Elf: Start your slow-paced life after becoming a farmer.

After all, physical attackers are responsible for physical attacks, while special attackers should be responsible for special attacks.

However, Carl is clearly not an ordinary trainer; he has always advocated for the all-round development of all Pokémon.

When training Espeon, because Espeon's body is rather "delicate", he specially taught Espeon the somewhat uncommon move Psychic.

The current situation on the battlefield is clearly the best stage for Ibrahimovic to showcase the results of his training.

As the condensed psychic energy was about to strike Lady Florges's slender waist, Lip shouted to her, "Lady Florges, use Protect!"

Lady Florges' timely barrier blocked the attack, but Espeon's offensive had only just begun.

Suddenly, the ruby ​​between Espeon's eyebrows lit up with a dazzling red light, and more than a dozen entities formed from psychic waves rained down on the direction where Lady Flora was.

Lip quickly found a solution: since it was a physical attack, why not just block it with a physical attack? So she spoke again and commanded, "Lady Flower, use Falling Petals."

As Lip's voice fell, Lady Florges began to sway her slender waist, and petals drifted down from her two "twin tails," accompanied by grass-type energy that transformed into a rain of petals that blocked most of the mental impact.

At the same time, Espeon's eyes shone brightly, and with the help of its psychic powers, its body transformed into a purple streak, rushing swiftly towards the direction of Florges under the "cover" of the petal rain.

"Espada, use Tackle!" Carl used the power of Bonds to give the command to Espeon in his mind.

At this moment, both Houbo and Gadria, who were watching the battle from the sidelines, were clearly puzzled by Espeon's actions.

Why would Espeon make such a "risky" move without a trainer's guidance?

“No, perhaps it’s not that Karl didn’t give any instructions, but that none of us heard them,” Cattleya suddenly realized.

As a psychic, Gadria was very familiar with the atmosphere between Carl and Espeon at that moment.

On the surface, Pokémon seem to be taking "adventures" without the trainer's guidance, but in reality, the trainer and Pokémon have already communicated through "telepathy".

"Huh? Miss Gadriya, what do you mean by that?" Huang Bo was a little confused by Gadriya's words and looked at her blankly.

"Miss Obo, when you were battling Miss Lip, did you ever encounter a situation where she didn't say anything, but her Pokémon acted on its own?" Gadria didn't answer Obo's question directly, but instead asked in return.

"Huh? How did you know?" Huang Bo stared wide-eyed at Cattleya, who had an expression that said, "I saw through everything long ago," and asked curiously.

"This is because some Psychic-type Pokémon can communicate with their trainers through telepathy, making it impossible for opponents to judge their attack intentions based on their commands," Caitlia explained to Houbo with a smug look on her face.

At this moment, Lip, who was on the battlefield, had obviously guessed Karl's actions. She frowned and quickly analyzed Karl's next move in her mind.

And so, under everyone's watchful eyes, Espeon burst through the swirling petals and, with a speed that Florges couldn't react to, crashed headfirst into its slender waist.

Chapter 238 Lip's trump card combination technique!

"A self-sacrificing charge?!"

After recognizing the move used by Espeon, all the trainers present except for Carl were stunned by what they saw.

There are many different kinds of trainers in the world. Some trainers can teach Pikachu the Surf move, and some trainers can teach Scizor to use Swords Dance to block Flamethrower. But very few trainers can teach Pokémon that are good at special attacks to use powerful physical attack moves. This is because the effort and reward are not proportional.

After all, it's better to spend time mastering special attack moves than learning powerful physical attack moves.

But Karl did exactly that, and judging from the skill Espeon displayed, it seemed to be quite used to it.

As Espeon crashed into Florges, it skillfully somersaulted in the air and, with the help of psychic powers, absorbed most of the reaction force, suffering little damage.

Lady Flower, who had withstood the self-destructive impact, did not appear to be in good condition, as could be seen from the pained expression on her face and the withered petals on her body.

The reason why Karl taught Espeon to use Sacrifice was actually inspired by a certain Silver Mountain god of war.

Back in that battle atop Silver Mountain, that fighter commanded his Espeon to launch a surprise attack on Serperior, a counterintuitive command that caused Karl a lot of trouble.

After that, Karl also incorporated his self-destructive charging into Ibrahimovic's regular training routine.

Furthermore, thanks to the presence of a "martial arts master" like Urshifu in the team, Espeon learned the "Recovery" technique under Urshifu's tutelage, thus minimizing the damage caused by the reaction force of the Charge.

Carl's strategic maneuver became the deciding factor in this battle. Judging from the state of both Pokémon, Florges, Ripple's ace, was clearly at a disadvantage. As long as Carl played steadily, victory was already in his grasp.

However, Lip was clearly not going to give up so easily. She raised her hand and shouted to Lady Florges on the battlefield, "Lady Florges, use Petal Dance!"

Petal Dance, a powerful Grass-type Special Attack move, attacks the opponent with scattered petals and inflicts confusion upon the move's end.

The move Petal Dance is actually the Grass-type version of Outrage. However, in reality, compared to Outrage, Petal Dance has a very overpowered characteristic: it can be linked with moves like Magic Leaf and Petalfall that release leaves and petals.

"Coincidentally," just now, Madam Huajie had just released the Falling Petals Dance. Therefore, the battlefield covered with petals at this moment was just the right time to maximize the power of the Petal Dance.

And this is precisely Lip's trump card!

As Lady Flower danced gracefully across the battlefield, countless petals scattered on the ground moved without wind, guided by her movements.

At this moment, the battlefield covered with petals is a huge "meat grinder" for Espeon. The petals flying all over the sky may seem beautiful, but in reality they carry a chilling "killing intent" that makes people's hair stand on end.

When Gadriya, who was watching from the sidelines, saw this scene, a rare look of excitement appeared on her face. She was clearly surprised by Lip's "secret weapon".

The combination of "Falling Petals" and "Petal Dance" seems simple, but in reality, just the fact that "Petal Dance moves the petals all over the field" is enough to keep many trainers away, not to mention the precise control of each petal to inflict damage on the opponent.

To create this beautiful scene, both "sweat" and "talent" are indispensable. In fact, without the enhancement of crystallization, this combo alone would be enough to deplete all the energy in Madam Huajie's body.

(Note: The "Tai Crystallization Enhancement" here refers to the increased energy reserves within the body after Tai Crystallization, not an increase in the power of Grass-type moves.)

Even with the enhancement of crystallization, after Lady Huajie unleashed this combination of techniques, she only had enough energy left to cast one more skill.

However, in terms of energy control, even within Carl's team, Espeon ranks among the top five.

Therefore, upon seeing Lady Florges unleash this combination attack, Carl's smile grew even brighter: 'Euphorbia, use your full power of Wide-Range to push them back!'

Wide-area attack, a Psychic-type special attack move. The only characteristic of this move is its extremely large coverage area. It is a correct choice to deal with combination attacks that cover almost the entire battlefield.

As Carl used telepathy to respond to Espeon's commands, the ruby ​​representing spiritual power between Espeon's eyebrows lit up with a dazzling red light.

The next instant, an overwhelming surge of psychic power poured out like a tidal wave, colliding with the grass-type energy represented by "Petal Dance," which was enhanced by "Falling Petals."

An invisible wave spread outward from the center of the battlefield, causing Karl's clothes to flutter loudly.

Lip, standing on the other side of the battlefield, seemed completely unaffected. She simply pressed down on her skirt, and the wind seemed to bypass her position, sweeping past her to the sides.

“???” Carl looked at this scene with a puzzled expression. In his memory, Lip did not seem to be a superhuman. Could it be that there really is an anti-Newton skirt in this world?

Under Carl's watchful gaze, Lip turned her head and nodded slightly to Gadria on the sidelines. Only then did Carl realize that it was Gadria who had made the move.

The clash on the battlefield lasted for about half a minute. At this time, both Espeon and Florges looked like they were giving it their all, and it was clear that neither of them wanted to lose in this clash.

Ten seconds later, the chaotic air currents in the battlefield gradually calmed down. At this moment, Espeon stood on the ground, panting heavily. It was clear that it had exhausted the last bit of energy in its body during the collision, and it didn't even have the energy to keep it suspended in the air.

Meanwhile, Lady Florges, standing on the other side of the battlefield, wasn't in much better shape. After taking the hit from Espeon's Charge, she didn't even have time to recover before unleashing Petal Dance. The only reason she didn't fall was because of her indomitable spirit.

At this moment, Carl and Lip, standing on opposite sides of the battlefield, were both staring intently at their respective Pokémon. Carl even used the power of bond to cheer for Espeon in his heart.

Under the tense gaze of everyone, it was ultimately the more seriously injured Lady Florges who collapsed to the ground first. At this moment, the gym referee standing on the sidelines raised his hand and loudly announced: "The winner of this gym challenge is the challenger Carl!"

And so the gym challenge came to an end.

Chapter 239 Charizard: I Can Explain

After the battle, the classic "give a badge and talk trash" segment followed. However, since Carl was not an ordinary challenger, Lip simply omitted the "talk trash" segment.

"Challenger Carl, congratulations on passing the Redoubt Gym. This is the Redoubt Gym Badge." Lip walked slowly to Carl, took the badge from the staff member, and handed it to Carl personally.

“Thank you.” Carl took the Bacon Badge from Lip and thanked her with a smile.

"Speaking of which, in the first round, the status effect that Saltstone placed on Super Ostrich couldn't be removed by eating Wood Seed Fruit, was it because that status effect wasn't considered an 'abnormal status'?" Lip asked directly, voicing her doubts.

“That’s right.” Karl nodded and continued to explain, “Because in the wild of the Padia region, Salt Rock will heal wild Pokémon that are in an abnormal condition by spraying clean salt, so the ‘salted’ status is not an ‘abnormal’ status for Pokémon.”

"I see," Lip said, suddenly realizing.

After hearing the explanation, Huang Bo, who had come to Karl's side after the battle, exclaimed, "I didn't expect that you, Karl, an outsider, would know more about the Pokémon Salt Rock than we do."

"After all, I'm a farmer, and Salt Rock, a Pokémon that can produce rock salt, is one of my key breeding targets," Carl explained casually.

"A farmer?" Lip looked Carl up and down with some curiosity.

In Lip's opinion, Karl's appearance is quite striking even in the modeling world, especially his bright chestnut eyes, which are enough to leave a deep impression at first glance.

Because Carl travels frequently, he has a healthy tan, and due to working on the farm, he is in quite good shape.

Although Karl doesn't have the defined muscles of someone who spends all their time in the gym, he can still be described as someone who looks slim in clothes but has a muscular build underneath.

Caldelia, who was standing to the side, obviously already knew about Karl the rancher's identity, so she didn't show too much surprise. However, Huang Bo's expression after hearing the news was quite interesting.

"So, Mr. Carl, you're a farmer too?" Huang Bo looked at Carl with surprise. She had thought that Carl, like her, maintained such a good figure because of years of exercise.

If Huang Bo had checked the Orange Academy forum regularly, she would have known about this news long ago.

However, as a fighting and training fanatic, she spent almost all her free time honing her fighting skills and training Pokémon, which is why she was unaware of this news.

"In fact, running the farm is my main job, and being a combat instructor at Orange Academy is just a side job for me," Karl shrugged, looking completely at ease.

Just then, Carl's phone, which was in his pocket, suddenly beeped with a message notification. He took the phone out of his pocket and saw that it was a message from a champion from the Sinnoh region.

[Ran: This time, I will be accompanying Dr. Yamanashi to the Padiya region.]

[Zhu Lan: I went to the Padia region mainly to attend Lia's inauguration ceremony, but before that, would you like to meet up? I'd like to invite you and Yamanashi to dinner, and also to apologize for what happened with Lia.]

Upon seeing the message, Karl instinctively turned to look at Cattleya.

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Gadriya looked at Karl with a puzzled expression.

"No, it's nothing." Karl looked away, his fingers rapidly tapping the screen as he sent a reply to Zhu Lan.

[Karl: No problem. Should I make a reservation at the restaurant?]

[Zhu Lan: No need, I've already made a reservation.]

Carl: OK, see you tomorrow.

After replying to the message, Karl looked at Lip and Huang Bo standing in front of him and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I just had an important message to reply to."

"It's alright," Lip waved her hand dismissively.

After the battle, Lip recalled the thoughts that had arisen during the fight, her eyes casually scanning back and forth between Karl and Gadria.

Then Lip discovered that the atmosphere between Carl and Cattleya was not as she had imagined; she even vaguely sensed that the relationship between the two seemed somewhat strained.

This discovery fueled Lip's gossip-loving spirit even more, but as someone who works in the modeling industry, she knew that curiosity killed the cat, and there were some gossips she simply couldn't afford to "eat."

Having figured this out, Lip immediately banished that "distracting thought" from her mind and said to Carl with a smile, "Now that the gym challenge is over, then I..."

Before Lip could finish speaking, a uniformed staff member rushed to her side and whispered something in her ear.

After the staff member finished speaking, Lip's expression changed, as if something very serious had happened.

"Excuse me, there's something very urgent that I need to take care of right now." Lip said quickly, "Huang Bo, could you please entertain Karl and Gadria for me?"

Just then, Cattleya suddenly spoke up: "Lip, can you tell me what happened? As the future king of the Padia Alliance, I can also do my part for you."

Lip frowned, glanced at Karl, and without much hesitation immediately said, "The staff just told me that a powerful wild fire-breathing dragon has appeared in the waters of the West Padia Sea, and it seems to be causing damage in the sea."

At this point, Karl's lips twitched, and he immediately said, "Ahem, that fire-breathing dragon wasn't wild."

"?"*3

At this moment, all three eyes were focused on Karl, and Karl could only bite the bullet and say, "Well, that might be my Pokémon. I just landed outside Fuchsia Town and sent it to train in the waters far from the coastline."

Lip breathed a slight sigh of relief, then said, "Then I'll trouble you, Carl, to come with me. That Charizard has disturbed the fish and wild Pokémon in that area, and has already interfered with the fishermen's normal fishing work."

"I'm sorry," Karl said sincerely, "I didn't expect it to turn out this way."

……

Five minutes later, Karl rode Garchomp to the area where Charizard was. There, Charizard was floating comfortably on the surface of the sea, lazily taking a nap.

"Charizard!"

The Charizard shuddered the moment it heard Karl's shout, and then its gaze met Karl's.

"Hmph. (I can explain.)"

No, you can't.

Chapter 240 Bamboo Orchid: Lia, what are you doing here?

Ultimately, the Charizard was caught by Karl for slacking off and was given a week-long snack ban. The fish that had been scared away by the Charizard's unconsciously emanating aura also returned to the designated waters.

After saying goodbye to Lip, Huangbo, and the others, Carl rode his dejected Charizard back to the farm.

……

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Carl was woken from his sleep by a pre-set alarm clock.

After stretching lazily in bed, Carl nimbly got out of bed, quickly washed up, ate breakfast, and then rode his Corviknight to Brewlight City.

Carl had just landed on the "landing pad" outside the terminal, and before he even had a chance to put Corviknight back into its Poké Ball, a uniformed gatekeeper immediately came to greet him.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Carl?"

Karl looked the staff member in front of him up and down, and said with some uncertainty, "Yes, did Chairman Ye Ci send you?"