Continuing upward, Yong passed through the gate between floors and arrived at the second-floor platform. This time, a boy stood on the other side.
The boy's eyes lit up when he saw Yong step off the metal lift onto the platform, and he grinned.
"Welcome to the second floor! I'm Gym Trainer Tai Dou!"
Yong nodded.
"I'm Yong! I'm from Hoenn!"
"Oh?"
Tai Dou paused, then asked curiously,
"You're from Hoenn!? Um... are all the Steelix over there really huge?"
"Uh..."
Something felt off, though Yong couldn't quite put his finger on it. He answered cautiously,
"They're not that big, really..."
Thinking of his own partner, Yong hesitated again.
"Actually, I suppose they are pretty big..."
"They really are!?"
Tai Dou was beside himself with excitement. Just as he was about to speak, a voice blared from a speaker somewhere nearby.
"Tai Dou!!! Stop wasting time! Start the battle!"
"Ah... yes, Mr. Byron!"
Tai Dou hastily saluted. Finally dropping the chatter, he looked at Yong and said seriously,
"The rules are one-on-one! One round decides the winner! Any objections?"
Yong nodded, an odd look on his face.
Seeing this, Tai Dou hurled a Pokémon Ball. As white light flashed, the boy called out,
"I'm counting on you! Onix!"
Boom!
The sound of something heavy hitting the ground rang out!
When the light faded, an enormous Pokémon appeared before them!
Yong's eyes brightened as he looked at Tai Dou's Onix with delight.
"Level... 36!"
Its dark gray, rocky body gleamed, carrying a faint metallic sheen. It had clearly been cared for extremely well! Its body, formed from a chain of boulders, resembled a great serpent, topped by an enormous head! Right now, its black eyes were fixed on Yong.
"Roar!"
Hearing that powerful roar, Yong smiled, took out his Pokémon Ball,