Xiyue Arena, participant registration desk.
Lin Fan and Su Ling waited in a long line for more than ten minutes before it was finally their turn.
After a simple verification of their information, the young lady responsible for registration nodded and handed Lin Fan a special circular badge with his participation information written in small print.
“Please scan the QR code to follow the Zero Moon Cup official account and pay attention to the messages sent, so you don’t miss your battle time,” the young lady reminded him.
Lin Fan nodded, walked to the side, and followed the prompts to complete all the steps, only then having time to check his participation information.
“My participant number is… what the hell, 404, not found?!”
Lin Fan froze, a stampede of thoughts in his mind.
Where were his 666 and 888? Who snatched them?
Damn it, capital, you win!
After his usual dramatic flair, Lin Fan began to check his battle venue and time.
“District D, Field 5, the time is tomorrow at nine in the morning, and my opponent’s number is…”
“What the hell, number 666?! Six hundred sixty-six, isn’t that just too much?!”
As Lin Fan sneered and rolled up his sleeves, Su Ling also walked over, raising the badge in her hand: “I’m number 137, District F, Field 7, tomorrow at nine in the morning. What about you?”
The emotions he had been brewing suddenly froze and vanished. Lin Fan, depressed, also raised the badge in his hand: “Number 404, District D, Field 5, also tomorrow at nine in the morning.”
“That’s quite a coincidence,” Su Ling nodded.
Lin Fan shrugged noncommittally, looking around. Not seeing Uncle Su, he asked, “Where’s Uncle Su?”
“He went to challenge the Rock Gym. Don’t worry about him,” Su Ling said casually, looking like she knew her dad very well.
Challenging a Gym…
A strong sense of interest appeared in Lin Fan’s eyes. In his impression, as long as Pokémon were mentioned, challenging a Gym was an unavoidable and important part. It seemed the same was true in the real world.
Unlike dojos or martial arts schools, Gyms are centered around types, encompassing eighteen types. Gym Leaders are powerful figures in their respective type fields, and Gym-level strength is also the backbone of Xia Kingdom.
Although Su Wu is a veteran Professional Trainer, a Trainer’s strength never depends on how long they’ve been training. He is just an ordinary Professional Trainer, and facing the Rock-type Gym Leader, who is considered a master among Gym-level Trainers, he might still be outmatched.
But with type advantages, perhaps Su Wu could also have a back-and-forth battle with the opponent.
I really want to see a battle of that level.
Lin Fan took a deep breath, put away his aspirations, and returned to the hotel.
He believed that one day he would also reach that level, or even become the next Bug-type Gym Leader.
No, not just a Gym Leader, but even stronger, becoming a Bug-type Master like never before!
Before that, let’s strive for the Champion of this Zero Moon Cup.
…
At night, in the hotel’s private single training ground, Lin Fan looked at the dummy pierced by Beedrill’s sting, a thoughtful expression in his eyes.
After so many days of exploration, he had gained a Preliminary understanding of the dual-purpose technique of Double Needle and Poison Sting.
In terms of power, using Poison Sting first and then immediately following with Double Needle would yield greater power. This is because Beedrill’s Poison Sting is covered with its unique toxin, which has strong corrosive properties and causes a significant defense reduction to anything it touches, thereby allowing Double Needle to inflict more damage.
As Uncle Su said, taking two attacks of different types in a very short period of time will inherently increase their power, and on top of that, Beedrill can cause even greater damage through the special nature of its own toxin.
In other words, compared to a normal attack, Beedrill’s attack method is two levels more powerful, making it a complete trump card.
“Toxin… How to increase the strength of the toxin?”
Lin Fan murmured. Although he was a standard good young man, when it came to increasing the corrosiveness of toxins, the only thing he could think of were those behaviors prohibited by the state, such as ingesting the poison glands and sacs of Poison-type Pokémon to obtain the fastest and greatest benefits in the most primitive and direct way.
However, there is naturally a reason why such behavior is prohibited by the state. Ingesting the poison glands and sacs of Poison-type Pokémon is very dangerous. If the degree is not controlled well, it could lead to attribute imbalance in the Pokémon, resulting in sudden death.
Furthermore, poison glands and sacs are the very foundation of Poison-type Pokémon’s lives. If they were not prohibited, who knows how many innocent wild Poison-type Pokémon would be hunted.
From every aspect, this behavior should indeed be prohibited, but it is also an undeniable fact that Poison-type Trainers gradually declined thereafter.
“If I have the chance, I must visit a Poison-type Gym.”
After a moment of thought, Lin Fan called Beedrill to a halt.
“That’s enough training for today. It’s time to go back and rest.”
Hearing this, Beedrill immediately flew from the training ground to Lin Fan’s side, consciously spearing two peach fruits with its Double Needle and savoring them with relish.
No matter how long it ate them, the peach fruits were as delicious as ever.
Walking out of the training ground, just as he was about to return to his room, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in Lin Fan’s sight.
“Uncle Su,” Lin Fan stepped forward to greet him.
Su Wu was startled, then came to his senses and saw it was Lin Fan, nodding in response.
Lin Fan curiously looked at Su Wu, who was clearly a bit distracted, but his eyes were exceptionally bright, and his expression was quite excited.
Su Ling had said earlier that Su Wu went to challenge the Rock-type Gym. Was this… getting too into the fight?
“Uncle Su, is that Rock-type Gym Leader very strong?”
Looking at Lin Fan’s inquisitive gaze, Su Wu immediately became serious, with a reminiscent expression: “Very strong! Although Fighting-type is strong against Rock-type, in actual combat, it’s not like that at all.”
“Whether it’s the Pokémon’s physical strength, their control over skills, or the degree of their ability development, Gym Leader Wu is considered a top-tier master. In my opinion, his strength is not far from an Elite. After all, he’s also a veteran Gym Leader, and after so many years of accumulation, his strength has greatly increased.”
Su Wu spared no praise, clearly impressed by Gym Leader Wu’s sheer strength.
The spirit of curiosity in Lin Fan’s heart immediately burned brightly.
Among the people he could interact with, Su Wu’s strength was already top-tier. His ace Machamp could make him almost lose his fighting ability just by its aura.
And how strong must that Rock-type Gym Leader be to be praised so highly by him?
Or rather, how strong are those people who can become Gym Leaders?
Noticing the overflowing curiosity in Lin Fan’s eyes, Su Wu laughed heartily and patted his shoulder: “As long as you train step by step, one day, I believe you will also possess that kind of strength. However…”
Su Wu paused, a hint of mischief appearing in his eyes: “It won’t be easy to win the Champion of this Zero Moon Cup. Gym Leader Wu’s son is also participating in the competition, and his Onix should not be underestimated.”