Dudunsparce is the evolved form of Dunsparce. As long as it learned Hyper Drill, it could evolve. Dudunsparce also had form differences: the Two-Segment Form and the Three-Segment Form.
In truth, there was no major difference between them. The Three-Segment Form simply had one more body segment than the Two-Segment Form, and there were no other real differences.
"Dig!" Larry ordered.
"Dudun...!"
Dudunsparce was excellent at Dig. In just one breath, it burrowed into the ground.
Gary didn't know whether Larry was doing this intentionally or not.
Annihilape could use Earthquake, but normal people would definitely never expect Annihilape to know Earthquake. On top of that, Dudunsparce itself was a Pokémon that lived underground, and it moved slowly while underground.
Gary naturally wasn't going to hold back, so he ordered directly, "Earthquake!"
"Anni!"
Annihilape punched the ground, causing a violent Earthquake.
Bang!!
A crack split open in the center of the battlefield, and Dudunsparce was shaken up out of the ground.
Bang!!
The Dudunsparce that had been blasted upward fell hard onto the ground and lost consciousness immediately.
"Dudunsparce is unable to battle! Annihilape wins!" the referee announced.
Looking at the defeated Dudunsparce, Larry said helplessly, "You're sending out such a strong Pokémon. What's the point of fighting a Gym battle then?"
"To collect the Badge."
Gary gave a half-hearted reason.
Larry was right. Using Annihilape to fight a Gym battle really wasn't interesting. But Gary still needed the mission reward, so this Gym battle still had to be fought.
"I forfeit," Larry said.
"Gym Leader Larry has voluntarily admitted defeat. The winner of this Gym Battle is the challenger, Gary."
The referee seemed to have expected this outcome already, and he announced the result without even asking.
Gary could tell that Larry really was hopelessly lazy. He was only slightly better than Volkner during his burnt-out phase. Volkner had been completely checked out, while Larry would at least accept a battle. But once Larry realized his opponent was very strong, he would immediately give up.
That was still a headache for other challengers. After all, other Trainers could only improve their Pokémon's levels through training and battles.
"Here. Take it."
After the Gym battle, Larry handed the Gym Badge to Gary.
Gary accepted the Badge.
[Ding! Task completed. The reward has been sent to System Storage.]
"I'll send my Pokémon for treatment first, then go to sleep."
After handing the Badge to Gary, Larry left quickly.
Looking at Larry as he left, Gary didn't care and headed to the Treasure Eatery.
On the way, Gary also checked what the reward item was.
[Premium Malicious Armor: When used on a Charcadet whose potential is below Champion level, it can evolve into Ceruledge, and its potential will be raised to Champion level.]
"Malicious Armor!"
Gary hadn't expected to receive this item.
Ceruledge was quite handsome. A Base Stat Total of 525 wasn't low. Its Fire and Ghost dual typing had five 2x weaknesses, and its Base Stat distribution wasn't especially good. Although it was a physical attacker, its Speed was neither high nor low. If not for its exclusive move Bitter Blade, it really would be more of a vase Pokémon.
In addition, Ceruledge could learn Poltergeist, a move that many Ghost-types could not master. That was worthy of praise.
"Should I raise one?"
Gary held his chin and thought about whether to use it. Raising a Ceruledge was fine. Leaving the Malicious Armor unused would just be a waste anyway, so raising one wasn't really a problem.
"I'll raise one. It should be fun."
After thinking it over, Gary decided it was fine to raise one and take a look.
After deciding to raise a Ceruledge, Gary began thinking about what move to redeem from the Self-Select Move Tutor this time.
There were still many Normal-type moves, and many of them were moves Gary wanted. For example, Substitute, Pain Split, Explosion, and others were all very good moves. Unfortunately, he could only redeem one.
"System, redeem the Normal-type Self-Select Permanent Move Tutor for Attract."
[Ding! Move redemption successful.]
Gary finally decided to redeem Attract.
Attract was a move that almost all Pokémon could learn. Even genderless Pokémon could learn it, though only Pokémon with genders could properly use it.
But most Pokémon had genders, so Attract was very practical. As long as the Pokémon sent out by the opponent was the opposite gender of Gary's Pokémon, Attract could play a major role.
After redeeming the move, Gary also sped up and arrived at the Treasure Eatery. It was already eleven o'clock, and the Treasure Eatery had just opened.
Gary went in and saw Larry, still in a suit and tie, already enjoying lunch.
Larry also saw Gary, but he didn't say hello. He just glanced at Gary once, then continued eating on his own.
Gary knew that Larry's only hobby was food. He was a regular at the Treasure Eatery and would eat there at noon and in the evening.
The cuisine at the Treasure Eatery was not luxurious. It was just some very ordinary home-cooked food, such as soba noodles, rice balls, grilled fish, and omelet rice. The only special thing was that Tera Shards were used in the meals here.
After Pokémon ate meals made with Tera Shards, their Tera Type could be changed.
Gary was not very interested in Terastallization, because Terastallization could only be used in the Paldea region, so it was very limited.
However, Gary still ordered Tera meals for his Pokémon so they could taste them as well.
After eating and drinking his fill, Gary rode Cyclizar toward the southern area of Paldea, because Charcadet frequently appeared in the southern area—mainly around South Province Area Three and South Province Area Five.
Charcadet was not a very strong Pokémon, but it was quite rare. Its rarity was lower than that of pseudo-legendary Pokémon, and it was very difficult to find them. Gary, however, was not worried.
That was because if Charcadet wanted to evolve, it needed Auspicious Armor or Malicious Armor.
Auspicious Armor could evolve Charcadet into Armarouge. Its Base Stats were the same as Ceruledge's, and its Ability was the same as well. The only difference was that one was a physical attacker and the other was a special attacker. The difference between the two was not large.
With Malicious Armor, Gary could naturally attract wild Charcadet and simply capture them directly.
In order to make attracting Charcadet easier, Gary hung the Malicious Armor on Cyclizar and rode along.
After riding all the way, Gary finally arrived at South Province Area Three.
Gary did not choose to enter the city. Instead, he found a place with higher terrain to set up camp. After feeding his Pokémon dinner, Gary placed the Malicious Armor outside and asked Annihilape to help keep watch.
Annihilape did not need Rest, making it the most suitable Pokémon for guard duty. If any Pokémon approached the Malicious Armor, Annihilape could deal with them on the spot.