In a rocky area of the forest, countless gravel fragments were scattered across the ground. At this moment, the earth vibrated with the frantic roars of Pokémon.
Four Pokémon were currently besieging a Rhydon. Not far away, several Rhyhorn and Rhydon lay defeated on the ground.
The group attacking the Rhydon consisted of Charizard, Electivire, Kingdra, and Alakazam.
Even under their combined assault, the Rhydon still had the strength to counterattack. Its power was truly impressive.
Despite its tenacity, its body was constantly sustaining injuries. Individually, these Pokémon might not have been a match for it, but together, it was completely overwhelmed.
Five minutes later, the Rhydon let out a roar of fury and finally collapsed to the ground in frustration.
After defeating this Rhydon, the four Pokémon were exhausted. Having fought continuously for several hours, they had reached their limit.
Sato walked to the Rhydon's side and pressed the button on its arm collar.
A Gold Badge popped out. Sato caught it and placed it into his waist bag.
Just then, a person walked over—it was Tetsu. It was unclear why the two of them had teamed up.
Tetsu handed over a dozen badges he held and said, "These are all yours. Thanks for the help just now."
Sato didn't stand on ceremony; he took the badges and put them into his backpack.
The situation had unfolded like this: Tetsu had spent a great deal of effort having his four Pokémon besiege a lone Gym Leader rank Rhydon.
After defeating it, a group of Rhyhorn and Rhydon suddenly appeared. Among them was the current Gym Leader rank Rhydon, which was clearly stronger than the one Tetsu had just defeated.
Since Tetsu's Pokémon were drained of their ability to fight after the first battle, Sato had happened to pass by and saved him.
Tetsu checked his electronic watch and said, "There are only twenty minutes left. There's no time, let's head back."
Sato nodded and leaped onto Charizard's back, followed by Tetsu.
Charizard could just barely carry two people, though it was quite tiring for it.
At the same time, by a river, several Pokémon were besieging a Poliwrath. This Poliwrath was also a Gym Leader rank Pokémon.
Besieging it were Konan's Pokémon: Blaziken, Cloyster, Skarmory, and Nidoqueen.
Blaziken's Sky Uppercut struck the Poliwrath, followed by Cloyster's Ice Beam.
It wasn't over yet; Skarmory's Air Cutter and Nidoqueen's Earthquake followed in quick succession.
After this barrage of moves, the Poliwrath could no longer hold on and collapsed, losing its ability to battle.
Blaziken rushed over, pressed the button on the arm collar, and caught the Gold Badge that popped out.
Returning to Konan, it handed her the badge. Konan placed it in her waist bag, which already held more than one Gold Badge.
Konan checked her watch; it showed only about twenty minutes remaining.
She jumped onto Skarmory, recalled her other three Pokémon, and flew toward the forest entrance.
While riding Skarmory, she murmured to herself, "I wonder how many Gold Badges Sato and Eichi managed to get?"
Near a cliff, Asen was riding his Aerodactyl, currently chasing a Pidgeot.
The Pidgeot ahead was covered in wounds. Its speed had slowed significantly, and it gasped for air as it flew.
"Aerodactyl, we can't drag this out any longer. Hyper Beam!" Asen commanded.
"VWA-HOOO!!!"
Aerodactyl gathered energy in its mouth and fired it at the Pidgeot ahead.
The violent energy fluctuation whipped up a powerful gale, and the massive, bright orange pillar of light struck the Pidgeot.
With a sharp cry, the Pidgeot plummeted.
Asen chased after it and saw the Pidgeot fall into a river. He then released his Slowbro.
"Slowbro, pull it out," Asen ordered.
Psychic!
A blue light emanated from Slowbro's eyes. The Pidgeot in the river was enveloped by a layer of light, floating up from the water and being placed gently on the ground.
Then, the Gold Badge from the collar around its neck floated up and fell into Asen's hand.
Without even looking at it, he tossed it directly into his waist bag.
Asen also checked his watch, recalled Slowbro, and said to the Aerodactyl beneath him, "Let's go. Time to head back."
"VWA-HOOO!!!"
Aerodactyl roared, vibrated its wings, and flew toward the forest entrance.
In a certain part of the jungle, Mizuki looked at the Pokémon collapsed on the ground and breathed a sigh of relief. Its Pokémon were also exceptionally exhausted.
Mizuki took the Gold Badge and placed it in its waist bag.
It muttered to itself, "Gym Leader rank Pokémon are truly strong."
"I was pushing myself too hard. I wonder how many badges Asen has; he probably has a few more than me."
Looking at the badges in its bag, it thought: These badges should be enough.
With only twenty minutes left until the end of the tournament, the vast majority of students chose to head back. None of them knew if they had more or fewer badges compared to the others.
After all, the forest was massive. With only twenty people placed inside, the probability of them meeting was incredibly low.
Deep in the forest, inside a cave covered in ice—clearly a gathering place for Ice-type Pokémon—the sounds of hissing and moves colliding could be heard.
In front of Eichi, a Piloswine and a Glalie had lost their ability to battle and lay on the ground.
Not far from the two of them, a floor full of other Pokémon also lay defeated.
Eichi walked over and removed the Gold Badges from the Glalie and Piloswine.
Heracross, Beedrill, and Scizor went to collect the badges from the other Pokémon.
He put all the badges into his waist bag; it was now packed so full that it could barely close.
Eichi felt somewhat reflective. The battle just now had been truly exhilarating. Originally, Eichi didn't have much time left when he arrived here.
He decided to cut loose one last time, directly confronting a swarm of Pokémon, including two Gym Leader rank ones.
Although it was very difficult, he had ultimately won. Beedrill and Scizor had also enjoyed the fight immensely.
Opportunities to fight Gym Leader rank Pokémon at school were rare.
He checked the time and said, "Heracross, let's go."
He recalled Beedrill and Scizor and leaped onto Heracross's back.
At this time, the forest entrance was crowded with people, most of whom were staff members.
Director Yanagi and other teachers and leaders were waiting at the entrance.
Director Yanagi checked the time; there were only eight minutes left before the tournament ended.
Looking into the distance, an orange-red figure appeared in his line of sight.