How come my Pokémon turned into a girl?

"Here, see that electric grid? That's the door you have to go through before challenging our gym leader. Of course, a trainer wouldn't be allowed to pass through high-voltage current with their bodies, so the switch to shut off the grid is actually hidden here."

"The switch...could it be hidden in a trash can?"

The staff member didn't answer, but Qian Ye knew the answer from his expression. Turning back to watch the trainers running between the hundred or so trash cans, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch.

This Vermilion Gym Leader was truly a scoundrel. He was the second most abusive person he'd ever encountered since challenging a gym... What? You ask who was the first? Of course, it was the three Cerulean sisters, who could just give away badges.

"No...I really need to go through every trash can."

Nancy, looking somewhat troubled, noticed Qianye's expression and took a step forward. Just as she was about to say that she could use telekinesis to turn all the trash cans upside down at once, Magnemite, who had been floating beside her, flew away first.

Seeing this, the boy's eyes suddenly lit up. Yes, Magnemite is so sensitive to electrical appliances, it should not be difficult for him to find the switch of the power grid.

"Nancy, let's follow them." Holding the girl who seemed to want to say something but didn't, the two followed Magnemite again.

It floated over countless trash cans along the way, and Qianye, who was following closely behind it, also felt something was wrong. It seemed that its target was not any trash can, but the power grid in front of it.

That won't work! Even if Magnemite is a Pokémon that can feed directly on electricity, it can't withstand such a high voltage current at once!

After realizing this, Qianye hurriedly stretched out his hand, trying to stop it from moving forward, but Magnemite suddenly accelerated in mid-air and hit the electric net.

In an instant, electric current surged and burst into dazzling light, pouring into Magnemite's body and revealing a green glow.

"Shut down the power grid! Quickly..." Qian Ye, who had just turned around and shouted anxiously to the staff, suddenly heard a burst of explosions.

The next moment, the entire Withered Leaf Gym fell into darkness amid people's screams, leaving only... a spherical blue light source.

The glowing little Magnemite floated quietly in the air and burped.

Chapter 35: The Fool Can Not Only Eat, But Is Also Very Strong

The sudden power outage at the Vermillion Gym was like a classic horror movie scene, plunging the room into a state of panic. Fortunately, within half a minute, the gym's backup power supply was activated, and the hall was bright again.

With such a commotion happening, the master naturally couldn't just ignore it, so not long after, Qianye and the others met Ma Zhishi, the master of the Kuye Gym.

He was a tall, square-faced, middle-aged man with muscular body, sharp yellow hair, and a faint aura of iron and blood.

Before this, Qianye had secretly complained that the Kanto Gym was somehow filled with a childish atmosphere. All the gym leaders he had met were basically only slightly older than him or simply the same age as him. This Ma Zhishi was the first gym leader who met the stereotype in his mind.

However, Qianye's first impression of him wasn't very good. As for the reason...

"I heard someone drained all the electricity, and I thought this gym had finally got a new hero. I never expected that..."

Ma Zhishi bent down and looked down at Qianye and Nazi with a contemptuous look: "So, you are just two little kids. Hey, what are you doing here? Are you lost?"

This guy... frowned. Based on the principle of less trouble is worse than more, Qianye didn't want to argue with him and said directly in a serious tone: "I'm here to challenge the Dead Leaf Gym. May I begin?"

"Challenging the gym? Hahahaha! Little kid, you should go home early and take a shower and go to bed. This is a place for adults."

As Ma Zhishi spoke, he laughed together with his two subordinates, a man and a woman, who followed him.

"What did you say?" Qianye hadn't moved yet, but Nazi couldn't help it. She took a step forward, her red eyes as cold as ice.

"Haha, boss, the little one is throwing a tantrum, so cute..." Ma Zhishi's male follower laughed and tried to reach out to touch Nazi's head. However, before he could touch her, the green telekinesis enveloped him.

The body was pulled off the ground by an invisible force. The male follower struggled with horror on his face. As Nancy moved her fingers slightly, he was thrown directly against the wall.

The air instantly fell silent, leaving only the wailing of the man curled up on the ground. Ma Zhishi's smile froze on his face, and he carefully examined the girl, whom he had initially dismissed because of her youthful appearance.

As if recalling something, his pupils trembled: "You are, the one from Jinhuang City..."

Because the two cities were very close to each other, he had heard rumors about the Golden City Witch from many trainers he had challenged. The fear in their eyes when they recounted their experiences had left a deep impression on him.

"Interesting! I've been wanting to see your strength for a long time. Let's start the gym challenge right now!"

Gym challenge? Nancy's eyes remained cold, flashing green light, and she was about to activate her superpowers.

"Nazi." Qianye gently held her little hand, the light in her eyes dimmed suddenly, and she silently retreated behind him.

"I'm sorry, Gym Master, but Nancy is just here with me. I'm the only one who's going to challenge the gym."

"You?" Ma Zhishi looked at the Eevee lying on the boy's shoulder with suspicion. "You're not going to rely on that little guy to fight me, are you? Let me tell you, I never show mercy. If you don't want that cute little guy to get seriously hurt, you'd better think it over carefully."

"Don't worry about that. Instead of thinking about it, you should prepare yourself mentally. I'm afraid your heart won't be able to bear it if you get beaten by the little brat and can't fight back."

Since the other party had such an attitude, Qian Ye didn't plan to be polite to him anymore. He raised his head and looked straight into the tall man's eyes.

"Humph, you're quite arrogant." Although he said this, there was no anger in Ma Zhishi's tone. On the contrary, a smile appeared on his face.

"Then come with me. Xiaoliu, take Monkey to get some treatment, and tell him to double his training after he's healed. It's really unbelievable for him to be beaten to tears by a little girl!"

"Yes." The female attendant saluted with a standard military salute, then walked over to the side and dragged the man away from the corner. Qianye and Natsu followed Ma Zhishi's steps and arrived at the battle room of the Withered Leaf Gym.

"The rules are three-on-three. If all Pokémon surrender or lose their combat power, they lose. Is there any doubt about that?"

Seeing that Qianye had no objection, Ma Zhishi took out the Poké Ball directly, and a red light was shot towards the battle stage, and another... red and white ball appeared in the same place?

"Show me, how are you going to beat my Thunderball?"

Thunderball is a spherical Pokémon that has a highly similar appearance to an ordinary red and white ball for some reason. Trainers who are unaware of the truth often mistake it for a Poké Ball and get electrocuted.

He's a very fast electric-type special attacker. So, the first one to appear will be...

His right hand touched the Poké Ball containing Kuroko, and he was about to take it out. However, before he could do so, a gray sphere floated onto the field first.

"嗗嗗~"

Seeing the strange Pokémon floating onto the field from Qianye's direction, Ma Zhishi's eyes suddenly lit up. "Huh, it's Magnemite! Do you also like to use Electric-type Pokémon? I really admire you more and more."

"Then what..."

"Thunderbolt Ball, use the charging beam quickly!" Before the boy began to explain, Ma Zhishi gave the order first.

The Thunderbolt Ball has a pair of angry eyes, and golden arcs of electricity gather into a ball in front of it. After a brief accumulation, it emits a dazzling beam of electric current.

"Haha, on the battlefield, you have to strike first to gain the upper hand. You still have a lot to learn!"

Looking at the young man with a complicated expression, Ma Zhishi, who mistakenly thought that the other party was caught off guard, laughed out loud and raised his eyebrows at him as he spoke.

There was no time to even issue a dodge command. He thought that Magneton had taken the charge beam head-on, and even if he didn't fall, he must have been seriously injured. With this thought in mind, he looked at the spot where the charge beam had hit, but he was stunned.

Golden electric light flickered on Magnemite's body, and the next moment it was all sucked into the magnetic ball. Its dull one eye looked at him with an inexplicable sense of mockery.

He coughed a few times to ease his embarrassment, then gave the order: "Thunderbolt Ball, fire the charging beam continuously!"

Part of the energy accumulated from charging was stored in the body, and the Thunderbolt Ball continuously sprayed out electric beams according to instructions, each one more violent than the last.

All the golden beams hit Magnemite, and then... they were all absorbed.

Seeing Magnetron, who was unaffected and even seemed to be getting more energetic, Ma Zhishi fell silent. Without giving any orders, the gray ball took the initiative to float closer to the Thunderbolt Ball, shaking the horseshoe magnets on both sides and circling around it, as if asking:

"Is there any more? Is there any more?"

At this moment, the Thunderbolt Ball's eyes widened, and its upper body became redder and redder. Then, it exploded with anger... yes, it exploded in the physical sense.

The jade and the stone were shattered, and the move commonly known as self-destruction left a hole on the stage. The entire ball of Thunderbolt Lightning Ball turned black and fell down, completely losing its combat capability.

He took out the red and white balls, and then took back the ball that looked like a red and white ball but wasn't. Ma Zhishi touched the bridge of his nose and laughed out loud once again, but the sound of his laughter was uncomfortable.

"Ahahaha, not bad, not bad. Being able to pass my test successfully proves that you are indeed qualified to challenge me. Of course, Thunderbolt is only my weakest Pokémon. I will have to be a little more serious with the next one."

"Go, Raichu!" Grabbing the new Poké Ball and swinging it hard, the orange "big" Pikachu made a brilliant appearance.

Raichu is a new form of Pikachu that evolved with the help of the Thunder Stone. Therefore, it is far stronger than Pikachu in all aspects. However, due to the reduction in cuteness after evolution, its popularity is slightly lower.

But Ma Zhishi obviously didn't care about these external factors that hindered his strength. Raichu stood confidently on the field with his hands on his chest. His domineering appearance seemed as if he and his owner were carved from the same template.

"Raichu, use 100,000 volts!"

The golden electric sac symbolizes a power storage capacity far exceeding that of Pikachu. As Ma Zhishi gave the order, several electric sparks emerged from the electric sac, and dazzling golden light burst out. The lightning column caused bursts of explosions in the air and descended on Magnemite.

Qianye's expression was unusually serious. The destructive power of the Raichu in front of him was indeed considerable. If Kuroko and the others were to take the field, they would also need to be cautious in dealing with it... However, the one on the field now was Magnemite.

It's not that I don't care because the opponent isn't my Pokémon, but... after seeing that guy directly withstand the high-voltage power grid and "eat up" all the electricity in the entire gym, I no longer think that purely electric-attribute moves can be of any use.

He had no impression that the Magnemite species could possess properties like lightning rods. Could it be that they were simply very good at eating?

As expected, a huge pillar of lightning came down, but it only gave Magnemite a bath when it landed on it, and there was no change except making the metal surface brighter.

Seeing this, Raichu rubbed his eyes, and after confirming that he was not hallucinating, he fired another 100,000-volt bullet in disbelief.

As expected, he fed Magneto another dessert. He fired two 100,000-volt blasts, consuming a lot of his own power, but the opponent still kept a dead fish eye. He couldn't help but support himself with both hands under the huge gap in the distance.

I'm so sorry that I couldn't feed Magnemite-sama.

Seeing his Pokémon in such a state of despair, Ma Zhishi no longer cared about his own face and immediately shouted at the top of his voice, "Don't give up, Raichu! Since the special moves are not effective, let's use physical moves and use the Thunder Fist!"

Hearing his master's encouragement, Raichu lifted up his fighting spirit a little. With golden lightning flashing on his fist, he roared and punched Magnemite.

You have to say, this really had some effect. Magneto was caught off guard and was knocked away by the punch. After bouncing back up on the ground, he stared at Raichu with dull eyes, as if he didn't understand why the kind-hearted rat who was feeding him just now suddenly attacked him.

It's broken! After all, Magnemite had helped him defeat one of Ma Zhishi's vanguards, even though its original intention was probably just to eat... He couldn't just sit there and watch it get beaten. Qianye immediately shouted anxiously:

"Magnemite, use the Cannon Beam... or the Lightning Beam, anything will do!"

What a mess! Hearing the boy's strange instructions, Ma Zhishi frowned, but he didn't just wait around: "Raichu, thunder and lightning fist combo!"

The attack worked, and Raichu, overwhelmed with excitement, rushed forward and unleashed a few more bangs, sending Magneto flying as if he hadn't reacted. It seemed oblivious to the combo being launched above it, as a blue pupil appeared in its large, single eye, scanning up and down its body.

"嗗嗗~"

The analysis is complete.

Silver spots of light gathered in his eyes, and in an instant formed a thick beam of light that erupted, piercing through the ceiling above the Raichu, who was unable to dodge it, and blasting it away.

Chapter 36: New Partners Join

"This is the Badge of the Vermilion Leaf Gym. Although the entire battle was not what I imagined... I still accept my defeat with all my heart."

Recalling the extremely frustrating battle, Ma Zhishi's face twitched unnaturally, but he still handed the orange badge in the shape of a wire flower to Qianye.

"That little Magneto is really well trained. If there's a chance, I'd really like to discuss with you how to train Electric Pokémon."

He smiled heartily and slapped the boy's shoulder with his heavy palm. Ma Zhishi always admired tough guys, so someone with backbone and strength like the other man would naturally be admired by him.

Right, right? Holding the orange badge in both hands, with Magnemite floating blankly in mid-air beside him, Qianye's eyes wandered, unsure of what to say.

If he told the truth now, that Magnemite was not his Pokémon at all, and that he, a gym leader, was defeated by a wild Pokémon, would he be so angry that he fainted on the spot?

It's better not to take the risk. Looking to the other side, Raichu, whose body is covered with bandages and even half of his face is blocked, is still standing tremblingly with his head held high stubbornly.

“…Is it really okay?”

"Don't underestimate us. The scars on our bodies are the badge of manliness. We will remember this failure. If we meet again next time, wash your neck and wait for me, hahaha!" He gave Qianye a thumbs up with his white teeth shining, and Raichu also followed suit and raised his hand to Magneto with his teeth bared.

However, Magnemite did not react at all. It should be said that it did not even look at the other party throughout the whole process. It even turned sideways and flew towards the gym door on its own.

"..."

"Well, since there's nothing else, we'll take our leave now!"

Seeing Magnemite gradually drifting away, Qianye didn't bother to continue chatting with Ma Zhishi. He took Nancy's hand beside him and followed Magnemite out.

The silhouettes of the young man and girl slowly disappeared from sight. Ma Zhishi placed his broad hand on the top of Raichu's head and rubbed it. "Don't be too disappointed. If you haven't beaten an opponent yet, you can win it back next time."

"Thunder~Mound~"

"Haha, I know you're very unwilling. Once your injuries are healed, come and start the Ultimate Devil's Hell training... Don't regret it then."

"Raichu, Raichu!" He extended his orange fist and bumped it with Ma Zhishi. As the two of them were cheering each other on, the female attendant suddenly rushed in, panting slightly and reporting:

"Boss, there's a call for you."

Hearing this, Ma Zhishi frowned slightly, and without even straightening up, he waved his hand and said impatiently: "If there is anything, let them talk about it next time. I am busy now."

"But..." The female attendant did not follow the order and retreat as usual. Instead, she continued with a serious expression:

"This time it's the Alliance calling, and judging by what they said on the phone, this matter is probably very urgent."