"Pidgeot!"
A large bird with a broad wingspan and gorgeous tail feathers descended from the sky.
Pidgeot was a Bird Pokémon and Pidgey's final evolved form.
Pidgeot was also the reason Rong Fei could fly up into the sky and make his entrance by parachute. With Pidgeot's speed and keen eyesight, even if a parachute failed to open, it could help the skydiver land safely.
Unfortunately, Rong Fei's problem had only occurred upon landing. Pidgeot was now pulling its trainer out of the mud with a slightly disgusted look.
"Meow~ Meow~ (Our opponent doesn't look too bright. He should be easy to handle.)"
"Take this seriously. Don't get yourself hurt."
"Meow~ (Relax, relax. But this place is so dirty. I feel like I'm going to get filthy.)"
While Meownei was still complaining about how dirty the field was, the trainer opposite them wiped his face with a towel and stepped into a command area marked out with stones.
Judging by the surroundings alone, this looked more like a children's playground than an official Gym battle arena.
That was another thing Rong Fei disliked about his father. It was far too unprofessional.
He was still half-covered in mud, but seeing that the challenger was already in position, he didn't waste time changing clothes. He simply prepared for battle.
The middle-aged man who had brought Xin Mu over was also the referee for this match. After confirming that both sides were ready, he moved over beside the field.
"Next up is a Gym battle between rookie trainer Xin Mu and Rong Fei, acting Gym Leader of the Lanxiang Gym.
There is no time limit. Each side may use three Pokémon, and only the challenger may switch Pokémon during the match.
Special battle systems (Mega Evolution, Dynamax, Z-Moves, and Terastallization) are limited to one.
The first side to render all three opposing Pokémon unable to battle wins. Under the League's challenge rules, the Gym will send out its Pokémon first. Challenger, please prepare!"
Referees for Gym matches were generally provided by the Gym itself, and they simply followed the regulations.
Here, a rookie was defined as a newly registered trainer who held no Badges. Thus, even though Xin Mu's Pokémon was fully evolved, he was still classified as a rookie.
"Challenger, if all you can do is exploit type advantages, today I'll teach you that the information you've gathered can be wrong too. This is my first Pokémon. Go, Pidgeot!"
The Pidgeot beside Rong Fei flew onto the battlefield. Xin Mu kept sensing a faint hint of prejudice in Rong Fei's words.
He didn't care about it. The world was vast, and some people would take an inexplicable dislike to strangers. Taking every such person to heart would be exhausting.
Meownei didn't wait for another command. She moved to the opposite side of the arena herself.
Xin Mu only had her, after all. There was no alternative. If she couldn't win, the match would be over.
Yet Xin Mu's silence seemed to make Rong Fei misunderstand something.
"What, you don't know what to do when you're at a type disadvantage? You rookies really don't know how to handle unexpected situations..."
"Close in, grab it, and use Thunder Punch."
Teaching was also part of a Gym battle. When faced with trainers who didn't even understand type matchups, some Gym Leaders would patiently explain the reasons to them.
According to the negative reviews online, this Gym Leader might have been lectured too much by his parents as a child, leaving him exceptionally talkative during battles.
While he was still delivering his self-important lecture, Meownei had already moved.
"Gain altitude and put some distance between you! Then use Hurricane!"
Seeing Xin Mu ignore him and issue an attack command instead, Rong Fei switched back into battle mode. He intended to have Pidgeot exploit its flight advantage to kite its opponent.
But from Pidgeot's perspective, Meownei had vanished.
Pidgeot's extraordinary eyesight could pick out a Magikarp in a bend of a river even from a thousand meters up.
Meownei's disappearance alerted it to the danger. It immediately followed its trainer's command and climbed rapidly, continuing to search for her as it did.
But after just two wingbeats, Pidgeot heard a crackling sound beside its ear.
"Meow!"
The instant it heard her, Pidgeot swerved to the other side. But Meownei was a fraction faster, and her lightning-wreathed fist slammed straight into its body.
Electricity penetrated its outer feathers and surged into its body. Pidgeot stiffened, unable to flap its wings, and plummeted straight down. On the way, it took a full combination of punches from Meownei.
"Pidgeot is unable to battle!"
"Thunder Punch... Your Meowscarada certainly came prepared. You're up next!"
Pidgeot being taken out instantly was outside Rong Fei's expectations and disrupted his original plan.
Still, he sent out another Pokémon: his starter Pokémon, Gliscor.
It was a Pokémon that looked like a cross between a scorpion and a bat.
Back then, he had been obsessed with Flying-types. Although his father disapproved, he had ultimately compromised and obtained a Ground- and Flying-type Gligar for him as his starter Pokémon.
Unlike Pidgeot, Gliscor didn't hover in midair. Instead, it stood on the ground using its tail.
Although this Pokémon had batlike wings, it couldn't fly directly and could only glide on existing air currents.
Its Ground typing, however, meant it didn't have to worry about being weak to Thunder Punch.
"You complain about other people preparing type counters in advance, but your own choices tell a different story. Your Gliscor doesn't look quite like the ones I remember, either."
"Try it and you'll find out what's different. Gliscor, use Fury Cutter!"
Gliscor pushed off the ground with its tail and leaped into the sky, spreading its wings to catch the breeze as it glided toward Meownei at high speed.
"Magical Leaf, knock it down!"
A mass of strange leaves appeared around Meownei and swept toward Gliscor in the sky. Magical Leaf's special properties made it almost impossible to dodge; in the games, it was a move guaranteed to hit.
Yet as the Magical Leaves rushed toward Gliscor, it seemed to do nothing at all. Its body automatically veered out of the way, letting the leaves brush past.
However, this also altered Gliscor's flight path. It missed Meownei entirely and struck the mud beside her instead.
"Don't stop! Keep using Fury Cutter!"
Gliscor had just used its tail as a weapon. Although it missed, the recoil successfully launched it back into the air, building momentum for its next assault.
As a Bug-type move, Fury Cutter was super effective against both Grass- and Dark-types, and its power increased with consecutive hits. It was the sort of move an ordinary Meowscarada hated most.
But in Xin Mu's eyes, the most troublesome thing about this Gliscor wasn't its Bug-type attack. It was how its light body made it more sensitive to air currents.
Xin Mu felt that Gliscor had just ridden the breeze stirred up by Magical Leaf. That gust had been enough to let it evade a move that should have been guaranteed to hit.
"No wonder your Gliscor is so much smaller than the ones I remember... Meownei! Let it get close!"
"Noticed, have you? You guessed right. Precisely because your Pokémon is strong, every move it uses causes major shifts in the air currents.
My Gliscor can use those shifts to evade your attacks.
No matter how powerful an attack is, it's useless if it doesn't hit! Even if you use physical attacks, the gusts stirred up by your punches will help Gliscor!"
"Hold on a little longer. Wait until Gliscor gets closer... Now, Triple Axel!"
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