Pokémon: Trainers Start as Bounty Hunters.

"First of all, once the Combusken gets close, it should not use Flamethrower on the Poliwag; it should use Flamethrower instead."

The charging time for the Big Flame Burst was too long, giving the opponent ample time to use Rain Dance. Otherwise, the Mighty Chicken would have been in better condition afterward.

Although the flamethrower is less powerful, its range is sufficient for two uses, resulting in greater damage and faster speed.

If there are no problems, it can also interrupt the use of rainmaking.

Secondly, the power of the lower body kick is still somewhat insufficient. In fact, if Poliwag hadn't lost its center of gravity more severely than expected, Strongchick wouldn't have been able to kick it down. It still needs to learn a kicking down skill as a reserve.

Thirdly, they should have switched to Pidgeot and Pelipper to battle directly. The unnecessary probing wasted time and allowed Combusken to continuously lose stamina in the rain. Otherwise, they could have had enough stamina to handle the battle against Ponyta later.

Fourthly, at that time, Pidgeot could have used Air Slash directly instead of Aerial Return, as Aerial Return slowed down the rhythm.

Fifthly, or rather, it's okay to use Swallow Return, but you shouldn't rely on Air Slash afterwards. You should try to get close and finish the opponent off with melee combat while they are enveloped by your vortex.

Otherwise, the effect of the swallow's return would not be achieved at all.

Using the air slash actually gave the opponent the opportunity to use Hyper Beam. If Pidgeot hadn't used his Stand at the end, the battle might have ended up with Ishigaki coming in.

Sixth point...

Chapter 59 Raiji and Hayato

Tetsuya reviewed his command in detail and found that there were indeed many problems.

After all, he didn't have much experience in formal combat before this.

Many tactics used in open-world combat are completely unsuitable for formal battles.

Although I have battled with other trainers during my regular training, I have never felt this way before, and my strength is not nearly as close to what it is now.

Sometimes, when you're beating weaker opponents, you can't see any problems with your strategy because the Pokémon's abilities mask those issues.

In a sense, this competition also served as a wake-up call for Tetsuya.

My own strength is still insufficient. If I were strong enough, I could easily overcome it with a simple attack.

"Next up, please welcome Raiji from Cerulean Dojo and Hayata from Saffron Dojo to the match!"

Ten minutes passed quickly as Tetsuya pondered, and the two players on the field were ready.

"Go, Melting Beast!" "Go, Hypnotic Tapir!"

In stark contrast to Tetsuya and Kajiyama's choices, the two on the field unanimously opted to start with their weakest Pokémon.

Tetsuya wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Raiji's face looked a little darker.

That's probably true, since Psychic-type is very effective against Poison-type.

He carefully observed the abilities of both creatures, and his expression became very serious as he saw that the venom and mist spewed out by the Melting Beast had even melted some of the rocks.

Such potent toxins! And this is just a molten beast; what will it be like when it evolves into a devouring beast? The toxicity will be even stronger then.

Combined with a combo that involves charging up and unleashing three skills, its strength will be just as high.

Moreover, that hypnotic tapir was no ordinary creature.

Tetsuya watched as the Hypnotic Tapir relentlessly tormented the Melting Beast with its three techniques: immobilization, telekinesis, and hypnosis, and he was quite amazed by the strength of its superpowers.

It's worth noting that Psychic-type Pokémon have a relatively long development time, only shorter than Ghost and Dragon-types.

At this stage, the fact that this hypnotic tapir could use its skills to deal with the molten beast in such a way is remarkable, even with its attribute advantage. One has to admire its excellent development.

"Shadowball!"

Lei Si squinted, seized an opportunity, and commanded the Melting Beast to use its only skill that was effective against Psychic-type monsters.

Hayato's expression changed. Very few Flood Beasts knew Shadow Ball, and the other party had never used it before. Although he had considered it, he felt the possibility was too small, so he didn't take it to heart.

"Instant teleportation!"

Seeing the Shadow Ball rapidly approaching the Hypnotic Baku, Hayato had no choice but to give the order.

The hypnotic tapir's figure flickered, but it did not use teleportation.

Lei Si lowered his clenched fist. Sure enough, the hypnotic tapir on the other side could barely use teleportation due to its superpowers and mental strength. After the previous heavy consumption, it was now completely unable to use it.

Tetsuya shook his head. Teleportation is not a skill that Psychic-type Pokémon can master easily. In addition to requiring personal strength, it also requires crazy practice, since it involves spatial transformation.

If you don't practice properly or are not strong enough or in good condition, it is easy to fail. Taking someone with you to teleport is even more difficult and can easily lead to life-or-death accidents.

On the field, Shadow Balls struck the Hypnotic Tapir's body one after another, causing it to let out screams and quickly lose its ability to fight due to poisoning.

But the consuming beast was also in bad shape at this time, covered in wounds and panting heavily.

Next, Hayato's second Pokémon, Moonstone, defeated the Melting Beast without any doubt, but unfortunately, it itself fell into a state of poisoning.

Although the damage is not great due to its attributes, it is still very troublesome.

Raiji sent out Scorpion to use delaying tactics, but it was hit by Hayato's Moonstone Rock Slide and was also seriously exhausted.

If it weren't for the fact that Bug-type attacks deal significant damage to Moonstones, Raikou might have actually suffered a slight loss.

Fortunately, Moonstone lost its fighting ability first.

When Hayato's third Pokémon, Exeggutor, appeared, Tetsuya's face twitched violently.

He had wanted to complain about it as soon as he received the information.

No, you're telling me this is a trainer from an ordinary citizen who was invested in by the Goldenrod Gym?

Hypnotizing the tapir is one thing, but he can grit his teeth and consider it good luck that he got it.

You just give away Moonstones, a rare spirit?

His starter Pokémon is an Exeggcute, and you just give him a Leaf Stone to evolve it directly?

Tetsuya admitted that he was indeed jealous.

Although Stone Golem has three forms and is much stronger than Moonstone, it is not only a rare Psychic-type Pokémon, but also quite rare in itself, making it just as valuable.

Furthermore, there is an evolution stone called Leaf Stone, which is unlikely to be of low quality and is very expensive.

Looking at the investment in Nibi Dojo, it was originally quite good, but the difference becomes apparent when compared.

Tetsuya thought to himself, "No wonder it's the most prosperous city in Kanto, Golden City. They're so rich!"

Watching Lei Si unleash his final Starhawk against Exeggutor, who was badly injured from fighting Scorpion, he knew that Lei Si had most likely won this match.

There was no other way; Scorpion's Bug-type was too effective against Hayabusa. With similar levels, Scorpion essentially took on one and a half opponents.

Not to mention Staraptor's advantage against Grass-types, the opponent simply has no way to deal with it.

Sure enough, with the attack of the Starhawk, Exeggutor quickly lost its ability to fight.

The referee then declared Raiji the winner, who would advance to the finals to face Tetsuya.

Tetsuya stood up and went to Miss Joy to retrieve his spirit.

The main reason was to avoid running into Lei Siyou.

Back at the training ground, Tetsuya pondered.

Judging from Lei Si's strength just now, I still have a significant advantage. The plan I made last night was also quite perfect, with no major problems and no major surprises or changes needed.

The Melting Beast and Pincer Scorpion are at a disadvantage in terms of attributes when facing their own Stone Ball and Mighty Chicken, not to mention that they have the advantage in terms of overall ability.

The best approach is to start with a strong chicken, since a star eagle is unlikely to be the first move.

So this way, the results are very good whether facing the pincer-tailed scorpion or the molten beast.

If Lei Si chooses a Melting Beast first and doesn't switch Pokémon, the worst that can happen is that the Brontosaurus gets poisoned and defeats the opponent.

Therefore, we need to resolve the battle with the Scorpion quickly and without delay, otherwise the worst outcome will probably be a two-for-two exchange, and we might even have to deplete some of our stamina before the Eagle.

If you're facing the Claw-tailed Scorpion, there's not much to say. After dealing with the Claw-tailed Scorpion, you can take care of the Melting Beast in the process. At worst, you can send out Stone Balls to deal with the Melting Beast.

Ultimately, Pidgeot facing Staraptor would be in Pidgeot's favor.

Moreover, what we are considering now is only the worst-case scenario under this condition. If we are not mistaken about Lei Si's command, the best-case scenario is that the Mighty Chicken can defeat two opponents at once, and may even be able to wear down the Mighty Eagle.

Of course, you can also start with a stone pellet, in which case you would need...

With the final confirmation, Tetsuya revealed a strange smile.

Chapter 60 The Battle of the Champions

Rest time passes in the blink of an eye.

As the host's voice rang out, Tetsuya and Raiji were already standing on the command platform.

The referee raises his flag.

"The next match is a 3v3 duel between Tamaki Tetsuya and Raiji. You can change your Pokémon once during the match."

The player whose three Pokémon all fall down first loses. So now, the match begins!

Both players should send out their Pokémon simultaneously.

"Go, Stone Ball!" "Go, Melting Beast!"

A stone-like sprite and a round, green, teardrop-shaped sprite appeared on the field.

"Throw mud!" "Acid bomb!"

Their voices rang out almost simultaneously.

As the two Pokémon used their skills, the green acid bomb and the brown mud ball collided in the air.

The two objects touched, making a sizzling sound; the acid bomb completely melted the mud.

Moreover, the acid bombs spewed by the Melting Beast even had enough power to fly towards the Stone Ball.

Tetsuya watched this scene with great composure.

Unfortunately, Shiwanzi's level is still somewhat lower than the opponent's, after all, it was only recently born.

However, due to elemental advantage, the acid bomb cannot hit the stone ball after it has consumed all the mud.

Sure enough, clumps of green acid flew a short distance before landing on the ground.

"Splat, sizzle~"

It then corroded the ground into patches.

"Gravity, Invisible Rock".

It's still the most familiar skill combination.

Shi Wanzi quickly set up the venue.

Unfortunately, when these two Pokémon clash, it's a rather long battle of offense and defense.

None of them are particularly skilled in close-quarters combat.

The opponent needs to be wary of using ground-attribute skills to attack at close range with the Stone Balls, as they are extremely effective and virtually impossible to dodge.

He arranged things this way to be on the safe side.

"Poison gas".

Lei Si didn't take it seriously; he hadn't intended to get close anyway.

Commanding the Melting Beast to release poison gas, it flew unsteadily towards the Stone Ball.

"Quicksand Hell".

Tetsuya continued to calmly and methodically turn the entire venue into his own home turf.

After all, the speed of the poison gas was simply too slow.

It wasn't until Stone Ball used Quicksand Hell twice that Poison Gas finally flew into the range of the Gravity skill.

At this moment, apart from the pervasive presence of poison gas, nothing seemed to have changed on the field.

Because neither gravity, nor invisible rocks, nor quicksand hell can be observed with the naked eye.

Only when the opponent enters the attack range can you know that a skill has been deployed here.

Seeing that the other side was only focused on setting up the field and remained indifferent to the poison gas, Lei Si was also a little confused.

However, he wouldn't underestimate Tetsuya, so he used "Sludge Attack".

Anyway, once the opponent is poisoned, dragging the game out will be advantageous for me.