After waiting a long time without seeing Banette escape, Morty could not help pressing a hand to his forehead.
"Stop... uh... open your mouth. I concede."
Only after the referee raised his arm did Xia You snap his fingers, signaling for Crystal Steelix to spit Banette out.
Seeing his command, Crystal Steelix opened its mouth and spat hard, as though spitting out saliva. The next second, the battered Banette landed on the ground.
After rolling several times, Banette finally came to rest belly-up, lying limply on the ground without any response. It had clearly fallen unconscious.
Fortunately, its body was soft like a doll's, seemingly without bones, so even after being ground between Crystal Steelix's jaws for so long, it had suffered no fatal injuries.
It had merely passed out from the pain.
Of course, being swallowed was a terrible experience. Hopefully, Banette would not be left with any lasting trauma.
With a complicated expression, Morty recalled Banette, took a deep breath, and looked intently at Xia You.
"You're even stronger than I imagined. You actually defeated my Banette. Looks like I can't hold anything back anymore. It's time to send out my strongest Pokémon!"
To be honest, before the battle began, he had thought this would be a perfectly ordinary Gym battle. He had never expected things to turn out this way, nor had he imagined he would need to use his ace Pokémon.
But the man before him had easily won two matches in a row. He was clearly no ordinary Pokémon Trainer!
I have to win one back!
Taking a deep breath, Morty solemnly took out his third Poké Ball.
"Go, my ace!"
Like a skilled pitcher, Morty threw the Poké Ball onto the field. With a flash of light, a strange Pokémon over two meters tall,