"What did you say?"
Misty stepped forward, her beautiful eyes widening into round circles.
"I'm not elegant? And is 'arrogant' supposed to be a compliment? From your tone, it sounds like it's a pity I don't have that kind of temperament!"
She stood with her hands on her hips, looking aggressive.
"What are those so-called young ladies in your academy like? Tell me about them!"
Joe was startled by her sudden outburst of anger, and his neck subconsciously shrank back.
But as if to prove that he wasn't lying, he began fumbling around his body in a flurry.
Soon, he carefully pulled out a photograph from an inner pocket of his school uniform. It was kept quite flat, but the edges were clearly hand-cut.
He held the photo in both hands and presented it to Misty, his voice carrying a strange mix of admiration and humility.
"Here, it's her… Elite, the pride of our academy's new generation. She's been the top student for two consecutive years and is also the head leader of our 'whip of love' special training."
The person in the photo was a young girl.
The background appeared to be the academy's grand hall. She was wearing a well-tailored, high-quality Nanshan Academy custom dress in deep blue with gold piping, and a glittering top-student badge was pinned to her chest.
The girl had long, sexy burgundy hair that reached down to her waist.
Her features were indeed beautiful, possessing a refinement that mixed superiority with detachment. Her chin was slightly raised, her gaze looked calmly at the camera, and her lips held a perfectly calculated smile.
Her entire being radiated a high-and-mighty aura, soaked in wealth and strict upbringing.
Misty leaned in to look at the photo, her eyes instantly narrowing. She subconsciously took half a step back, shrinking toward Yuuto's side, her face full of disdain and disbelief.
"You… why do you carry around a photo of a girl who bullies people? And it's cut out from a magazine!"
"You're not a pervert, are you?"
"N-No!" Joe hurriedly explained, his face turning bright red. "She's beautiful and strong! I just… I just use her as a goal to motivate myself!"
As if seeking validation, he turned the photo toward Yuuto and Delia, asking weakly,
"Don't you… don't you think she really has a lot of class?"
Delia smiled gently and didn't answer directly.
Yuuto only glanced casually at the photo and nodded, speaking the truth plainly.
"Well, looking at the photo alone, her temperament and appearance are indeed quite good."
The words had just left his mouth.
Misty immediately frowned, her small mouth pouting involuntarily. Her beautiful eyes, filled with strong dissatisfaction and accusation, stared straight at Yuuto.
*The little notebook in her heart began frantically recording accounts:*
*Yuuto! You big lecher! You can't even walk when you see a pretty girl! No vision! No taste! Hmph!!!*
The observant Delia noticed Misty's almost tangible expression of resentment. She quickly stepped forward, gently putting an arm around Misty's shoulder and patting her softly, using her eyes to soothe her and signal her not to be angry.
Yuuto seemed not to feel the "killing intent" coming from beside him. His gaze fell back on Joe as he continued to guide him in that flat yet piercing tone.
"She is a truly wealthy, aristocratic young lady. You're using her as a goal to motivate yourself?"
"Are you trying to work your parents to death?"
"N-No!" Joe waved his hands frantically, explaining, "I'm not trying to pursue her! I know that's impossible…"
"I just use her excellence and achievements as a goal to motivate myself to work hard, graduate from the advanced course successfully, and then participate in the League Conference."
"Oh?" Yuuto raised an eyebrow, a more obvious look of surprise appearing on his face.
"That's even more ridiculous. From the primary to the advanced level, her full curriculum, top-tier resources, private tutoring… all those expenses are likely just a drop in the bucket for her family."
"How long have you been studying?"
"O-One and a half years…" Joe's voice grew quieter.
"One and a half years." Yuuto nodded. "One and a half years of primary courses — I'm guessing that has already drained more than half of your family's savings?"
Joe's body shuddered violently, and his head hung even lower.
"And that's only the primary level," Yuuto said, mercilessly exposing the bloody contrast.
"In these one and a half years, if you were out training in the wild and learning real combat from Gyms, you probably could have earned two badges by now."
Joe was silent for a moment, his fingers tightly clutching the hem of his clothes as he whispered a defense like he was reciting a dogma.
"My parents said… training in the wild is dangerous, and I might get hurt."
"And the academy teachers told us that the independent Trainers just wander around aimlessly without a systematic study plan. They can't build a solid foundation of combat techniques, so they… they have no future."
"Your teacher is full of—" Misty almost shouted out a swear word in her excitement.
But as the words reached her lips, she suddenly remembered Yuuto's comment about Elite having "good temperament." A surge of emotion, somewhere between spite and competitiveness, welled up.
She forced herself to swallow the word, took a deep breath, and changed her phrasing.
"Your teacher is talking nonsense!"
"The independent Trainers have richer experiences and learn things you can't find in books! Real-time adaptation, Pokémon status management, utilizing different terrains… that's what real combat is!"
"I'm a living example!"
Misty became more and more excited as she spoke.
"Back home, my sisters were afraid I'd be at a disadvantage, so they showed me many Pokémon battle explanation videos from your aristocratic academies. They were stiff, unchanging, just like reciting a textbook!"
"But how long have I been out training? The battles I've experienced, the Pokémon I've seen, and the things I've learned are far more than what I got from watching those trashy videos at home for years!"
"I've clearly become much stronger now!"
Joe was intimidated by her momentum, but he couldn't help but retort softly, "I… I've also become much stronger. In the academy's battle simulation system, I've already… already beaten the Cerulean Gym many times."
"What simulation system?" Misty caught the phrase, and her beautiful eyebrows immediately shot up.
She followed up defiantly, her face practically saying "stop bluffing me."
"It's true!" Joe's eyes lit up as if he had found a way to prove himself.
"Right in the academy's battle classroom! There's a very advanced system inside that contains public battle data from many Gyms. I can show you!"
Seeing his confident manner, Misty became even more eager.
"Fine! Lead the way! Today, I'm going to see how that simulation system of yours 'wins' against our Cerulean Gym!"
---
The interior of Nanshan Academy was indeed worthy of its name and tuition fees.
After passing through neatly manicured courtyards and several teaching buildings that looked expensive to build, Joe led Yuuto's group to a detached, high-tech building.
The battle room was enormous, divided into several standard battlefields, and surrounded by many advanced-looking computers and simulation equipment.
Joe walked familiarly to a computer, turned it on, and logged into his student account.
A complex interface soon appeared on the screen.
"Look, this is the 'True Gym Simulation Challenge System' developed by the academy. It contains years of public battle data, commonly used Pokémon, and tactical tendencies for all official Gyms in the Kanto region, and it performs simulation optimizations based on algorithms."
Joe introduced the system while operating it, a hint of subtle pride in his voice.
He quickly selected the "Cerulean Gym" option, set the difficulty to "Primary," and began the simulated battle.
On the screen, in the virtual Cerulean Gym arena, the virtual character representing the Gym Leader sent out a Goldeen.
Joe operated his virtual character and sent out a Weepinbell.
The following battle was a textbook example of type advantage strategy.
Weepinbell avoided Goldeen's Water Gun, used Vine Whip to restrain it, then paralyzed it with Poison Powder, and finally finished it off with Razor Leaf.
The entire process was smooth and standard, almost perfectly replicating the optimal solutions from the Pokémon type effectiveness chart.
"See, I won." Joe pointed at the "Victory" icon on the screen and looked at Misty, his eyes saying something like, "See, I wasn't lying."
Misty crossed her arms and looked at the screen, curling her lip.
"Tch, data is dead, but reality is alive."
"What's there to be proud of in beating a bunch of cold data?"
Growing more defiant as she spoke, she walked directly to an empty battlefield nearby.
"Come on, let's stop playing with virtual stuff. Let's have a real battle. Let me see how much weight an 'Academy Faction Elite' who has 'beaten the Cerulean Gym many times' actually carries."
Joe looked at the eager Misty, hesitated for a moment, but eventually mustered his courage and walked to the other side of the battlefield.
"Then… then please guide me, Miss Misty."
"Battle start!" Misty acted as her own referee, her voice crisp.
"Go, Starmie!" Misty didn't hesitate at all, immediately throwing out her strongest fighter.
Seeing Starmie, Joe's mind quickly raced through the knowledge he had learned in class.
"Starmie, Water and Psychic-type… This is a land field, so Water-type moves are weakened. It has high Special Attack but relatively average Physical Defense…"
"I have a Grass-type Pokémon with strong Water resistance… Based on type advantage and field analysis, the odds of winning are very high!"
A look of "I have seen through everything" appeared on his face as he confidently threw his Poké Ball.
"Go, Weepinbell!"
"Weepinbell, use Razor Leaf to test the waters!" Joe issued the first command, standard and regulated.
Weepinbell flung out several sharp leaves.
"Starmie, use Rapid Spin to dodge, then close in and use Psychic!" Misty's command was concise and clear, filled with the decisiveness of real combat.
Starmie's core spun rapidly, easily dodging the Razor Leaf, while its entire body closed the distance at an alarming speed, getting close to Weepinbell almost instantly.
The next moment, a powerful surge of Psychic energy poured out — it wasn't something a Pokémon like Weepinbell could resist.
Weepinbell didn't even get to use a second move before it was slammed hard into the ground by the invisible force, its eyes turning into spirals.
An instant K.O.!
Clean and efficient!
The confidence on Joe's face instantly froze and then shattered, turning into complete bewilderment and disbelief.
He stared blankly at the fallen Weepinbell, then at the composed Starmie across from him and Misty, whose face said "as expected." His lips trembled.
"H-How? I clearly followed the optimal type advantages from the books… the land field weakens Water, and Grass resists Water… How could I lose so… so fast?"
He couldn't understand it at all.
This was completely different from the simulated battles he was familiar with, where every step was predictable and calculable!
Misty recalled Starmie and walked to the center of the field. Looking at the despondent Joe, she sighed and was about to say something more.
Just then, a crisp, pleasant female voice, carrying an innate air of arrogance and elegance, drifted in from the entrance of the battle room.
"That's why you're always dragging us down, Joe."
"Your opponent is the successor of the Cerulean Gym; her experience in training and battling with Water-type Pokémon is far beyond your imagination. Her Starmie's level and individual strength likely exceed the 'conventional' parameters in your database."
"And you, you only know how to blindly apply the type effectiveness chart from your books. You can't even perform a basic digitized estimation of the power gap or individual differences between Pokémon."
"It seems the 'whip of love' is still too gentle for you. Your theoretical foundation is simply full of holes."
"An irredeemable waste."
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