Chapter 112 A Challenge from the Hoenn Elite Four!
Bai Yu and Sabrina quickly returned to Martha City.
A group of trainers were standing at the gym entrance, arguing amongst themselves, which piqued Bai Yu's interest, so he quietly joined them.
"Have you heard? The gym leader isn't at the gym because he went to Celadon City."
"What's wrong with Celadon City? Nothing major has happened there lately."
"Nothing major has happened recently, but something big happened yesterday. Team Rocket reappeared, and I heard they've been hiding in Celadon City for years."
One of the middle-aged men spoke mysteriously, his tone becoming more serious.
"Really?"
"I haven't heard anything major happened in Celadon City."
Many trainers had arrived at the gym early in the morning, hoping to see what was going on inside. They weren't particularly interested in the information on the Pokédex; they were more interested in the battles inside the gym.
Yesterday they were talking about how Bai Yu's Pokémon was stronger.
Today, the topic had changed, mentioning Celadon City.
Many trainers' impression of Celadon City is that the Celadon City Gym Leader, Rika, is very beautiful, and the Pokémon she uses are just as beautiful. (Belle)
"Don't you guys look at the Pokédex? Yesterday, we discovered that Team Rocket's base was built inside Celadon Game City, hidden beneath it. Yesterday, the League sent Lance to wipe out Team Rocket."
"There's even a picture of Gym Leader Macha in it."
A boy wearing shorts pointed to the Pokédex in his hand, which clearly showed relevant pictures, including one of Athena being taken to prison.
It described the whole situation in detail, summarizing the events that occurred and the final outcome, and it also mentioned Bai Yu's name, along with pictures and descriptions of him.
"I didn't expect Gym Leader Macha to be so strong, actually participating in this kind of extermination operation." A little girl said with a bit of lingering fear.
She had heard that Team Rocket was ruthless, even snatching bones from dogs hanging from their mouths on the street and kicking the dogs along the way.
She had seen the footage of the explosion in Goldenrod City; the scene was truly horrific, with many trainers still receiving treatment at the Pokémon Center.
"Really? Gym Leader Whitefeather is that strong?"
"I thought it was just hype in the Pokédex, but now it seems he really can beat Champion Steven?!"
Many trainers exclaimed in surprise. They had initially thought the Pokédex was just exaggerating Whitefeather's strength.
They hadn't expected this guy to actually possess such power.
Destroying Team Rocket's base—and many of them couldn't even beat ordinary Team Rocket members, let alone Bai Yu participating in the operation.
"Wow, that's amazing! I really want to see what Gym Leader Bai Yu looks like."
"I heard he's quite handsome, but his battle style is so 'sunny'."
"Handsome and using such 'sunny' Pokémon, is there really such a trainer?"
"Yeah, so genuinely sunny..." A passerby gritted his teeth as he said this.
He had challenged them before, and if he hadn't seen that Toxapex, he would have been completely fooled by these guys. 'Sunny trainer,' it's all a lie.
Bai Yu listened to a lot of conversations with these trainers, mostly about his own team composition. Bai Yu stroked his chin, wondering if there was something wrong with his team.
It shouldn't be like this; both Electivire and Swampert were definitely main attackers, and paired with a tank and a Spikeweed, this team should be perfect.
The biggest weakness lies in the special attackers. Aside from Magneton and Houndoom, the rest of the main Pokémon are physical attackers. Bai Yu later added several good special attackers.
Gengar and Vulpix are both excellent special attackers, so the team shouldn't have many weaknesses.
Even sandstorm and snow teams can be formed later, and the rain team only lacks a weather setter. All the Pokémon he has are suitable for rain team compositions.
"Little Bai~ they're quite resentful of you. I warned you not to use those teams every day."
"You wouldn't listen, and now look what happened. You've stirred up everyone's dissatisfaction."
"You should go easy on them a bit, let them take your badges."
Sabrina whispered to Bai Yu.
As the Goldenrod Gym Leader, she would go easy on trainers with decent strength, letting them take the badges.
If she went all out, she might not even be able to give away all her badges in a year.
After all, what kind of rookie trainer can defeat an Elite Four member right after starting their journey?
"It's just that there are so many more Monster Trainers in the Kanto region this year; in previous years, the level of Trainers wasn't that high.
" "Hmm, I'll hold back then,"
Bai Yu nodded thoughtfully.
The image of Toxapex appeared in his mind, along with the Pokémon from the Galar region.
The most famous Pokémon from the Galar region is Rillaboom, the strongest Grass-type Starter and the most frequently seen Pokémon. Next are the Galar Legendary Birds, the regional form of Darmanitan, pseudo-legendary Pokémon, and many others, all of which are quite good.
For the upcoming Gym battles, he'll catch some Sandstorm Team Pokémon from the Galar region and train them, giving him more options when facing challenges.
The more Pokémon he has, the more food he'll need for daily expenses. Bai Yu is considering whether to buy some food and Energy Cubes from the game shop to supply his Pokémon in the real world.
The currency earned in battles in the game and the currency displayed in the Pokédex in the real world are not interchangeable. If they were interchangeable, Bai Yu wouldn't have to worry about that little bit of money.
He can't always rely on Sabrina to provide money to train his Pokémon.
"Let's go in." Bai Yu glanced at the challengers around him, then opened the dojo door and walked in without much thought.
The challengers outside were stunned for a moment, but quickly followed Bai Yu inside.
They'd waited so long for this day, and they wanted to see if today's challenger was as impressive as the ones from a few days ago.
"Hey! Where's your gym leader? Come out and accept my challenge!"
"I've come all the way from the Hoenn region, and I'm getting impatient."
As soon as Bai Yu entered the gym, he saw a middle-aged man standing on the field, his face full of impatience, constantly throwing Poké Balls.
His hairstyle was unique; his head was bald except for a sliver of reddish-brown hair. He wore a black jacket, and his face had a fierce look, radiating a menacing aura.
Bai Yu recognized this man, but he hadn't expected him to be in Kanto.
"I really don't like his aura,"
Sabrina frowned.
From the man, Sabrina sensed the aura of a Dark-type Pokémon—an primal evil she couldn't be mistaken about. She found it difficult to feel any goodwill towards this type of trainer.
In gym battles, if her opponent used a Dark-type Pokémon, Sabrina would most likely go all out.
The reason was simple: she just couldn't stand Dark-type Pokémon.
"Of course you don't like it, after all, all the Pokémon he uses are Dark-type." Bai Yu said with a smile.
Hua Yue, the first of the Hoenn Elite Four.
In the games, Bai Yu had also battled him once.
His strength was among the weakest of the Hoenn Elite Four; as long as he didn't use Psychic-type Pokémon against Dark-types, he could basically suppress his opponent.
In that match, Bai Yu used Aggron to initiate the battle.
He easily swept the opponent, wasting little time.
"Gym Leader, you're back!"
The receptionist, still busy explaining, noticed the challenger entering.
She also saw Bai Yu, the leader of the challengers, and rushed over.
She was almost driven crazy by Hua Yue, who kept clamoring to challenge the gym.
No matter how she explained, it was useless; no matter what she said, Hua Yue wouldn't believe her, thinking that Bai Yu refused to challenge, that his strength wasn't Champion-level, and that he couldn't possibly defeat Steven, etc.
The referee stepped forward to show Hua Yue the information in the Pokédex, but Hua Yue still didn't believe it.
"You're the Gym Leader?" Huayue looked in the direction of the voice and noticed Baiyu approaching. "The Trainer who defeated Steven!"
Huayue had seen Baiyu's picture before; otherwise, he wouldn't have come all the way from the Hoenn region.
He wanted to see what kind of strength a Trainer possessed who could defeat Steven, the Hoenn League Champion.
Huayue had challenged Steven once, and he lost decisively in that match. He used Dark-type Pokémon, while Steven only used two Pokémon throughout, completely overwhelming him.
Even though he couldn't defeat him despite his best efforts, rumors spread after Steven returned that he had lost to a minor Gym Leader. The rumors
became increasingly outrageous, claiming that Steven used all his strength and various tactics, yet still couldn't defeat that minor Gym Leader.
He didn't believe Steven could lose, nor did he believe that a minor Gym Leader could have such strength.
"Those are all rumors online,"
Baiyu frowned. Who was it that spread them
? When had he ever defeated Steven?
"That Daigo guy, he stopped the match halfway through, and besides, he didn't bring his main players. Even if he won that match, Bai Yu still thinks Daigo threw it.
" "Rumors?! I don't believe it. I asked Daigo." Hua Yue shook her head decisively, saying, "He mentioned Macha City, and he mentioned you too. He said you're his successor, the future Hoenn champion."
Bai Yu was about to speak when he heard this. Those were all things of the future, and besides, he didn't want to be the Hoenn League champion…
Even if he said it, given Hua Yue's current state, she might believe it. It was a waste of breath, so it was better not to say anything.
Let her think what she wants.
Hua Yue continued talking to herself, then suddenly paused, looking at Bai Yu, "I'd like to see how strong you are? Want to have a gym battle with me?"
"I also want to see the strength of the Kanto gyms."
Hua Yue's purpose in coming to Kanto was simple: to challenge Bai Yu.
He wanted to witness firsthand whether Bai Yu's strength was as strong as Daigo had described.
He actively refused to become the Hoenn Elite Four member!
Just how strong is their confidence and combat power?!
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(End of Chapter)