Led by a group of apprentices, Ye Lan entered the gym and arrived at its battlefield. The first thing he saw was Rillaboom kneeling on one knee in the arena, gasping for breath. Behind it, Applin paced anxiously back and forth.
Rillaboom was covered in wounds. Its feet were visibly deformed, its soles bent out of shape. Without its powerful arms supporting it, it would not even have been able to remain on one knee.
Across from it, eight Blaziken stood ready for battle. Their strength varied, but all of them were between late Professional level and early Gym Leader level, and they were about to launch another round of attacks.
"Chirp!"
Sensing its trainer's presence, Applin hurriedly leaped from the rear of the battlefield onto Ye Lan's palm. It was about to explain when it noticed that his eyes had already taken on a golden tint. His icy gaze frightened it into curling up in a trembling ball.
With a light flick of his right hand, an emerald-green Poké Ball slipped from Ye Lan's waist. Serperior appeared behind him in the blink of an eye, its enormous head extending over him. It unleashed its full Gym Leader level aura, staring fixedly at the old man on the far side of the battlefield. Its tail lashed restlessly, as though it might attack at any moment.
"Hiss!"
As Serperior hissed, the other Poké Balls at Ye Lan's waist began shaking too, as though their occupants could hardly wait to burst out.
"Not good!" Seeing Serperior's unmistakably aggressive stance, Wang Hu rushed over from the edge of the battlefield and shouted in front of Ye Lan:
"It's a misunderstanding, Ye Lan! A misunderstanding! Rillaboom and our Gym Leader hit it off after their battle and decided to exchange their Kicking Technique Skills."