Ground counters Electric. Super effective. Double damage.
Dig was, of course, a Ground-type move. With just that one attack, Graveler knocked Electrode out cold.
"Electrode is unable to battle! Graveler wins the first match!" the referee declared.
"Come back, Electrode."
Donglei calmly recalled his Pokémon. "Yozora, your strength is impressive. Not only do you have a perfect grasp of type matchups, but you've also trained your Graveler remarkably well."
Without wasting time, Donglei sent out his second Pokémon.
It was Electabuzz.
Two Electric-types in a row—this confirmed that the Donglin Gym specialized in the Electric type.
Electabuzz stood upright in a humanoid posture, its body golden-yellow with thick black stripes running across its skin, giving it the look of a tiger.
It was the evolved form of Elekid, and a very powerful species.
With an Electirizer, it could even evolve further into Electivire. But Electirizers were prohibitively expensive.
The cheapest models started at a million, while the top-tier ones could run close to eight million.
Donglei's Electabuzz was a mid-Commander-tier Pokémon—several levels above his earlier Electrode.
But Yozora didn't mind. In terms of typing, Graveler still held the overwhelming advantage.
"Go, Graveler—use Rollout!" Yozora commanded.
Electrode had excelled in speed, but Electabuzz clearly lacked that kind of blistering agility.
Sure enough, Donglei didn't even try to dodge. Instead, he opted for defense. "Use Protect!"
Shrrk!
The moment Donglei gave the order, Electabuzz condensed a shimmering barrier of electricity, blocking Graveler's rolling assault.
Much of Graveler's force was dispersed, but it still pressed against the barrier, grinding forward with tremendous weight. Cracks spidered across the shield.
Then Graveler stopped rolling—stalemated.
Electabuzz's Protect had met Graveler's Rollout head-on.
Had Graveler's attack been any stronger, the barrier would have shattered.
"Now! Electabuzz, use Ice Punch!" With Graveler right in front of it, unguarded, Donglei seized the opportunity.
Electabuzz's fist gathered a freezing, violent chill before slamming straight into Graveler's body, sending the boulder Pokémon flying across the arena.
Frost blossomed along Graveler's rocky skin.
Ice counters Ground. Super effective. Double damage.
This Electabuzz's strike was powerful. One punch left Graveler gravely injured and nearly frozen solid.
At this moment—
Graveler was in a half-frozen state. It could still move, but sluggishly.
"Graveler, jump down and use Dig!" Yozora quickly ordered, planning to use the impact to shake loose the ice coating its body.
Boom! With a resounding crash, Graveler burrowed into the ground.
One second. Two. Three.
The battlefield grew eerily quiet.
Just as with Electrode before, Electabuzz grew visibly uneasy. Sweat beaded its face as it darted its eyes nervously around the arena, straining to detect movement.
Such was the pressure of Dig.
Once a Pokémon disappeared underground, it might as well have vanished into the shadows.
To Electabuzz, the enemy was hidden while it stood exposed—a terrifying situation.
Unless one had mastered the Mind's Eye, or possessed Aura or scent-tracking abilities, it was impossible to predict an opponent's movement while they remained unseen. Only those abilities allowed a battler to remain calm and composed under such circumstances.
But Electabuzz had none of those. It had no Mind's Eye, no Aura, no tracking sense. It had no idea when Graveler would attack, or from where. The uncertainty gnawed at its nerves.
Boom! This time, Graveler erupted from the left side of the arena, slamming into Electabuzz and hurling it through the air.
Super effective. Double damage.
And more than that—the impact had knocked all the frost loose.
Graveler's speed had returned.
"Graveler, finish it! Use Take Down!" Yozora ordered.
It wasn't just Take Down. It was a combo: Rollout plus Take Down.
First the acceleration from rolling, then the crashing force of a headlong charge. Together, the power was devastating. The strike knocked Electabuzz unconscious.
"Electabuzz is unable to battle! Graveler wins the match!" the referee declared.
Donglei calmly recalled his fallen Pokémon, then sent out his third.
As expected, it was another Electric-type—Jolteon.
The evolved form of Eevee, Jolteon.
This one was clearly Donglei's trump card. Its presence radiated intensity, its level far surpassing the previous two—at the very peak of Commander-tier.
Between an Elite peak and a Commander peak, the gulf was enormous.
Even with the type advantage, Graveler would struggle to cross that gap.
But Graveler had just won two matches in a row. Its momentum was blazing, its stamina still holding. Yozora had no reason to withdraw it now. He chose to press on.
Once again, he opened with the tried-and-true tactic: "Graveler, use Dig!"
After two victories with Dig, Yozora had every reason to keep pressing the advantage.
Boom! Graveler smashed through the ground and vanished underground once more.
But—
This time, unlike the previous two Pokémon, the Jolteon remained completely calm. Its eyes were indifferent, gazing forward lazily, almost as if it were relaxed.
Boom! A sudden eruption of earth signaled Graveler's emergence. The golden Graveler shot upward, aiming straight for Jolteon's jaw.
However, in an instant, Jolteon's lightning-fast reflexes kicked in. Its eyes glimmered like sparks, and it moved with the speed of lightning, dodging the attack entirely.
Graveler's Dig attack missed completely.
"Hah, Yozora, my Jolteon isn't like the first two," Donglei said proudly, a confident smile on his face.
Clearly, this Jolteon was his trump card.
He would never have sent it out against an ordinary trainer.
But Yozora's strength left him no choice. Otherwise, letting a rookie like Yozora sweep through three Pokémon unchallenged would have been far too embarrassing…
"I see," Yozora nodded thoughtfully.
Even without activating the Mind's Eye, Aura, or scent tracking, the gap in level was undeniable.
Physical strength, reflexes, and speed—they were simply on different tiers.
When Graveler had emerged from the ground, the Jolteon reacted immediately, and with its extreme speed, evaded effortlessly.
Graveler couldn't do anything.
This was what level differences meant: often, they were impossible to overcome.
In fact, many trainers relied on level to overcome type disadvantages!
Even if the type was unfavorable, a high-level, powerful Pokémon could crush its opponent. It could win despite the elemental mismatch…
But trying to use type advantage to overcome a level difference? That was far more difficult.
…
…
(End of Chapter)