Meowscarada's strength had not disappointed the judges. If anything, it had far exceeded their expectations.
Corvisquire had lost quite a few rounds. Early-route bird Pokémon shared a common weakness: they were at a slight disadvantage in battle until they reached their final forms.
Once Corvisquire evolved and gained Corviknight's typing and Ability, its fighting power would improve considerably.
Lucario had suffered losses too, and had learned quite a lot from those defeats.
Squirtle had never lost, but its record came with a bit of a catch.
The challengers it had fought that morning had not been particularly strong on average, and some had not even memorized the type matchup chart.
During the second half, there had been Pokémon that could threaten Squirtle, including those belonging to a trainer with seven Badges who specialized in Electric-type Pokémon.
But to make sure nothing went wrong, Meownei had stepped in personally to hold the line after Corvisquire and Lucario finished their training.
Like an unshakable fortress, Meownei had allowed no one to break through its offensive.
Xin Mu had also unlocked a new achievement: even after the day's event ended, he still had not seen the Gym Leader.
Even when Xin Mu received his Badge and prizes, the Gym Leader was nowhere to be seen.
"Does your Gym Leader usually not come back?"
"He usually does, but he probably won't be back for a while..."
"He won't?"
The gym employee said nothing, merely holding their phone up in front of Xin Mu.
[Temporary workers' wages withheld; Xuantai Gym Leader leads group to demand payment...]
On the news page, Xuantai Gym's Gym Leader was still wearing that mascot costume. More than a dozen people followed behind him, surrounding a stall as they demanded their wages.
Gym Leaders held a special position within