Team Rocket’s Second-in-Command!

"Dragonite defeats Emboar with an unexpected Draco Meteor! Luo Yuan, the top seed of this year's Indigo Plateau Conference, takes the lead as Jun loses the first round!" Kyosuke announced energetically.

"..."

Jun listened to the commentary, dripping with bias, and found himself at a loss for words.

Rationally, he understood it was the Indigo League, and as a trainer from Unova, he was an outsider. It made sense for the commentary to lean in Luo Yuan's favor.

Emotionally, though, it irked him to no end.

Shaking his head, Jun dismissed the distracting thoughts and focused on the battle.

His eyes fell on Luo Yuan, who remained calm and composed despite his Dragonite's recent victory over Emboar.

Time to get serious.

In a 6v6 match, losing the first round wasn't a small setback.

"However, judging from Luo Yuan's previous battles, apart from this Dragonite, his other Pokémon don't seem particularly strong."

Jun analyzed. Gyarados, Slowbro, even the newly evolved Garchomp—all of them seemed beatable.

Moreover, Dragonite had just suffered the recoil effects of using Draco Meteor.

From this perspective, Emboar's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Now was the perfect opportunity to strike back at Luo Yuan!

Jun straightened, grabbed a Poké Ball from his belt, and tossed it forward.

Bang!

A burst of white light revealed a hulking figure.

With an icy breath and a thick white coat of fur, a Beartic stood tall. Three icicle-like whiskers dangled from its jaw, and its imposing presence radiated an intense chill.

"A solid choice," Bruno commented, studying the Beartic.

"This Beartic is Elite Four-tier," Lorelei added.

As a master of Ice-type Pokémon, she could instantly gauge Beartic's strength.

"That'll be a tough challenge for Luo Yuan," Bruno remarked, glancing toward Lance.

Lance nodded slowly. As someone who had faced Lorelei's Ice-types before, he knew firsthand how devastating their advantage against Dragon-types could be.

Luo Yuan's Dragonite was also Elite Four-tier. However, overcoming a four-times type disadvantage was no small feat.

Of course, it wasn't impossible if Luo Yuan played his cards right.

But… as they say, can be done, but not necessary.

Using a Flying/Dragon-type Pokémon against an Ice-type was like walking a tightrope—one misstep and disaster would follow.

Thus, Luo Yuan made a decisive choice: he recalled Dragonite to its Poké Ball.

The question now was...

"Does Luo Yuan have a Pokémon capable of handling an Elite-tier Beartic?" Bruno wondered aloud.

Looking at Luo Yuan's revealed roster, the only Pokémon with a slight edge against Beartic was Slowbro due to its Water-typing.

"If I remember correctly," Lance interjected, "Luo Yuan's starter Pokémon is a Charmander. He should also have a Charizard, right?"

Professor Oak nodded, confirming the assumption.

Lance was confident now. Charizard's Fire-type moves would be highly effective against an Ice-type like Beartic.

As they discussed, Luo Yuan retrieved another Poké Ball from his belt.

Just as Lance prepared to evaluate Luo Yuan's Charizard, the battlefield witnessed an unexpected twist.

Bang!

White light flashed once more, and a pale blue figure emerged.

The figure shifted, writhing briefly before assuming the exact posture of the opposing Beartic.

Well, almost exactly.

Luo Yuan's Beartic had a distinct lavender hue, its shiny coat shimmering beautifully.

"A Ditto! And it's shiny..."

Jun stared at the opposing "Beartic" with an expression akin to swallowing a bug.

"Faced with Jun's Beartic, Luo Yuan recalled Dragonite and sent out a Ditto—one that has never appeared in the Indigo Plateau Conference before!"

"Ditto, the Transform Pokémon. Judging by its swift transformation, Luo Yuan's Ditto likely has the Imposter ability," Kyosuke commented.

Despite his calm tone, Kyosuke couldn't hide his surprise at the development.

Ditto was a rare choice in competitive battles. Its transformation didn't copy the opponent's HP, making it fragile. Additionally, the transformation took time, which rendered Ditto impractical for most trainers.

But under Luo Yuan's command, these limitations didn't seem to matter.

While Jun gawked at the unexpected choice, Luo Yuan quickly synchronized with Ditto.

In an instant, Luo Yuan gained full knowledge of Beartic's moveset.

---

"Gar~de! Voir voir."

- Gardevoir

(End of Bonus Chapter—If you like my work, consider supporting me at [patreon.com/WiseTL]!)