"Aipom is unable to battle! The Gym Trainer wins this match. The challenger, Ash, has failed his Gym challenge."
Head Smash was a powerful Rock-type move with 150 base power. Unsurprisingly, Cranidos knocked Aipom out with a single smash of its head. Ash had failed his challenge, and the referee announced the result.
"How could this happen?!" Ash stared blankly at the battlefield.
"So that really is all you've got."
Paul snorted disdainfully. In his eyes, Ash had simply made a mistake in his battle plan. This was the consequence of letting his emotions rule him. He knew Ash had a Turtwig.
"Ash..." Brock looked toward the battlefield, unsure what to say.
"Xiaoyun, Ash..." This was Dawn's first time watching a Gym battle in person. Unlike a Pokémon Contest, there were no dazzling moves here, only straightforward combat. When one Pokémon lost, the next took its place, until the battle ended.
"Ash got overconfident. Hopefully, this loss will help him keep growing."
Xiaoyun watched Ash after his failed challenge. In his view, Ash could have won, but Roark's battle style had caught him off guard, and the type disadvantage had contributed to his defeat.
"Come back, Cranidos."
"Ash, overall, your performance was still a little lacking. I'm sorry, but I can't give you the Badge. Go back and train some more before challenging me again."
Roark called out to Ash from the other side.
"Yes... Mr. Roark."
Ash put away Aipom's Poké Ball and replied dejectedly.
"Paul..." Back in the spectator stands, Ash couldn't help speaking to Paul.
"If losing just one match is enough to send you into a slump, then there's no point in me battling you again."
Paul turned his head without looking at Ash and continued in his cold tone, though his words gave plenty of food for thought.
"Well, Xiaoyun, your challenge is next. Are you ready?"
After a while, Mr. Roark addressed Xiaoyun.
"I'm ready..."
Xiaoyun walked down the steps, just about to warm up with a classic line, when a sudden voice interrupted my "fun."
"Gym Leader, we have a problem! A large number of revived fossil Pokémon have appeared at the mine! They won't follow orders and have started running riot. People have already been hurt. Please hurry over and take a look!"
Just then, a man dressed in work clothes rushed in through the entrance in a panic and shouted to Roark.
"What?! How could this happen? Weren't all the ancient Pokémon fossils locked in the storeroom under strict supervision?"
Even Roark couldn't help looking alarmed at the news. Holding back his anger, he questioned the worker before him, his voice rising a notch.
"Why has this happened?!"
"W-we don't know either. Everything was fine yesterday, and then suddenly..."
The worker stammered. After all, this had happened on their premises, so there was no way they could shirk responsibility.
"Forget it. Say no more. I'll go over and check the situation now."
Seeing his reaction, Roark held out no hope. He knew this man didn't understand what had happened either.
"I'm sorry, Xiaoyun. Something has come up, so I can't hold your Gym battle right now. We'll have to postpone it for a few days."
Roark spoke apologetically.
"It's all right, Mr. Roark. This is urgent, so please deal with things at the mine first. The Gym battle can wait."
Xiaoyun hastily assured him it was fine. He wasn't someone who couldn't tell what took priority. Anything that could make a Gym Leader look panicked certainly wasn't a trivial matter.
Still, something about this felt familiar. He glanced at Ash. Hmm... he's here, so barring any surprises, those three must be the ones causing trouble again!
"Thank you for understanding. Hurry up and take me there. I just hope things aren't too bad."
Roark replied briefly and hurried toward the mine. Right now, he only hoped there wouldn't be too many casualties.
"Hai! (Yes!)"
"Dawn, let's go check things out too. Paul, are you..."
Xiaoyun spoke to Dawn, then glanced at Paul.
"Since your battle can't go ahead, there's no reason for me to stay. See you around."
Paul was already preparing to leave. He had his Badge, and he had only stayed to see Xiaoyun's lineup anyway. He had no desire to get involved in this.
"Xiaoyun, we'll come with you."
Being the helpful soul he was, Ash naturally wouldn't pass up this opportunity and immediately volunteered to go.
"All right, let's head out too."
Seeing Paul leave, Xiaoyun didn't try to persuade him. He had no obligation to help with something like this in the first place.
Of course, his own motives weren't entirely pure either. Fossil Pokémon were running riot, so he would go see whether there were any outstanding Pokémon to catch. If not, he would just treat it as a chance to build some goodwill. If there were? Don't ask. If you did, the answer was fate. ٩( 'ω' )و
Meanwhile, at Oreburgh Mine.
On the mountain and inside the caves, fossil Pokémon such as Omanyte, Omastar, Kabutops, Anorith, and Armaldo were everywhere.
"This... so many Pokémon have actually been revived. Who on earth did this?"
Mr. Roark was somewhat shocked as he looked around at the fleeing workers, the rescue teams using their Pokémon to recover the other Pokémon, and the researchers.
"Come out, Onix, Cranidos."
"Let's help the rescue teams defeat these Pokémon and recover them. We can't let this continue."
Roark addressed the two Pokémon.
"Mr. Roark, if you don't mind, we'd like to help too."
Xiaoyun and the others followed close behind and made their offer to Roark.
"Then I'm sorry for the trouble, everyone. Please make sure you stay safe."
Seeing the situation, Roark knew he couldn't handle it quickly on his own. Before leaving, he reminded Xiaoyun to be sure to stay safe.
"All right, Ash, let's split up. Dawn and I will take this side. How about you two head east?"
Looking at the Pokémon packed all around them, Xiaoyun laid out a plan for the two of them.
"No problem. Pikachu, let's go."
Ash agreed and headed east with Brock.
"Come out, everyone!"
"Roar!" "Scept!" "Turt!"
"Piplup, Buneary, you come help too."
"Piplup!" "Bun~"
"Come on, everyone! It's time to put you to the test!"
Once Xiaoyun saw that Ash and Roark had gone far away, he began instructing his Pokémon.
"Sceptile, you can act on your own in a moment. Listen, these are all walking EXP packs, and you don't even have to heal them after beating them up. Make the most of this, understand?"
Xiaoyun quietly brought Sceptile over to give him his instructions. It had been a long time since they had done any special training, and this time they didn't even have to worry about healing, so they wouldn't hold back~
"Scept?" (There's really a deal this good?)
The battle-hungry Sceptile immediately grew excited. It had been ages since he had done any actual combat training, leaving him rusty lately.
I can't just keep beating up Ursaring! This is a perfect chance for a change of pace.
Hehehe!