Chapter 90: A Discordant Note in the Competition
The Pokémon battle arena was somewhat similar to the boxing rings Rio had seen in his previous life. It was a square, raised platform, but it was surrounded by a protective wall and had a place for trainers to stand on opposite sides.
Around arena number 3, there was also a large crowd of enthusiastic onlookers, with men and women, old and young, all discussing animatedly.
The young girl walked up the steps to the stage. Feeling the gazes of the surrounding crowd, she was momentarily a little nervous.
"Whew..."
However, thanks to her relatively strong mental fortitude, Ming Rizhao took a deep breath and calmed down.
Then she thought for a moment and said to Rio and Ralts beside her, "Let's use this opportunity to try out a Pokémon battle, Rio."
Rio nodded. After all, fighting under the command of a human trainer was a different experience from fighting freely in the forest as he had before. Now, having such an opportunity to experience it before challenging a Gym was also a very good choice.
Only, neither the person nor the Pokémon noticed the somewhat lost look in Ralts's eyes.
"Here, get back in your Poké Ball first."
Since Rio normally disliked staying inside the Poké Ball (according to him, although it was quite comfortable inside, he psychologically always felt like he was imprisoned), he was usually summoned out to move around freely. However, according to Pokémon battle regulations, Pokémon must be summoned from a Poké Ball to prove they have been captured. This was to prevent some people from having funny ideas and forcibly controlling Pokémon to enter the field (for example, kidnapping a Pokémon's young to force it to participate in battles). After all, a Pokémon would only be willing to be captured by a Poké Ball if it was willing.
Ming Rizhao took out Rio's Poké Ball and aimed the button in the center at Rio.
"Swoosh," a white light flashed, and Rio transformed into a stream of light, entering the Poké Ball.
At this time, Ming Rizhao finally had a chance to look up at her opponent.
"It's actually a little kid?" Ming Rizhao was somewhat surprised. Opposite her stood a young little girl with a large bow tied on her head, about 9 years old. Her childish little face wore a serious expression as she was saying something to her own Poké Ball.
"Toot—" a man who was carrying a wrench and a hammer and looked like a professional car mechanic blew the whistle in his mouth.
"Everyone, don't be nervous. I myself am a car mechanic. It's very reasonable for me to carry a wrench around to tighten screws." The referee, who seemed to be a car mechanic, told a bad joke that no one knew if they understood, then officially blew the whistle for the match. "Alright, the match... officially begins!"
As the whistle blew, both sides quickly threw out their Poké Balls.
"Go, Riolu!"
"Let's battle, Electrike!"
Ming Rizhao's crisp voice and the little girl's childish voice sounded in unison. With two flashes of white light, a Pokémon with a blue-black appearance, slender limbs, and an agile posture leaped out, while another canine-like Pokémon with yellow patterns that walked on four legs also made its appearance.
"Awooo!"
Upon his debut, Rio immediately put on a fierce appearance, attempting to overwhelm his opponent with his aura!
And this action of his indeed caused the audience in the venue to discuss animatedly.
"Wow, what kind of Pokémon is that? I've never seen it before."
"Although I haven't seen it, it looks so handsome!"
"Coach, I want one."
"You want, you want, you want everything. I've got a big slap for you, want it?"
"…"
Although some strange things were mixed in, the audience's reaction still made Rio a little embarrassed.
"I wanted you to praise my might, not just focus on my looks... Although I am indeed quite handsome. Forget it..."
Why was Rio so relaxed? Because he had seen the opposing Electrike's information through the Pokédex, which made it hard for him to feel any tension.
————————————
[Pokédex]
Encounter Progress: 65/100
Battle Progress: 34/50
[Real-time Analysis]
Pokémon: Normal - Electrike (Male)
Level: lv8
Type: Electric
Trainer: may
Ability: Static (When a Pokémon with this ability is hit by an opponent's direct attack, it may sometimes paralyze the opponent)
Moves: Tackle (lv1), Thunder Wave (lv0), Howl (lv0), Leer (lv0)
————————————
To be honest, for a lv8 Pokémon to have proficiently mastered four moves was quite good. However, whether it was the level difference or the move difference, it was clear there was a considerable gap between it and Rio.
While Rio was mentally calculating how best to fight, he heard his trainer's command.
"Rio, circle around it first. Don't get hit by Electrike."
No, a Pokémon with this kind of gap, can't I just beat it with a move like [Quick Attack] or [Brick Break]? Besides, I even know the Ground-type move [Dig], which is super effective against the Electric-type Electrike. There's no need to circle around to fight, right?
Rio was somewhat baffled, but still awkwardly circled around Electrike according to Ming Rizhao's command.
"Awoof." Electrike watched Rio warily.
Both sides were in a close-range standoff.
"Electrike, use [Thunder Wave]!"
The little girl shouted.
A yellow light circulated on Electrike's body. Its large mouth opened, and a zigzagging electromagnetic wave rushed towards Rio.
[Thunder Wave], through a weak electric shock, causes the opponent to become paralyzed.
Although Thunder Wave is not a 100% accurate move, once it hits, except for being ineffective against Ground-type Pokémon, the afflicted Pokémon will definitely be paralyzed by the electric shock.
Normally, a Pokémon facing the move [Thunder Wave] would choose to dodge it.
However, Rio, who had repeatedly sparred with Flower (Vileplume) in Sunrise Valley, had been paralyzed by Flower's powerful [Stun Spore] more than once or twice. Over time, he had developed a very high resistance to the paralysis status condition. Moreover, seeing that Electrike's attention was not fully concentrated in order to unleash this one [Thunder Wave], Rio's first thought was to tank the hit and then press forward for close combat.
But his trainer did not think so.
"Rio, use [Dig]."
Rio, who was about to push off the ground and charge forward, had to forcefully stop his steps and then, somewhat sluggishly, began to dig at the arena floor with his claws.
This hesitation gave the already very fast [Thunder Wave] an opportunity, and it directly hit Rio.
"Tsk, this abnormal status is really annoying for a Pokémon."
I believe no Pokémon would like those abnormal statuses that make them very uncomfortable. Paralysis hinders a Pokémon's movement, a burn causes physical pain, confusion prevents a Pokémon from maintaining clear judgment, and poison consumes a Pokémon's energy and spirit. Only sleep is relatively better, but it's still quite annoying to have it happen during a battle.
Although Rio was also quite used to the feeling of paralysis, the experience of his limbs going numb still made him frown.
On second thought, he simply stopped digging the half-finished hole, then leaped out of the hole and transformed into a streak of lightning, striking directly at Electrike.
"[Quick Attack]!"
As Rio's current strongest move, the power it unleashed was definitely on point.
Electrike only had time to cry out once before it was sent flying.
"Ah, Electrike, are you okay?"
The little girl cried out anxiously.
And Ming Rizhao, seeing her Pokémon not acting according to her command, opened her mouth but said nothing.
Perhaps hearing its trainer's call, Electrike stubbornly stood up.
"Great! Electrike, use [Howl] to raise your attack power!"
The little girl was overjoyed and quickly issued the command.
"Trying to buff yourself? No way!"
Seeing this situation, Rio wanted to go up and interrupt Electrike's howl with a [Brick Break]. But in an instant, he remembered that he was now a captured Pokémon. He forcefully reined in his own actions and looked back at Ming Rizhao.
Only then did Ming Rizhao, as if waking from a dream, command, "Use [Aura Sphere]!"
But Aura Sphere needs to be charged for a while to unleash its full power! The priority now should be to immediately interrupt the opponent's buff, shouldn't it?
Rio was full of confusion, but thinking about how he had just acted on his own, interrupting the [Dig] move to use [Quick Attack], seemed disrespectful to his trainer. So, he suppressed his impulse and began to accumulate Aura energy according to Ming Rizhao's command.
While he was still hesitating, the Electrike on the other side had already raised its spirit and energy through a majestic howl.
Although she couldn't understand what move the mysterious Pokémon opposite her was about to use, the little girl, feeling confident that she had finished buffing and could now attack, shouted, "Electrike, use [Tackle]!"
Wind stirred under Electrike's four feet. It lowered its head and charged with a sideswipe.
However, what it was facing was the ultra-mega-weakened version of the [Aura Sphere] that had once clashed with Mewtwo's super-gigantic psychic energy wave. In the time it took for Electrike to run over, Rio had already gathered a considerable amount of Aura energy in his hands.
So he pushed with both hands, and an unstable, circular energy ball shot out.
"Kamehame... Ha!"
"Bang—Pow—"
"@" Electrike crashed directly into the [Aura Sphere] and was instantly knocked into a state where it could no longer battle.
The referee also blew his whistle.
"The match is over! Electrike is unable to battle! Contestant Ming Rizhao wins!"
Rio clenched his fists and, with a "hiss," dispersed the residual Aura energy in his palms.
He turned and walked back to Ming Rizhao's side, naturally being met by the smiling faces of Ming Rizhao and Ralts.
However, in his Aura perception, Ming Rizhao and Ralts's hearts were not as calm as they appeared on the surface.
His gaze shifted from the stage to below the stage.
The crowd of onlookers was dressed in all sorts of strange attire. A white-bearded uncle, squeezed in the crowd, had watched the entire match, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"It seems... there are quite a few problems..."