Paldea region, Levincia.
The Dedenne Live Room was delivering another fantastic stream today.
But unlike the relaxed, cheerful atmosphere throughout Xia Chi's second-round match against Kiawe two days ago, Iono now looked deeply worried.
"This Kingdra is so strong. It's almost on par with a Pokémon used to defend a Gym."
Of course, Pokémon used to defend Gyms were a different matter from a Gym Leader's personal team.
The former were there to test Gym challengers; the latter represented the Gym Leader's true strength.
Commonly known as Gym level.
Even so, that was already very high praise for a Trainer who was still in school!
[I remember Drayton wasn't this strong in the first two rounds. Was he holding back?]
[Probably. Blueberry Academy is a top Pokémon Academy on par with Celadon University, after all. Of course their "Champion" would be strong.]
[Holy crap, he scales with his opponent! His true power is unknown!]
[Even against Ruby in round one, our Water Bro wasn't under this much pressure. Today, he's really getting pushed around.]
[Here's a horror story: even if he gets past Kingdra, there's still a monstrously strong Archaludon waiting behind it!]
[But Drayton dropping the act means he respects our Water Bro, right?]
[After two straight three-Pokémon sweeps with a single Pokémon, he deserves some respect.]
[Come on! The most devious big bro on the internet!]
[.]
Once again, again, and again, the outside world doubted Xia Chi's chances, but he wasn't particularly rattled.
From the moment he chose Misdreavus as his lead Pokémon, he had been prepared for a drawn-out battle.
Whether it was Misdreavus's condition or the strength Kingdra had displayed,
the situation was still nowhere near beyond Xia Chi's control.
Now, [Protect] had been used, and Kingdra was closing in.
With [Calm Mind] boosting Misdreavus's