Yu Feng watched coldly as these Trainers, clenching their fists, wanted to hit him, but he could easily handle them with both hands.
“What, am I wrong? Why don’t you look at your Pokémon? Caterpie? Oddish? Rattata? Come on, Brock, tell me, if you encountered Pokémon like these every day, what would you do?”
“Oh, right, you might not know who he is. He’s the Gym Leader of Pewter City.”
Yu Feng felt that just talking to them wasn’t enough, so he pulled Brock into the conversation to speak from experience. After all, people should believe what a Gym Leader says, right?
“Hey! Yu Feng.”
“Well, I would advise the opponent to train for a while longer before challenging again.”
Brock hadn’t expected Yu Feng to drag him into it and was momentarily stunned, but feeling the anger from the other Trainers, he had no choice but to explain.
He had said the same thing to Ash back then, so there was no question of whether what he said was problematic.
“See? Others say they’d advise you, but Lt. Surge wouldn’t advise us.”
The Caterpie Trainer’s tone was a bit agitated after hearing Brock’s words. If Lt. Surge had advised them, their Pokémon wouldn’t be in this state.
“He didn’t advise you? I imagine Lt. Surge spoke to you in a very unpleasant tone, didn’t he? He’s been here for a long time, he’s said everything he could, and you still go challenge him with Pokémon that haven’t even evolved once, or are even at a type disadvantage.”
“Sometimes, you need to look for your own reasons. Did you train your Pokémon properly? Look for your own reasons. With people like you, what kind of good attitude could he give you?”
Yu Feng was speechless about these Trainers who didn’t look for their own problems. Why did Brock say Lt. Surge wouldn’t say anything? Perhaps Lt. Surge just got tired of talking later, and decided to hit harder to make these people retreat in the face of difficulty.
Unfortunately, Lt. Surge didn’t realize that these people never looked for reasons within themselves; they would only blame him for being too heavy-handed.
“Hmph, how are you any better than us? Maybe you’re even worse.”
Seeing that he couldn’t win an argument against Yu Feng, the Caterpie Trainer didn’t back down and directly stated that Yu Feng wouldn’t be able to defeat Vermilion Gym either, and might even end up worse than them. Instead of boasting and making excuses for others, he should go try it himself.
“Me? Can’t win? Even if I can’t win, I’m stronger than you. At least I wouldn’t fantasize about defeating Vermilion Gym with a Caterpie.”
Yu Feng pointed to himself, and almost burst out laughing when he saw the Caterpie Trainer across from him nod.
It’s the same journey. Gary passed the first time, and Ash also defeated Vermilion Gym on his second try. But for these people to try and win with a Caterpie or similar Pokémon is simply too childish.
When Ash was defeated, he knew to actively train and defeat his opponent next time, although most of the time it was Pikachu putting on a show.
Still doubting if I can win? At least I wouldn’t challenge a Gym with a Caterpie that has no combat ability.
Too lazy to say anything more to them, a blue light flashed in Yu Feng’s eyes. The Trainers across from him found that they opened their mouths but couldn’t speak, and they clutched their necks in astonishment.
“This is your punishment. Just wait patiently for seven days.”
Yu Feng didn’t bother with further words, waved his hand, and walked outside. Ash and the others exchanged glances and quickly left this awkward place, fearing they might run into trouble if they stayed.
Nurse Joy also hurried after them. Yu Feng and their Pokémon, left there, had all recovered, so she had to deliver them.
Ash and the others ran out quickly and immediately saw Yu Feng standing angrily in the waiting area. They didn’t know what was wrong with Yu Feng lately; he seemed to have a very bad temper, getting angry over the slightest thing.
Could it be that time of the month? But Yu Feng is a guy. In any case, it’s better not to provoke Yu Feng in this situation; this was an experience summarized by that samurai boy from before.
This eerie silence continued until Nurse Joy brought their Pokémon back.
“Don’t take it to heart; they’re just worried about their Pokémon.”
Although Nurse Joy also disliked their behavior, as a Pokémon Doctor, she still felt she had to say a few words to comfort him.
After all, those people’s Pokémon were already injured, so their mood was naturally not good.
“I have no opinion of them.”
Yu Feng put the Poké Balls one by one onto his belt and explained his view to Nurse Joy. They were just passing acquaintances; what opinion could he have of these people?
“What I care about is that they simply don’t listen to advice. Lt. Surge must have told them more than once not to challenge him with freshly received Pokémon, but it’s clear they didn’t listen.”
Just as Yu Feng was speaking, another Chansey pushed in a Pidgey, charred black from being electrocuted.
“Look, what did they learn from this? They learned absolutely nothing, and they continue to let their Pokémon get beaten up for nothing.”
Yu Feng rolled his eyes at the Pidgey that had just been pushed in. He really didn’t understand why, after all this, they wouldn’t train their Pokémon before challenging again.
Pidgey fighting Raichu—what kind of idiot would make that choice? If you were a Pidgeot or a Pidgeotto, you wouldn’t be beaten like this.
Now even Nurse Joy didn’t want to say anything. As an experienced doctor, she could see that the Pidgey’s level wasn’t high, yet it still dared to challenge a League-recognized Electric-type Gym. Honestly, she was even starting to wonder if Lt. Surge’s mental state was still alright… That is, while a Gym Leader’s job is to guide Trainers, you should at least be able to withstand one attack from him. It’s not like he’s not even using his main Pokémon against you, and he still has to reduce his power to play house with you.
Although Lt. Surge’s Raichu had been with him for a long time, it clearly wasn’t fighting seriously, otherwise these Pokémon would never have been able to make it to the Pokémon Center.
The atmosphere between the two became a bit awkward. Nurse Joy kept subtly hinting for Yu Feng to say something; she couldn’t be the only girl to find a topic of conversation. Suddenly, a violent bolt of lightning interrupted their discussion. Looking back, it was Ash, pulling Pikachu, who was being electrocuted by Pikachu.
After Yu Feng separated the two, Nurse Joy said somewhat helplessly, “I know you two are close enough to fight, but this is a hospital. Do you two want to fight and then go straight to a hospital room?”
“I’m sorry, Nurse Joy!”
“Pika!”
Hearing Nurse Joy’s reprimand, Pikachu and Ash quickly bowed ninety degrees in apology.
“Alright, alright, go get some medicine applied, and then I’ll tell you how to get to Vermilion Gym.”
Seeing the human and Pikachu quickly admit their mistake, Nurse Joy sighed helplessly and led Ash away to apply some medicine. At least with medicine, it would heal faster, right?
