Xia You recalled Dragonair into his Poké Ball and took the escalator back up from beneath the sea into the Gym.
He went to the changing room, took off his swimming trunks, and tossed the diving goggles and underwater breathing apparatus aside. After a quick rinse and drying himself off, he changed back into his regular clothes. By the time he had finished and returned to the lobby to meet Sabrina, Ryūji happened to approach from the other side.
Seeing Xia You, Ryūji spread his hands with a wry smile.
"That Dragonair of yours is incredible. My Pokémon were absolutely no match for him! May I ask, is he your ace? How did you raise him to be so strong?"
My ace?
Xia You considered this for a moment.
How should I answer him? If I tell him Dragonair is only on my third-string team right now, nowhere near ace level, would that be too much of a blow?
After taking a moment to choose his words, Xia You smiled. "Dragonair hasn't reached his final evolution yet. He's still growing, but I believe that once he evolves, he'll definitely become one of my ace Pokémon! As for raising him, well, I think if you spent less time practicing ballet and focused more on developing their battling abilities, your Pokémon would eventually grow this strong too!"
See? Expressing the same meaning tactfully-that was the art of language!
And after hearing that, how could Ryūji fail to understand? The powerful opponent who had beaten him so easily was merely one of Xia You's ordinary Pokémon!
The gap was so obvious. It really was disheartening!
Was his chosen path of trying to become both a Gym Leader and an excellent Water Ballet dancer truly wrong?
The two chatted briefly for a while longer.