The continuous losses clearly caused a subtle change in Serena's mood.
However, since she was a talented girl, Serena was very good at fixing her mindset. She pushed away those messy thoughts and continued to focus on the battle.
Serena's third Pokémon was Jolteon. It is one of Eevee's evolutions and a fast Special Attacker.
This time, Serena was even more careful, but it still did not help.
Pheromosa had already defeated two of Serena's main Pokémon. Its Beast Boost ability had already triggered twice, and its Speed had also increased twice. Now, it was scarily fast.
Jolteon was also a fast Special Attacker, but in front of this Pheromosa, it looked like a total beginner.
It could not keep up with Pheromosa's movements at all. Even when they traded attacks, Jolteon was no match for Pheromosa!
However, at the most important moment, Serena made a big move.
Pheromosa hit Jolteon with a powerful High Jump Kick. This attack should have knocked Jolteon out instantly.
But Serena ordered Jolteon to use Endure.
Endure is a Normal-type move. Even if a Pokémon takes a deadly hit, they can barely keep standing. (Note: In the game, they are left with 1 HP).
Endure helped Jolteon survive the High Jump Kick. Then, Jolteon used Thunder at close range and hit Pheromosa.
Pheromosa tried to back away immediately to get some distance, but Thunder still hit it.
Thunder caused a lot of damage to Pheromosa.
But she could not win with that single chance. Pheromosa used Focus Blast and defeated Jolteon, who had already reached its limit.
Because of this, Pheromosa had successfully defeated three Pokémon in a row!
"She is a truly powerful girl."
Diantha looked at Platinum with a very serious expression.
To her, Serena was already a new trainer with amazing talent. Diantha believed that Serena would soon reach Champion level.
Reaching Champion level in just one year!
What a scary talent for a trainer to have.
But she did not expect that Serena would be beaten like this by someone the same age.
Having three main Pokémon defeated in a row by just one of the opponent's Pokémon was very rare in a full battle.
Could Serena still make a comeback? To Diantha, it seemed almost impossible.
After all, Pheromosa was only Platinum's first Pokémon. No one knew what other powerful Pokémon she had waiting.
"Serena is actually not bad. Miss Diantha, don't you think there is a problem?"
Damian said while watching the two girls continue to fight. The result was already clear.
Serena could not beat Platinum.
"Please tell me what you mean, Mr. Damian," Diantha said as she looked at him with confusion.
"Serena's team is a bit weak," Damian said while looking at Serena's fourth Pokémon, Clefable.
Then the fifth one should be Serena's Mega Pokémon, Absol, along with the Kalos starter she received.
To Damian, Serena's main team was not very good. If you talked about power, they had some, but not much.
They were not even as good as Platinum's original team, and they certainly could not compare to Platinum's current team.
Diantha frowned slightly. She did not really agree with Damian's words. Was Damian saying that Serena's team was holding her back?
"Mr. Damian, what do you think the relationship between a Pokémon and its trainer is?" Diantha asked in a serious voice.
"I understand what you mean, Miss Diantha, but do not be in a rush," Damian laughed and replied to her.
"The saying 'There are no weak Pokémon, only weak trainers' is fine on its own. However, we have to look at the facts of the situation."
"Look, Miss Diantha. Where do you think the gap between Serena and Platinum is?" Damian pointed at the two girls on the field.
"..." Diantha was silent.
"In my opinion, Miss Serena's talent as a trainer is excellent. For a rookie who just started this year to have this much power already, she can be called a 'monster.'"
"But the current Platinum, if she fights with all her power, I think she can beat three Serenas. That is a safe guess," Damian said slowly.
Pheromosa was strong but fragile. In Platinum's team, it was only a middle-level Pokémon. It was also easy to beat if someone found the right strategy.
Platinum's real aces were Mega Garchomp and the Entei she had recently caught.
"Why is there such a big difference in strength between them? Miss Diantha, where do you think the problem lies?" Damian asked.
Diantha opened her mouth, but she did not know how to argue back.
"I do not deny that Platinum's current skill as a trainer is higher than Serena's. However, if the trainer skill is not a huge gap, then there should not be such a massive difference in power."
"The main reason is that the strength of their main Pokémon is too different."
Actually, Damian's words were a bit like a trick.
Platinum was indeed a better trainer than Serena right now. After all, Platinum had been trained by Team Rocket and had been in many battles.
The difference in their skills as trainers was not enough to completely overpower Serena.
The most important thing was the difference between their main teams and the strength of those Pokémon.
The Champion-level Garchomp that Platinum had trained herself could actually crush Serena completely.
In the end, the environment they grew up in was a very important factor for genius trainers like them.
Of course, there really was a difference in the natural strength of their Pokémon.
Serena's current main team was indeed average in strength, even though they were quite strong because she trained them.
But when she fought a "monster" with the same level of talent, the pressure appeared immediately.
Actually, Serena's situation was the same as Ash's used to be. You could not see it normally, but when she met the same kind of opponent, her natural weakness would show.
Altaria? Meowstic? Clefable?
It was not that Damian looked down on these Pokémon. As he said before, Serena could also make them very strong.
But that would take time.
Otherwise, with the same amount of training time, how could Altaria compare to Garchomp? How could Meowstic compare to Pheromosa? And how could Clefable compare to Entei?
Wasn't that making things too hard for them?
"If there was an environment that provided Serena with better resources to improve, I think Serena would improve very quickly."
"What do you think, Miss Diantha?" He wasn't even acting anymore!!
Diantha's face twitched slightly. Why didn't he just say that Serena should join Team Rocket and he would give her more resources?
How ridiculous!!
Anything Team Rocket could give, the Kalos League could also give! You want to take Serena away? In your dreams!
The battle ended quickly. Looking at her Greninja being defeated by the opponent's Empoleon, Serena was lost in thought for a moment.
She lost. In this full battle, she was defeated completely.
During the whole match, she only defeated Pheromosa. Then she lost to Platinum's second Pokémon, Empoleon.
How should she feel? She was really quite disappointed.
"Are you okay, Serena?"
Platinum spoke gently, making Serena look up.
Serena looked up and saw that Platinum was already standing in front of her.
"I am okay... Platinum, you are really amazing," Serena bit her lip and forced herself to smile. She praised Platinum.
She originally thought she was already a very good trainer, especially among people her age. But today's battle really taught her a lesson.
"Thank you. Serena, you are also very strong," Platinum said. She smiled without showing her teeth, looking a bit shy and polite.
Serena felt a bit awkward. Was she strong? She had just lost six Pokémon to only two of Platinum's...
This kind of battle clearly showed a big difference in their strength. Although Serena did not know much about Pheromosa's traits, she did not want to make excuses for herself.
A total loss was a total loss.
"I didn't mean anything bad. If it was the old me, I would be about the same as you. But now, I am much, much stronger than before," Platinum quickly explained because she realized her words might not be suitable for the situation.
"?" Serena was confused.
"It was Damian. He helped me become stronger," Platinum said with a smile. Her voice was full of thanks and emotion.
Damian was very generous with the growth environment, great resources, and powerful Pokémon.
For example, the Entei. Platinum understood that it was basically a gift from Damian.
This made Platinum's mind even more firm.
As long as Damian's ideas did not "go bad," Platinum would stand firmly on his side, even against the Pokémon League!
Serena was shocked when she heard Platinum's words.
Mr. Damian helped Platinum get stronger?
What did that mean?
But Platinum obviously could not say the details. After all, the Kalos Champion, Diantha, was still standing right there.
"That was a wonderful battle, Miss Serena. You really are an excellent trainer," Damian walked over and praised her with a smile.
"Compared to Platinum, I still have a long way to go," Serena said. She shook her head, feeling unavoidably disappointed.
"Platinum is the strongest rookie trainer from Sinnoh. Don't be discouraged, Miss Serena. I think if you work hard from now on, you will have a chance to beat her," Damian encouraged the girl.
"That's right, Serena. You must have confidence in yourself," Diantha said. She felt she could not just stand there, or Damian would take all the credit for being kind.
"Thank you. I will keep working hard," Serena said. She bit her lip and thanked Damian while looking at his gentle smile.
But in reality, she was thinking more about what Platinum had just said. Mr. Damian had helped her get stronger.
If Platinum could do it, I should be able to do it too, right?
But how exactly did he do it?
Serena hesitated. After all, she had only just met Mr. Damian. It would be too hasty to ask him directly.
However, she really did care about this point.
Serena was naturally competitive, and she had just suffered a terrible loss. She really wanted to know how Platinum had become so strong.
Forget it. I will ask next time.
After chatting with Diantha and Serena for a while longer, Damian said goodbye and left with Caitlin and Platinum.
When she saw Damian and the others leave, Diantha immediately said goodbye to Serena. She rushed back to the League building and went to the office of the Kalos League President.
"President! Something big has happened! Team Rocket has attacked!"
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