Chu Xin narrowed his eyes slightly at his opponent. He had seen this guy in the contestant profiles. His name was Qian Fu, and he was an apprentice at the Viridian Gym.
When Chu Xin saw Qian Fu entering the competition, he had assumed the Viridian Gym practiced some kind of sword style. Only after investigating carefully did he discover that the Viridian Gym did not teach swordsmanship at all. Its Gym Leader specialized in Rock types.
Generally, Trainers who reached the level of Gym Leader had distinguished themselves in a particular field, so when they established a gym, they based their Gym Badge on their specialty.
For example, Chen Huan's specialty at the Jindu Gym was his Bug-type Vespiquen, so the Jindu Gym was a Bug-type gym. The Wudang Gym, on the other hand, had a long history and a depth of heritage that ordinary gyms could hardly match. Its specialty was swordsmanship, so sword techniques were its primary focus.
The Gym Leader of the Viridian Gym, where Qian Fu trained, had considerable achievements with Rock types, making the Viridian Gym a Rock-type gym as well.
Generally, apprentices joined a gym to learn the Gym Leader's methods or techniques in their area of expertise, so apprentices and Gym Leaders usually shared the same specialty. Unusual cases like Qian Fu's were quite rare.
"Isn't the Viridian Gym a Rock-type gym? Why are you entering a swordsmanship competition?"
Chu Xin narrowed his eyes slightly as he questioned Qian Fu across the arena.
Qian Fu smiled, then took a Poké Ball from his waist.
"There's no end to learning. Although the Viridian Gym is a Rock-type gym, I'm pretty good with sword techniques too, so I wanted to enter the swordsmanship competition and see how strong the swordsmanship gyms are."
Chu Xin