Ninetales lay limp on the ground, its eyes rolled back as it lost consciousness.
Charizard stood nearby, panting slightly, but aside from a few superficial wounds, Ninetales had clearly done it no real harm.
Ayi looked astonished, seemingly unable to believe that his Ninetales had been defeated so easily!
Even the referee had not expected the battle to end so quickly!
As one of Ayi's subordinates, he naturally knew how troublesome this Ninetales was. He also knew it had helped Ayi defeat countless challengers and could be considered one of the Gym's finest Pokémon!
Yet never before had it been beaten so easily and decisively!
Despite favoring Ayi in his heart, the referee had to announce fairly, "Ninetales is unable to battle. The winner of the first battle is Xia You!"
Hmph, I'll give you that.
Ayi recalled Ninetales, admitting that he had underestimated Xia You somewhat.
He had assumed that yesterday's Jolteon was Xia You's ace, but now it seemed this Charizard was his trump card!
It was fine. There were still two rounds left. As long as he won both of them, victory would be his!
At that thought, Ayi let out a long breath and adjusted his mindset.
"All right, let's hurry up and start the second battle."
Just then, however, he seemed to remember something else and smiled maliciously. "Ah, right... I forgot to tell you. The rules here don't allow you to use the same Pokémon twice, so this Charizard can't keep battling~"
Although it sounded as though Ayi was targeting him, denying Charizard the chance to fight again, Xia You did not particularly mind.
All his Pokémon were capable fighters anyway. Whichever one he sent out, it was all the same to him.
Calling Charizard back to his side, Xia You patted its shoulder