You are not allowed to date a trainer.

Chapter 23: Redeeming Arrogance with a Fiasco

This situation couldn't be more troublesome.

The enemy commander's battle experience is far greater than ours, the enemy elves are far stronger than ours, the tactics prepared by ours were violently broken, and even their familiarity with the battlefield is far inferior. This is an all-round crushing. In history books, this situation is generally called a great defeat, and within two lines readers will read bad words such as "rain is sporadic" or "surrender at the sight of the wind".

Qin Zhen doesn't like failure, and he hates surrender even more.

If you want to win, you must find a way to restrain your opponent, and you must find an advantage over your opponent. Is there anything that you have that your opponent doesn't have?
He was thinking about the current situation quickly. Suddenly, a voice sounded from the bottom of Qin Zhen's heart, like a bubble floating on the surface of the water.

"Qin Zhen, you possess an enviable talent. It's a ticket straight to the championship and the king of the world."

That was the voice of the female owner, she was speaking in Qin Zhen's memories.

"Synesthesia. Psychics can communicate with their own spirits, linking their consciousnesses with their psychic powers to achieve completely zero-delay command."

Synaesthesia... Link...

Qin Zhen lowered his head and stared at Teng Teng Snake's back, imagining that there was a thin thread as thick as a hair extending from his forehead and floating in front of Teng Teng Snake's eyes. Crystal clear water droplets were flowing on the thread, and each drop of water was one of his thoughts. Those thoughts fell drop by drop into the Klein blue sea, shining brightly in the sunlight.

The vine snake on the ground suddenly spasmed, and she turned her head sharply, looking at Qin Zhen in surprise and suspicion.

Qin Zhen was also stunned, but the surprise disappeared in just a moment. He looked at his spirit and asked calmly, "Venetian Snake, can you still stand up?"

The little snake touched its face with its short hands, nodded vigorously, took a deep breath, swung out the whip, and circled the stone pillar beside it.

At this time, the female gym owner was still introducing the lightning on the arm strength. She smiled gently and warmly, just like the beautiful senior sisters in the university student union who were responsible for welcoming new students.

"This is a dangerous skill. The lightning fist's current is immense. A human being struck would instantly turn into charcoal. Even an elf would risk cardiac arrest if not handled with caution. However, compared to the rewards, the cost is insignificant."

"Qin Zhen, admit defeat now, become my disciple, and join the Yuelu Dojo. Your Vine Snake will not be harmed, and all the training materials in the academy will be available to you, including the Yuelu Three Wonders."

"The Eight-Armed Martial God Technique, based on the Freezing Fist, creates additional arms. The Explosive Propulsion Technique, based on the Flaming Fist, enhances fist speed and agility. And the Lightning Body Forging Technique before you, based on the Lightning Fist, strengthens muscles and activates the body. These are all yours, and you will become the new generation of fighting king of the Donghuang Alliance."

Qin Zhen ignored the female owner's persuasion. He waved his left hand and shouted, "Vine Snake, move! Keep moving! Pay attention to the timing of pulling the whip and consume as much energy as possible from your wrist."

The vine snake hummed softly, tightened its whip, and carried her into the air.

"It's not good to be so stubborn even though you already have an elf." The female gym owner shook her head helplessly. "Go ahead, arm wrestling. Make your opponent face reality."

"drink!"

It pushed off the ground with its wrist strength and pounced forward. The lightning behind it drew a long straight line. In just two jumps, it caught up with the vine snake. It forced the vine snake to land with a flying kick, and then its body fell, landing on the ground one step ahead of the little snake.

Then... squat! Charge! Punch!
It was a terrifying heavy punch, a wrist hook from bottom to top, hitting the Teng Teng Snake's lower jaw. The little snake was thrown into the air as if it had no weight, hit the ceiling heavily, and finally fell to the ground, lying right in front of Qin Zhen, almost unable to get up.

"Everything ends here, Qin Zhen. You are a smart trainer. You can think of using the Whip to improve Snake's mobility, but the absolute gap in the strength of Pokémon cannot be made up by a few clever tricks." "Snake has lost its combat effectiveness. In this match..." Senior Brother Mengjiang stood at the edge of the stage, raised his right hand, ready to enter and announce the result.

"Wait a moment!" Qin Zhen raised his hand towards his senior brother Mengjiang. "Senior brother, Teng Teng Snake can still fight."

This statement was somewhat unreasonable. Everyone present could see that after being hit by two powerful punches in a row, although Teng Teng Snake had not lost consciousness, she was already at the end of her strength. The little snake lay on the ground and struggled, but at this time she even found it difficult to stand up.

Senior Brother Mengjiang paused and turned to look at the female gym leader.

"Sacrificing the spirit for victory? Or are you unwilling to accept reality?" The female gym leader frowned slightly, a hint of disappointment flashing in her gentle eyes. "Then... arm strength! Barehand chop! Completely defeat this vine snake!"

Arm Strength responded to the trainer's command with a short, low growl. It stomped on the stone platform again, jumped up, raised its right hand high, and a brilliant white light shone on the palm.

This was a ferocious forbidden move. This wrist-strength warrior's talent for hand blades surpassed even the boxing talent he inherited from his mother. He once leaped down and shattered twenty-seven bricks with a single hand blade. He also once sent a mosquito coil tadpole to the hospital for a week, causing the gym doctor to shout at the female gym leader with a ferocious expression, "Are you crazy? That kid was almost cut in half!"

But for the young trainer who is obsessed with victory, such a terrifying forbidden move is most suitable. The screams and pain of the beloved Pokémon will always be the best textbook for the trainer.

However, an accident happened. The wrist force, which had jumped into the air, suddenly lost its balance. At that moment, it was as if a god reached out from the dark and gave a mischievous push on the back of the wrist force, causing it to lose control of its body and roll forward.

At this moment, the vine snake lying on the ground suddenly opened its eyes - deep blue, cold vertical pupils!

"Arm strength!?"

The female gym leader's face changed. As the commander, she saw clearly the culprit that caused the wrist force to get out of control in the air: a green vine lying between two stone pillars.

The vine had been lying limply in the cracks of the stage stone slabs until the moment the wrist force passed between the two stone pillars. The vine whip was suddenly pulled up and tightened, like a lasso in ancient warfare.

Compared with those warhorses that stepped on the tripwire, Wrist Power was undoubtedly luckier. It did not fall directly to the ground, but was caught. Tough vines shot out from the shadows under the ceiling, wrapped around Wrist Power's neck, and hung it high.

At the same time, another vine whip, acting as a tripwire, also rose into the air. It caught up with Wanli's left foot, wrapped around it three times, tightened, and fell off the stage. It snaked around the stone pillars for a few times before leaping up again and locking onto Wanli's right foot, then his left hand, then his right...

Its body was suspended in the air, tightly bound by a whip, and it felt a terrible suffocation. It struggled in fear. At this moment, lightning flashed on its body, and the sharp and piercing roar of electric current made it like a giant bee flapping its wings in anger. But it was of no avail, as it was bound by a dark green spider web that connected the entire stage!
"I don't agree with what you said before. If the outcome of a duel is entirely determined by the strength of the Pokémon, then what is the point of a trainer directing the battle?"

The female owner looked up in astonishment and saw the young man standing behind the web of vine whips, his eyes deep.

"But you are right about one thing. That's the end of it."

"Teacher Chi, now prepare to pay the price for your underestimation of the enemy. Yuelu Dojo will redeem its arrogance with a crushing defeat."

The calm announcement cut through the air, passed through the eaves of Hexi Terrace, and startled a flock of cooing pigeons perched on the camphor tree.

"Vine Snake, put an end to it."

(End of this chapter)