The boy climbed all the way up, his excitement driving him to reach the middle tier of Low Mountain without delay. Spotting Grant on one side of the Intermediate Battlefield, he hurried to his own position and called out,
"Hello! I'm Art! I've come to challenge the Rock Solid Gym! I look forward to battling you!"
Grant had clearly noticed the boy's excitement too. He grinned and nodded.
"Plenty of fighting spirit and confidence! I accept your challenge, young man! Beat me, and you can keep moving forward."
There was no denying that Grant's easygoing personality made him approachable.
Art wasn't nervous in the slightest. Instead, he relaxed even further and shouted with a smile,
"No problem! I'll definitely beat you!"
"..."
After a moment of surprise, Grant chuckled.
"Excellent! This will be a one-Pokémon match! And this is the partner I'll be using!"
He tossed a Pokémon Ball high into the air. White light flashed, and another Geodude appeared on the battlefield.
Pokémon: Geodude, Lv. 22...
Inside the Lounge, Yong smiled faintly.
Whenever Grant had held this position before, he had always opened with Tyrunt!
Clearly, because of Yong's instructions, Grant had picked a random low-level Geodude from the Backyard...
But although the Pokémon wasn't particularly strong, its Trainer was another matter entirely...
Harden + Defense Curl + Rollout.
The standard Geodude offensive routine!
On the rock-paved battlefield, Geodude kept rolling, its attacks growing more powerful as it repeatedly charged at Frogadier. Yet Art only relied on Frogadier's natural strengths, using its excellent jumping ability to keep dodging while counterattacking with Water Gun and Water Pulse...
He never once considered making Geodude stop.
Meanwhile, Geodude could use the uneven terrain to change direction at will as it rolled, dodging and charging.
Although this cost it some speed,