The Kingdom of Loque has arrived, and this sparring partner is so awesome!

Chapter 9: Defensive Rapid-Fire Techniques

The lounge was quiet for a few seconds.

"Just kidding, you can call me whatever you want."

"Haha... okay, coach..."

Chen Xiqian chuckled a few times, then changed the subject: "Shall we start practicing now?"

"no problem."

As the two walked out of the lounge, Lin Chong was about to go to the front desk to get his Pokémon when he saw a training partner a few years older than him jogging over.

Lin Chong remembered that this person's name seemed to be Dong Jiahao.

Jiahao smiled broadly, his tone even somewhat ingratiating: "Brother Chong, are you entertaining guests?"

"Are you going to get a Pokémon? Which one do you want? I'll go get it for you!"

Lin Chong hesitated for a moment, but didn't refuse: "Meow meow, and then get me two more water-type Pokémon."

"I want the lower-end ones."

"Okay!"

Jiahao jogged over again and soon brought over three Gulu balls.

He offered it with both hands, his manner even somewhat humble.

Chen Xi, who was standing to the side, was stunned. As a high school student, she had never seen anyone groveling before.

Especially when the person being treated with such respect is your own classmate, this feeling... is so strange!

Jiahao stood still, just laughing.

Lin Chong took the ball, glanced at him, and asked, "Do you have any orders this afternoon?"

"No, I'm very free today."

"Then come over here later and help me with some data entry or something. Bring a chair over and sit down."

To Chen Xi's surprise, upon hearing this, Dong Jiahao's face lit up with joy, and he said "good" three times in a row!

She couldn't help but secretly ask Lin Chong, "Why is this person so... nice to you?"

She meant to say "respectfully," but changed her mind before she could finish.

"Does he get a cut of your monthly subscription fee?"

Lin Chong thought for a moment and patiently explained, "This person's sales performance is very poor; he's been at the bottom for several months in a row."

"He just wanted to learn some sparring techniques from me, he didn't say it outright."

Chen Xi was even more surprised: "How did you know?"

"You should have known this without even thinking about it..."

Because no one is kind to you for no reason. Just think about what you have, and you can probably guess the other person's intentions.

Lin Chong pointed to an empty space: "Let's go practice there."

-

"Come out, beautiful grass."

A flash of white light appeared, and a green elf with a pale yellow flower bud on its head appeared in front of Lin Chong.

Without any ceremony, he immediately reached out and pinched the flower buds and stems of the cosmos, muttering something under his breath.

"The meat is very firm; I usually eat a lot of good food."

"The flower buds have a faint fragrance, and the color is just right... They've been cultivated quite well!"

Lin Chong was somewhat surprised: "This is better than most newbies' Pokémon. What do you want me to train for you?"

Chen Xi was a little embarrassed and explained, "Actually, I don't know what else I can do for Qili Grass."

"But my goal is the number one ranked Pokémon Academy in the country, 'Shimizu'."

"So we wanted to improve this child's abilities as much as possible before the college entrance exam..."

Lin Chong understood. The guest didn't have a clear training direction yet, only a broad goal—"to become stronger."

He rubbed his chin with his fingers, thinking: "Since that's the case, let's practice as I planned."

Lin Chong opened the three Gulu Balls together. Besides Meow Meow, the other two sprites were Hao'er Fish and Douding Fish.

He looked at Chen Xi and said, "Next, I will have the two Pokémon take turns attacking. You need to have your Chikorita use defensive skills to block as many attacks as possible."

"This allows it to release defensive moves faster, which is crucial for Grass-type Pokémon."

Chen Xi nodded seriously in agreement, but she couldn't help but mutter to herself.

Isn't the usual training for Pokémon all about honing those damaging skills to make them more powerful?

Why is Lin Chong focusing more on defensive skills...? I don't understand.

Before Chen Xi could figure it out, the attack from the horned fish arrived.

She was startled and quickly said, "Miraculous Grass, fibrosis defense!"

Surrounded by emerald green light, the succulent easily caught the attack due to the type advantage, but the next moment, the pygmy fish's "water gun" came one after another!

Before Qilihua could react, it was sent flying!

Chen Xi was dumbfounded. What the hell was this? The attack frequency was so fast, who could defend against it?

Lin Chong saw through her thoughts and gestured towards Miao Miao, who was watching the show beside him.

"Let me demonstrate."

【Okay~】

It slowly got up, and the two water-type spirits understood and flew over one after the other with two water guns, just like before.

Meow meow wagged its tail, and two barriers lit up around its body, blocking all the attacks.

Chen Xi's eyes widened, and she stammered.

"This...this doesn't make sense. Why can your cat use Fiber twice in a row?"

"I don't think even professional trainers can do that!"

As a sparring partner, Lin Chong patiently explained, "It's not that they can't do it, it's that they don't need to."

"Using a defensive move twice in a row will greatly deplete the Pokémon's stamina, and at their level, they almost never need to use it."

"But this technique is very important, as it can increase the frequency of defensive moves, especially for Grass-type Pokémon."

Lin Chong gestured with his lips, and Chen Xi indeed saw that the cat looked exhausted, as if it was about to fall asleep at any moment.

She felt like she had wasted her years as a trainer, and stared blankly at Lin Chong.

"How is it possible for this cat to do that?"

"Does it even have a professional standard?"

Lin Chong shook his head: "No, it belongs to the category of those with good talent, and its strength is barely considered to be at the intermediate amateur level."

Amateur...Intermediate!

Chen Xi's expression changed, and she asked solemnly, "Are you selling this cat?"

"what?"

Lin Chong was momentarily confused: "You'll have to ask the boss about that. What's wrong? Intermediate amateur...is that really that impressive?"

Most of the Pokémon in the gym were either mediocre or amateur beginners, meaning they were between levels 5 and 15. Meowth was indeed considered top-tier, but Lin Chong really didn't have a good grasp of that.

After all, he himself is a professional, and he thinks these elves are just average.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xi's expression turned strange, and she looked at Lin Chong as if he were an alien.

"Most low-level Pokémon are mediocre; amateur-level Pokémon have basically evolved once..."

"This Meowth hasn't even evolved yet, and it's already at the intermediate amateur level. I've never seen such a talented Pokémon!"

Lin Chong: ? ? ?

What the heck? Meow Meow is a genius?

Chen Xi actually went straight to the front desk and found Old Man Zhou. She tried to calm herself down and asked...

"Boss, are you selling that cat in area number five?"

Old Zhou, who was drinking tea, cleared his throat: "Not for sale."

Chen Xi retorted, "Money is not a problem!"

The old man glanced at her and said slowly, "It's not that I don't want to sell, but that Meowth already has a trainer."

"It can't be sold."

Helpless, Chen Xi had no choice but to return disappointed.

When she told Lin Chong what had happened, he was somewhat surprised and immediately looked at Miao Miao, asking her in his mind.

【You have a trainer?】

Meow Meow paused for a moment, then looked up at him.

No, I've been in this gym the whole time, and I don't know any trainers.

Hey, that's strange. Old Zhou just didn't want to sell Miaomiao, so he came up with an excuse?