Lt. Surge entered the Gym, Roy followed behind Lt. Surge, Ancient Gengar entered Roy's shadow.
After the Ancient Gengar disappeared, the apprentice felt the Pressure on his body also disappear.
The boy looked even younger than me, but his Pokémon possessed terrifying power.
Luckily, he hadn't made any sarcastic remarks. If he had been targeted by a Ghost type Elite Four, he wouldn't have been able to sleep all night.
Recalling the chilling aura of the Ancient Gengar emerging from the shadows, the apprentice shuddered involuntarily and quickly entered the Gym.
The two entered the Vermilion City Gym. The gym was not very large. The pillars around it were covered with insulating resin to prevent lightning moves like Thunderbolt from splashing everywhere and hitting the audience and gym facilities.
Several apprentices were tidying up the Gym's signboard and equipment; it looked like the dojo was about to close.
The battle arena for the Vermilion City Gym is underground; that's right, a dedicated battle arena was dug out from underground.
Lt. Surge clapped his hands, signaling everyone to stop what they were doing.
The apprentices who were about to leave work saw that someone was going to fight Lt. Surge, so they all put down what they were doing and came up to the upper floor of the Arena to watch the fight.
Before the match began, Lt. Lt. Surge took out a Golden and orange Badge and placed it on the table next to him.
This indicates that if Roy can defeat him and gain his approval, he can obtain the Orange Badge in his hand.
Upon entering the underground Arena, Raichu, who was standing next to Lt. Surge, jumped right in to join the battle, his cheeks crackling with electricity, radiating fighting spirit.
"Raichu!"
The referee, who was about to leave work, had no choice but to put his referee uniform back on. He wouldn't have done it if it weren't for the overtime pay.
He's not just a Gym apprentice; he's not only a Gym referee, but also the Pokémon League's supervisor responsible for overseeing Gyms. He regularly checks whether Gym Leaders and apprentices are fighting seriously and whether there's any cheating or other issues during challenges.
All Gym Challenge are conducted under his supervision, and even the awarding of Badges to Gym Leaders requires his oversight.
Upon returning to the arena inside the gym, the referee first explained to Roy that the challenge at the Vermilion City Gym was a 1v1 Pokémon battle.
According to the official rules of the Pokémon League, as long as you show the Gym leader what he wants to see during the Gym Challenge, such as:
Courage, perseverance, patience, and the bond with Pokémon... these are the qualities that Gym Leaders want to see. Even if you lose Gym battle, you can still earn Gym Badge.
However, since Roy is challenging the highest difficulty Gym, he only wins if he wins the Pokémon battle; otherwise, he gets nothing.
Seeing that Lt. Surge immediately sent out his Raichu, Roy, as the challenger, could counter Lt. Surge. Pokémon.
However, his Palossand is two tiers lower than Raichu's level, so even with type advantage, it probably won't deal much damage. Plus, this Raichu knows the Surf move.
After thinking for Roy took out a Poké Ball from his waist, and with a flash of red light, sent out his Dragapult, since the other party had just challenged him to a battle that morning.
Dragapult had long been looking forward to a battle between evenly matched opponents. He had just broken through to the intermediate-level Elite Four last week, and this battle would be a good opportunity to consolidate his strength.
Lt. Surge was standing on the sidelines with his arms crossed, looking indifferent.
As he looked at the circling Dragapult in the sky, he slowly lowered his arms and slightly raised his eyebrows.
Roy sent out a Pokémon, judging from its aura, was also at the mid-level Elite Four level.
Two Intermediate King level Pokémon?
Roy on the other side once again shattered his expectations.
Young people these days are really something else.
After verifying Roy's ID Card, the referee blew his whistle, officially starting the match.
Lt. Surge shouted to Raichu in his rough voice:
"Raichu, use Nasty Plot."
A question mark appeared above Raichu's head in his mind, and his eyes sharpened.
"Dragapult, use Shadow Ball to interrupt him."
As purple Shadow Ball gathered in front of Dragapult, Dreepy's two caves emerged from the openings, following beside Dragapult, their three eyes fixed on Raichu.
The two Dreepy even flew to a distance from Raichu, not using any special abilities, but simply flying around to harass Raichu.
After the Shadow Ball was fully formed, Dragapult hurled Shadow Ball at Raichu. Raichu, who was still buffing itself, quickly dodged when it saw Shadow Ball much larger than itself hurtling towards it.
Its own enhancement was interrupted, and the question mark above Raichu's head disappeared.
Interrupted Raichu's buff, Dragapult flew into the air again, circling repeatedly, a pale blue light flowing along its body, giving its overall movements a mysterious feel.
Dragapult is using Dragon Dance.
Lt. Surge also saw through Roy's intentions. Since Roy was strengthening himself instead of letting him do so, he certainly couldn't let Roy have his way.
"Raichu, use Thunderbolt!"
The electric sacs on Raichu's cheeks quickly lit up with a bright yellow light, and yellow arcs of electricity crackled and flickered on the surface of his cheeks.
After pinpointing Dragapult's direction, a thick bolt of lightning shot out from the electric sac beside Raichu's face, tearing through the air and heading straight for Dragapult.
The Thunderbolt struck Dragapult precisely, who was using Dragon Dance. Thunder Shock, Dragapult transformed into a small green dinosaur doll, which was then blasted apart right in front of everyone.
It hit... Wait! This is... Substitute?
When exactly did he...?
Dragapult's figure appeared on the other side opposite the Substitute.
It turns out that while the two Dreepy were harassing Raichu to strengthen himself, Dragapult used his Substitute, while his main body used Phantom Force to disappear into the shadows.
Dragapult, emerging from the shadows, has completed his Dragon Dance, significantly boosting his speed and attack power.
Dragapult's aura surged.