"Ohohoho, what a surprising Rookie Trainer!" A gleam flashed in Lia's purple eyes. With a lilting laugh, she snapped her fingers, and a robot referee descended from above. It announced in a mechanical voice, "The Gym Challenge between Rookie Trainer Max and Gym Trainer Lia will now begin. Each side may use two Pokémon. The match will end when all Pokémon on either side are unable to battle. Also, only the challenger may switch Pokémon during the match!"
"Max, are these rules all right with you?" Lia asked accommodatingly.
"Yes!" Max took several deep breaths and nodded.
"OK, first up, my darling Mime Jr.!" A Poké Ball appeared in Lia's hand as if by magic, and she tossed it onto the field. White light flashed, revealing a Mime Jr. dancing in place, spinning on one foot with both arms held out.
"Wow, so cute!" May's eyes instantly lit up.
Wurmple has a type advantage against Mime Jr., but I only just caught it. Using it against a Gym Trainer's Pokémon now would be too risky. Buizel used up a lot of stamina in the last match, so it can't battle either. That leaves... Having made his decision, Max threw a Poké Ball. "Treecko, I choose you!" White light flashed, and the green-bodied, red-bellied Treecko appeared opposite Mime Jr.
"Treecko! That must be Max's starter Pokémon. I wonder how it'll handle Mime Jr.!" Liu Qing settled in to watch the match begin.
"Max, please make the first move!" Lia said with a soft laugh.
Max had no intention of standing on ceremony with Lia. He immediately ordered, "Treecko, use Quick Attack!"
"A priority attack to start with. What a surprise. But..." Lia narrowed her purple eyes slightly as she watched Treecko charge forward, trailing white light. A faint smile rested on