At the very top of the stairway was a platform carved out of the rock. When Yong reached it with Aerodactyl, a boy had already been waiting there for some time.
He wore an orange padded jacket with a white fur collar and black boots, and he was watching Yong with a smile.
"Welcome to the Snowpoint Gym! I'm the gatekeeper trainer, Yixiong!"
Yong stepped forward and said softly,
"I'm Yong. I'm here to challenge the Gym!"
"Great!"
Yixiong nodded.
"Beat me, and you can move on! We'll each use one Pokémon! Any problems with that?"
Yong nodded and pointed to Aerodactyl circling overhead.
"I'll be using Aerodactyl! Let's have a good match!"
Looking at the imposing Aerodactyl overhead and recalling its tremendous burst of power and speed earlier, Yixiong smiled confidently.
"In that case... I..."
Seeing the boy's expression and confident manner, Yong grew a little wary.
Just as I thought! It wouldn't be that easy, would it?!
"I surrender!!!"
"...Huh?"
Yong had never looked so bewildered. He stared at the boy grinning broadly across from him and asked in confusion,
"You surrender?"
Yixiong nodded without a care.
"Of course! Your Pokémon's level is obviously higher than my partners'! It's really strong, too! Of course I'm surrendering! If I can't win, there's no point wasting time!"
As he spoke, Yixiong chuckled and pointed to the stairway beside the platform.
"Go on! You can head straight to the Final Battlefield! Miss Candice is waiting for you!"
Seeing the strange smile on his face, Yong felt puzzled, but he still recalled Aerodactyl, politely said goodbye to Yixiong, and climbed the stairway once more, heading toward the very top of the pit!
At last, an enormous battlefield appeared before Yong!
The surrounding spectator stands were filled with red seats! They formed a