Chapter 519

"……"

Staring at the fallen Cetitan, Grusha's expression, which was already as cold as frost, froze for a few seconds.

Lost...

And it was with an extremely huge gap, losing to Qingyu's one Lucario.

Before, when he was accepting rookie challenges at the Glaseado Gym, the main reason for losing was the unconventional targeting strategies the opponents brought out; even if he lost, he didn't actually care too much.

But the nature of this match was completely different.

As fellow Gym Leaders, with all his main Pokémon out, he couldn't even defeat one of Qingyu's main Pokémon...

It sounds a bit ridiculous; after all, both were just rookie Gym Leaders who had just started, so even if there was a gap in strength, it shouldn't be this big, right?

Losing 3:0 to a peer is outrageous no matter how you think about it!

But these were the facts that just happened.

And Qingyu didn't use those bizarre tactics that make people go dark, but solid, head-on breakthroughs of all his Pokémon's defenses...

Protect was like paper in front of this Lucario, making Grusha doubt his life.

He couldn't beat it, he couldn't drag it out, and his best snow defense tactic was broken at light speed, so the rhythm of the whole battle quickly collapsed at light speed.

All of Qingyu's counter-tactics were very fast, as if he knew in advance that he would do this.

The moment he saw Aurora Veil, Qingyu reacted immediately, commanding Lucario to use Brick Break to easily resolve the move.

Logically speaking, if he hadn't predicted his operation, it shouldn't have been so fast.

But Alolan Ninetales should be a very niche regional form, right?

In fact, this question had been bothering Grusha since the battle started just now.

Except for the Alola region, which has always been unpopular, there shouldn't be any other place to see this kind of Ice-type Ninetales right now.

If it weren't for the fact that he happened to get the favor of a Vulpix when he went to Alola for a trip before, he wouldn't have had the chance to become a companion with this Pokémon, which is regarded as an auspicious beast by the Alolan people.

Even Elite Four Hassel, who was the examiner at the time, didn't see through his tactics and almost lost to him.

How did Qingyu know?

Grusha's eyes carried a hint of obvious curiosity, staring straight at Qingyu standing opposite him.

"What a hearty battle~"

Qingyu quickly walked to Grusha and showed a smile that looked full of sunshine.

But for some reason, Grusha only felt a bit dazzling.

And seeing Grusha didn't reply, Qingyu spoke again quickly.

"I didn't expect Gym Leader Grusha to have captured an Alolan Ninetales; this Pokémon is not common, and humans who can be recognized by them generally have a tenacious heart."

"However, it just so happens that I traveled to the Alola region when I was a child, so I know a little bit about the Pokémon in this region."

As if seeing through what Grusha was thinking, Qingyu's words quickly attracted his gaze.

"……I see."

Although it sounded like a coincidence, Grusha knew—

Qingyu was just giving him a way out; in fact, he likely had a considerable understanding of all the Pokémon in the entire Pokédex.

Although it was a spur-of-the-moment challenge, Grusha wasn't a reckless man.

Before coming to challenge Qingyu, Grusha had already checked information about Qingyu online.

He didn't know until he checked, and it left him stunned.

What is a Gym Leader with "bad reviews"?

It seemed he had never heard of any Gym Leader in any region having more bad reviews than good ones, let alone like the Sunny Gym guarded by Qingyu, which inserted a small amount of good reviews into countless bad ones...

But the evaluation of Gym Leader Qingyu didn't affect the good reviews of "Big Streamer" Qingyu.

Grusha also watched some teaching videos released by Qingyu, all of which were some relatively shallow Pokémon usage techniques and tactical combinations, but no one had systematically organized this part of the content before.

Therefore, it is not unreasonable for Qingyu to be highly recognized by students.

Especially since he can also command Pokémon from other regions just as easily; this alone is enough to see that his basic skills are very excellent.

It's just that Grusha didn't expect that besides live streaming, Qingyu was actually so strong in actual combat...

He didn't lose unjustly.

"I lost."

Thinking of this, Grusha nodded simply and admitted his failure.

He did have a certain amount of pride, thinking that he shouldn't be much worse than Qingyu, but he was definitely not a person who couldn't afford to lose.

"You are very strong; no wonder other challengers recognize you so much."

After Grusha took off the scarf covering his face, a smile like an iceberg melting quickly appeared on his face, and he took the initiative to extend his right hand to Qingyu.

"I look forward to the next opportunity to challenge you; next time I will let you see my growth."

Apart from the failure being a bit unpleasant, the battle with Qingyu did indeed give him no small harvest.

For example, mistakes like his lineup being somewhat helpless against some Pokémon, and Altaria's Terastallization being tricked out too simply, were all things he needed to think about how to optimize.

Maybe it's not a loss to exchange a failure for such a deep realization...

"I look forward to it."

For Grusha's "declaration of war," Qingyu smiled slightly and agreed lightly.

At the same time, after thinking for a while, he spoke again:

"Actually, isn't there obviously a better choice for the snow system? I remember there should be quite a few Baxcalibur populations on Glaseado Mountain?"

"As for Altaria... I don't know if you, Grusha, have heard of the magical Mega Evolution phenomenon?"

Baxcalibur, the "late bloomer Pokémon" of the ninth generation, is also one of the members of the snow brothers, and its combat power is quite good.

Qingyu originally thought Grusha should have sent it to battle, but he didn't expect that Grusha didn't seem to have captured Baxcalibur at all, and his main Pokémon was Altaria instead...?

Well, although he knew that Paldea Gym Leaders would have their own trump cards, Grusha's Altaria was still hard to keep a straight face about.

It's not that it's too weak, but rather than letting Altaria Terastallize and forcibly become Ice-type to integrate into Grusha's team, it would be better to find a way to get a Mega Stone and Key Stone and let it evolve into the noble "Dragon-type traitor"...

Even if it's still not very strong among Mega Evolved Pokémon, at least it's better than it is now.

"Mega Evolution?"

After Grusha finished listening, he subconsciously raised an eyebrow, and his eyes instantly brightened a bit.

As his starter Pokémon, Altaria has a very special meaning to him.

I believe most trainers in this world are the same; compared to ethereal strength, they are more willing to believe that the bond between them and their Pokémon can create infinite possibilities.

Therefore, Grusha originally thought Qingyu meant to persuade him to give up Altaria and use the more powerful Baxcalibur as his main Pokémon.

But he didn't expect Qingyu to give him a way to improve Altaria's strength instead.

Mega Evolution is a special phenomenon discovered in Kalos and Hoenn; although Grusha hadn't paid attention to this information, he had heard a little bit about it.

According to Qingyu's meaning...

Could it be that Altaria still has the potential to continue evolving?

Thinking of this, Grusha's eyes, which had always been as cold as ice, finally had a bit of temperature.

"I will pay attention; thank you very much for your suggestion, Gym Leader Qingyu."

Grusha thanked him solemnly.

"Just a small effort."

Qingyu still smiled calmly and waved his hand at him.

Grusha was happy, but the comments, which were still immersed in the feat of "Qingyu slaughtering the strongest Gym Leader Grusha," quickly reacted and suddenly stopped laughing.

【Holy crap? Teacher Yu, you are not allowed to teach other Gym Leaders anymore; you are helping the enemy, you bastard!】

【Originally, the Glaseado Gym was merciless to rookies; if they listen to Teacher Yu's suggestions and the stats go up another level... I dare not think about how hard it will be to fight in the future!】

【Teacher Yu, quickly withdraw your magical powers; one Sunny Gym is enough, we ordinary rookie trainers really can't hold on!!!】

【Hahahaha, do you Paldeans have today too? Our Sinnoh Gym Leaders have long learned Teacher Yu's "excellent" tactics, and now they are all so quality...】

【Kanto is the same; Gym Leader Brock even took out a Weak Armor Onix to play wild fighting, 666, they don't even bother to act anymore!】

【You say, how can a person be as bad as Teacher Yu?】

Qingyu knew nothing about the complaints in the comments.

Of course, even if he knew, he would probably just smile calmly and pretend he didn't see it.

Trainers who can clear the eight Gyms are a very small minority, and Gym Leaders also have their own focus, so they generally won't deliberately make things difficult for challengers.

As the first stop for rookies, the Sunny Gym let them feel the importance of tactics and also began to learn how to reasonably use the power of their Pokémon, playing a certain enlightening role.

But this is just the beginning of the trainer's journey.

To become an excellent trainer, besides their own quality, they must have a relatively clear understanding of Pokémon cultivation and even team planning.

Only a comprehensive assessment can allow the next champion of Paldea to show their true strength and get the recognition of Chairwoman Geeta.

Therefore...

Not only do these rookie trainers need to roll, but Gym Leaders should also roll up and effectively perform their functions!

It is precisely with such thoughts that Qingyu can receive so much high recognition from students.

Although the way they recognize him is a bit bizarre, it is reflected by giving bad reviews to the Sunny Gym...

But there is progress after all!

If they really think the Sunny Gym is no good, how come there are so many rookies repeatedly challenging him, even enjoying it, and growing every time?

……

Grusha quickly left the Sunny Gym, and the Gym challenge began to get on the right track.

However, because the Gym mode had changed, Qingyu actually had more opportunities to slack off—

"Floragato, use Seed Bomb!"

"Jia!"

After Grusha, the rookie challenger was sweating on his forehead, struggling to command his starter Pokémon Floragato to battle.

And opposite him, a Sableye with a smirk disappeared like a ghost, dodging the menacing Seed Bomb.

"Floragato, hurry and Protect!"

The student-dressed boy quickly reacted and hurriedly gave the command.

However...

Sableye quickly appeared behind Floragato, its hands attacking its defenseless back, successfully solving the opponent.

"I lost..."

The boy quickly lowered his head and sighed helplessly.