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

As for what happens after they go back, and how Sakaki will view them, that's beyond Xia Chen's control.

After dealing with all of this, the next day, as expected, Crimson Fruit eagerly challenged Xia Chen.

Xia Chen was quite troubled. "Won't we be participating in the Donghuang Tournament in two months? Won't we be able to have a good fight then?"

Having just dealt with so many things, he wasn't really looking forward to high-intensity battles.

An opponent like Crimson is someone you can't fool when you're facing them.

To avoid a fight, he even resorted to provocation, asking, "Or are you not confident enough to face me in battle?"

This tactic worked as expected. Chi Hong froze, and even though she knew it was Xia Chen's excuse, she couldn't refute it.

The Pikachu on its shoulder was calling out "Pika Pika!" and looked very spirited.

Red sighed, "Alright, then I guess I'll just have to challenge the Tennan Gym."

Xia Chen asked in surprise, "You haven't collected all eight badges yet?"

Xia Chen remembered that when they met more than a year ago, he had already obtained four badges. So much time has passed, and he still hasn't collected them all?

Chi Hong revealed a row of clean white teeth. "I've already collected them all, but I haven't challenged the Tennan Dojo yet. It's a good time to give it a try."

Yes, that's very much a fighter.

Xia Chen felt that if it were him, after collecting all eight badges, he probably wouldn't participate in the pointless gym challenge anymore.

He currently only has five badges, and he still needs to participate in three gym battles.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Okay, I'll go with you."

Crimson rolled her eyes. "Didn't you say you didn't want to fight? So you just didn't want to fight me."

Xia Chen explained, "Because playing with you is too tiring. What difficulty could there be in challenging a dojo?"

This tactful response pleased Red, and the two immediately went arm in arm to the Tiannan Dojo for a challenge.

They weren't the type to plan ahead, claiming that "the meaning of a journey lies in every surprise along the way."

When they arrived at the dojo, they discovered that the rules of the Tiannan Dojo were somewhat different from those elsewhere.

The format here is doubles!

Chapter 448 The Stunning Crimson

Doubles is also a mainstream form of Pokémon battle.

Even in the Pokémon games of the previous era, double battles were much more popular and entertaining than single battles.

The reasons are nothing more than a few: doubles has more routines, more tactics, more variables, and requires more strategic thinking from the trainers.

However, in this world, one-on-one matches are still more popular.

After all, reality isn't a turn-based game; 1v1 battles are inherently unpredictable.

At least, the most popular competitions, including regional tournaments, world dojo tournaments, the Tenno tournament, and the Eight Masters tournament, are all singles tournaments.

However, there are many trainers who are enthusiastic about doubles battles, and there are some more authoritative doubles competitions, including singles doubles and doubles doubles.

The challenge rules at Tiannan Dojo are doubles, and their tradition is that the dojo's owners, a husband and wife, guard the badge.

This is why the Tiannan Gym has always attracted trainer couples from all over the East to come and challenge it, even if they are not challenging the East Tournament to collect badges.

This trend has become even more pronounced since the advent of the internet age, and there has even been a growing trend towards internet celebrities.

On a whim, Xia Chen and Chi Hong, who hadn't made an appointment, ended up queuing for several hours to take on the challenge.

They only found out that the competition format was doubles after they got their turn.

"How about we team up and play together?"

Crimson made the suggestion with considerable excitement.

I've played against Xia Chen two or three times over the past few years, but we've never been teammates. This doubles match is a good opportunity.

Xia Chen readily replied, "Sure."

Although he had never played doubles with Red and there was basically no chemistry between them, good trainers have similar abilities to seize opportunities, so he wasn't too worried about their communication problems.

After a quick registration, the two stepped into the dojo's challenge area.

The couple who run the dojo are quite old, probably in their fifties or sixties. However, in doubles, a match that requires teamwork, being older is actually an advantage.

Because of the unique doubles format of this dojo, there are many spectators sitting on the sidelines watching the matches, including local residents and tourists.

Given Xia Chen's current fame in Donghuang, he was recognized as soon as he stepped into the arena.

He was greeted with enthusiastic applause and shouts of his name.

Xia Chen was deeply moved. This time, at least he wasn't recognized until he sent out Sylveon or Milotic.

Although the owners of Tiannan Martial Arts Academy were elderly, they were clearly aware of current events and quickly recognized Xia Chen.

They smiled kindly at Xia Chen, then turned away to whisper to each other.

Then the seemingly kind-looking gym leader greeted him, "Wait a moment, we're going to exchange a few Pokémon."

Xia Chen was speechless. Well, this is a case of "tailoring one's approach to the person being treated"? Does this mean he's going to increase the intensity of his own actions?

I'm sure I can handle it, but I don't know if Red can.

Hmm... there seems to be no need to worry about him. Just enjoy the game.

While the gym leader and his wife went to exchange their Pokémon, Xia Chen discussed tactics with Red, who was standing nearby.

…………

"The rule is to choose four out of six, which means each person has to choose two out of three. Who are you going to send out?"

Xia Chen asked first.

His Pokémon are slightly stronger than Crimson's, so he plans to let Crimson choose first, while he sends out some Pokémon that are easy to coordinate with.

Red thought for a moment and said, "How about Charizard and Venusaur?"

Xia Chen raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Team Sunny Day?"

This combination is as iconic as the Big-headed Gull and Ludicolo in the rain, or the Old Man and Excadrill in a sandstorm.

Red smiled and replied, "Because the Tiannan Gym is a Bug-type gym, Fire-types are easier to beat."

Xia Chen nodded; what he said was true.

There used to be a classic joke about Pokémon battles: Parasect, a Cordyceps-type Pokémon with the Dry Skin ability, was five times weak to Fire.

Under a clear sky, with the Solar Power ability, a Charizard carrying Charcoal unleashes a massive burst of flame. How many health bars does Parasect still need?

Although it's unknown whether the opposing team will send Parasect, focusing on Fire-type attacks is definitely the best choice to defeat this gym.

Pulling himself back to reality, Xia Chen said, "Alright, then I'll use Volcarona, Azure Blade Demon, and Draco."

As Xia Chen finalized his tactics, the club owner and his wife returned to the battlefield.

The referee read out the battle rules as usual: "A doubles battle in which four out of six players can have two Mega Evolution and Crystallized Pokémon on the field at the same time. When all of a player's Pokémon are unable to battle, the player loses."

This rule is slightly different from the regular doubles. In the regular doubles, the winner is determined by all four Pokémon being near death. Under this rule, theoretically, you only need to target one player's two Pokémon to win.

Such rules actually put more emphasis on teamwork between partners.

Both sides agreed on the rules, and soon, with the referee's whistle and enthusiastic cheers from the sidelines, the match officially began.

Four beams of white light flashed simultaneously, and the starting Pokémon of both sides made their appearance.

In front of Xia Chen and Chi Hong were Volcarona and Venusaur, respectively, while the gym leader and his wife's starting Pokémon were Shuckle and Centiskorp.

Xia Chen frowned. These two Pokémon... didn't seem to be at a disadvantage against Team Sunny.

Centipede is a fire-type Pokémon that is not weak to fire-type moves and can also benefit from the opponent's Sunny Day.

If its ability is [Ignite], it can even completely absorb fire-type moves for its teammates!

The same applies to Shuckle's Bug/Rock type; while this Pokémon is average offensively, its defensive stats are extremely overpowered.

Even more incredible is that it has a move called "Defense Sharing" - which splits its physical defense and special defense equally with the opponent's.

This "opponent" certainly includes not only opponents, but also teammates.

This move perfectly compensates for the defensive shortcomings of the offensive attacker, Flame Centipede.

…………

Quickly envisioning the possible developments of the battle, Xia Chen chose the optimal solution that his two lineups could use to deal with the opponent.

He turned to look at Crimson, intending to communicate with him, only to find that Crimson was also looking at him.

The two said in unison, "Let's deal with the pot first!"

Their eyes met, and they immediately understood that the other was thinking the same thing, and they smiled at each other.

Turning around, the two of them each issued their first command.

"Burning Bug, tailwind!"

"Venusaur, Rage Pink!"

Speed ​​is of the essence in war, so neither of them gave the order to target the enemy; they both trusted their understanding with the elf.

Meanwhile, the gym owner couple across from the rock arena also began directing the operation.

"Jack, defense tied!"

"Flaming Centipede, hold the line!"

The four Pokémon are roughly equal in strength, all at the Gym Leader level or higher, and their reactions are incredibly fast.

The moment the command was given, all four sprites began to move simultaneously.

Since the opponent's two Pokémon did not choose to attack, Volcarona's Tailwind was released unimpeded as it flapped its three pairs of wings.

A strange wind, stirred by Flying-type energy, blew up from behind Volcarona and Venusaur.

With the help of this strange wind, the bright flowers on Venusaur's back seemed to be secreting pollen a little faster.

Soon, specks of dark green powder flew towards the Flame Centipede on the wind.

Under normal circumstances, the angry powder, released so quickly and with the wind at its back, would most likely hit its target.