You are not allowed to be a Pokémon Trainer!

Chapter 243 Star Ascension, Calamity and Deception ★★! Water and Evil Mixed Scroll!
Xia Chi was affectionately nuzzling the elves when Teng Shu walked over from the battlefield.

This sunny and cheerful young man, who loves surfing, has a hint of helplessness on his face at this moment.

It would be one thing if it were just a regular gym challenge.

The three Pokémon that Tengshu sent out—Master Itachi, Breloom, and Bandana—were his main force.

The result was 3-0!

And this was achieved without the other trainer being present.

The less-than-honorable defeat made the dojo owner lose face.

However, his face showed more of an appreciation mixed with strong interest.

Fighting-type trainers are mostly straightforward.

Whether it's the path of a trainer or the path of martial arts, only by facing failure with equanimity can one achieve improvement.

On the other hand, Xia Chi, a disciple personally trained by Ma Shide, can now be considered a "martial arts figure" to some extent.

Therefore, he had a rather favorable impression of the Fighting-type Gym Leader in front of him.

"I've heard so much about Professor Xia Chi!"

Fujiki exclaimed cheerfully, "To achieve this level of skill without a trainer's guidance... your Pokémon training methods are truly astounding!"

Xia Chi smiled and shook hands firmly with Teng Shu, his attitude humble. "Teng Shu, you flatter me. It was really the Pokémon that performed exceptionally well on the spot. Today's... uh, encounter battle..."

He glanced helplessly at Zhenyi, who was still twirling around smugly. "This was a completely unplanned accident. I'm sorry for the trouble."

Fujiki laughed heartily, "The real test is in what goes around comes around, but..."

He changed the subject, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit, "While the independent battles between elves are exciting, I'd much rather experience the full power of your command!"

"How about we play another round tomorrow?"

Xia Chi, who was currently desperately short of Fear Points, was naturally more than happy to oblige. "Of course, Gym Leader Fujiki, see you at the Gym tomorrow."

He changed the subject and joked, "Just don't go surfing and I can't find you again."

"Haha, surfing is actually the same as battling; it's all about challenging yourself."

Teng Shu patted Xia Chi's shoulder forcefully, "With an expert like you, Teacher Xia Chi, coming to challenge us, isn't that much more interesting than surfing?"

His eyes were full of anticipation. "Tomorrow, at the martial arts dojo, I'll be waiting for you!"

After challenging and bidding farewell to Vine Tree, Xia Chi led her Pokémon away from the bustling beach and headed towards the Pokémon Center in Dewford Town.

Although Xiong Tudi and Zhenyifa held out until the end, the fierce battle still left them with many wounds that needed treatment and energy depletion.

Xia Chi handed the two Poké Balls to Nurse Joy and then, sitting in the waiting area, his consciousness sank into the system.

I only opened my suitcase once this morning on the way to Wudou Town, and who would have thought that less than ten hours later I could open it again—

The battle just now filled the gap of over thirty points of fear.

Speaking of which, as the strength of one's own Pokémon continues to increase, the difficulty of acquiring Fear Value also becomes higher and higher.

The three Pokémon with the combined strength of level 62 Master Itachi, level 61 Breloom, and Bandana only contributed a meager 40 points.

It feels similar to the difficulty of leveling up a Pokémon; the higher the level, the greater the amount of "experience" required to level up.

However, the increase in combat power brought about by each level upgrade is also more significant.

Just like Tengshu and Qianli, judging from the battle logs, their Pokémon levels are almost the same, but their actual battle experiences are worlds apart.

Especially that dog that Xia Chi still remembers vividly – ​​the one that asked for leave.
Pulling himself back to reality, Xia Chi thought to himself, "Brother Tongzi, open the Fear Value Chest."

[The Fear Value Treasure Chest has been opened. Congratulations, host! You have obtained: Large Lucky Lantern *1, Elf Fragment: Evil Spirit Phantom *1!]

It's actually a fragment of Ponpo's spirit?

Xia Chi was somewhat surprised.

As the undisputed current top combat force—

Not only among the members of his own team, but also among all the Pokémon that Xia Chi had ever seen.

The appearance of this spirit fragment is somewhat mysterious.

To describe it in two words: to add flowers to brocade.

To say I dislike it would be impossible; it's a two-star Pompoon.

But in most cases, Ponpo is not needed for challenging gyms or regular Pokémon battles.

Overwhelming strength is one thing, but more importantly...

If Ponpo really goes all out, I doubt any energy barrier on the battlefield could stop him.

The best example is the fight between Master Ma and his martial arts bear master on the Isle of Armor.

Ponpo's full-force Sun Blade nearly cleaved Armor Island in two!

Not to mention after star upgrades.
However, there are exceptions, such as the brawl in Orange City last week.

If it weren't for Pengpeng, Huoyan might not have been able to do anything to Xia Chi, but she would definitely have dared to steal all the floating bubbles right in front of him.

Before leaving, he might even arrogantly pinch Xia Chi's cheek and say something like, "Want to consider joining our Lava Team?"

This event is also recorded in Pokémon Emerald.

Therefore, Ponpo's recent increase in strength undoubtedly provides Xia Chi with another layer of protection for his safety.

------

"Brother Tongzi, upgrade the star rating of the Evil Spirit Phantom, and enhance its attributes."

The attribute enhancement brought by [Star Up] can increase the damage of a Pokémon's use or the damage it receives from a certain type of move by 20%.

It's something that adds the finishing touch.

Xia Chi thought for a moment, and since there didn't seem to be anything particularly specific that needed to be addressed, he said, "Hmm, strengthen Grass-type."

As a result, the power bonus of Ponpo's herbal moves increased from 150% to 180%.

[Strengthen Attributes: Grass, the Evil Spirit begins star-level upgrade.]

The moment Tongzi-ge's words left her mind, Ponpo, who was sitting obediently next to Xia Chi watching the animation playing on her Rotom phone, immediately collapsed.

It was exactly the same as when Shakiras ascended to stardom back in Beishang Township—

Tongzige's unique 24-hour "star-up time".

Taking this opportunity, Xia Chi glanced at Ponpo's panel, which he hadn't paid attention to for a long time.

【The Cursed and Unpredictable ★★】

[Attribute: Grass (Green Grass Mask Form)]

[Characteristic: Unyielding (Green Grass Mask Form)]

[Gender: Female]

【Level: 74】

【能力：生命828（+399），物攻876（+412），物防437（+226），特攻353（+185），特防452（+229），速度848（+404）】

[Special: Chosen Spirit (+20% to all stats, Grass-type bond +1)]

[Equipment: None] [Synergy: ]

Xia Chi: "."

Compared to Ponpo, the amazing magical masked cat from that day is nothing.

This is a true numerical monster!
Compared to when it was first captured, Ponpo's level has increased by a full 14 levels—

Level 10 is achieved through star upgrades, level 3 through magical candies, and only level 1 is achieved through one's own efforts.
However, for a legendary spirit like the Evil Spirit, which has a long lifespan, it is already quite remarkable that it can level up by 1 level in half a year.

Compared to level, Ponpo's improvement is more due to the significant enhancements in various abilities achieved through [Chosen Badge] and [Star Upgrade].

It directly boosted Ponpo's combat power by nearly 50%!

Xia Chi stroked his chin, thinking of a certain ancient legendary water-type Pokémon that was sleeping somewhere in the Hoenn region.

So, can Fathead Fish withstand Ponpo's thorny vine club?
For some reason, I'm suddenly looking forward to Team Aqua waking up Kyogre.
This is of course a joke.

It would be best if this kind of legendary Pokémon activity, which could have a huge impact on ordinary people in the Hoenn region and could even be described as a disaster, could not happen.

However, if it really happens, with Ponpo, whose strength has increased significantly, protecting him, Xia Chi would be even more confident in handling and resolving the situation.

Xia Chi picked up the "sleeping" Egui Peng and placed it in his arms before continuing to open the box.

"Brother Tongzi, open the lucky lantern."

[The large lucky lantern has been activated. Congratulations, host, you have obtained: Crimson Rosary (Ancient Winged Hair - Legendary) *1, Water/Evil Mixed Scroll *1!]

Water and Evil Mixed Scroll!

Xia Chi knew from the name, which sounded so shady, that Lucky Lantern had produced another surprise.

As is widely known, the [Scroll of Water] allows the Bear Apprentice to evolve into a Martial Arts Bear Master in a combo-style form.

The [Scroll of Evil] allows the bear apprentice to evolve into a martial arts bear master with a one-hit-kill mentality.

So here's the question: what is the purpose of this [Water/Evil Mixed Scroll]?

Xia Chi took the answer to the prop warehouse to verify it, and then revealed a satisfied smile of "as expected".

[Water/Evil Hybrid Scroll: A legendary Pokémon-exclusive evolution item. Use it on a Kushala Daora apprentice to evolve it into a combined-attack style Martial Arts Kushala Daora! (Level Requirement: 40)]

Although it confirmed the answer she wanted, Xia Chi couldn't help but complain inwardly—

God-tier combo martial arts bear master!
It combines the styles of single-hit and combo attacks, hence the name "Combined Attack Style".
But no matter what, the goal has been achieved.

It was worth it to instill in my apprentice Xiong the core concept of "grasping both single strikes and consecutive strikes, and making sure both are strong" over the past two months.

However, can this so-called combined attack style allow the martial arts master to switch back and forth between the water fighting and evil fighting forms?

One of the core abilities of the Combo Martial Arts Bear Master is the ability to freely switch between 'One-Hit Style' (Evil/Fighting) and 'Combo Style' (Water/Fighting) forms during battle. The form switch is considered instantaneous with no cooldown, but it consumes a small amount of mental energy.

Tongzi promptly answered Xia Chi's questions.

Sure enough.

Xia Chi pondered for a moment.

This ability is essentially a unique [transformation] characteristic limited to the "water" and "evil" elements.

While it doesn't have the true [transformation] ability of Magic Masked Cat, allowing it to switch between various forms, it's sufficient for most needs.

After all, it has a lot of resistance to Water-type moves, and it is also immune to Psychic-type moves that are super effective against Fighting-type moves.

More importantly, after evolving, Xia Chi's martial arts bear master can learn two unique moves exclusive to the One-Hit Style and the Combo Style.

Water Flow Combo and Dark Nether Strike!
The importance of this in improving the offensive coverage is self-evident.

The only minor issue is that, unlike regular Water Evil Scrolls, this hybrid scroll has a level 40 requirement.

Given Xiong's current level of 34, it will probably take him at least a few more months to reach that level.

However, it's not a big problem. Given the strength of the evolved "Combined Attack Style" Martial Arts Bear Master, this waiting time is worthwhile.

Anyway, it's much faster than Shakiras, which requires level 55 to evolve and still has a long way to go.
------

The difficulty of the Fighting Dojo is indeed much "easier" than that of the Petalburg Dojo.

In the same battle involving nine main Pokémon, Xia Chi had to fight four 3v3 matches against Qianli, each a tough battle, before he could barely exhaust all of the opponent's strength.

On the other hand, the three 3v3 matches ended easily.

You can also tell from the Pokémon's level in the battle log.

The highest-ranking and strongest ace Iron Palm Warrior in the vine tree is only level 65.

This level is only comparable to the lowest-level Pokémon in Qianli's main lineup.

The difference in skill levels allows the fighters in the martial arts dojo to fight with ease and at a brisk pace.

However, ease also means less reward.

After Xia Chi completed his challenge against all the main forces of the Martial Arts Dojo, the system panel showed that he was still fifty or sixty points short of the value required to open the next [Fear Value Chest].

It seems that there are no suitable gym targets to "refresh" in the short term, which undoubtedly makes the next time to open the treasure chest seem rather far off.

Following the rhythm of resting for a day before fighting again, on August 6th, Xia Chi, having achieved his goal in Wudu Town, set off with his Pokémon companions.

The Rotom Flying Car streaked through the sky, speeding towards the southeast.

His destination, and the focus of his journey through Hoenn, was the dreamlike city of Odomare, known as the "City of Water."

Just like Kitakami Village in the Padia region, Otomare, although administratively belonging to the Hoenn region, has a rather unique geographical location.

It is isolated to the southwest of Hoenn's mainland, located in the vast sea area between the Hoenn and Johto regions.

Even starting from Ulquiorra, the southernmost town in Hoenn, the Rotom flying car flew for more than four hours over the vast blue waters before finally outlining the silhouette of that water pearl on the horizon.

The distance of this flight is almost equivalent to a direct flight from Kanaz City, a major city in central Hoenn, to Bukawa Town.

The unique and isolated geographical location also determined the very different cultural characteristics of Otomare, the Water City, from the Hoenn mainland.

Just like its name.

Water is the lifeblood and foundation of the entire city.

The entire city of Odomare is not built on a single solid piece of land, but rather consists of countless islands of varying sizes connected by a network of bridges, causeways, and waterways.

Instead of the bustling streets of ordinary cities, there are dense, winding waterways.

On these shimmering "streets," light and graceful gondolas shuttle back and forth, and ancient boat songs echo leisurely through the waterways.

Standing along both banks of the waterway are ancient buildings that can be traced back more than a thousand years before the Alliance calendar, carrying a distinct old-world charm.

We are about to reach our destination.

Inside the flying car, the elves listened with rapt attention to Rotom's description of Odomare, their curiosity and longing growing ever stronger.

"So, Rotom, do you have any information about the legendary elves of Aldomary?"

Xia Chi suddenly asked.

"Uh, this is it"

In the virtual screen, Rotom displays a thoughtful expression.

A moment later, Rotom's expression changed from thoughtful to happy: "Yes, Rotom! There's a legend in Aldor Mare about a pair of Pokémon named Latios and Latias!"

(End of this chapter)