Under the Gym's rules, Morty sent out his Pokémon first.
"Go! Gastly!"
He threw a Poké Ball, and with a flash of blue light, a Gastly appeared before Xia You.
Looking at the Pokémon, Xia You was very familiar with Gastly, Gengar's Basic form, since he had once owned one himself. He knew not only its moves but also how it attacked.
He rubbed his chin.
Hmm...
This seemed like it would be an easy battle.
But since his main purpose was to train his Pokémon, and his opponent was in such an early form, Xia You gave it some thought before sending out his own Pokémon.
With a flash of blue light, a cocoon-like Pokémon appeared on the field.
"Oh? A Pupitar..."
With one hand on his hip, Morty looked Pupitar over, his expression somewhat grave.
He rarely watched news from other regions, so naturally, he did not recognize Xia You or know just how strong the man before him was.
Still, someone who could bring out a Pokémon like Pupitar, which was relatively rare in the Johto Region, had to have at least some ability. Or perhaps... he was simply rather lucky?
Whatever the case, Gastly was indeed at a disadvantage.
In terms of typing, Pupitar's Ground type had a certain advantage against Gastly's Poison type, giving it something of an upper hand right from the outset.
Sure enough, once the match began, the battle quickly tilted in Pupitar's favor.
Pupitar performed brilliantly. Under Xia You's commands, it always managed to guard against Gastly's attacks in advance. As the two Pokémon exchanged attacks and wore down some of each other's stamina, Pupitar finally finished Gastly off cleanly with a Crunch.
Morty shook his head and helplessly recalled Gastly.
What could he say? His Gastly had lost far too