"Jacob, stop messing around! Who do you think you are? You think you're worthy of challenging Lorelei?"
"Exactly, Jacob, you should focus on getting eight badges and making it into the Indigo Conference first!"
"Yeah, yeah! As far as I know, only the Champion of the Indigo Conference is qualified to climb Victory Road and challenge the League's Elite Four."
Everyone was speechless at Jacob's challenge.
It wasn't a question of winning or losing, but a question of whether he was even worthy.
"So noisy!"
Listening to the chatter of his childhood playmates, Jacob's face flushed red as he looked at Lorelei and taunted, "Lorelei, you're not afraid of me, are you?"
Hearing this, Adrian leaned back tactically, curiously sizing up this kid who didn't know the meaning of death.
Did he not know that once Lorelei started a battle, she became a completely different person?
The title 'Ice Queen' wasn't just for show.
She might not be as harsh as 'Pryce of the Midwinter,' but she certainly wouldn't go easy on him.
Facing the provocation, Lorelei simply smiled slightly and asked, "Jacob, how many badges do you have now?"
Hearing this, Jacob's face immediately turned beet red.
Although he had obtained his starter pokémon and trained hard for over half a year, catching several new partners in the process...
...he hadn't actually gone out on a journey, so his badge count was naturally zero.
However, he no longer had any rivals among his peers on Island Four, which was why he had become arrogant enough to challenge Lorelei.
Despite his red face, Jacob clearly didn't want to back down like this. He stiffened his neck and said stubbornly, "Lorelei, strength doesn't necessarily have anything to do with badges."
"You have a point!"
To everyone's surprise, Lorelei nodded in agreement.
But immediately after, she pointed a long, slender white finger at Adrian and smiled. "This is Adrian. He is also a rookie Trainer this year, but he has already obtained five badges. If you want to challenge me, you have to get past him first."
"Fine, no problem!"
Jacob looked at Adrian, not thinking it would be difficult at all. "Your name is Adrian, right? Do you dare to have a battle with me? How about a three-on-three?"
Adrian, who had been planning to just watch the show, was a bit dazed to suddenly find himself thrust into the spotlight.
However, seeing Lorelei's smiling face, Adrian could only shrug helplessly. "No problem!"
"Good, let's go to the clearing nearby."
With a grand wave of his hand, Jacob immediately led the group to a clearing by the seaside.
In the clearing, Adrian and Jacob stood facing each other, surrounded by a crowd of curious children.
"Who do you think will win this battle?"
"It should be the outsider, right? Didn't you hear Lorelei? He's already collected five badges; he's a high-level Trainer at the five-badge tier."
"That's not necessarily true! Jacob is very strong too. His Poliwag has already evolved into a Poliwhirl. And as far as I know, he even ventured into Icefall Cave alone, coming back in one piece and catching a powerful pokémon."
"Stop it! Jacob is just a frog in a well. How big is our Island Four? Compared to the entire Kanto region, it's just a drop in the ocean."
There were many onlookers, and they chatted excitedly as they watched the spectacle.
In the crowd, Lorelei crossed her arms, accentuating her figure, and watched the scene with great interest.
"Go, Poliwhirl!"
Full of confidence, Jacob was the first to release his starting pokémon.
"In that case, I choose you!"
Adrian also threw a poké ball. With a flash of red light, a completely red Slowpoke appeared.
"Huh? It's actually a Slowpoke?"
When he saw the Slowpoke, Jacob immediately became amused.
Even though this Slowpoke was an unusual Shiny pokémon, a Slowpoke was still a Slowpoke.
This kind of dim-witted pokémon with such slow reactions—what kind of combat power could it have?
It was basically a sitting duck!
"Who is this guy? He's so annoying!"
Seeing Jacob's disdainful face, Slowpoke felt a bit displeased.
"Just a hot-blooded youth who doesn't know the cruelty of the world."
Adrian smiled and said through Telepathy, "Slowpoke, this is your first battle. Let's strive to show some momentum and style."
"Okay!"
Slowpoke's gaze sharpened, and it nodded solemnly.
But deep down, Slowpoke couldn't help but overthink: "Although the Trainer said I have excellent talent, I am still too young. I'm not even the equivalent of a three-year-old child, just a three-day-old beast. Moreover, that Poliwhirl across from me has already evolved once; its strength definitely isn't weak. I must be careful..."
Thinking of this, the Psychic energy in Slowpoke's mind swept out, and it stood ready for battle.
Compared to a normal Slowpoke that thought of nothing, Adrian's Slowpoke was simply too intelligent—so intelligent that it was prone to all sorts of associations and self-rationalizations...
"Since you're not making a move, then I won't be polite."
Seeing that Adrian and Slowpoke hadn't made a move for a long time, Jacob took the initiative to attack: "Poliwhirl, Water Gun!"
"Poli~"
Poliwhirl jumped up, its white-gloved hands coming together as a stream of water immediately shot out from its palms.
"That Water Gun's speed and power are quite good. It seems Jacob has really been training seriously during this time."
Lorelei smiled as she gave her critique.
Hearing this, Jacob smiled proudly.
Adrian snapped his fingers and shouted, "In that case, we'll use Water Gun too!"
Although he could communicate via Telepathy, Adrian didn't want to reveal it casually.
"Slow~"
On the field, Slowpoke opened its mouth, charged up slightly, and sprayed out a thin stream of water.
Compared to Poliwhirl's thick Water Gun, Slowpoke's Water Gun could be described as small and thin; the contrast was quite obvious.
Seeing this, Jacob burst out laughing and mocked, "Ha~ A Water Gun that thin? You have the nerve to show that in public?"
But soon, Jacob was unable to laugh anymore.
Psh!
As the two Water Guns collided in mid-air, everyone expected the thin stream to be instantly dispersed.
But to everyone's surprise, not only did the thin Water Gun not disperse, it acted like a hot knife through butter, directly shattering Poliwhirl's Water Gun.
Then, Slowpoke's Water Gun continued unabated toward Poliwhirl.
"Poli~"
Seeing this, Poliwhirl hurriedly leaped backward. The Water Gun flew past, nearly brushing its body, before slamming heavily into a reef on the shore.
Boom!
The reef, heavily eroded by seawater, was instantly shattered, exploding into small fragments of stone.
"Poli~"
Poliwhirl dodged the Water Gun but failed to dodge the flying debris, and several wounds immediately appeared on its body.
"That's a Water Gun? The power is way too high!"
The onlookers all widened their eyes in disbelief.
Although many of them were minors, this was the Pokémon world after all, and being on an island, they were no strangers to Water-type pokémon and the Water Gun move.
But they had truly never seen a Water Gun move with such destructive power.
It actually shattered a reef?
It was simply incredible!
"My goodness, this Water Gun is so fierce?"
Even Adrian couldn't help but be secretly shocked.
At the Perfection level, Water Gun's firing speed was much faster than a typical Water Gun.
In terms of power, it was even greater than a typical Hydro Pump.
Adrian knew this!
The stream was thin because the energy had been continuously compressed by Slowpoke, and when it erupted at the critical moment, the destructive power was naturally astounding.
But even for a Perfection-level Water Gun, Slowpoke's power was much stronger than Dratini's.
"Is it because Slowpoke is a Water-type pokémon and gets a Same-Type Attack Bonus?"
Adrian rubbed his chin in thought, secretly concluding: "However, it's probably mainly because most of Slowpoke's life energy has been converted into elemental energy, resulting in incredible explosive power!"
On the battlefield...
Jacob didn't think too much about it. He just glared at Adrian and said indignantly, "How despicable! You intentionally called it 'Water Gun' to mislead me when it was actually a Hydro Pump! Poliwhirl, rush in and use Double Slap!"
"Poli~"
With a quick recovery, Poliwhirl immediately charged toward Slowpoke, its fan-like palms swinging rapidly.
Adrian responded calmly: "Disable!"
"Slow~"
As a hazy blue light flickered in Slowpoke's eyes, an invisible force immediately suppressed the running Poliwhirl, causing its body to freeze, unable to move an inch.
In the games, Disable is a skill that hinders an opponent, making them unable to use the last move they performed.
But in the real world, its effect was literal; it could freeze the opponent's body and lock down their actions.
"How can this be?"
Only then did Jacob finally realize Slowpoke's extraordinary nature, asking in Confusion, "How can this Slowpoke's reactions be so fast? It's not slow at all!"
Unfortunately, no one would answer him.
"Confusion!"
At Adrian's command, the Psychic energy in Slowpoke's mind swept out, continuously battering Poliwhirl's mind.
If it were a normal Confusion move, the Psychic power would be quite weak; as long as one's physical fitness was strong enough, they could break free from the telekinetic bind.
But Slowpoke's Psychic power was extraordinary—it was incredibly strong and resilient. Poliwhirl couldn't break free at all and could only let its stamina be drained by the telekinesis.
"Poli~"
Before long, Poliwhirl lost consciousness, its eyes spinning in circles as it fainted.
"Damn it! I was careless!"
Retracting the defeated Poliwhirl, Jacob still hadn't realized the gap between himself and Adrian. He impatiently threw out another poké ball.