Facing the confused gaze of the karate uncle, the referee promptly reminded, "Challenger's actions are legitimate, defender please continue the battle."
'Legitimate?'
The karate uncle looked at the Smoliv, who had eaten another Star Peach and greatly increased its defense, and suddenly had the urge to curse.
'Legit your f**king head!'
'Why don't you come up and fight, see how 'legit' it is?'
What followed was a delightfully entertaining scene. The Smoliv, with two levels of speed boost, moved like the wind and executed a kiting strategy around the edge of the field.
Even if it occasionally got caught by the Mankey, its attacks were negligible to the buffed Smoliv, not even as effective as the recovery from a Leech Seed.
Once the Star Peach triggered an attack enhancement, the battle situation on the field completely reversed.
Smoliv used, little whip... ahem, Vine Whip, to chase Mankey all over the field.
Watching the karate uncle getting beaten until he ran around holding his head, Gary clapped wildly from the sidelines.
'Look! I'm not the only one who got beaten by Smoliv!'
'Dream Trait Smoliv is the strongest Pokémon!'
'No matter who comes, they'll all be trampled!'
'I, Gary, am just a witness to the rising tide of tactics, not some loser that circulates among the gossip of high schoolers.'
"Hahaha, everyone come and watch the battle! I'll bring out my Smoliv later too, so you can see from beginning to end how amazing the Smoliv clan is!"
Gary's applause and loud voice attracted more and more trainers, and the karate uncle, not wanting to lose face, decisively chose to admit defeat.
The little loli was gloriously crowned as today's first challenger to defeat the defender of Emberpine Gym, her admission to Ninox was secured.
Excited, the little loli hugged Axel's neck, gave him a loud smooch, then ran to the door to buy two Peach Four Season Spring Teas from Ice City, happily sitting down next to Axel.
Gary's expression froze, 'Damn, I clapped for you for so long, and you didn't even bring me a milk tea?'
"Eva, I even let you drive my sports car for two days, and now you can't even bring me a tea?"
The little loli blinked, "It's your turn to take the exam now."
'...Fine.'
Gary helplessly accepted the little loli's logic and turned to walk toward the arena.
Then he saw a scene that left him stunned:
The karate uncle was holding his face tightly and refused to go back to the stage to battle no matter what.
And the person he was confiding in, Gary recognized her too.
Emberpine Gym's Gym Leader, one of Emberpine City's current strongest forces, possessing two level 39 Fire-type Pokémon—Miss Sasha.
Following the referee's announcement of the next contestants, Gary felt like the sky was falling.
"Next battle: Gary Oak versus Gym Leader Sasha."
"Gary Oak is the defender and may choose the number of Pokémon to battle.'
"Friendly reminder: Metagross-sama is fair and impartial, being instantly defeated will not affect the challenger's score."
Gary: "..."
'Even if you say so, being instantly defeated is still super embarrassing, okay?'
Gary looked around. Everyone present had been called over by him to watch the match, he suddenly had the urge to cry.
Luckily, thanks to Axel's training, Gary's mental state had improved greatly.
At least he didn't completely collapse.
"I choose 3V3."
Then everyone saw an extremely intense, yet kind of boring, battle.
[First round]
Gary sent out his level 12 Dream Trait Smoliv, which was instantly KO'd by Sasha's level 18 Litten using Fire Fang.
And Sasha activated the skill 'Embarrassed Apology', "Sorry, this is my lowest-level Pokémon."
[Second round]
Gary sent out his level 14 Squirtle. After a bout of struggle, he successfully defeated Sasha's Litten, salvaging a bit of his self-esteem.
'I, Emperor Gary, my reputation is secured!'
[Third round]
Sasha sent out her level 28 "Only King" Flareon, which used Bite to instantly KO the weakened Squirtle.
Then she activated Apology Again, "This is my second lowest-level Pokémon…"
[Fourth round]
Gary sent out his level 10 Umbreon. The two Eeveelutions began an intra-family battle, and Umbreon was taken down by one Fire Fang.
The whole battle lasted less than five minutes, and Gary walked down the stage with a dazed expression.
It wasn't until he saw Axel that a bit of light returned to Gary's eyes.
'That's right!'
'Even though I lost, I was facing Emberpine's Fire-type Gym Leader!'
'Axel will be defeated next too, so rounding it up, it's like I didn't even lose face!'
Sensing Gary's rough thoughts, Axel grinned.
Actually, in the trainer world, Gary was already an undisputed genius. Even though he just lost, whether it was Squirtle defeating the Gym Leader's Pokémon across levels, or Eevee becoming Umbreon through high intimacy at level 10, either was enough to earn him a very high score.
The only unfortunate part was that the little loli before him was too dazzling, she directly defeated the defender.
There was also one more thing.
Axel had a feeling that Sasha's main force might be the Bug Tiger, which might be beaten by his Fairy Queen.
Compared to the challengers before and after, Gary's score might be just a tiny bit affected...
Helplessly accepting the little loli's forcefully given "Victory Kiss," Axel walked onto the battle stage.
Because Raihan was serving as honorary referee, wanting to show Raihan the baby Duraludon, he also chose a 3V3 battle.
After a few days of training, under the enhancement of three gold-tier entries: [Breeder], [Dragon God's Blessing], and [Prodigy], the baby Duraludon had already reached level 15.
Moreover, Gardevoir had also 'accidentally' let the baby Duraludon touch some Dragon Scales a few times, successfully teaching it the moves Dragon Claw and Dragon Pulse.
If Pheromosa didn't get some special opportunity, this little one would soon surpass her and become the second core member of the team.
Soon, Sasha returned to the battle field with her freshly recovered Pokémon.
The two stood on opposite sides of the arena, and Axel finally had time to size up this young Gym Leader.
She wore a fiery red leather outfit, showing off her slim figure, and her long crimson hair exuded a special allure.
Axel subconsciously compared her to his own Gardevoir and the little loli.
Even though he knew this kind of rating girls behavior was super cringe, it was an instinctive feeling.
'Sorry, I'm trash.'
'Besides... Gardevoir still smells better!'
"I now announce the rules: the battle will be 3V3. The defender goes first and may not switch Pokémon mid-battle."
"The challenger may freely switch. When all three Pokémon lose combat ability, it's considered a loss."
"3...2...1...Start!"
"Don't worry little brother, I won't use my main Pokémon!"
Sasha gave Axel an encouraging smile and sent out the just-healed Litten again.
Axel patted the baby Duraludon on the head, "Little guy, it's up to you."
The baby Duraludon's debut battle—begins!
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