"Kirlia, use Magical Leaf!"
Magical Leaves, glowing green, formed in Kirlia's hands and flew continuously towards Sandshrew.
Seeing this, Xiao Ming flicked the whip in his hand, letting out a soft 'snap', and Sandshrew, hearing the whip crack, dug its claws into the Ground and burrowed into the earth at an extremely fast speed, dodging the attack.
Having lost its target, Kirlia stood in place, cautiously observing the situation beneath its feet.
After waiting for a moment, a hole suddenly appeared beside it, and Sandshrew, without any warning, burrowed out of the hole and charged straight at Kirlia.
Fortunately, Kirlia was careful and, the moment the Ground broke open, used Teleport to dodge the attack.
"Do you think the attack is over?" Xiao Ming cracked his whip again and shouted, "Sandshrew, use our ultimate move! Ground Split Attack!"
The Sandshrew, which had just missed its attack, leaped high into the air, its body emitting a fierce earthy-yellow light, then, head-first, it raised its right claw, spun its body, and plunged rapidly towards the Ground.
The next second, accompanied by a huge cracking sound, the battleground, centered on Sandshrew's claw, suddenly split open and shattered into countless pieces!
These cracks were like abysses, spreading and cracking across the entire field with terrifying tremors.
Ground Split, one of the Ground-type physical ultimate moves. If one accidentally falls into the cracks it causes, the crushing force from the cracks can cause all Pokémon to take full, near-fatal damage!
Xia You shouted, "Kirlia! Dodge quickly!"
Kirlia used Teleport more than a dozen times in a row—disappearing, reappearing, disappearing again, reappearing again—constantly searching for a foothold. It wasn't until a large portion of its stamina was depleted that it finally, with some difficulty, moved away from the epicenter of the tremor and found a safe corner.
"What!?"
This truly exceeded Xiao Ming's expectations.
Although Ground Split has a low accuracy rate, it was a wide-range attack of such magnitude that, apart from flying Pokémon, he had used it many times before and had never seen any Pokémon dodge this ultimate move.
On the other side, seeing Ground Split stop and Kirlia unharmed, Xia You couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
It was a good thing he had the foresight not to send out Bulbasaur and Squirtle to battle; otherwise, with their movement speed, they would definitely have been incapacitated by this Ground Split move.
After expending such a massive amount of energy, Sandshrew was also affected by the aftershock and fell into a brief state of sluggishness. Seeing this, Xia You decisively ordered, "Kirlia, use Magical Leaf attack!"
Kirlia raised both hands, and before Sandshrew could react, Magical Leaf swept towards it like a hurricane.
Grass trumps Ground, highly effective!
Sandshrew swayed and swayed, but ultimately couldn't hold on, its eyes rolled back, and it fell to the Ground.
"Sandshrew!!"
Xiao Ming rushed over and hugged Sandshrew's body. Even now, he couldn't believe that he had actually lost!?
He had already achieved ninety-two consecutive victories, just eight more, and he would be able to leave here and challenge the Gym!
Damn it…
Seeing that he had won, Xia You applauded, "What a wonderful match, your Sandshrew is truly strong. It's the most formidable opponent I've encountered on my journey so far!"
Xiao Ming silently returned Sandshrew to its Poké Ball, and when he stood up again, the confidence on his face had already vanished.
"I lost! To be able to defeat my Sandshrew truly exceeded my expectations." Xiao Ming sighed heavily, but quickly cheered up again, "But even so, I will not give up on my dream. From today onwards, I will start from scratch and once again guard this Gym until I achieve one hundred consecutive victories, and after that, I will find you and challenge you again!"
"I look forward to that day." Xia You extended his right hand and sincerely said, "It is precisely because of strong opponents like you that I am constantly driven to improve and move forward!"
After parting with Xiao Ming, Xia You originally intended to go to Pewter City to continue challenging the Pewter Gym, but a call from Professor Sakuragi summoned him back to Vermilion City.
At Sakuragi Research Institute, Professor Sakuragi said apologetically, "I'm truly sorry for suddenly calling you back from such a distant place. It's because there's a very important matter that urgently requires your help."
"Professor, please don't be so polite. Just tell me what it is," Xia You said indifferently, "Besides, I was just near Vermilion City, so it wasn't very far. You really don't need to apologize."
Kikuna then took a small box from the side and handed it to Xia You.
Xia You asked in confusion, "What is this?"
Professor Sakuragi explained, "This contains a prototype of a precision instrument. Since its development is not yet complete, it's a scientific secret, so it cannot be sent via express delivery. And because of our work, we cannot leave the Research Institute, so we can only find someone trustworthy to deliver it to Professor Oak at Professor Oak's Laboratory."
Xia You nodded solemnly.
"I understand. As a Sakuragi Special Research Investigator, I will definitely deliver it to Professor Oak intact!"
...
Leaving Vermilion City, Xia You traveled quickly, bypassing the famous Viridian Forest, and by night, he had already appeared in Viridian City.
Since it was late, he planned to rest overnight at the Pokémon Center here and then depart for Pallet Town the next day.
However, before entering the Pokémon Center, he first went to a nearby store to replenish some canned food and a few Poké Balls, just in case.
And while checking out, he received a call from Koharu.
"Hello, Koharu, is something wrong?"
On the other end of the phone, Koharu said, "Didn't you send a message this morning saying you were returning to Vermilion City? I wanted to see Kirlia's new look; it must have become even prettier, right?"
"Ah, I'm really sorry." Xia You looked up at the clock on the wall. "But after I arrived at the Research Institute this morning, I immediately left again. I'm already in Viridian City now."
"Viridian City?" Koharu said in surprise, "How did you get there in such a short time?"
"I have something to do, so I must go to Professor Oak's Laboratory. Alright, I still have things to do, and it's already very late. You should rest early."
After hanging up the phone, Xia You was about to walk out of the store when he heard a shop assistant nearby suddenly call out to him.
"Young man, please wait a moment."
Xia You looked at him confusedly, "Is something wrong?"
The shop assistant took a package from the counter.
"Excuse me, I unintentionally overheard your conversation just now. Are you going to Professor Oak's Laboratory in Pallet Town?"
Seeing Xia You nod, the shop assistant happily said, "Ah, that's wonderful! This package was ordered by Professor Oak a few days ago, but we've been so busy that we haven't had time to deliver it. Could you please take it for us on your way?"