Xia You turned around to look at him, "Your challenge?"
"That's right." The boy tidied his collar, smiling confidently, "My name is Xiao Ming, known as the 'Beast Master'. Since I started training, I've never been defeated.
So, do you dare to fight me?"
Beast Master Xiao Ming?
Looking at the Sandshrew by his feet, Xia You showed a knowing expression.
"I don't mind," Xia You looked around, asking, "But where should we battle? There's no battleground nearby."
Thanks to the Pokémon battles becoming formalized, popularized, and widespread by the Pokémon League, just like outdoor basketball courts on the streets in his previous life, walking through the city, one could often see simple battlegrounds in parks, schools, by riverbanks, and along streets.
However, unfortunately, the area where Xia You was currently located was quite a distance from any public battleground.
Xiao Ming pointed in the direction of Vermilion City with his finger, "I built a personal Gym in the wilderness not far ahead.
There's a battleground there, come with me."
The two walked out of Cerulean City, one after the other, and about ten minutes later, they indeed saw a simple camp built with fences and tents.
Outside the camp, there was also a large sign that read: "Pokémon League Unofficial Gym, currently with 92 consecutive victories."
From Xiao Ming's confident expression and the words on the sign, it was not difficult to see that he was indeed a very confident Trainer.
And he really wanted to attract attention.
It's just that his face, coupled with his slightly stout body and thick, upturned eyebrows, after looking at it for a while, always felt a bit simple-minded.
Seeing Xia You staring at the sign, Xiao Ming said proudly, "My goal is 100 consecutive victories.
Once I achieve that, I will begin to train everywhere and challenge various Gyms to obtain gym badges."
Entering the camp and arriving at this so-called personal Gym, through the open tent flap, Xia You immediately saw several Pokémon undergoing independent training.
Butterfree and Beedrill were flying and colliding in the air, seemingly training for Fighting, while on the Ground, three Rattata wore power-enhancers, seemingly doing endurance exercises.
"How is it? My Gym is pretty good, isn't it?" Xiao Ming came to the Trainer command area and said to Xia You, "Now, as long as I defeat you, I'll have 93 consecutive wins!"
"That's truly worth celebrating," Xia You walked to the other side and said solemnly, "I can tell you're indeed a formidable opponent, but since I started my journey, I've never lost either!"
Under their feet was a hard, compacted dirt field.
Although this type of field had no special features, it was the most widespread battleground in this world.
"Is that so? It seems today, one of our records is destined to be broken!" Xiao Ming spread his hands, looking as if he had no choice but to deal with Xia You, "Alright, let's get down to business.
The rules for this battle are simple: each person uses one Pokémon, and whoever stands last is the final victor!"
Xia You nodded, "Okay, I understand."
Taking out a whip from behind him, Xiao Ming swung it forward and shouted, "Sandshrew, let them see our strength!"
As he spoke, the Sandshrew beside him slowly ran onto the field.
From its appearance, this Sandshrew, apart from standing on two feet, was not much different from a pangolin on Earth, but overall, it was rounder, and its skin was earthy yellow, hard and dry, with brick-like patterns, looking like wall bricks.
Xia You took out his Pokédex and pointed it at it.
Pokédex: "Beep, Sandshrew, the Mouse Pokémon, Ground Type.
It dislikes water and lives by digging a deep hole in dry places.
If danger approaches, it will curl into a ball to protect itself."
In terms of type, both the Grass Type Bulbasaur and the Water Type Squirtle had an advantage over the Ground Type Sandshrew.
Although the specific details were a bit blurry, Xia You remembered that this Sandshrew had once defeated Ash and the Team Rocket Trio.
Therefore, he dared not be careless.
After careful thought, he waved his hand and directly sent out his ace Pokémon—Kirlia.
Looking at Kirlia, who resembled a young girl, Xiao Ming said in surprise, "Your Pokémon is very unique, but it doesn't matter, no matter who it is, the result will be the same.
Let's go, Sandshrew! Use Rollout!"
The Sandshrew quickly ran forward on all fours, and after gaining enough speed, its body curved, completely transforming into a sphere, rolling towards Kirlia at an extremely fast speed.
"Kirlia, use Double Team!"
Kirlia's body instantly split into dozens of illusions, and because Sandshrew's speed was too fast, it couldn't stop.
Only after rolling past its original predetermined path did it turn back to look, realizing that what it had passed through was merely a false illusion.
"Kirlia, use Confusion!"
Kirlia raised a hand, and a ball of light suddenly enveloped Sandshrew, and at that instant, with the crack of a whip, Sandshrew quickly curled into a ball!
Confusion activated, lifting Sandshrew high into the air and then dropping it heavily.
When the dust settled, it stretched its body, shook its head, and then got up from the Ground, apparently not having suffered much damage.
"You've got some skill," Xia You couldn't help but praise, "To be able to use Defense Curl to defend against an attack in an instant, I must say, you've really trained this Sandshrew quite well."
Xiao Ming pouted, "Hmph, what's a little injury like this?! My Sandshrew has undergone rigorous training and has even overcome its weakness to water!"
"Oh?" Xia You raised an eyebrow in surprise, "A Ground Type Pokémon overcoming its Water Type weakness? That's truly impressive!"
In fact, through their brief exchange just now, Xia You had already noticed something.
Besides this Sandshrew's outstanding strength, its communication with Xiao Ming was also very quick and concise.
Often, Xiao Ming would just wave his whip, without needing to speak, and it would understand Xiao Ming's intention through the sound of the whip, thereby changing its attack and defeating the opponent with unexpected moves.
These two points also made them invincible in past battles, achieving over ninety consecutive victories.
However, now, they had encountered the combination of Xia You and Kirlia, and it could be said they had met their match.
Xia You and Kirlia naturally also had excellent synergy, and because of the red horn on Kirlia's head, it could quickly sense Xia You's emotions, plus being a Psychic Pokémon, it could even read some of Xia You's thoughts to some extent.