Chapter 433: Teacher Qingyu, isn't this

After standing firm on the battle field, Kato's gaze quickly turned resolute, his right hand tightly gripping a Poké Ball.

The last time he challenged the Gym, he made a huge fool of himself; even Teacher Qingyu remembered his name because of it, not to mention the comments in the broadcast room and the students at Naranja Academy.

If today's battle ends in another crushing defeat against Teacher Qingyu, he's afraid he'll become the laughingstock of everyone from now on!

I don't want that kind of thing to happen...

So!

To salvage his image, he only has one path left today: victory!

Fortunately, after a week of preparation, he is no longer the person he was; he had long since seen through the tactics Teacher Qingyu was going to use and quickly devised a counter-strategy that even Teacher Qingyu had already acknowledged!

A mere Tailwind team, eat my Trick Room!

Kato was full of confidence in his tactics.

And standing opposite him, Qingyu had a smile playing on his lips, silently observing his opponent's expression.

【Teacher Qingyu is clearly smiling, so why do I feel a chill down my back...】

【The streamer must be thinking of something dirty again; I feel like this "lucky" challenger's mentality is about to be blown up by Teacher Qingyu again!】

【How can there be such a bad trainer as Teacher Qingyu in this world!】

"So, before the battle begins, shall I briefly state the Gym challenge rules for this week?"

Qingyu narrowed his eyes and spoke quickly, and Kato, standing opposite, nodded heavily at once.

"The battle rules are 2v2. The challenger attacks first. The Gym Leader side may not actively switch Pokémon, but substitution-type moves are not within the restriction range; the challenger side has no restrictions."

"When one side's Pokémon all lose the ability to battle, it is considered a victory for the other side."

"Any objections?"

"I have no objections!"

After Kato gave his affirmative reply, he quickly took a deep breath, preparing to throw his Poké Ball.

"Wait, there is one more thing."

Qingyu extended his palm, interrupting his movement.

"Student Kato, I can feel the speed of your progress within this week."

"Knowing shame and then being brave, it truly makes one look at you with new eyes."

"But precisely because of this, please don't care too much about other people's opinions; working hard to let yourself grow is already enough."

"If you carry baggage into a battle, you will absolutely not be able to display your true strength."

"So—"

"Please enjoy the battle with all your heart, and don't care too much about winning or losing."

The Naranja Academy student named Kato was stunned on the spot after hearing this, his expression somewhat strange.

Don't care too much about winning or losing...

Does that mean he wants me not to think so much and just focus on the battle in front of me?

As long as one's strength can be recognized by the Gym Leader, one can still get the badge even if the battle is lost.

Such an example occurred just last week.

However...

If there is a chance to win against Teacher Qingyu, there shouldn't be many students who can resist not giving it a shot!

During the time Kato was stunned, Qingyu had already taken a Poké Ball from his pocket and gently tapped the center trigger.

After a flash of red light, the cotton-type Pokémon that the audience was extremely familiar with appeared on the battle field, its cute little eyes staring straight at Kato opposite.

【Why is it Whimsicott! Teacher Qingyu really brought out the black-hearted cotton, continuing to activate Prankster, right...】

【Wasn't Prankster already broken last week? As long as you use a Dark-type Pokémon, you can directly immunize against its status moves?】

【You're right, but is there a possibility that Teacher Qingyu is playing a Tailwind system today...】

Although Tailwind is also a status move, its target is not the opponent, but the half of the field where one is located.

Therefore, even if a Dark-type Pokémon senses the change in energy in advance, it is very difficult to stop Whimsicott from using the Tailwind move.

This simple truth is no longer hard to figure out for the rookie trainers who are making progress every day now.

Kato, who was on the battle field and couldn't see the comments, also quickly reacted to Qingyu's idea.

"If it's a priority Tailwind..."

"Then I'll just use Trick Room!"

Kato quickly made his tactical arrangement in his heart and immediately threw a Poké Ball.

"I choose you, Armarouge!"

(Last Dance's Armarouge)

A humanoid Pokémon radiating red flames all over its body, covered in a set of pure gold armor, with a mass of flames burning fiercely on its head, appeared in front of Qingyu.

"Oh? There's actually an Armarouge?"

Qingyu immediately raised an eyebrow.

He was too familiar with this Pokémon; he had seen and used it too many times in his past life...

Armarouge, a Pokémon that only appeared in Paldea, evolved from Charcadet just like Ceruledge, belonging to different evolutionary branches.

Charcadet, whose appearance resembles a little knight, is almost everywhere on every road in the Paldea region and is a very common Pokémon.

And its evolution method is also very interesting; it requires the use of two special armors to achieve evolution, and the manufacturing process of both armors is in human hands.

By collecting fragments naturally or unnaturally shed by Bronzor and Sinistea, special armors possessing Psychic and Ghost attributes respectively can be manufactured.

After Charcadet, which longs to become a knight, puts on the armor, it will soon merge with them and eventually evolve into two different forms.

Therefore, in theory, it is almost impossible to see wild Armarouge/Ceruledge.

This can also be considered a testament to the mutual influence between humans and Pokémon after living together.

And the Armarouge in front of Qingyu was precisely the Charcadet evolution form that absorbed the Psychic power of the Auspicious Armor, changing its attributes to Fire + Psychic.

Because of its Psychic power, it is better at using energy attacks and can open Trick Room with its own power.

Is this Kato's answer?

Qingyu nodded silently, considering it an acknowledgment of his idea.

Unlike in the game where you need to find a specialized NPC to exchange for evolution items, in the real Paldea, you can directly spend money to buy mass-produced, reasonably priced armor; as long as Charcadet's strength is sufficient, it can easily evolve.

Therefore, Armarouge and Ceruledge are actually not rare in Paldea; many rookies will catch a Charcadet on the road and buy a set of armor when passing through Zapapico for emergencies.

And seeing that Teacher Qingyu had already seen through his tactics and seemed to have acknowledged him, Kato's mouth immediately broke into a smile.

Soon, a command was transmitted from his mouth.

"Armarouge, Trick Room!"

Using the Gym rules, his Trick Room can even be used one step ahead of Teacher Qingyu's Tailwind!

【??? How come this kid is doing fancy tricks again? Teacher Qingyu hasn't even opened Tailwind yet and you're already using Trick Room?】

【Are you that confident? If Teacher Qingyu doesn't use Tailwind, wouldn't you be blown up...】

【Student Kato has a kind of innocent beauty; he's still not being tortured enough by Teacher Qingyu!】

Seeing the opponent so proactive, Qingyu himself couldn't help but laugh, holding back his laughter and quickly giving a command:

"Whimsicott, Taunt."

Although the Gym theme for this week is indeed the Tailwind team...

But it seems he never said that his first command would definitely be Tailwind?

Priority Trick Room, you really have something!

Confident pre-reading isn't played like this either; today, let Teacher Qingyu give you a good make-up lesson!

Because the use of Trick Room requires accumulating Psychic-type energy, even with the first-move advantage, Armarouge still couldn't immediately use Trick Room.

And just when it was struggling to accumulate energy halfway, the cute thing opposite, whose body was mostly covered in cotton and soft and fluffy all over, suddenly revealed a bad smile.

Afterward, it hooked its fingers toward it.

What a cheap smiling face!

Suddenly, a nameless fire swept through Armarouge's whole body, making it uncontrollably want to use Psyshock to blast the opponent and make it unable to laugh anymore.

After being unconsciously affected by Taunt, the Psychic-type energy that Armarouge had been charging for more than half suddenly dissipated.

???

Kato was immediately stunned, and at the same time, trickling cold sweat quickly flowed down his cheeks and back.

Teacher Qingyu, you don't play by the rules!

Shouldn't you be using Tailwind at this time, and then praising yourself for your good pre-reading?

How come I seem to have become a negative example again...

It's clearly the cold winter at the end of January, so why do I suddenly feel a bit dry-mouthed and sweating on my head?

"Hmm... having the consciousness of pre-reading is very good, but always remember that your opponent is not a game BOSS that only plays by fixed routines; every pre-reading command may be accompanied by risks~"

Pre-reading itself is just a part of the game; unless you have the outrageous Psychic power to predict the future, every pre-reading itself is an adventure.

And once the pre-reading fails...

Regardless of how many ideas you have in your heart, the feeling you give people is that you are a bit dull.

Just like Kato now, Qingyu didn't know what to say; he wanted to laugh but was embarrassed to laugh out loud, fearing to dampen the person's confidence.

It can only be said that he contributed another famous scene to his broadcast room.

Thank you, Kato!

After Qingyu spoke a sentence in an understated way, both sides quickly made commands again:

"Armarouge, Mystical Fire!"

"Whimsicott, Substitute!"

Both sides spoke almost at the same time; due to Whimsicott's ability, its Substitute formed one step ahead, blocking in front of it, blocking all the Fire-type energy erupted by Armarouge.

In terms of attribute restraint, Whimsicott indeed has a very big disadvantage when facing Armarouge.

However, this point can also be compensated for through commands and various moves.

"Take advantage of now, Leech Seed!"

"After throwing it out, immediately use Protect!"

Grabbing the moment when Armarouge erupted with Mystical Fire and was waiting for energy recovery, Qingyu immediately spoke and gave continuous commands.

"Watch carefully, this is what's called pre-reading~"

Because Whimsicott, which possesses the Prankster ability, acts extremely fast, by the time Kato reacted, the Leech Seed it had rubbed in its hands had already been thrown into the air, accurately hitting Armarouge.

The seed with special effects touched Armarouge's body surface, instantly taking root and sprouting, starting to slowly absorb its life energy.

Even if Armarouge burned a part of the seeds with fire in time, it still didn't have any very good effect.

Things having reached this point, Kato also knew that even if he commanded a counterattack, it would be meaningless, so he could only choose to recall the parasitized Armarouge.

【Holy crap, Prankster Leech Seed, who can defend against this?】

【Teacher Qingyu can always pull out some inexplicable moves, but they are unexpectedly easy to use; doesn't this have the same effect as Substitute-Protect-Toxic...】

【Saying it's not a dirty routine, it's actually a dirty routine; the Tailwind team hasn't even seen a shadow until now, just seeing Whimsicott disgusting the opponent!】 ===== CHAPTER 435 =====