Natsui naturally didn't know what this woman named Shauna was thinking.
However, even if he knew, he would probably just shake his head and sigh at how little she knew about the world.
This is the benefit of traveling everywhere; it allows you to see more than just one place.
For the residents of Dewford Town, she indeed has a reason to be proud.
But no matter how famous Brawly is in Dewford Town, his fame here won't go beyond this island. In the Hoenn region, he is just an ordinary Gym Leader. Not to mention comparing him with the Elite Four or the Champion, even other Gym Leaders have high reputations in their local areas. Who isn't popular like him?
As for him and Bea—one holds two regional championships, and the other is also a Gym Leader, not inferior to Brawly at all. Who would care about Brawly's fame?
Let alone Shauna, who is merely Brawly's student and girlfriend!
Natsui walked a few steps forward, arriving at the position where Bea had just stood, facing Shauna across the field.
After the battle just now, Shauna's Meditite obviously couldn't fight anymore. And apart from this Meditite, whether she underestimated Natsui or had no other good Pokémon, she simply sent out a Machop!
It's not that Natsui looked down on Machop, but since the Kanto region, he had dealt with countless Machop or their evolved forms. He was very familiar with their moves and abilities, and he no longer felt any difficulty!
Shauna naturally didn't know this. She said to herself, "My rules are very simple. Before tomorrow's official gym battle, as long as you can defeat me in a 1-on-1 battle, you can challenge Brawly."
She deliberately emphasized the name "Brawly," just to catch Natsui's attention and let him know that the Gym Leader is not so easy to see. Unfortunately, to her disappointment, the man in front of her still had a cold look, seemingly not hearing the hidden meaning in her words.
Really a blockhead...
"I understand." Natsui nodded, then took out a Poké Ball and released his Pokémon.
Since he came to a Fighting Gym, he also wanted to follow the rules of the game here. And he happened to have a Pokémon with the Fighting attribute in his hand.
"Come out, Combusken!"
With a flash of blue light, his Combusken appeared in front of Machop.
Two Pokémon less than 1 meter tall looked at each other, as if fire was flashing in their eyes.
"Oh? Combusken?" Shauna put her hands on her hips and said carelessly, "What an ordinary Pokémon!"
Hearing Shauna's slight mockery, Natsui couldn't help glancing at her Machop.
You have the nerve to say that about me?
Speaking of ordinary...
Combusken only lives in the Hoenn region, occasionally existing in small numbers in other regions. From a global view, it is considered relatively rare. But your Machop, isn't it available in every region and seen everywhere!?
Too lazy to say more to her, Natsui ignored this remark and chose to ignore her directly.
Being ignored, the smile on Shauna's face froze awkwardly.
However, she didn't care too much about this but focused her attention on the battlefield.
As the acting Gym Leader, besides fighting personally, Shauna also acted as the referee. Seeing Natsui's Combusken ready, she adjusted her mood and shouted loudly, "Then, the match begins!"
As soon as her voice fell, she didn't stop and directly commanded Machop to rush straight at Combusken.
Seeing Shauna's direct attack method, Natsui didn't use Fire-type skills for long-range attacks but shouted, "Combusken, use Bulk Up!"
Bulk Up, a Fighting-type move. Once used, it tightens the muscles of the whole body, thereby increasing Attack and Defense.
Actually, it is not difficult to see from Natsui's order that he also planned to have a close combat battle with Shauna's Machop, just like Bea did just now, and decide the winner with Fighting-type moves!
Combusken raised its two clawed arms and posed like a fitness expert. With this action, the muscles all over its body seemed to be truly active, full of firmness!
Shauna naturally saw Natsui's plan and laughed loudly. "Come on! Just what I wanted! Let's have a good fight!"
Have a good fight...
The speaker has no intention, but the listener reads into it.
Although he knew Shauna's sentence shouldn't have other meanings, is this really something a girl should say?
Although the contact time was short, Natsui had already seen that this woman named Shauna was actually the same type of person as Ash. Although she had some cleverness, it wasn't much. She was carefree, and her emotions were completely written on her face.
Fighting with such an opponent, how should I say it... painful yet very relaxing...
In the field, just in the gap when Combusken used Bulk Up, Machop had already run past the half-court and arrived in front of Combusken.
It jumped directly into the air, seeming to target Combusken's head with a kick.
But Natsui had been careful. Seeing Machop's starting kick, he knew Shauna's idea and also ordered Combusken to use Double Kick to fight it!
Bang!
Two feet collided in mid-air, looking evenly matched.
However, before Machop began to fall, Combusken spun around, raised its other leg simultaneously, and kicked Machop in the stomach!
Although it blocked the first kick, the second kick of Double Kick obviously made Machop suffer a loss.
Under the effect of Bulk Up, this hit was really heavy. Machop retreated several steps before stopping its body.
"Be careful!" Shauna couldn't help shouting. "Don't fight it directly, find a way to get close!"
Hearing Shauna's order, Machop rushed toward Combusken again.
This time, because it had just suffered a loss, it didn't use big movements anymore. Instead, it waited until it got close to Combusken before finding the right time to launch an attack.
Machop faked a move first, then raised its right hand high and chopped down fiercely.
This was precisely one of the Fighting-type moves, Karate Chop. Don't look at it as just a simple chop; it contained powerful strength!
But what surprised Shauna greatly was that Natsui seemed to predict the future. Just at the moment Machop launched the attack, he gave an order at the same time.
Combusken put up its hands, firmly blocking this chop, then raised its right foot again and kicked Machop in the stomach!
"What!?"
Being injured in the same spot twice made Machop unable to bear it anymore. Holding its stomach, it retreated several steps again.
And Shauna looked at Natsui, surprised at his reaction speed, and couldn't help asking, "Why did you know what move I was going to use!?"
"What's so strange about this?" Natsui glanced at her. "If you had also fought with many identical Pokémon, you would roughly know their abilities and fighting methods like me. Moreover, your Machop is not very strong and hasn't learned some strange skills, so it's still easy to predict."
Actually, the hidden meaning in Natsui's words was that he had encountered too many Machops, so he could defend against Machop's attack in advance like just now.
But unfortunately, Shauna, who had simple thinking like Ash, didn't hear this. She just felt she was being looked down upon!
Dare to say my Pokémon is not very strong!?
I must teach you a lesson!
Shauna made up her mind and hurriedly ordered Machop to launch an attack desperately.
Not to mention, worthy of being a trainer who dares to guard a gym, this effort really made Combusken struggle a bit!
The two Pokémon clashed more than a dozen times again. Although Machop was hit from time to time, relying on persistence, gritting its teeth, it just didn't give up. Trading injury for injury, ignoring defense completely, it also hit Combusken several times with fists and feet!
As the saying goes, random punches kill the master. No matter how much Natsui had fought with Machop, he couldn't get rid of its hold temporarily, so he could only let Combusken continue to attack it.
But Shauna's approach left hidden dangers after all.
Don't look at the strong spirit; with the effect of Bulk Up, Combusken was not only tougher, but the damage caused by its moves was also improved. Going head-to-head with a Pokémon in this state was undoubtedly very unwise.
At first, Natsui thought Shauna had some purpose or hid a trump card to turn defeat into victory at the last moment, so she chose this method. But as they fought, he found that he was thinking too much after all.
Just like Ash at the beginning, Shauna's fighting style was just constant attack, attack, and attack again!
This method isn't bad, but it must be used in the right place. But obviously, now is not such a time.
Combusken used Double Kick again, kicking Machop in the chest. This time, the scarred Machop could no longer support itself. It fell backward, crashed onto the ground, and completely lost consciousness!
"Great!" Seeing Combusken win the battle, before Shauna announced the result, Misty stood up directly and clapped. That happy look could be said to be completely open!
She had found this woman annoying for a long time.
Whether it was her attitude toward herself or Brawly, she had a self-righteous look!
If the battle hadn't ended just now, afraid of affecting Natsui's mood, she would have wanted to argue with her properly long ago!
But now seeing Natsui win, she was too lazy to waste words, just raising her eyebrows at Shauna proudly.
"You won." Shauna didn't look at Misty's proud appearance, just said in a low tone, "You can come here to challenge Brawly tomorrow morning."
Shauna before and after the battle were simply two different people. Combusken's kick not only kicked down Machop but seemed to kick down Shauna's pride as well!
Pokémon battles ultimately speak with strength. Whoever has the stronger Pokémon has their own confidence!
And failing two consecutive battles, losing to Bea and Natsui with a huge disadvantage, undoubtedly had a great impact on her!
After all, he had no friendship with her. Seeing the goal achieved, Natsui and Misty looked at each other, said goodbye to Shauna, and turned directly to leave the Dewford Gym.
Although he didn't see the Gym Leader Brawly in this challenge, at least he had an entry ticket, so he wouldn't have to fight for some challenge qualification when he visited again tomorrow.
The sky became darker.
Leaving the door, until they left the gym range and confirmed Shauna couldn't hear their conversation, Misty complained, "Really, I've never encountered such a gym. You actually need to get gym qualification in advance! What a big shot! Those who don't know would think we came to challenge the Elite Four!"
Natsui smiled first, then shook his head helplessly.
"Who knows? This should be a special rule here. After all, you heard just now. Besides being a Gym Leader, Brawly is also a surfer. Obviously, he doesn't have that much time to take care of the gym, so there is such a qualification battle to choose challengers first."
Walking out of the special mountain gate before entering the gym, they walked slowly down the gentle slope of the cliff from the path.
However, before entering Dewford Town, they saw from a distance that on the sea level at the end of their vision, continuous heavy dark clouds were drifting toward here.
"It seems there will be a heavy rain soon. Let's hurry to the Pokémon Center."
Unlike in the games, Dewford Town in this world is very busy and can be considered a key town in the Hoenn region.
Although not having countless tall buildings like big cities, there are also many large buildings here, looking very lively.
A gust of wind blew suddenly.
That endless dark cloud seemed to be getting closer.
To avoid getting wet in the rain, the two walked faster and finally arrived at the Pokémon Center here before dark.
After checking in at the front desk, while the two were sitting in the restaurant waiting for dinner, they gradually heard the surrounding trainers talking about words like "typhoon" and "rainstorm."
Outside the window, rows of palm trees standing on the streets of Dewford Town swayed slowly. Huge leaves shook with the wind, obviously silently bearing the ruthless power of nature.
Misty listened carefully for a while and whispered to Natsui, "Listening to these people, it seems the cloud mass we saw just now is a typhoon!"
Natsui naturally heard it too. He nodded. "This is nothing strange. Island cities are like this; they can always encounter some changing extreme weather."
"Will it affect tomorrow's gym battle?"
Natsui looked up at the window again. Because the Pokémon Center was on higher ground, he could just see lightning flashing in the dark clouds. But according to the current distance and speed, maybe the typhoon wouldn't land until the latter half of the night.
Sighing, he said, "I hope not, but it's hard to say. If it really affects it, there's nothing we can do. Even if we want to leave here after challenging the gym, I'm afraid we have to wait for the typhoon to end. Typhoons come with rainstorms. In such weather, it is impossible to sail at all."
"So, it seems we are trapped here."
Misty stuck out her tongue, but didn't worry at all.
After all, the seaside Pokémon Center must have considered disaster safety when it was built. They would just stay for a few more days, and what's the big deal about that!
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