"Brooding bird! Gloomy wings!"
Murkrow's wings struck Nidorino directly. The damage kept piling up, and Nidorino collapsed under the super-effective Flying-type move, unable to get back up.
"Nidorino is unable to battle! Therefore, the winner is the challenger, Gangshi!"
"Hmph, of course!"
Kaim, the substitute Gym Captain, recalled the fallen Nidorino into his ball.
"Well done. You've done more than enough."
Praising Nidorino's ball, Kaim crossed the battlefield toward the challenger.
"Impressive."
"Heh heh! Of course! I raised my Pokémon myself. Even a proper Gym Leader wouldn't scare us!"
The boy before him puffed out his chest, basking in the joy of victory.
Still, the boy's ability really was considerable. Looking back over his career, he had earned three badges after just over two months on the road. His talent had to be considerable if he could collect badges that quickly.
"But a substitute is still a substitute. Compared to the other Gym Leaders, you're weak and have no ambition at all."
His greatest flaw, however, was his excessive confidence in his own talent and his arrogance. Kaim knew that people like him would always hit a wall somewhere, and most would never overcome it. He gave the boy a slightly pitying look, but the boy failed to notice.
"You won this battle, so I'll give you this Cobol Badge."
"Yes, yes."
The boy accepted the badge from Kaim.
"Heh heh, this is already my fourth badge. At this rate, I'll easily make it to the next Pokémon League."
"Now that I have four badges, the ban on flying through the sky has been lifted."
"You know how it works."
"And you should take this Technical Machine with you."
"Oh?"
Without listening to him, Kaim pushed the machine into the boy's hands.
"It contains Absorb Punch. It's a technique that