Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

On the field, Milotic carried out its trainer's instructions without hesitation.

The water surged, accompanied by a tiny splash, and a magnificent tail with red and blue scales disappeared into the water.

Even during its strategic retreat, Milnas maintained its elegant demeanor.

Milotic ran cleanly and efficiently, while Gardevoir, charging forward, closed its eyes and gathered energy. This should have been an expected scene, but Miketsu frowned slightly.

His extensive combat experience told him that this was not a precursor to a Thunderbolt or a Psycho-Strike, because the energy fluctuation was not violent, but rather the peaceful nature of a transformation move.

So...Gardevoir should continue to indulge in Meditation?

Mikoli's heart skipped a beat. He felt it was no surprise that this bold decision came from Xia Chen, but it was something he couldn't accept.

After two meditations, Milotic would have no chance against Gardevoir.

While theoretically you could use Dragon Tail to force it back into its Poké Ball, the frustrating thing is that Gardevoir happens to be a Fairy-type Pokémon immune to Dragon-type moves...

Therefore, if Gardevoir were to meditate twice in a row, I would inevitably be forced to switch to a Pokémon in a sorry state.

That's not elegant at all.

"Water cannon!"

This time, Mikoli's command was devoid of any fancy embellishments, which was enough to show his eagerness.

wow-

Milotic, which had just entered the water, immediately surfaced, its mouth churning again.

It's no wonder that this is a Pokémon personally trained by Mikuri. It unleashed two super-powerful moves in a row. If it were an ordinary Pokémon, the second Water Cannon would definitely be somewhat weakened.

However, Milotic showed no signs of weakness, unleashing another powerful water cannon.

Because of the teleportation, the water cannon arrived in front of Gardevoir in almost an instant, but the latter still did not dodge or evade.

Why aren't you dodging?

Are you going to force yourself to complete this meditation again?

Mikoli raised an eyebrow slightly, pondering a solution.

There are essentially two ways to deal with buff-type status moves: one is to force them out of the field, and the other is to use the move that forces the status changes of the Pokémon on the field back to their original state—Mist.

There aren't many Pokémon that can master this Ice-type status move, but for a Water-type Gym Leader, it just so happens that he naturally has no shortage of such a Pokémon.

…………

The rain gradually intensified, with large raindrops forming lines that created ripples on the water's surface.

With the help of such rainy weather, the water cannon, which should have been unleashing tons of damage with overwhelming force, seemed to be blocked by some inexplicable wall in the air, and the frenzied water energy suddenly became sluggish.

It was supposed to be a water cannon when it was fired, but when it hit, it was only as effective as a water gun.

What's happening here?

Exclamations of surprise could be heard from the audience from time to time.

Mikoli on the field only paused for a moment before quickly reacting.

Gardevoir didn't just use Meditation, it used Light Screen!

He looked towards the arena, wanting to confirm his conjecture, only to see a semi-transparent glass-like energy barrier suddenly appear in front of Gardevoir, its strange halo flashing intermittently under the reflection of the dome lights.

It's a wall of light!

Light Screen is a Psychic-type status move. Its effect is simple: it reduces the damage from special attacks taken from the opponent. If the energy level of the setup is high enough, the reduction can be close to half!

Mikoli frowned. Double meditation was manageable; a single white mist could neutralize its effects. But with the light wall erected, dealing with it required more than just a single white mist.

On the field, the water jet, which was called a water cannon but was actually not much stronger than a water gun, hit Gardevoir but failed to create much of a splash.

Light Screen was immediately effective against special attack moves like Hydro Pump. Combined with the boost to its special defense from Calm Mind, Gardevoir, which already had extremely high special defense and bulk, managed to withstand the Hydro Pump without even flinching.

Meditation combined with the wall of light allows you to do whatever you want in front of Milotic.

With the stage already set up, Xia Chen had no more worries.

"Gardevoir, Thunderbolt!"

"Sana!"

In response to a delicate shout, bright, crackling electricity suddenly flashed from the orange-red horn on Gardevoir's chest, where energy was stored.

Water-type has few weaknesses, but Electric-type is one of them. This is one of the main reasons why Xia Chen chose Gardevoir as his first choice. Type advantage should not be blindly believed, but it should not be ignored either.

The dazzling silver Thunder Dragon roared as it charged toward Milotic on the water's surface. Unable to retaliate against the three attacks it unleashed in quick succession, Milotic had no choice but to take the hit of the Thunderbolt while in a meditative state.

Shila-

A violent current surged through Milotic's long body, the water amplifying the electrical potential. The bright yellow electric light tightly enveloped its entire wet body, causing even a creature as durable as Milotic to let out a bloodcurdling scream.

…………

"Continue, 100,000 volts!"

Before the previous 100,000 volts had even finished, Xia Chen suddenly spoke up.

Since one move is effective enough, there's no reason for him to switch to another; he should aim to secure the first blood in one fell swoop.

With Reflect in front of her, Gardevoir could unleash its full power without worry, and in an instant, a bright yellow lightning dragon roared out once again.

Just as Milotic was being overwhelmed by this combo, a red light flashed behind him, engulfing Milotic and causing him to disappear.

At the same time, a huge black shadow appeared where Milotic had just been, and withstood the 100,000 volts.

The raging lightning could not shake it in the slightest; the thick arms that had blocked the lightning with their bare hands seemed exceptionally reliable.

"Swamp——"

The roar was deafening, and the black shadow that took over the field appeared. It was a giant blue muscular monster, Swampert, with a height of nearly two meters and a thick base.

Xia Chen's expression remained unchanged. Both the timing of the exchange and the Pokémon that came on were entirely within his expectations.

The presence of Meditation and Reflect makes it impossible for the opponent to switch to a special attack-oriented Pokémon. Among the more powerful Water-type physical attackers that Wallace can fight, there are only a few: Sharpedo, Gyarados, and the Swampert in front of us.

Gyarados is four times weak to Electric, Sharpedo is being tormented by Fairy-types, and facing Gardevoir doesn't seem like a good choice either, so Swampert's appearance is only natural.

The only question remains: how strong is this Swampert...?

Near-King level!

Feeling the feedback transmitted back by the power of waveguide, Xia Chen felt a tremor in his heart, and then his expression became solemn.

In fact, the boundaries for classifying the strength of Pokémon are not strict.

The level that people usually discuss is a Pokémon's energy level, which determines the power of the moves it can unleash.

In addition, physical strength, six-dimensional abilities, combat experience and the like are all factors that affect the combat power of a Pokémon. However, these are either directly proportional to energy intensity or vary greatly from person to person, making them difficult to determine.

Just like Xia Chen's Pokémon, their energy levels may have just broken through the Gym level, but looking at their battle records, things like the green Blastoise and Steven's Metagross were all defeated.

Therefore, the true strength of this giant swamp monster, which possesses energy intensity close to that of a Celestial King, may even exceed Xia Chen's detection.

…………

"Be careful, this Swampert is already one of my main second-team Pokémon."

Perhaps out of confidence in Swampert's strength, Mikuri did not launch an attack immediately after switching sides, but instead politely reminded Xia Chen.

What sounded like an insult or provocation actually contained no malice whatsoever.

Even Wallace's second team of Pokémon is enough to become the absolute main force for most Gym Leaders.

Xia Chen took a deep breath; he didn't take advantage of Mikoli's reminder to make Gardevoir do anything.

You can give it up, or I can choose not to.

This is his pride; even if he loses the game because of it, he will never regret it.

He simply warned, "Gardedor, be careful, this opponent is extremely powerful..."

Without exaggeration, aside from that legendary battle, this is definitely the strongest Pokémon he has ever encountered in a serious battle.

But Xia Chen had no intention of backing down at all; on the contrary, he was full of excitement.

Perfect! Use your robust body to test Gardevoir's true ultimate violent output!

Gardevoir... Energy Ball!

Xia Chen's command paused intentionally; this was a coded message between him and Gardevoir. The slight pause was a signal to unleash a move using emotional energy.

"Sana!"

A strange light flashed briefly in Gardevoir's beautiful, ruby-like left eye, and the energy flowing through its chest to the Eye of Memde was amplified and quickly flowed back.

Immediately, a green light flashed at the energy tip on his chest. The color, which should have been peaceful and full of vitality, appeared inexplicably frenzied at this moment.

Grass-type is Swampert's only weakness, as it has almost no weaknesses. Apart from that, it has no advantage against any other type.

Its only weakness, however, is a fatal weakness four times greater.

Most Swampert trainers would avoid such a move at all costs, but Wallace laughed heartily.

"Swamp Monster, fight it!"

Elegance does not mean weakness.

If someone using Swampert, which is already considered their main Pokémon, still has to fear a junior who is only eighteen years old, then they are not worthy of being the Gym Leader of Sootopolis City.

"Swamp!"

The Swamp Monster roared and howled, its thick, powerful paws slapping the water's surface to generate momentum. Then, its waist, thighs, back, and all parts of its body coordinated and merged into one, moving rapidly across the water's surface with a strange and fluid swimming style.

Although Swampert prefers to live on land, as an elf who came from the water, he has not forgotten his skills in the water at all.

In the pouring rain, this seemingly clumsy body rapidly approached Gardevoir in a peculiar manner.

A deep blue luster flowed across his entire body, making it impossible to tell whether it was the current of water he created while riding the waves or the intense water energy overflowing from his body.

Swampert is like an amphibious heavy armored vehicle. Its body is the most terrifying weapon, and the flowing water is the means of carrying it. Like climbing a waterfall, Swampert rolls forward with a fearless momentum that seems capable of crushing all enemies.

This kind of energy-based attack method is exactly the water-based physical move, Waterfall!

Time seemed to slow down countless times during Swampert's charge. Its astonishing momentum made all the spectators holding their breath. The only sounds in the arena were the splashing water and Swampert's heavy but even breathing.

At the end of its rushing route, Gardevoir remained oblivious to this horrifying scene.

In front of her, an energy sphere radiating a lustrous light like black jade had expanded to its maximum!