Chapter 1: Wattson Says Nothing, He Just Keeps Spamming Thunderbolt

Although Ludicolo possesses the Water type—which, theoretically, is weak against Electric-type moves—its other typing, the Grass type, directly compensates for this drawback.

Equipped with the moves Teeter Dance and Fake Out, Ludicolo was clearly better suited than Grovyle to serve as the starting Pokémon in this type of battle.

Because no matter what kind of situation arose, he could handle it with flexibility.

As Ludicolo took the field, the battle officially commenced, entering the first turn.

Cynthia did not hesitate for a second and directly chose Fake Out!

When in doubt, start with Fake Out—it is never the wrong choice.

Getting a free hit in, what’s not to like?

Never underestimate this slap; not only does it interrupt the opponent's turn and deal some damage, but it can also break items like the Focus Sash.

Moreover, sometimes just that tiny bit of damage makes the difference between victory and defeat!

As a competent Trainer, every single detail in a battle must be utilized and taken into account, doing everything humanly possible to strive for victory.

However, the very next moment after she input her command, a surge of golden electricity suddenly sparked and danced across the battlefield beneath the two Pokémon's feet, enveloping the entire arena in a web of current.

A series of system notifications immediately popped up!

[Electric Terrain has risen beneath their feet!]

[The power of Electric-type moves has been boosted, and all Pokémon are now protected from falling asleep!]

[Raichu's Surge Surfer ability has been triggered, greatly increasing its Speed!]

[Raichu used Fake Out!]

As Raichu swung its paws, a pair of giant, glowing claws formed from purple mist slammed fiercely into Ludicolo, leaving him dazed and motionless on the spot!

[Ludicolo tried to make a move, but it flinched!]

Intending to use Fake Out to disrupt the opponent, Ludicolo was instead stunned right back by that very slap!

Looking at the game screen, Cynthia's mind began to spin rapidly.

What on earth was Electric Terrain?

If it were weather, she could understand.

Yet this so-called "Terrain" seemed to be something she was hearing about for the very first time.

The effect of this terrain looked somewhat similar to weather, appearing to provide a specific boost to a particular type.

And more importantly, the Raichu before her was definitely not the kind of Raichu she remembered.

The Surge Surfer Ability was completely unheard of.

So, what on earth was going on here?

As Cynthia pondered, the livestream chat was filled with the exact same confusion.

[Can someone please explain to me what Electric Terrain is? Damn, how come this old man brings his own terrain buff to a fight? That's way too cheap, right?]

[This Raichu looks so weird... and how is it even faster than Ludicolo??]

[Raichu is fast to begin with, okay? Besides, didn't you see that Ability of his? It doubled his Speed!]

[Isn't that a bit like Ludicolo's Ability? Is this the Electric-type version of Swift Swim?]

Amidst the viewers' discussion, Cynthia input her command for the second turn.

[Mega Drain]

Fake Out only shaved off a bit of Ludicolo's HP, which was no big deal.

The crucial thing now was to figure out Raichu's move pool, as well as how its typing differed from a standard Raichu!

As the second turn began, the opposing Raichu naturally moved first. Intense electric arcs gathered around its body, transforming into a powerful current that surged straight toward Ludicolo.

[Raichu used Thunderbolt!]

[The Magnet held by Raichu boosted the power of its Electric-type moves!]

Amidst the flash of electricity, Ludicolo's HP bar plummeted rapidly, dropping directly below half and beginning to flicker with a hazardous yellow glow.

Immediately afterward, countless green light particles gathered and shimmered around Ludicolo's body, unleashing a counterattack upon Raichu.

However, this move only dealt about one-third of Raichu's HP in damage, and the restorative nutrient particles barely managed to pull Ludicolo's health back up to just above the halfway mark.

Cynthia made her judgment instantly, decisively choosing to quit the battle and restart.

The chat was left utterly bewildered.

[Huh? Why did she stop fighting?]

[That's a fast quit.]

Taking advantage of the downtime while the game restarted, Cynthia spoke up:

"The goal of the first challenge is primarily to gather intelligence on the Gym Leader's lead Pokémon."

"From these two rounds, we can tell that this Raichu has very impressive Special Attack capabilities and high speed."

"At the same time, Ludicolo's Mega Drain didn't deal all that much damage, which proves one thing—its Special Defense must also be quite outstanding."

"Conversely, Physical Defense must be its weaker area. Because an ordinary Pokémon can hardly excel in all six stats; the more prominent its performance in certain areas, the weaker it tends to be in others."

Listening to Cynthia's explanation, everyone quickly caught on.

[I see. As expected of a Champion, even playing a game is so professional.]

[If ordinary Pokémon can hardly excel in all six stats... can that legendary Pokémon lying in the cave earlier do it?]

[Whether that guy excels in all six stats or not, I can guarantee that the moment he wakes up, he could punch clean through this Mauville Gym...]

[+1.]

While the audience chatted away, the game successfully restarted, and Cynthia initiated her challenge against Wattson once more.

This time, she didn't send out Ludicolo first; instead, she directly dispatched Stufful to face that Raichu.

Since the opponent boasted outstanding Special Defense and comparatively weak Physical Defense, Stufful was clearly a fantastic choice.

Although Grovyle possessed resistance to Electric-type moves, its physical attack power was simply too low. In comparison, Cynthia ultimately chose Stufful.

Moreover, in this battle, the situation might be the exact reverse of the previous rival battle—Grovyle, possessing resistance to the Electric type, was actually the critical unit whose health needed to be preserved above all else!

As Stufful entered the arena this time, it naturally took a hit from Raichu's Fake Out, dropping the HP bar at the top of its head by a fifth.

Cynthia was unsurprised by this and directly ordered it to use the move Low Sweep.

However, when the second turn began...

Golden electricity surged across Raichu's body, abruptly blasting toward the opposing Stufful!

[Raichu used Thunderbolt!]

[Critical Hit!!!]

Before Stufful even had a chance to strike, it was directly blasted to faints by this single move!

Cynthia:

Whose idea was this critical hit mechanic anyway?

Why does it always feel a bit anti-human?

With no other choice, Cynthia had to restart the Gym battle yet again.

However, the subsequent process of challenging the Gym remained far from smooth.

To sum it up in one sentence—

[Wattson says nothing, he just spams Thunderbolt]

Not only did that Raichu constantly use Thunderbolt, but the Manectric sent out afterward also continuously spammed Thunderbolt!

During her smoothest run, with only Grovyle remaining, Cynthia successfully made it to Wattson's third Pokémon: Magneton.

As a result, Grovyle suffered terrible luck and was frozen solid by a Tri Attack...

After tasting failure multiple times, Cynthia had already realized a serious problem:

The reason her Gym battles were going so hard wasn't just because the opponent had one more Pokémon than her; it was largely due to the presence of that "Electric Terrain"!

The base power of Thunderbolt wasn't low to begin with, and it carried a probability of inflicting paralysis on her Pokémon. Combined with the power boost from Electric Terrain, if her team lacked a Ground-type Pokémon, the opponent would relentlessly and unscrupulously launch attacks using Thunderbolt!

Yet, based on her past experience, even if she did catch a Ground-type Pokémon, Wattson would likely have coverage moves to counter it...

Cynthia couldn't help feeling a slight headache.

At this moment, the livestream chat was buzzing with discussion.

[Damn, this Gym is fierce. Feels pretty tough to beat.]

[Indeed, this old man looks all jolly and cheerful, but the moment a battle starts, he turns straight into a lightning lord??]

[I feel like this guy is completely different from any of the previous Gym Leaders. His Pokémon don't really rely on setups or synergy; all they have is sheer offense and raw stats...]

[Brute force breaking all techniques, you could say.]

When the sixth battle restarted, Cynthia chose not to challenge Wattson immediately, instead walking out of the Gym.

Following consecutive failures, she felt she needed to take a breather and carefully think of a countermeasure.

For now, she had already roughly figured out the configurations of three of the opponent's Pokémon.

First, a special Raichu holding a Magnet, weak in Physical Defense but outstanding in all other stats.

Second, a Manectric holding a Sitrus Berry to restore HP, whose Special Attack remained terrifying.

Third, a Magneton that used Steel-type moves, with an unknown held item.

Plus one mysterious Pokémon that had yet to make an appearance...

Having organized the existing clues, Cynthia planned to wander around the neighborhood first.

According to the update prompts, there were large areas to explore on both the left and right sides of Mauville City.

Maybe she could add a new Pokémon to her team to counter Wattson.

Ideally... a Ground type.

Even though Wattson might have countermeasures, having a Ground type was certainly better than not having one...

At the very least, she wouldn't have to endure being blasted by Thunderbolt for seven or eight consecutive turns...

At this thought, Cynthia glanced left and right.

There seemed to be a small town to the left; wouldn't there be more areas to explore there?

Thus, she set off in the direction of the left side of Mauville City.

Yet, she hadn't walked more than a few steps before she stopped in her tracks, her eyebrows lifting slightly.

A blooming garden had appeared right before her eyes.

And within that garden was unmistakably a small, hedgehog-like figure.

Was that a Pokémon she had never seen before?