The night passed uneventfully. Early the next morning, Liu Qing and Ash's group arrived at the Blackthorn Gym.
"Good morning, Miss Clair!" Liu Qing stepped forward to greet her.
"Liu Qing, you're finally here. I've been looking forward to battling you," Clair said. She already knew that Liu Qing was the one who had defeated Drake.
"Heh, so have I!" Liu Qing replied with a smile, but sparks flew as their eyes met.
"I, Kabu, will serve as the referee. A pleasure to meet you." Once Liu Qing and Clair had taken their positions, an elderly man stepped into the referee's spot and introduced himself. "My name is Kabu. The Gym battle between Liu Qing, a Pokémon Trainer from Saffron City, and Clair, the Blackthorn Gym's Pokémon Trainer, will now begin. Each side may use three Pokémon, and there is no time limit. The match ends when all of one side's Pokémon are unable to battle. The challenger may freely switch Pokémon during the battle, but the Gym Trainer may not. Let the match begin!"
"Go, Gyarados!" Clair threw a Poké Ball. Her first Pokémon, Gyarados, appeared in the pool on the battlefield.
"She's not starting with Kingdra?" Ash asked in confusion as he watched from the sidelines.
"Gym Trainers can use their Pokémon in any order. They don't necessarily start with the same one every match." Having been a Gym Trainer himself, Brock knew this very well.
"Go, Porygon-Z!" Seeing Gyarados, Liu Qing threw a Poké Ball as well. With a flash of white light, Porygon-Z appeared in midair.
"Porygon-Z, the Virtual Pokémon, and the final evolved form of Porygon. Additional software was installed to improve its performance, but for some reason, it began behaving strangely." Ash took out his Pokédex and listened to its explanation.
"Oh, so that's