"Kirlia, use Magical Leaf!"
Magical Leaf radiating a green glow formed in Kirlia's hands, continuously flying toward Sandshrew.
Seeing this, Xiaoming flicked the whip in his hand, making a crisp snap sound. Hearing the whip, Sandshrew moved its claws and burrowed into the ground at an extremely fast speed, dodging the attack.
Losing its target, Kirlia stood in place, cautiously watching the situation beneath its feet.
Waiting a moment, a digging hole suddenly appeared beside it, and without warning, Sandshrew burst out from the hole, charging straight at Kirlia.
Fortunately, Kirlia was carefully on guard. The instant the ground broke open, it used Teleport to dodge the attack.
"Did you think the attack was over?" Xiaoming flicked his whip again, shouting loudly, "Sandshrew, use our ultimate move! Fissure!"
Just as the previous attack missed, Sandshrew leaped high into the air, its body emitting a fierce earthy-yellow glow. Head facing the ground, it raised its right claw, spun its body, and plunged rapidly toward the earth!
The next second, accompanied by a loud cracking sound, with Sandshrew's claw as the center, the battlefield suddenly split open and shattered into countless pieces!
These cracks resembled abysses, spreading and cracking across the entire field along with terrifying tremors.
Fissure, one of the Ground-type physical ultimate moves. If one accidentally fell into the cracks it triggered, the compression caused by the cracks could deal full, near-fatal damage to any Pokémon!
Xia You shouted, "Kirlia! Hurry and dodge!"
Kirlia used Teleport a dozen times in a row, disappearing, reappearing, disappearing again, and reappearing again, constantly looking for a foothold until more than half of its stamina was consumed, before finally managing to safely move away from the epicenter and hide in a secure corner.
"What!?"
This outcome was truly far beyond Xiaoming's expectations.
Although the accuracy of Fissure was on the lower side, keep in mind that aside from flying Pokémon, he had used such a large-scale area attack many times prior to this, yet he had never seen any Pokémon dodge this ultimate move.
Over there, seeing Fissure stop and Kirlia safe and sound, Xia You couldn't help letting out a silent sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he had the foresight not to send out Bulbasaur and Squirtle to battle; otherwise, given their movement speed, they definitely would have directly lost their combat ability in the face of this Fissure move.
After expending such a massive amount of energy, Sandshrew was also caught in the aftermath, falling into a brief state of sluggishness. Seeing this, Xia You decisively ordered, "Kirlia, use Magical Leaf attack!"
Kirlia raised both hands, and before Sandshrew could react, Magical Leaf had swept toward it like a hurricane.
Grass beats Ground, super-effective!
Sandshrew's body wobbled again and again, but ultimately failed to hold on, rolled its eyes, and collapsed to the ground.
"Sandshrew!!"
Xiaoming hurriedly ran over and scooped Sandshrew's body into his arms. Even now, he still couldn't believe that he had actually lost!?
He had clearly achieved a ninety-two-match winning streak, and with just eight more wins, he could leave this place and challenge a gym!
Damn it...
Seeing that he had won the victory, Xia You clapped and said, "An amazing match. This Sandshrew of yours is really strong-the toughest opponent I've encountered on my journey so far!"
Putting Sandshrew into a Poké Ball, Xiaoming stood in silence, and when he rose to his feet again, the confidence on his face had long since vanished.
"I lost! Being able to defeat my Sandshrew was truly beyond my expectations." Xiaoming let out a heavy sigh, but quickly cheered up again. "Even so, I won't give up my dream. Starting today, I'll begin again from zero and protect this gym once more until I reach a one-hundred-win streak. After that, I'll find you and challenge you again!"
"I look forward to that day." Xia You extended his right hand and said sincerely, "It's precisely because I have a strong opponent like you that I am driven to keep improving and moving forward!"
Parting ways with Xiaoming, Xia You originally intended to go to Pewter City to continue challenging the Pewter Gym, but a phone call from Professor Cerise summoned him back to Vermilion City.
Inside the Cerise Laboratory, Professor Cerise said apologetically, "I'm very sorry to suddenly call you back here from such a far place. It's because there is a very important matter that urgently requires your help."
"Doctor, please don't be formal. Just tell me whatever it is," Xia You said nonchalantly. "Besides, I was just near Vermilion City earlier, and the distance isn't very far. There really is no need to apologize."
Chrysa then fetched a small box from the side and handed it to Xia You.
Xia You asked quizzically, "What is this?"
Professor Cerise explained, "Inside here is the prototype of a precision instrument. Because its development is not yet complete and it belongs to a scientific secret, it cannot be sent via courier. And due to work reasons, we cannot leave the laboratory, so we can only find someone we trust to deliver it to Professor Oak's Laboratory for us and hand it over to Professor Oak."
Xia You nodded solemnly.
"I understand. As a Cerise Special Research Investigator, I will definitely deliver it safe and sound into Professor Oak's hands!"
Leaving Vermilion City, Xia You traveled in a hurry, bypassing the famous Viridian Forest, and by nightfall, he had already appeared in Viridian City.
Since it was getting late, he planned to rest for the night at the Pokémon Center here and set off for Pallet Town the next day.
Before entering the Pokémon Center, however, he first went to a nearby shop to stock up on some canned food and a few Poké Balls for unexpected needs.
While checking out, he received another call from Chloe.
"Hello, Chloe, is something the matter?"
On the other end of the line, Chloe said, "Didn't you send a message this morning saying you were returning to Vermilion City? I wanted to see Kirlia's new look-it must have gotten even prettier, right?"
"Ah, I'm really sorry." Xia You looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. "But after I arrived at the laboratory this morning, I left again immediately. Right now, I'm already in Viridian City."
"Viridian City?" Chloe asked in surprise, "In such a short time, how did you run all the way there?"
"Because of some business, I have to make a trip to Professor Oak's laboratory. Alright, I still have things to do, and it's getting very late. You should go to sleep early."
Hanging up the phone, Xia You was just about to walk out of the shop door when he heard a store clerk beside him suddenly call out to him.
"Young man, please wait a moment."
Xia You looked at him in confusion: "Is something the matter?"
The clerk took a parcel out from behind the counter.
"Sorry, I accidentally overheard your conversation just now. May I ask if you are heading to Professor Oak's Laboratory in Pallet Town?"
Seeing Xia You nod, the clerk said happily, "Ah, that's simply wonderful! This parcel was ordered by Professor Oak a few days ago, but because we've been far too busy, we never had time to send it over. Could you do us a favor and bring it along on your way?"
Before you continue