrew curled into a ball with incredible speed!

Confusion lifted Sandshrew high into the air before slamming it down. Yet when the dust settled, it uncurled, shook its head, and climbed back to its feet, clearly having taken little damage.

"Not bad at all," Xia You couldn't help praising him. "Using Defense Curl in an instant to defend against an attack-I have to say, you've trained this Sandshrew remarkably well."

Xiaoming curled his lip. "Hmph, what does a little pain like that matter?! My Sandshrew has undergone rigorous training. It's even overcome its fear of water!"

"Oh?" Xia You raised his eyebrows in surprise. "A Ground-type Pokémon overcoming its weakness to Water-type attacks? That really is impressive!"

In fact, their brief exchange had already given Xia You some clues.

Not only was this Sandshrew exceptionally strong, but its communication with Xiaoming was also remarkably quick and concise.

Often, Xiaoming only needed to flick his whip without saying a word. From the sound alone, Sandshrew could grasp his intentions and change its attacks, defeating opponents with unexpected moves.

Those two strengths had carried them through their previous battles without a hitch, earning them more than ninety consecutive victories.

Now, however, they had run into Xia You and Kirlia, a duo that could be called their equal.

Xia You and Kirlia were naturally in perfect sync as well. The red horns on Kirlia's head allowed it to sense Xia You's emotions quickly, and as a Psychic-type Pokémon, it could even read some of the thoughts in his mind to a certain extent.