Chapter 30: Fighting against the Beast Master Xiao Ming
The next day.
The morning sun shone upon the land, and Ash's group bid farewell to Cerulean City, beginning their journey towards Vermilion City Gym.
Once outside the City, wild Pokemon became more common along the way, such as the ubiquitous Oddish, Rattata, and so on.
"Pidgeotto, give it the final blow!"
Pidgeotto knocked out a Rattata with a Quick Attack.
"Rattata, are you okay?"
The Trainer beside him looked at Rattata nervously, but at this moment, Rattata's eyes had already turned into swirls, unable to respond.
After Ash recalled Pidgeotto, he said, "Rattata is fine, just exhausted."
Once the Trainer confirmed Rattata was fine, he replied, "I lost. You're amazing. With your ability, you might even be able to defeat Beast Tamer Xiao Ming."
"Xiao Ming? Who's that?" Ash was a bit confused.
He didn't have a deep impression of some minor plotlines. He only knew that on the way to Vermilion City, he would encounter Bulbasaur, Charmander, and the Ancient Dragonite from Bill's lighthouse.
"He's a relatively famous Trainer nearby. He opened a private Gym on the mountainside ahead. I heard he's already on a 98-win streak."
"98-win streak? Are they all challengers from passers-by?"
Ash didn't think much of Trainers who were obsessed with win streaks, as the Trainers in the Kanto region had a relatively lower skill level compared to other regions these past few years.
However, to accumulate battle experience for the newly joined Pidgeotto and Metapod, Ash still decided to meet this Beast Tamer Xiao Ming.
Soon, Ash and the others arrived at the so-called private Gym. The Gym was very simple, and the win streak record mentioned by the Rattata Trainer was displayed on its gate.
"Excuse me..."
"Oh, has my fertilizer for the 99th win streak arrived?"
Before Ash could finish speaking, the gate opened, and a green-haired young man walked out.
"99-win streak? Fertilizer?"
Hmph, what big talk.
Ash's competitive spirit was ignited, and he said, "Who is whose fertilizer is not yet certain. Let's battle!"
"Oh, you're the challenger, right? Come in." Xiao Ming glanced at Ash, not taking him seriously at all.
Soon, the two arrived at a battle arena.
"Go, Sandshrew."
Pokemon: Sandshrew
Gender: Male
Level: 29
Ability: Sand Veil
Aptitude: Gym
Skills: Scratch, Defense Curl, Sand Attack, Rollout...
Ash looked at Sandshrew's stats and thought, "Oh, wow, an excellent-tier peak Sandshrew. No wonder he talks so big."
With combat power close to Gym level, how could ordinary short-shorts boys or bug catchers be his opponents?
"Pidgeotto, I choose you!"
Xiao Ming waved the tamer's whip in his hand, "Sandshrew, attack!"
Upon hearing the command, Sandshrew took two steps, leaped up, curled its body into a ball in mid-air, and charged straight towards Pidgeotto in the air.
Clearly, this combo had been intentionally practiced.
Ash grinned, "Interesting. Pidgeotto, dodge it, then use Steel Wing!"
A Ground-type Pokemon flying in mid-air, without a point to exert force, is a living target. While Pidgeotto dodged sideways, Steel-type energy gathered in its wings, and a powerful slap sent Sandshrew to the ground.
Sandshrew shook its small head. Even though it hadn't lost its combat ability, its injuries were not light, but its fighting spirit hadn't diminished at all.
"Pidgeotto, use Twister to blow it up!"
Pidgeotto quickly flapped its wings, creating a Twister around Sandshrew.
Seeing Sandshrew about to be lifted into the air, Xiao Ming quickly shouted, "Sandshrew, use Dig!"
"Pidgeotto, don't give it a chance! Use Whirlwind Cut to finish it!"
Pidgeotto unleashed two incredibly sharp wind blades, cutting towards the digging Sandshrew.
Sandshrew had just started digging a couple of times, the hole hadn't even reached its body, and it had no place to run. After a cloud of smoke dispersed, it lay there with swirling eyes.
"Sandshrew is unable to battle! Pidgeotto wins!" Brock habitually announced the result.
"Yay! Ash won!" Misty cheered loudly.
"Pika? Pikachu!"
"Kirlia~~"
Pikachu and Kirlia also cheered with joy.
"The difference between the two is too great, but Xiao Ming and his Sandshrew also have quite a good understanding," Brock commented.
"Xiao Ming, your strength is quite good. Why don't you go out and explore? With your level, collecting Gym gym badges shouldn't be difficult," Ash asked.
"I originally wanted to challenge the Gym after achieving 100 consecutive victories, but now it seems I was too naive."
"100 consecutive victories is indeed an incredible challenge, but this is not what you should be fixated on at this stage. The world is vast, Xiao Ming, you should go out and explore."
Ash certainly had a competitive spirit, but he didn't approve of Xiao Ming's behavior of staying in one place and wasting time.
"Xiao Ming, can we see your training methods?"
Although Ash disagreed with Xiao Ming's actions, the fact that he could train a Sandshrew to this extent meant he had some skills.
"No problem."
With that, Xiao Ming turned and led Ash and the others into the tent.
The tent was large, with various training facilities inside. Many Pokemon were exercising with training equipment, performing high-intensity training.
After Sandshrew recovered, it very consciously returned to its training.
"Aren't these training methods too harsh? Can your Pokemon endure them?" Misty asked with some reluctance.
"Misty, these training methods are not too harsh. The training they undergo is basically to improve their resistance. It looks cruel, but every training session is within their tolerance.
Most importantly, these guys are all very healthy. It seems your breeding level, Xiao Ming, is also quite high."
Ash's Aura swept through, and the condition of the Pokemon inside the tent was clear at a glance.
"That's right, only with such training can they overcome type suppression. This way, even if they encounter opponents with type advantages, they still have a chance to defeat them," Xiao Ming said.
"That's true, but you're putting the cart before the horse a bit. Although their resistance has increased under your training, their development of their own abilities is severely lacking. If they continue training like this, they'll at most be punching bags that can last a few more rounds."
Ash didn't resist resistance training; in fact, he even formulated it for his Pikachu and others. But training with the goal of defeating opponents with type disadvantages is not as effective as catching more Pokemon of different types to expand the team, increasing team fault tolerance, and broadening the team's offensive options.
Especially for someone like Xiao Ming, who is still at the Rookie Trainer level, catching more Pokemon of different types yields much higher returns than this kind of hard training.
Xiao Ming's face darkened.
Just then, two mechanical arms extended from above the tent, grabbing directly at Pikachu and Kirlia.
There was no need to guess; besides the Team Rocket Trio, no one else could cause such a commotion. Ash also didn't want to get too entangled with them. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail to cut it! Kirlia, Hyper Beam."
Boom!
Accompanied by an explosion, the Team Rocket Trio shouted their exit line in the air: "What a nasty feeling!"
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