This battle could be said to have knocked half the spirit out of Fantina.
Logically, at her age, and as a Gym Leader, she could hardly be so fragile. Especially as a Ghost-type Pokémon Trainer, she had always been the one finding ways to put others through the wringer. When had anyone ever done that to her?
Chimchar's strength was hardly worth mentioning.
Fantina had seen far too many Pokémon Trainers with Chimchar before. With them as a comparison, she could clearly tell that this Chimchar's training was still far from sufficient, and its strength was only average.
Mostly, it was mentally exhausting.
As she grew older, she became increasingly reluctant to face this sort of "scheming" Pokémon Trainer.
She simply couldn't keep battling like this!
Nor did she have the energy to tread carefully at every turn, thinking two steps ahead with every move while also preparing her responses in advance.
If possible, she would have preferred to keep battling simple-minded people rather than this sort.
Off to the side, seeing Chimchar fall, Paris and Chloe both silently lamented the loss.
After all, from their perspective as spectators, Chimchar's performance just now had been genuinely good.
It had actually managed to hold its own for so long against that enormous, frightening-looking Dusknoir. That was truly impressive!
They had even thought Chimchar might turn the tables in the end, only for it to finish like this.
Still, this was already quite good.
After all, before the battle began, neither of them had held much hope for Chimchar. But now, although its attempt to defeat a stronger opponent had failed, it had still given them plenty of surprises and made for a thoroughly enjoyable watch.
Especially...
Turning to look at Xia You, the two women had much the same thought.
The