Kaim's Moment of Victory

Lucario was also paralyzed by Little Black's ability, Synchronize. Not only were they both moving slowly due to paralysis, but sometimes they were even unable to move at all. This did not hurt Kuroki, who had high durability and reduced speed, but for Lucario, who moved all around, this was a rather difficult development.

"Then let's finish this quickly! Lucario, Swords Dance!"

"I won't let you, Little Black, Curse."

It was a process of stacking each other's techniques to raise their own stats. Little Black's speed decreased further, but his hardness increased further, and Lucario's high attack power increased further.

"Lucario, Extreme Speed!"

Lucario rapidly attacked Kuroki in succession. Although Curse increased his defense, Lucario's attack power had also increased. The damage was not small.

Little Black faced Lucario's continuous attacks without any way to counter, wearing a painful expression.

"Close in!"

Lucario gathered power in his right hand, unleashing a final blow with a roar from his palm.

"Feint"

However, dodging his palm, Kuroki-as if his painful expression had been a lie-kicked Lucario straight in the face.

The damage was halved, but this single blow was enough to break the balance.

"Come on!"

I tried to follow up with a subsequent attack, but Little Black's body was already paralyzed, and I couldn't attack at all.

"Bullet Punch!"

Impossible to miss this opportunity, Lucario's Bullet Punch pierced straight through Little Black.

Paralyzed all over and unable to move, Little Black could not evade and was struck squarely by Moro's punch. Lucario launched a follow-up attack on Little Black, who was rolling around on the field.

"I'll kill you! Lucario, come on!"

Sumo chose to strike him down before he could regain his balance.

"Little Black, Curse"

Facing the closing Lucario, Kuroki used Curse to further bolster his defense.

However, although Little Black had high stamina, he had taken many high-efficiency techniques, and his physical strength was greatly depleted. No matter how much your defense increased, there was no telling whether you could withstand the next attack.

"I'll defeat you with this! Lucario, Close Combat!"

Lucario unleashed a flurry of attacks, closing in on Little Black.

I regained my balance, but I couldn't dodge Lucario's onslaught.

In-fighting was the technique with the highest raw power among fighting-type moves. Furthermore, it was extremely effective against the dark-type Little Black. Taking it normally was more than I could handle.

What do you do then? There was no help for it; you just had to make do with the increased defense and Little Black's own stance.

Up until now, Kaim had endured a lot of hard training. If that was the case, I couldn't justify myself unless I endured it as his partner.

Wanting to respond to Kaim's thoughts-he who was Kuroki's dearest and best trainer-Little Black made up his mind and accepted the onslaught.

By shifting his body's position and slightly deflecting the trajectory of the consecutive punches, he could avoid a direct hit, but the damage dealt was immense. Realizing that he would surely lose if things went on like this, Little Black immediately changed his strategy.

Endure

Blaziken, whose endurance was low, had endured through this very Endure. As his ace, he motivated himself to see what he could accomplish without holding back, absorbing all of Lucario's attacks.

Before Lucario, who had completed countless attacks, were the eyes of Little Black, who had barely survived and was not yet dead.

Lucario and Sumo were startled for a split second by that overwhelming presence.

"Well endured, Little Black."

"I never thought he could hold on."

Yet I was certain it was Insect Breathing. If he took one more hit here, Little Black would surely fall.

"Lucario! Bullet Punch!"

He tried to finish off Kuroki with a fast-punching Bullet Punch. But Kaim and Umbreon both knew this would happen.

"Two steps to the right"

Kuroki moved two steps to the right at Kaim's instruction. At that very moment, Lucario fired a strike at the spot where Kuroki had just been.

The moment a move cannot be canceled, and evasion is guaranteed! Miss Cynthia's evasion technique?!

An evasion command frequently used by Cynthia. This was used to designate the exact distance at the final moment when the opponent's move could no longer be canceled, allowing for an escape. When used well, the advantage of this command was that one could dodge the opponent's move with minimal stamina, leaving the opponent-who had just used a move-wide open. But if it failed, the move would hit directly, placing you at a severe disadvantage instead. It was a very high-stakes maneuver. Therefore, very few trainers could execute it accurately.

This was what Kaim had done. In other words, he and his Pokémon already possessed the technique to pull it off.

Due to the perfect dodge, Lucario was completely defenseless at that moment. Kaim was no longer weak enough to miss this opportunity.

"Lucario, fall back!"

Confirming that Little Black was ready to strike, Sumo immediately ordered Lucario to evade.

But Lucario did not move. No, he couldn't move.

Paralyzed by Synchronize, Lucario fell into a momentary seizure and was unable to budge.

"Step back"

Taking advantage of this opening, Little Black's leg drove into Lucario's body. Although type-wise the power was halved, Little Black's attack power had risen by two stages, while Lucario's defense had dropped due to the recoil of Close Combat. Even with the skill's power halved, Lucario-whose endurance was lower-could not withstand Little Black's attack on top of the damage he had already sustained. Struck directly by the kick, Lucario crashed straight into the ground and was thoroughly defeated.

"Lucario is unable to battle!"

The moment the referee made this call, Little Black's legs trembled and he collapsed. Though he was conscious, it seemed he simply couldn't 'Endure' anymore in his depleted state.

"Little Black, can you go on?"

"No, I don't want you to make me do this anymore."

Since he was conscious, battling might not have been impossible, but he no longer wanted to push himself. Kaim calmly told the referee that his Pokémon was incapacitated, stepped onto the field, and scooped Umbreon into his arms.

Little Black wore a twisted expression, regretting that he had let his guard down at the very end, but as far as Kaim was concerned, he had fought more than enough.

"Enough. Good job."

Returning to his designated spot, he gently placed Little Black down by his feet.

To be honest, given Kaim's past, I hadn't thought Kuroki could take down Lucario, so I thanked Kuroki for doing far more than I had ever imagined.

Determined not to let that thought go to waste, he vowed once again to fight to the very end without ever letting his guard down.

"Let's go, Staraptor."

"Please, Medicham!"

Both would take damage, but Medicham was at a disadvantage in terms of type compatibility and debuffs.

However, a half-baked ability unable to overcome this level of adversity was not enough to make someone a Gym Leader. On the contrary, it was precisely because we were driven into a corner that if we didn't steel our resolve, things would soon reverse.

"Medicham, Rock Tomb!"

"Shatter it with Steel Wing!"

It shattered the rocks thrown at it with its hard wings.

Medicham carried the debuffs of Feather Dance and Intimidate, putting it at a disadvantage the longer the battle dragged on. Since that was the case, I would settle it with a short-term decisive battle!

Having instantly decided on her policy, Sumomo gave her orders without delay.

"Medicham, strike the rock with Confusion!"

Medicham used Confusion to pick up a stone rolling across the field and hurled it at Staraptor.

It attacked by striking the rock; if the rock was crushed, the Confusion would hit Staraptor directly as an attack.

Both had taken damage, but if things continued like this, Staraptor would gain the advantage. However, Staraptor basically used only physical techniques. Therefore, if it was directly chipped away by special techniques, there was a high possibility of a turnaround.

"I'll send you flying. Crush it with Steel Wing!"

Knowing the stance of two steps ahead, Kaim chose to smash the rock.

Reinforcing its wings, it pulverized the rock controlled by Confusion. Kaim had read that she would use Confusion to catch Staraptor, but that read was mistaken.

There was another rock hidden behind the shattered one.

"Are you serious?!"

Caught off guard by a completely unexpected tactic, Staraptor was unable to dodge and took a direct hit from the rock. Since it was hit by Confusion, this in itself was a psychic-type move, but the damage was substantial.

"Fold it up. Zen Headbutt!"

It gathered power in its head and slammed it into Staraptor.

I immediately defended with Steel Wing, but damage was sustained.

I can win!

His attack power had dropped, but if he kept up this kind of offense, he could wear down Staraptor's lower durability. Convinced of this, he launched another attack.

"Rock Tomb!"

It jumped and dodged the thrown boulders, but its path was blocked by stones. It hadn't hit, but there was no way to escape except toward the sky.

"Confusion!"

As it tried to flee, it was about to be caught by Confusion. It violently twisted its body in an attempt to dodge, but failed to escape and was caught by the psychic-wielding wings.

"Take it down!"

Staraptor was slammed heavily into the ground.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Sumo made her immediate decision.

"This is the final result! High Jump Kick!"

Medicham began to sprint toward Staraptor.

Having taken a heavy blow, Staraptor turned its sharp gaze toward the approaching Medicham.

Compared to other Pokémon, Staraptor was not particularly aggressive by nature.

It didn't hate battling itself, and it liked moving its body. But Staraptor disliked pain, feeling best when lying down or resting.

It had become Kaim's Pokémon and grown stronger through evolution. That made it very happy. If you won, you were glad; if you lost, you felt frustrated. It might not have felt those emotions as strongly as other Pokémon, but they were there.

Yet Staraptor knew. I knew my personality wasn't well-suited for combat. Staraptor felt this battle lacked enough appeal to get so passionately invested in something unsuited for it, and since Kaim himself wasn't a great trainer either, he suffered heavy losses.

But Kaim never gave up.

Just like Staraptor, he was fascinated by realizing his own talent and shortcomings, yet facing them head-on, gritting his teeth, and continuing to strive even when he felt like crying.

That rugged figure, kneeling on the ground, crawling, and continuing to struggle no matter how many times he lost, looked cool. Staraptor reevaluated its own way of living, wondering if it could become the Pokémon of such a cool, struggling trainer.

I trained harder than before. I still didn't care much for battling itself, but I decided to seriously throw myself into responding to Kaim's efforts.

When it was lazy, it was completely lazy; when it trained, it was 100 percent focused. I couldn't pull it off with the vulgar intensity of Kaim, but I chose to do this to repay the efforts of the trainer I trusted.

What we faced now was a goal we had failed at time and time again. Now, Kaim was on the verge of victory.

To repay Kaim's kindness, I would defeat the enemy before my eyes right here and now.

Having made up its mind, Staraptor stood up and turned its gaze toward Kaim. Confirming that Staraptor's eyes were alive and focused, Kaim looked toward the approaching Medicham.

"Staraptor"

Medicham leaped.

Jumping at full speed, the unleashed High Jump Kick possessed enough power to wipe out Staraptor's remaining stamina.

As Staraptor saw Medicham close in right before its eyes, it moved.

"Aerial Ace"

Staraptor struck in succession twice, seeming to slip right past Medicham's jumping knee strike.

This movement could only be achieved by accurately predicting the point of impact and then releasing the technique at high speed. This was a move it had trained on in secret against Blaziken, after watching the techniques of Cynthia's Togekiss.

Struck directly by the high-efficiency Aerial Ace, Medicham hit the ground already defeated.

"Medicham is unable to battle! Therefore, the winner of this match is Kaim!"

The gym trainers present raised their voices.

I had seen the two of them fight countless times, but never with such fierce intensity, and Kaim had won.

Seeing such a trainer anywhere else, Kaim himself stood stunned, his shoulders heaving with ragged breaths.

"Thank you for your hard work, Medicham."

Sumo returned Medicham to its ball and walked over to the still-dazed Kaim.

"Mr. Kaim. Are you alright?"

Kaim reacted weakly to Sumo's voice.

"Oh yeah"

"It's rare. It's truly rare to see Mr. Kaim looking so down."

"No, uh, I don't feel that way."

"What are you talking about? Honestly, you beat me when I was going all out."

Although I hadn't taken shortcuts up until now, I hadn't fought a truly serious match until now. Despite giving it everything, I had lost.

"I've always been losing."

"That may be true too."

Sumo smiled and continued.

"You've grown so strong that I think I might not be able to win anymore."

"Thanks to Sumo for battling alongside me. I was able to make it this far because of all the battles up to now."

"Never giving up, persevering, single-mindedly searching for a path to victory."

All of Kaim's Pokémon persisted against their opponents' attacks and always seized the moment of opportunity they held onto until the very end.

Sumo thought this was because Kaim himself, as a trainer, never gave up even while continually losing, facing his own weaknesses head-on and growing through them.

"I hate losing, and I'm a slow learner. You couldn't have gotten this far all by yourself."

Starting with Cynthia, various people had changed Kaim. And this time, by overcoming Sumo, I was able to take the first step toward truly accepting the self that kept denying its own worth.

"I wasn't alone, so"

Sumo pondered Kaim's words in her heart, made up her mind, and turned to Kaim.

"Mr. Kaim, I have a request!"

Kaim was surprised by Sumo's sudden words, but decided to listen since it was her request.

"What is it? If it's something I can do."

"Well, ever since I became a Gym Leader, I haven't seen much of the outside world. I've been to many places in the Sinnoh Region, but I haven't been to other regions."

I had a bad premonition.

"Even if I fought Mr. Kaim right now, I might lose a hundred times. There's still so much I don't know, which is why I want to see the outside world!"

"So?"

"I want to study abroad in another region! I recently received a notice from the Pokémon League about a trainer study-abroad program overseas, and I want to participate in it."

"Specifically, what do you want me to do?"

"Yes! I want Mr. Kaim to take my place as the Veilstone Gym Leader!"

Kaim held his head. I never thought something like this would happen.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with Kaim being appointed Gym Leader after defeating Sumo. A Gym Leader could be replaced whenever it was convenient. Only someone approved by the Pokémon League could become a Gym Leader, but a Gym Trainer could serve as a substitute, since their name was registered with the League when they joined the Gym. If the Gym Leader approved of that Trainer and notified the League, the Trainer could take their place.

That meant Kaim could become a substitute Gym Leader.

"You can't officially become a Gym Leader without properly applying to the League, but a substitute can take over right away. So there won't be any problem with me going abroad to study."

"Oh, so that's how it works."

Kaim wasn't happy about it. But Sumo had battled him so many times and done so much for him that he couldn't refuse.

Besides, he had grown stronger by drawing on help from so many people. Sumo, a young and talented girl, wanted to grow stronger too. If that was the case, he didn't mind helping.

"All right. I'll accept the deputy Gym Leader position."

"Thank you!"

"You've done a lot for me, so this is the least I can do."

"Then, would you like another one?"

"?"

"From this moment on, Mr. Kaim, you're the Leader of Tozhang Gym."

Kaim had used polite language because he had been unable to win for so long, and Sumo had held the higher position. But now his position was higher.

Sumo had originally told him that he didn't need to address her that way because he was older, but he had continued speaking politely out of a certain pride. Now that Kaim had won and become the deputy Gym Leader, however, there was no reason to keep doing so.

"Oh, I see. Is this okay, then?"

With no particular reason to refuse, Kaim quietly dropped the formalities. He was naturally rather blunt and had a foul mouth. It was easier without polite language.

"That sounds more like you, Mr. Kaim."

"That's right."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Kaim."

"That's my line."

He took the outstretched hand, and the two shook hands firmly.

Kaim became the substitute Gym Leader.

After recalling his Pokémon, Kaim returned home.

With a small souvenir in his hand, Kaim unlocked the house.

"Welcome home."

When he opened the door, Shirona was standing at the entrance. He welcomed Kaim with a gentle smile.

"I'm home."

Kaim returned Staraptor to its ball and went inside.

"Sorry, I'm a little late."

"It's fine. You let me know."

Sending the application email to the League and taking care of the bare minimum of the handover had made him a little later than usual.

Of course, the meticulous Kaim hadn't forgotten to let him know, even at a time like that.

"How was it?"

Cynthia asked Kaim once he had finished washing his hands.

After thinking for a moment, Kaim opened his mouth.

"I think this might be the first time I've ever found a battle genuinely fun."

Having spent so long losing, Kaim had never imagined battling could be so much fun. Of course he hadn't. No one could enjoy themselves when they kept losing.

"Yes."

"Maybe."

"Anything else?"

"Oh. I see."

Kaim said nothing. I know you want to tell me something, but you haven't said it.

"What happened?"

"No, for the first time-the very first time-I felt like I'd won. It was the first time in my twenty-three years."

At that moment, all kinds of emotions churned inside Kaim. Joy, doubt, anxiety, excitement. He didn't know how to put them into words, with so many feelings tangled together.