Chapter 37: Pastoria City Gym
This platform also held significant meaning for Chenxi, as it allowed him to purchase a top-grade Water Stone.
If he only needed top-grade Leaf Stones or top-grade Sun Stones, the Yuan Family could almost produce them themselves, and even sell them externally.
However, for top-grade Water Stones, only the Wetland Shrine in Sinnoh and the Dian Family in Sunyshore City might have them.
So, since he was at the Wetland Shrine, Chenxi intended to buy one directly from them to prepare for his Staryu.
However, when Chenxi emerged from the Great Marsh and saw High Priest Changxin, he was taken aback.
High Priest Changxin was dressed in plain clothes, and there was an indelible look of sorrow on his face.
It wasn't just High Priest Changxin; almost all the official members of the Wetland Shrine were dressed this way, a sight that surprised Chenxi.
“High Priest Changxin, what happened?” Chenxi asked, a bit puzzled.
“High Priest Changwu’s lifespan has ended, and he has returned to the earth. The Wetland Shrine will hold a memorial for him for a month!” High Priest Changxin said.
“I spoke out of turn!” Chenxi didn't know who Changwu was, but for the entire Wetland Shrine to hold a memorial for him, his status was clearly not low.
However, High Priest Changxin shook his head and said, “Young Master of the Yuan Family, what can I do for you?”
“I have a Staryu and I want to acquire a top-grade Water Stone from the Wetland Shrine to evolve it. I wonder if that’s convenient,” Chenxi said, without any pretense, getting straight to the point.
“Our shrine’s top-grade Water Stones are generally not sold externally. If Young Master of the Yuan Family truly desires one, you can exchange it for a top-grade Leaf Stone or a top-grade Sun Stone from your family!” High Priest Changxin nodded and said to Chenxi.
“Okay, I’ll inform my family to prepare a Leaf Stone for me then!” Chenxi nodded and said.
Ordinary resources were easy to acquire, mostly available for purchase.
However, when resources reached top-grade quality, they were essentially priceless.
This was because organizations that possessed them usually exchanged them through a contribution system or bartering.
Direct purchases were actually very rare, not because people didn't want to buy, but because there were no channels for it.
After taking care of this matter, Chenxi decisively went to the Pastoria City Gym and scheduled a challenge.
Then, he returned to the Elf Garden and had people help treat his Staryu and Torterra.
During their month in the Great Marsh, the two Small Elves had experienced many battles, big and small.
Although Floette could use Wish and Torterra had Grassy Terrain for continuous healing, which made them much luckier than most Pokémon Trainers, these simple healing methods could still leave behind hidden injuries.
Now, in the Elf Garden, the goal was to find professional medical staff to address these hidden injuries.
In terms of conditioning Pokémon, the Elf Garden’s Pokémon medical staff were more professional than Nurse Joy from Kanto, though their conditioning cycles were longer than Nurse Joy’s.
After all, Nurse Joy not only had her inherited skills but also the Alliance's continuous investment and funding in high-tech medical equipment.
With all preparations made and his Small Elves looking radiant, Chenxi brought them to the Pastoria City Gym for the official challenge.
Gym Leader Crasher Wake of Pastoria City was a passionate and powerful Trainer.
However, due to the presence of the Wetland Shrine, Crasher Wake, despite being a Gym Leader, seemed somewhat overshadowed.
Furthermore, even though he was from Pastoria City, his stance of favoring communication with the Alliance meant he faced suppression within Pastoria City.
But even so, Crasher Wake remained optimistic, diligently overcoming all kinds of obstacles.
However, even though he was seven or eight years younger than when Ash met him, a young man in his twenties, Chenxi and he still had too deep a generation gap, with no common topics, so he couldn't cling to him.
More accurately, since Chenxi was considered one of the Five Great Families, he would naturally interact with people from the Wetland Shrine.
As for someone like Crasher Wake, due to the differing stances between the two sides, there was really no hope of getting closer.
“The Pastoria City Gym allows the use of three Pokémon. During the battle, the challenger is allowed to switch Pokémon, but the Gym Leader is not allowed to switch Pokémon. The battle begins now!”
“Is this a Gym battle?” Ci Lang watched Chenxi and Crasher Wake standing on the water field, a bit eager to try, observing, “Even from this far, you can feel the fighting spirit emanating from these two!”
“Come out! Floatzel!” Crasher Wake summoned his first Pokémon, Floatzel!
This Floatzel was not high-leveled, only level 40. Clearly, Crasher Wake was just using this Pokémon to gauge Chenxi’s skill.
“Floatzel, huh…” Chenxi looked at the water environment and the floating platforms on it, then took out his Poké Ball and said, “Come out, Staryu!”
“It’s a Staryu! Quite rare in the Sinnoh region!” Crasher Wake looked at the Small Elf, a bit emotional, “Floatzel, Aqua Jet!”
Floatzel leaped up, its body enveloped in constantly spinning water, and with incredible acceleration, it dashed towards Staryu. Its speed was astonishing.
At this moment, Chenxi hadn't even had time to give a command when Floatzel had already rushed in front of Staryu.
However, at this moment, Staryu’s body glowed with an incredibly dazzling light—it was Shinny!
Chenxi had previously instructed Staryu that no matter what opponent it faced, if it found itself unable to dodge, using Shinny would always be the right move.
Then it would be a gamble to see if the opponent could adapt to the strong light.
The Floatzel in front of them clearly hadn't expected Chenxi's Staryu to unleash such an attack.
So, it was directly stimulated by the astonishing strong light, unable to open its eyes at all.
The Aqua Jet, which had been unstoppable, brushed past Staryu, causing almost no damage to it.
Floatzel itself, however, crashed into the edge of the pool, whether it hurt or not, no one knew.
Although the injury wasn’t severe, Floatzel still hadn't adapted to the stimulation from the strong light.
“Use Bubble Beam!” Chenxi didn’t hesitate, commanding Staryu.
Following Chenxi’s command, one of Staryu’s tentacles fired at the Floatzel, which was still adapting to the strong light.
A stream of Bubble Beam attacked Floatzel, forming a line of bubbles that was incredibly beautiful.
“Use Aqua Jet at your feet!” Crasher Wake immediately reacted and commanded.
Because it was a water field, Floatzel’s feet were in water, not on land.
So Floatzel directly used the acceleration from Aqua Jet to dive into the water field.
Although it couldn't see the Bubble Beam fired by Staryu, by using the entire pool, it avoided Staryu's attack.
And while swimming in the water, it finally managed to adapt its eyes to the strong light and began to see.
It started observing Staryu, who was battling above, from the bottom of the water, clearly dissatisfied with the disadvantage it had just suffered.
Just then, Staryu leaped into the water, and its body emitted an eerie glow that made people feel dizzy and disoriented upon seeing it. Under the flickering of this light, Floatzel began to become confused.
“Damn it… it’s Confuse Ray.” Crasher Wake’s face slightly changed as he watched the scene, but he immediately commanded, “Jump to the surface and use Whirlpool on the entire pool, to trap this Staryu in the pool!”
Floatzel didn't hesitate. Hearing Crasher Wake's words, it leaped directly towards the swimming pool!
But at that moment, as it burst out of the water, before it could even use Whirlpool, its body seemed to hit something, with a 'thwack' sound. The energy released from it caused a struggling pain!
Instantly, Floatzel had just burst out of the water when it collided head-first with a bubble, then was knocked back into the pool.
“These bubbles… the bubbles from the Bubble Beam just now, they were left behind. Why couldn’t I see them?!” Crasher Wake was stunned.
“I used Confuse Ray as a cover just now, allowing the bubbles from Bubble Beam, which were floating on the surface, to successfully become invisible with Protect,” Chenxi said. “I’d really like to see if your Floatzel can successfully get out! Psychic.”
As he spoke, Staryu had already rushed towards Floatzel, unleashing Psychic, a move it only learned at level 42.
The glow of Psychic shot from Staryu’s gem, naturally hitting Floatzel, who had just been knocked back into the water from hitting the invisible bubbles.
Compared to the pain of accidentally hitting the invisible bubbles and falling into the water, this Psychic attack coming from underwater was truly a fatal blow to Floatzel, as Floatzel was not a defensive Pokémon.
For Chenxi, his bubble tactics were not as astonishing as Lance’s, who could create colorless, formless, completely controllable, and incredibly powerful bubbles.
If he had that kind of ability, he would have just solved this Floatzel with one Bubble Beam.
But Chenxi truly couldn't achieve that level.
He could only use colorless, formless bubbles to trigger Floatzel’s mistakes, and then use those mistakes to create openings for Floatzel.
At least for now, the plan seemed feasible, and he gained a slight advantage.
Floatzel, having endured such an attack, naturally wouldn't give up easily.
At this moment, Crasher Wake waved his hand and commanded: “Surf! Maximum power Surf!”
At this moment, the water in the entire pool surged towards Floatzel. Even the water level of the entire pool dropped as Floatzel manipulated the water, a sight that made everyone tense.
At this moment, Floatzel, riding this current, forcefully broke through the bubble blockade Staryu had set up with Bubble Beam.
The crackling sounds, accompanied by the fading of countless splashes, seemed to declare Floatzel’s sovereignty over the pool.
At this moment, Floatzel seemed to be riding a water dragon, looking down at Staryu, fully displaying an arrogant and formidable posture.
“Use Shinny!” Chenxi decisively commanded Staryu.
Staryu didn’t hesitate; at this moment, it once again unleashed a dazzling glow, intending to completely conceal itself!
“Do you think I’ll fall for the same trick twice?! Floatzel, attack directly, defeat it!” Crasher Wake said.
At this moment, Floatzel closed its eyes, riding the astonishing tidal wave directly towards Staryu, striking it!
Under the impact of this tidal wave, the entire pool was reshaped by the surge.
The bubbles Staryu had placed on the water surface were now completely swept away.
The tsunami-like monstrous waves made Ci Lang tremble all over, and he couldn't help but grip the railing of the spectator stand.
Staryu is doomed; any Trainer who witnessed this powerful wave would likely have that thought.
But as the water calmed, Floatzel, panting, had a look of disbelief in its eyes.
Because Staryu was gone, vanished into the pool!
“It must be Protect or a skill that creates visual illusions!” Crasher Wake said, “Jump out and use Whirlpool on the entire field!”
Floatzel didn't hesitate, jumping onto the floating platform and unleashing Whirlpool, making the entire pool spin.
But even so, Staryu was still nowhere to be found, as if it had truly disappeared.
“Where is it?!” Crasher Wake looked at the scene, truly incredulous.
He had never encountered a Pokémon that just vanished during a battle. Could this Staryu be a Ghost-type?
“Another opening!” Chenxi saw Floatzel expose its back to Staryu again and decisively commanded, “Psychic!”
At this moment, Staryu directly fired a Psychic from the sky, hitting Floatzel squarely in the back.
This time, Floatzel was completely unprepared, as the attack came from above and behind it. It took another Psychic squarely, and this blow directly knocked Floatzel out of commission.
Crasher Wake looked up, following the direction of the Psychic, and saw a palm-sized Staryu, propped up by a floating bubble, looking down at the ground not far from the Gym’s incandescent lights.
“Minimize…” The moment Crasher Wake saw Staryu, he immediately understood what had happened.
Just as Staryu used Shinny, it also used Minimize and rode a bubble to fly upwards.
After Staryu used Minimize, it didn't even need the buoyancy from the bubble; its own Confusion alone could make Staryu float. However, with the bubble, it could further reduce the fluctuations from Staryu using Confusion.
No person or Pokémon would expect Staryu, a Small Elf, to be able to fly.
But the reality was, Staryu really did go to the sky!