Soon, the two arrived at the Coumarine Gym's battle site. Eddie awkwardly said, "The referee isn't here, so you'll just have to make do."
Valerie waved her hands. "It's okay, it's okay."
The Gym Battle Begins
"Then...shall we start?" Eddie asked.
"Let's get started."
The two stood on opposite sides of the field. Eddie said, "I won't say any more nonsense. I'm the acting Gym Leader, so I'll release the Pokémon first. You can choose the appropriate Pokémon to fight based on the Pokémon I release." As his opponent was a novice, Eddie couldn't help but offer a few extra words. He was also familiar with the Gym Battle rules, having watched several at the Coumarine Gym.
"Yeah..." Valerie nodded repeatedly.
The first Pokémon Eddie released was Larvitar.
"Yo~~~"
As soon as he appeared, little Larvitar shouted excitedly, stomping his small feet back and forth on the ground, clearly looking forward to the upcoming battle. This guy was a battle fanatic even at such a young age, and he'd been having intense sparring sessions with Diancie recently.
Seeing the rare Larvitar, Valerie exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, it's Larvitar! This is my first time fighting against Larvitar!" But then she seemed to recall something. "Hey? Isn't the Coumarine Gym a Grass-type Gym?"
Eddie nodded. "That's right, but I'm just the acting owner."
"Yeah, never mind." Without overthinking it, Valerie took out a Poké Ball and released her Pokémon. Valerie's first Pokémon was Eevee.
"Eevee ~Eevee ~"
The little Eevee was very cute. As soon as he appeared on the field, he jumped around and mischievously winked at Larvitar.
Larvitar: "What are you doing?"
"The challenger attacks first!" Eddie shouted. "The challenger can change Pokémon at any time during the battle."
"Then I won't be polite, Eevee, Swift!" Valerie waved her finger at Larvitar.
"Eevee!!!"
Eevee suddenly put his front legs on the ground, kicked back hard, and rushed towards Larvitar, glowing white all over.
"Larvitar, Iron Head!"
"Yo~"
Under Eddie's command, the top of Larvitar's head turned metallic, and he rushed towards the charging Eevee.
BANG!!!
The two Pokémon collided. Although they weren't much different in size, Larvitar's weight generated an impact force that Eevee couldn't compare to.
"Eevee ~"
Eevee screamed and rolled back, his once beautiful fur instantly covered with dust.
"Larvitar ~"
Little Larvitar was very proud, hands on his waist, chin raised, looking at Eevee: "You were looking down on me just now, right? Let's see if you dare to do it again." He was so proud of the victory.
"Eevee, are you okay?" Valerie asked nervously.
"Eevee~Eevee~"
Eevee got up from the ground, shook his head, dusted off his fur, and glared angrily at Larvitar.
Seeing that Eevee was fine, Valerie breathed a sigh of relief. "In that case, Eevee, Swift!" If close combat wasn't working, she'd rely on long-range attacks.
"Eevee ~"
Eevee nodded, leaped up, and shot a string of golden stars from his tail towards Larvitar.
"Little Larvitar, Brick Break!"
"Hey…"
Larvitar nodded firmly, standing motionless, his small fists folded at his waist, his feet firmly planted in a horse stance. The moment the golden stars shot over, he swung out a fist, white light flashing on it. The star was shattered by the punch and turned into golden light that dissipated into the air.
"Eevee ~Eevee ~Eevee ~" This wasn't the end yet. More Swift stars continued to shoot over due to Eevee's relentless effort.
Larvitar threw punch after punch, each movement incredibly smooth, each punch accurately shattering a star. After a series of attacks, Eevee became a little out of breath and finally stopped using Swift, but Larvitar remained calm and steady. The high-level energy blocks and expensive silver and gold stones weren't eaten in vain. They brought all-round growth to Larvitar, not to mention the help of Eddie's golden finger. Overall, Larvitar was stronger than Eevee.
At this point, Larvitar seized the opportunity and planned to use long-range attack skills on Eevee. Rock spears appeared around his body, aimed at Eevee. It was the Stone Edge attack.
Just as he was about to control the rock spears to shoot out, they suddenly turned into powder and disappeared. Larvitar had learned Stone Edge with the help of Eddie and Diancie, but he wasn't very skilled and hadn't mastered it. Now he wanted to show off, but he failed miserably.
"Larvitar, Rock Slide!" Eddie pointed at him at this time. Although Larvitar hadn't yet mastered Stone Edge, he had already begun to use another skill he learned from Diancie: Rock Slide.
Suddenly, rocks larger than Eevee's body appeared above his head and were about to fall. However, Larvitar's forced Stone Edge attack had failed, causing him to miss the opportunity. As the rocks fell, Eevee rolled on the ground and timely avoided the Rock Slide.
Bang~bang~bang~
Although the rocks didn't hit Eevee, they left the ground riddled with holes, which scared Eevee. The Rock Slide missed its target, and Larvitar stamped his feet in anger.
"Eevee, let's use Charm!" At this time, Valerie shouted to Eevee.
Eevee, who had been full of anger moments ago, suddenly became cute and lovely after hearing Valerie's command. He continuously blinked his big eyes at Larvitar and even blew him a wink. Unfortunately, Larvitar was too stubborn and didn't take Eevee's Charm seriously at all.
But even so, the effect of Charm was achieved, and Larvitar's attack was lowered. Eevee smiled triumphantly, but poor little Larvitar had no idea what was happening.
"Eevee, let's use Charm again!" Valerie continued, trying to further lower Larvitar's attack.
But Eddie wouldn't let Eevee succeed a second time, so he shouted to Larvitar, "Larvitar, use Rock Slide!"
Larvitar nodded confidently, but when he used his skills, he immediately discovered something was wrong. His attack power was reduced, and the size of the rocks he created was greatly diminished.
"Eevee ~Eevee ~"
The Eevee on the opposite side frantically slapped the ground with his little paws, laughing at Larvitar.
"Yo~ Yo~ Yo~"
Larvitar was so angry that he gave up using Rock Slide and switched to using Stone Edge, which he wasn't yet proficient in. Fortunately, it worked this time.
Several sharp rock spears, accompanied by the sound of rushing air, directly blocked Eevee's retreat route, and the last one directly pierced Eevee's body. The rock spear turned into a yellow light and disappeared, and Eevee fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Eevee!"
Valerie ran to Eevee with a worried look on her face, only breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that he was simply unconscious. After returning Eevee to her Poké Ball, Valerie looked at Eddie and Larvitar. "You two are really good. Now I'm going to get serious!"
Hearing his opponent's praise, Larvitar proudly put his hands on his hips and raised his chin high. "I'm just so awesome!"
Valerie's second Pokémon was a Steel and Fairy-type Mawile. As soon as Mawile appeared, she shyly cast a wink at little Larvitar, and a pink heart instantly hit him. That was the Attract skill.
Little Larvitar, who had been full of pride moments ago, fell into disarray the next second. The moment he was hit by Attract, hearts began to appear in Larvitar's pupils, and he looked at Mawile with an obsessed expression.
"Mawile~~~" Come here!
Mawile waved at little Larvitar shyly, and little Larvitar actually walked over obediently.
"Little Larvitar!" Eddie called out loudly, but he turned a deaf ear and continued to walk towards Mawile with an obsessed look.
"Mawile…"
Mawile hugged little Larvitar and patted his back gently, as if to let down his guard.
"Little Larvitar, Little Larvitar! Wake up!" No matter how much Eddie called, Little Larvitar did not wake up from the Attract. At this moment, the huge mouth behind Mawile's head suddenly opened and swallowed little Larvitar whole in an instant.
Cold air emanated from the giant mouth. Mawile used an Ice skill that could restrain Larvitar: Ice Fang. When Larvitar was spit out of Mawile's mouth, he had already lost consciousness.
"Oh~" Eddie covered his forehead. "This is so embarrassing!""Look at you, you were still so proud!" Eddie was helpless.
After recalling little Larvitar, Eddie released Diancie.
Seeing Diancie, Valerie was surprised. "So, little brother, you are good at Rock-type Pokémon!"
Eddie shook his head. "I don't have any special attributes. It's just a coincidence."
Perhaps realizing that Attract was ineffective against genderless Pokémon, Mawile didn't use Attract on Diancie this time, but instead used Fairy Wind. She simply waved her little hand, and suddenly gusts of wind carrying pink light blew across the venue, stirring up all the dust and smoke. Eddie couldn't even clearly see the situation inside the venue.
Using the dust as cover, Mawile silently approached Diancie. Behind Diancie, Mawile burst into pink light and slammed into Diancie. The ferocious expression on her face was completely different from the gentle look she had shown when she dealt with little Larvitar in the previous scene. Mawile's deceptive nature, adept at disguise and feigning weakness, was clearly revealed in this moment.
With a loud bang, a transparent light screen surrounded Diancie. Mawile didn't hit Diancie, but instead hit the light screen. It turned out that when Mawile raised the dust, Diancie had guessed her intention. Before little Larvitar learned the two long-range attack skills, Rock Slide and Stone Edge, when he was sparring with Diancie, he liked to raise sandstorms to cover his tracks and get close. Diancie already had a mature solution for this.
When the smoke and dust rose, she used the Iron Defense skill to strengthen her own defense. When Mawile approached her, she used Harden to strengthen her attack. By the time Mawile made a move, she had already put up a Light Screen. Anyway, she wasn't going to sit there stupidly waiting for Mawile to launch a sneak attack.
Diancie's defense was already very high, and with the reinforcement of Iron Defense and the resistance of Light Screen, Mawile's attack suddenly felt like a mere tickle. When Mawile's eyes met Diancie's, she couldn't help but be surprised: "How can you be so hard?"
"Diancie, Power Gem!" Eddie shouted at this time.
Little Diancie smiled slightly, and a yellow light emerged from her rock body and spread to the earth. The ground beneath their feet suddenly cracked, and Mawile fell to the ground, shaking.
"Mawile…"
Ground skills are effective against Mawile, and Mawile's special defense isn't high. A hit from Diancie instantly made Mawile grimace in pain. Fortunately, Diancie wasn't a strong attacking Pokémon; otherwise, Mawile would have been eliminated immediately. This was direct output.
"Mawile, stay away from Diancie!" Valerie shouted.
But it was too late. Before Mawile could get up from the ground, Diancie used Stealth Rock to surround all the space around Mawile. As Mawile got up and took a step back, invisible rocks emerged and hit her, and Mawile couldn't help but let out a cry of pain.
Mawile used Fairy Wind, trying to clear away the invisible rocks around her, but the next second, a rock spear fell from the sky and pierced directly into Mawile's body. Although Rock-type skills were resisted by Mawile, Mawile was already at the end of her strength. A Stone Edge directly made her lose her combat ability.
Mawile's defeat finally made Valerie's relaxed demeanor disappear. She recalled Mawile and sighed, "I thought it would be easy to deal with you as the acting Gym Leader, but I didn't expect that I was wrong."
As she spoke, Valerie released her last Pokémon. As a trainer specializing in Fairy-type Pokémon, Valerie's last Pokémon was naturally also a Fairy-type: a petite Aromatisse.
Diancie had already set up Stealth Rock in the venue, so Aromatisse was attacked as soon as she came out, which made Valerie's face look a little displeased.
"Aromatisse, Trick Room!"
After Aromatisse wailed in pain, Valerie gave these instructions. Suddenly, a square transparent space opened up on Aromatisse's body. The space became larger and larger, and in the blink of an eye it covered the entire battlefield. The effect of Trick Room is to make slower Pokémon move faster, while faster Pokémon have their speed restricted. Diancie was already a very slow Pokémon, but Aromatisse was even slower, so the Trick Room skill was highly compatible with her. Sure enough, with the emergence of the Trick Room, Diancie felt her body seemed to become heavier, with an indescribable feeling of oppression.