After Barely Winning with Everything You Had, You Suddenly Discover the Boss Has a Second Phase

If there was one word to describe how the challenger using Lokix felt right now, it was-

Stunned!

Hey, this wasn't how it was supposed to go!

Wasn't he supposed to command Lokix to kick that evil Sableye flying and avenge all the comrades who had fallen victim to it?

Then, after easily passing the Gym assessment, wouldn't he accept the Sunshine Gym Badge personally presented by Teacher Qingyu amid unanimous praise and admiring gazes from the livestream audience, becoming the coolest guy in Paldea today?

A few more compliments would be nice, too. Praise from Teacher Yu himself would be even better!

But...

Why had Teacher Yu suddenly switched Pokémon?

Wasn't Sableye supposed to be holding the fort? Where had this Riolu come from?

Watching the Riolu flex its wrists before him, the young student suddenly felt an inexplicable shiver in his heart.

After barely winning with everything you had, you suddenly discovered the Boss had a second phase...

He seemed to have heard that Teacher Yu generally rented his assessment Pokémon from the League.

But Teacher Yu had also raised several Pokémon himself, and had even caught a powerful Pokémon in Kitakami, one with the terrifying strength to take on four powerful legendary beings at once...

And this Riolu was one of the first Pokémon Teacher Yu had shown his challengers.

Maybe using his main team would be too unfair to beginners, so he had sent out a Pokémon that hadn't evolved yet?

With that thought, he finally breathed an inward sigh of relief.

If it was only a Riolu, surely it couldn't be that strong!

"Lokix, it's just a mere Riolu! Let's overcome it together!"

Lokix instinctively turned back and gave her Trainer a strange look.

"Kix?"

Even Qingyu could tell what she meant.

*Me, fight