I, Xiao Mao, want to become a Pokémon Master!

Page 84

"What! Hold the line..."

Bobton was surprised. He didn't expect that Gary's Blastoise would use Protect. He had previously let Blastoise withstand Arcanine's Thunder Fang without using Protect. Gary really knows how to hide his strength.

By deliberately not using defense, I've lulled my opponent into a false sense of security...!

The skill "Guard" has a significant practical use. After blocking an attack, you can launch a counterattack. However, "Guard" can only be used twice. Even if you use it again, it will likely be countered by the opponent's attack.

"Cannon!" Gary commanded ruthlessly. The cannon on Blastoise's back fired two silver beams, sending Arcanine flying more than ten meters away. It crashed to the ground outside the arena, its eyes spinning in circles.

With that, the battle against Blaine ended, and Gary won the gym battle.

"What a fantastic match."

"Little Gary's Blastoise is really strong."

Xiaogang and Xiaoxia were completely captivated by the battle. Xiabo was very strong, but Xiaomao was even stronger.

"Alright, it's my turn now." Ash was getting excited after watching the battle and was looking forward to battling Blaine.

Xiaogang, Xiaoxia: ? ? ?

Seeing Xiaozhi eager to try, Xiaogang and Xiaoxia didn't know what to say.

Before seeing Gary and Blaine's battle, Brock and Misty thought Ash could still get the badge. After watching it, they thought Ash probably had no chance. Thinking about it carefully, the only Pokémon Ash could really have were Pikachu and Charizard.

Ash's two strongest Pokémon right now are Pikachu and Charizard. However, Charizard doesn't obey Ash's commands and sometimes doesn't even want to battle, leaving Pikachu as the only one capable of fighting. It's quite a stretch for Pikachu to take on three opponents at once.

Most importantly, Ash seems to have no idea what he's doing. He didn't sense any difference in skill when watching Gary and Blaine's battle, and he was still very motivated.

Don't you have any self-awareness, Ash?

Blaine looked at Ash and thought to himself, "Ash and Gary are both from Pallet Town, so they seem to be quite strong. I'll have to take them seriously later."

Blaine's strength is naturally far more than that; he has Pokémon whose strength surpasses that of a gym leader. If he were to bring them out, Gary wouldn't be a match for them.

“That was a great match. The Crimson Badge is yours.” Blair handed the Crimson Badge to Shigeru.

"Thank you."

[Ding! Mission complete. Rewards have been sent to your inventory.]

Once the Crimson Badge was obtained, the system indicated that the mission was complete.

"Mr. Blaine, may I begin?" Seeing that Gary had received the badge, Ash rushed over eagerly to ask when he could start.

"Wait a moment, let me heal the Pokémon first, and then I'll fetch a few more Pokémon while I'm at it," Blaine said.

"Okay, then hurry back." Xiao Zhi couldn't wait any longer.

Blaine and Gary entered the research institute and handed the defeated Pokémon over to Ash for treatment.

Afterwards, Blaine retrieved a few more Poké Balls and returned to the area behind.

...!

“It’s still the 3-on-3 rule, and my number one player is this one.” Blaine threw out the Poké Ball.

Baton!

【LV50 Fire Sprite♂/King】

A Flareon with fiery red fur appeared. At level 50, it was already at the level of a near-Elite Four member, which is considered the ceiling level for gym leaders.

"Can Ash win?" Gary thought to himself when he saw the Pokémon Blaine sent out, "Ash's chances of winning are too low."

Pikachu is currently only level 39, not even level 40 yet. Gary's other Pokémon are naturally not very high level either, most of them should be below level 40. This is definitely a level suppression.

Pokédex entry: "Flamefox, a Fire-type Pokémon, is the evolved form of Eevee. It can generate flames by pushing some of the air it inhales into its fire sac."

Ash checked the information about Flareon in the Pokédex and had already decided which Pokémon to use to defeat it.

"Alright, since it's a Fire-type Pokémon, then let's use a Water-type Pokémon. Go, Squirtle!" Ash threw out a Poké Ball.

Baton!

【LV36 Squirtle♂/Elite Four】

Xiaomao "...!"

Just as Xiao Shi guessed, Ash's other Pokémon are no higher level than Pikachu's. How can a level 36 Pokémon fight a level 50 Pokémon?

Blaine was also a bit confused by this scene. He thought Ash's strength was about the same as Gary's, but he actually sent out a Squirtle that hadn't evolved to its final form. What the heck was that?

Blaine couldn't say anything, after all, it was a gym battle, and they had to keep going.

"Fire Spirit, use Flamethrower!" Blaine commanded.

"Squirtle, use Water Gun!" Ash immediately retaliated.

The Flareon took a deep breath and unleashed a burst of crimson flames in attack, while Squirtle immediately countered with its Water Gun.

Sizzle...!

The water gun was instantly evaporated upon contact with the Flame Spirit's flames, which also engulfed Squirtle. As the flames dissipated, Squirtle's wet shell became dry and black, and Squirtle poked its head out, its eyes darting around.

"What?! Squirtle couldn't withstand the Flamethrower!" Misty exclaimed in shock.

"It seems that fire spirit is of a very high level," Xiao Gang judged.

Gary was also having a headache; Ash's skill level was too low, he was no match for him at all.

Blaine was also quite surprised, not expecting Ash's Pokémon to be so weak. He immediately boasted, "Type alone cannot determine the outcome of a battle. Your Squirtle is far inferior to Gary's Blastoise."

Ash was quite unhappy about being compared to Gary by Blaine, and retorted, "Then let's fight fire with fire!"

Then, Ash recalled Squirtle, took out a Poké Ball, and prayed to it, "Please, you have to show some fighting spirit."

"Charizard, I choose you!" Ash threw the Poké Ball in his hand.

Baton!

An underdeveloped Charizard makes its appearance.

【LV45 Charizard♂/Champion】

Because of its early evolution, Ash's Charizard didn't accumulate enough energy, making it smaller than a normal Charizard. However, this Charizard is still quite powerful.

However, while using fire against fire might be somewhat effective against other Fire-type Pokémon, Charizard is too passive against Fire-type Pokémon with the Flash ability.

"Ash, you idiot! Flareon has the Flash Flare ability, why are you using Charizard?" Gary couldn't help but complain.

"What's wrong with the Flashfire ability?" Ash asked, puzzled.

Everyone was completely dumbfounded...!

“Pokémon with the Flashfire ability are immune to Fire-type moves, and if they are hit by fire, their attack will increase,” Blaine replied.

"What! Is that so!" This was the first time Ash had encountered a Pokémon with the Flash Fire ability, and he had never suffered a loss in this regard before.

"It's okay, I can just not use Fire-type moves." Ash cheered himself up.

Seeing Ash's reaction, Gary was truly impressed.

Chapter 119: The Disobedient Charizard

"Fire spirit, come back."

Just as Ash was about to launch an attack, Blaine recalled his Flareon. He had already seen Ash's strength and realized that if he treated Ash like Gary, the battle would be meaningless.

"Huh? Why did you take it back?" Ash asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing, I just wanted to give all my Pokémon a little training. My number two is this one, Rhyperior." Blaine threw out a Poké Ball.

Baton!

【LV42 Ironclad Tyrannosaurus Rex♂/Near-King】

Blaine replaced it with a lower-level Ironhide Tyrannosaurus Rex, which was just the right level.

However... when Charizard saw Tyrannosaurus Rex, it showed no interest whatsoever and instead looked sleepy.

Blaine was also completely bewildered, unable to understand what Charizard was doing. Although it was obvious that Charizard was sleepy, Blaine didn't want to believe it and thought Ash had some kind of strategy. But the next second...!

"Please, Charizard, battle! I'm in this state, please!" Ash pleaded pitifully.

Charizard remained unmoved, continuing to scratch itself, showing no sign of fighting.

“It seems your skill level as a trainer isn’t high enough,” Blaine said.

"Hey! Charizard, do you remember me, 367?" Just then, Gary suddenly spoke up.

"Roar?"

Charizard hadn't paid much attention at first, but after hearing Shigeru's voice repeatedly, it immediately looked at Shigeru.

"Remember your battle with my Blastoise? You lost to me, didn't you?" Gary reminded him.

"Roar!!"

Charizard was enraged. Of course, it remembered that it had been defeated by Gary's Blastoise. Now that it had evolved into Charizard, it was determined to defeat Gary's Blastoise and avenge its defeat.

"Gary... what are you going to do? Why are you provoking Charizard?" Ash didn't know what Gary was going to do and couldn't react for a moment.

"If you want to battle my Blastoise, defeat the trainer in front of you and let me see if you're even qualified," said Gary.

"Roar!"

Charizard looked at Tyrannosaurus Rex, its eyes flashing with fighting spirit, a stark contrast to its previous tired state.

"Great! Charizard, you're finally willing to battle!" Ash exclaimed in delight.

"Ash, that guy, Charizard only developed his fighting spirit so he could fight Blastoise," Misty said speechlessly.

"That's true, but the current situation is good, otherwise Ash would be missing a Pokémon to battle," Brock said.

Gary watched silently. He knew very well what kind of personality Ash's Charizard had. After evolving, Charizard was unwilling to battle weaker Pokémon and only wanted to compete with stronger opponents.

Ash, wanting to show off his prowess, would send out Charizard to battle against any opponent, which made Charizard unwilling to fight at all. Unless the opponent showed enough strength, Charizard looked down on them, and even if it was willing to fight, it wouldn't obey Ash's commands.

"Let the battle continue! Rhyperior, use your horn drill!" Blaine launched an attack, and Rhyperior charged toward Charizard.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower!" Ash commanded.

However, Charizard did not follow Ash's instructions. Instead, it stood still and waited for Rhyperior to come over. Then, it pressed its hands down on Rhyperior's head and used brute force to block Rhyperior's attack.

“What a mess.”