Chapter 18

Seeing someone step forward to challenge him, Wang Tao asked with a look of appreciation in his eyes.

"My name is Liang Wenshan, and my starter Pokémon is Squirtle."

"Very well, follow me to the battle arena." After saying this, Wang Tao led Liang Wenshan to the center of the arena.

"Principal Yu, would you mind acting as our temporary referee?" Wang Tao asked with a smile.

"No problem." Yu Dong walked over.

"The participants for this match are Wang Tao and Liang Wenshan. Both contestants, get ready. The match begins!"

Following the referee's command, both sides immediately took action.

"Vulpix, use Sunny Day!" Wang Tao quickly issued the order.

Upon hearing this, Vulpix unleashed the skill immediately.

"Liuwi!" Vulpix let out a soft cry, and the air in the arena began to heat up.

Sunlight from above the arena shone through the open-air roof into the field.

Squirtle couldn't help but shield its eyes with its hands, seemingly unable to open them due to the glare of the sun.

"Use Fire Spin to surround Squirtle."

【Fire Spin: Traps the opponent in a fierce vortex of fire.】

Following Wang Tao's command, Vulpix activated the skill once more.

Its body glowed with a red light, and the center of the arena immediately turned into a sea of fire.

The flames burned intensely, forming circles of fire.

They surrounded Squirtle completely, leaving it with nowhere to escape.

"Jeni Jeni!"

Standing in the center of the flames, Squirtle cried out anxiously.

Although it was a Water-type Pokémon, being roasted in the center of the fire was far from comfortable.

"Squirtle, ignore him. Use Water Gun straight ahead."

Although Squirtle couldn't clearly see Vulpix's position, Liang Wenshan could see it perfectly.

He immediately ordered Squirtle to attack in Vulpix's direction.

Squirtle could only trust its trainer's words and fired a Water Gun straight ahead.

The stream of water passed through layers of fire, about to break through the flames and strike Vulpix.

"Use the momentum of the flames, Vulpix, use Ember to meet it head-on."

Facing Squirtle's attack, Wang Tao didn't have Vulpix dodge; instead, he chose to counterattack directly.

Vulpix opened its mouth and spat out a ball of fire.

Upon entering the ring of fire surrounding Squirtle, the fire seemed to find fuel, suddenly expanding to twice its size!

The strengthened Ember collided with the Water Gun, and they were evenly matched!

One must know that Ember is weak against Water Gun, and Vulpix and Squirtle were at almost the same level.

Under these circumstances, for Ember to still cancel out the Water Gun was enough to demonstrate the power of the move!

With the Water Gun failing, Squirtle already felt itself beginning to dry out.

Under the roasting of the surrounding flames, its stamina was also draining several times faster than usual.

Furthermore, its shell was becoming increasingly hot due to the fire, making Squirtle feel even more miserable.

"Now, Vulpix, use Ember."

Once again, Vulpix released Ember.

This time, the Ember expanded again after making contact with the flames in the center of the field.

The strengthened Ember struck Squirtle squarely.

"Jeni Jeni!"

Squirtle let out a miserable cry and collapsed in the center of the arena.

"Alright Vulpix, disperse the Fire Spin."

Once all the flames had vanished, Squirtle was seen lying there motionless.

It was clear that it had lost its ability to battle.

Seeing the match decided so quickly, the students below were stunned.

Although they knew Wang Tao would win, they hadn't expected it to be in such an effortless manner.

020: Explaining Tactics, the Generous Senior

Looking back at the match from the beginning, it had been entirely under Wang Tao's rhythm.

Whether it was the initial Sunny Day or Squirtle's later struggle within the flames.

Liang Wenshan had clearly been thoroughly outplayed by Wang Tao.

Is this the strength of a Gym Leader?

All the students were deeply shocked.

Even with a disadvantage in Pokémon, one could turn the tide through a trainer's command!

Seeing the miserable state of Liang Wenshan's Squirtle, the students below breathed a sigh of relief.

It was a good thing they hadn't been the ones to go up, otherwise, they would be the ones in such a sorry state.

"Squirtle is unable to battle, therefore the winner is Wang Tao!"

Wang Tao returned Vulpix to its Poké Ball and handed it to Yu Dong.

After the battle just now, his Vulpix had also consumed quite a bit of stamina and needed to be restored using a healing device.

Yu Dong took the Poké Balls of Squirtle and Vulpix and went to restore them.

Meanwhile, Wang Tao walked slowly toward Su Yu and the others.

"You juniors should have seen it; in the match just now, my Vulpix won very easily against a Squirtle that had a type advantage."

"The reason for this is that my Vulpix possesses two important field-control skills."

"One is Sunny Day. I had Vulpix release it as soon as it entered the field, which not only slightly weakened Squirtle's strength..."

"... but also strengthened Vulpix's Fire-type attacks."

"Then, through Fire Spin, I firmly trapped Squirtle in place, where it could only be continuously drained of its stamina."

"My Vulpix can also use the flames generated by Fire Spin to further strengthen Ember, maximizing its power!"

"So, this is the key to field-control skills; even if you are at a disadvantage, you can still achieve victory through the battle environment."

Wang Tao explained his strategy in detail, without hiding anything.

His words caused many to have an epiphany.

Many students had only read about so-called field-control styles in books but had never seen it in actual combat.

And this match of Wang Tao's had taught them a harsh lesson.

Even Su Yu felt he had gained much insight.

In the Pokémon games he played in his past life, battles were turn-based.

Even if there were field-control skills, they were mostly used to strengthen one's own attacks.

However, reality is different from games; it can no longer be measured by simple numerical values.

In a game, it's impossible to have all skills interlinked to achieve a 1+1>2 effect.

Yet Wang Tao had clearly achieved this in reality.

"As expected of a Gym Leader."

Su Yu marveled inwardly, thinking that no one who can become a powerhouse in this world is simple.

Everyone has their own unique understanding.

However, it was a pity that this setup wasn't very suitable for Torchic, otherwise, Su Yu could have stolen a trick or two.

Su Yu still preferred Torchic to be a speed attacker, launching quick assaults with a speed that opponents would find hard to match.

As the saying goes, all martial arts under heaven are broken only by speed.

Su Yu wanted Torchic to be just such a fast gunner!

Although this style didn't suit Torchic, Su Yu still carefully digested the information.

Perhaps it would come in handy when he obtained other new Pokémon in the future.

"Senior Wang Tao's explanation was truly excellent."