He was already leading the three-on-three Gym Challenge 1-0, and Pupitar seemed to be riding high.
But Xia Chi did not dare let his guard down.
He had just stolen a glance at the Battle Log in the system backend. The Drapion Pupitar had defeated was a whopping level 58!
If level 60 was the benchmark for a Gym Leader's main Pokémon in the games, that put Drapion firmly on the cusp of Gym-level strength.
Clearly, while Norman intended to test him, he had no intention of pulling his punches.
There were several reasons why Pupitar had knocked Drapion out in just two moves.
First, Drapion had only recently been caught. Without professional training and nurturing in the wild, its offensive and defensive capabilities, along with its move proficiency, were somewhat lacking.
Second, of course, was Pupitar's own terrifying damage output.
The damage boost from its [Dark type] Bond had already reached 190%, and it also possessed the "innate Energy Frenzy" trait rooted in its genes.
Throw in the "Single Strike Style" techniques it had learned on the Isle of Armor, and after a [Dragon Dance] boost, knocking out the exceptionally durable Drapion with two super-effective moves was perfectly reasonable.
But while Xia Chi found that perfectly reasonable, the chat could make no sense of it.
[One Earthquake and one High Horsepower, and that's a knockout?!]
[Drapion was only just caught, and it had a type disadvantage. Makes sense, doesn't it?]
[Judging by that Ice Fang counterattack, this Drapion shouldn't be weak. Pupitar's attacks are just that terrifying.]
[Exactly. The moves don't look as dramatic as before, but the damage has only gone up!]
[Get serious, Uncle Norman! Don't actually let Lao Shui put you in the hospital for three days!]
[Relax. Norman's already lined up to be Hoenn's next