In the gym room, Sabrina had already walked to the spectator stands and casually found a seat.
From her perspective, the view was wide and open, almost like watching an underwater performance, giving her a perfect view of the entire battlefield.
At that moment, she was crossing her legs, her demeanor very relaxed. It was clear that in her heart, she believed Natsui would easily win this match.
After all, this was just a private gym, and its strength couldn't be compared to that of official gyms. Unless Natsui got careless and made a huge blunder, it was impossible for him to lose.
Meanwhile, underwater, Ryuji stood in the trainer's box. Seeing Natsui look over, he pointed to an indicator light on the side.
Since they couldn't speak underwater, they could only communicate with simple hand signals and indicator lights.
Natsui turned his head and, through his diving goggles, saw the light turn from red to green. He knew the match had officially begun.
He waved his hand at Dragonair, which understood and immediately charged towards Qwilfish.
Although it was not a Water-type Pokémon, Dragonair could still move as nimbly as a sea snake underwater. But because they couldn't command with words, it was undoubtedly a great test of the tacit understanding between Natsui and Dragonair.
And compared to Natsui, Ryuji and his Pokémon, who often rehearsed their dances underwater and were extremely familiar with the water, seemed to have no such trouble.
With just a glance from Ryuji, Qwilfish attacked with perfect understanding.
As it sucked in seawater, its body continuously expanded. When it reached a certain size, with a sudden burst of force, it fired over a dozen poison barbs at Dragonair, covering a large area.
Faced with the sharp, incoming barbs, Dragonair immediately used Dragon Rage. Comparing the two moves, with its superior power, Dragon Rage not only deflected the barbs but also continued forward with undiminished force, ultimately hitting Qwilfish.
The poison barbs scattered, slowly disappearing into the sea current.
After a successful hit, Natsui's attack didn't stop.
He made a swiping motion with his right hand. Seeing this, Dragonair seized the opportunity while Qwilfish was still unsteady, ramming into it and sending it tumbling backward over a dozen times.
Landing two moves in a row greatly surprised Ryuji, and his heart leaped into his throat.
Although Water-type Pokémon had the advantage underwater, it was clear that Dragonair was not at a disadvantage in the sea either.
This match seems to have been a bad omen from the very beginning…
Shaking his head to dispel the unlucky thought, he waited for Qwilfish to regain its balance. Under his command, it immediately counterattacked. The poison barbs on its body began to glow with a dark green light as it also charged towards Dragonair.
It was the Poison-type move—Poison Jab.
If it hit, it would not only cause considerable damage but also had a chance to poison the target.
At the critical moment, Dragonair glanced behind it and saw Natsui's right hand making a continuous circular motion in the water. It understood, and the next second, as its mouth opened, it directly used Twister.
What happens when you use Twister underwater?
On land, of course, it would form a powerful tornado, sweeping everything away. On the sea surface, it would form a waterspout, sucking up the seawater. And underwater, it would, as it was now, form an underwater vortex, continuously swallowing the surrounding seawater.
As the vortex grew larger, the suction became stronger, and it eventually occupied half the field. And Qwilfish, unable to dodge in time, was also sucked into the vortex.
Qwilfish's balloon-like body was not conducive to swimming, and Natsui was taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't fast enough to escape the vortex's range.
Sure enough, pulled by the immense suction, Qwilfish was directly drawn into the vortex. Although it struggled desperately, no matter how it twisted its body, it couldn't escape.
Gurgle, gurgle…
Under the churning of the vortex, the seawater produced a large amount of bubbles.
After struggling for a long time, Qwilfish finally exhausted its stamina, was pulled into the center of the vortex, and began to spin wildly out of control.
And when the vortex finally dissipated, its eyes had already rolled back, and it had been completely spun into a daze.
This time, Dragonair didn't even need to deliver a finishing blow; Qwilfish had already lost its ability to battle.
Seeing the unconscious Qwilfish floating to the surface, out of control, Ryuji quickly took out a Poké Ball and silently recalled it.
He secretly glanced at the calm and composed Natsui and couldn't help but sigh: This person's Pokémon is really amazing.
Unfortunately, he had neither seen Natsui's matches nor read any related reports, so he naturally wouldn't know that the man before him was the current Indigo Conference champion and an Honored Trainer of the Orange League.
But even without knowing Natsui's identity, he could clearly feel that there was a huge gap in skill between them.
Shaking his head, Ryuji composed himself and sent out his second Pokémon. This time, it was a Mantine that swam over.
Since he rarely battled this type of Pokémon, Natsui couldn't help but look it over a few times.
Mantine is a Water/Flying-type Pokémon. Its appearance is somewhat similar to the manta rays of Earth. It was said to have a very gentle nature, usually swimming leisurely in the water, but would occasionally leap out of the sea and fly over the surface.
Natsui also remembered that Mantine's special defense was outstanding, so this battle would have to be decided with physical means as much as possible.
With this thought, he checked on Dragonair's condition.
Since it hadn't been attacked just now and hadn't consumed much stamina, even though the opponent had switched to a second Pokémon, seeing that Dragonair was in good shape, Natsui didn't switch it out but continued to battle Ryuji with it.
The indicator light turned from red to green again.
As the battle began, Dragonair directly used Dragon Rush, closing the distance and crashing into Mantine's body. And while dodging Mantine's counterattack, it seized the opportunity to use Bind, wrapping its tail around Mantine's body. Although Mantine quickly broke free due to its size, it was still hit by Dragonair's smooth combo and lost a lot of stamina.
The next second, the roles were reversed. At Ryuji's urging, it was Mantine's turn to attack.
The two Pokémon chased each other in the sea, and various moves shot through the water, creating circles of ripples.
It was clear that this battle was a bit more difficult than the last one. At the very least, Mantine's swimming speed was much faster than Qwilfish's, which made it easier for it to dodge some attacks.
But even so, Mantine was still no match for Dragonair.
In the end, Dragonair still found an opportunity and knocked it out with a single Dragon Tail.
After defeating two opponents, Dragonair came to Natsui's side and affectionately rubbed its forehead against his arm.
Through the two battles just now, the tacit understanding between Natsui and it had grown even stronger.
And at this point, Natsui also had to make an assessment of Ryuji's strength in his mind.
He found that the strength of Ryuji's two Pokémon was indeed a bit stronger than that of an ordinary trainer; they still had some skill. No wonder he dared to open a gym here.
However, Ryuji's battle style was a bit too conventional, and his command showed no brilliant flashes, which slightly discounted his Pokémon's strength.
On the other side, having lost both battles, Ryuji now sent out his last Pokémon—a Lanturn.
Lanturn is a Water/Electric-type Pokémon. Its prototype should be the anglerfish, the kind that lurks in the deep sea and hunts with a glowing lure. Of course, Lanturn's appearance is much cuter than an anglerfish's.
This Pokémon was also Ryuji's last trump card. Whether he could win back a round all depended on Lanturn's performance.
But unfortunately, after the previous two battles, Dragonair had already built up its momentum and confidence. When the third round began, although Lanturn's Electric-type moves caused a lot of trouble for Dragonair, even when injured, Dragonair still fought hard. In the end, it directly swept all three, defeating Ryuji's three Pokémon single-handedly.
And until Lanturn fainted, Ryuji still couldn't believe his eyes.
I… was defeated by just one Pokémon?
After all, being swept 3-0 is a very embarrassing thing, meaning that the gap in strength between him and his opponent was just too huge.
And for his dream of having a gym, this was undoubtedly a bucket of cold water.
Could it be that my skills are really not suitable for being a Gym Leader?
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