Aggron heard the sound, turned its head slightly, and saw Zweilous stretching its neck: "…?"
Immediately.
It used its claws to brush aside Zweilous's hair blocking its eyes, and after seeing those pairs of eyes, it suddenly understood, "Guh-roar~"
Aggron patted its head with a claw.
"Guh-roar~"
Keep striving! Don't trainers always say something about waves pushing forward? Strive!
Aggron, calm and at ease, exuding the aura of an elder brother.
Inside the water tank.
Feebas wagged its tail happily. Being the one who admired Aggron the most, it especially loved seeing such scenes, and unsurprisingly, it too was patted on the head.
—Today's wish has been fulfilled.
Feebas felt the specially made food by the trainer wasn't appealing anymore, being patted was enough to fill it completely.
Baimu and a group of Pokémon laughed and played, quite happy.
Lei Gong looked at the people and Pokémon before him, increasingly certain that he should not let his actions affect them. After all, he and the other members of the Ho-Oh Guard did so many things just to protect everything here.
Protect the world's peace and beauty.
And the evil...
Exterminate them completely!
A thousand meters away.
On the rooftop of a tall building.
Wearing a gray, tattered cloak, dressed in summer attire, with a spiral anklet on her calf, a black-haired girl held a telescope, watching the distant hot spring hotel.
Behind her was Whismur spinning in place, and Salamence watching Whismur spin.
"Baimu… I didn't expect to see you with Lei Gong. Interesting, interesting, the younger generation of Dragon Tamers is becoming more promising."
The black-haired girl turned her head playfully to Whismur, "You know, Xijana, there's also another girl from Unova Region's Dragon Land active in the Hoenn Region now! She's very strong too... truly wonderful."
"Oops oops~"
Whismur stopped spinning and waved its tiny hand at the black-haired girl, in a particularly soft voice.
"You're happy too, aren't you?"
Xijana hugged Whismur in her arms and threw a red "R" printed shirt to the ground, stomping it furiously, "If only there weren't so many villains thinking of destroying all this beauty, it would be even better."
She looked up at the clear sky.
No matter when it is, she always deeply loves the vast, blue firmament.
——
Afternoon.
Baimu returned to Lavaridge Gym once more.
Yasha didn't stand him up and was there at the Gym waiting for his challenge. Judging from her expression and state, she didn't seem to have found anything valuable in that Secret Base.
Since Lei Gong knew, it's likely that the Rocket Team members inside would retreat.
However.
When he asked Yasha if there were any lingering Rocket Team members in the Secret Base, she gave a definite answer.
"There are… but they've all been dealt with."
"Eh?"
"When we entered, everyone was already unconscious on the ground. But judging from the injuries and the scene traces, it wasn't caused by Lei Gong… oh, sorry, said too much."
Yasha scratched her head awkwardly and laughed, "Never mind that! Let's fight in the Gym! Grandpa-"
"The old man is here."
Mura came out from a side passage, dressed in a kimono.
This person has always been the referee of Lavaridge Gym, standing in the Gym Leader's position years ago, having smashed through all opponents with an exceptionally strong Typhlosion.
He didn't rush to announce the match rules but first signaled his granddaughter Yasha with a gesture.
Yasha belatedly realized and said to Baimu, "You've won three badges already, haven't you? I've reviewed your profile; the previous three Gym Leaders rated you highly, said you're impressive, so we can appropriately raise the difficulty here."
"You're too kind; the difficulty should be determined by you."
Baimu nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
"In that case, I'll have to see if your bond with your Pokémon burns passionately enough!"
Yasha gave Mura an OK sign, and he immediately raised a flag of two colors in his hand,
"We will now begin the Lavaridge Gym Challenge. The match will be between the Gym Leader Yasha and challenger Baimu, using three Pokémon each. Only the challenger can freely switch Pokémon, both sides prepare!"
Both sides readied their Pokeballs.
"Begin!"
The Pokeballs were launched forward.
Bang bang!
Lights flashed.
In front of Yasha appeared a humanoid Pokémon with flames jumping all over its body, a round belly like a fiery pattern egg, and arms resembling cannons landed.
"Boom!"
Magmortar let out a low growl.
Not far away, Zweilous responded with two resounding roars.
"Roar!" "Roar!"
The two Trainers were both surprised upon seeing each other's Pokémon, one side not expecting Yasha to have a Magmortar, thinking the Gym Leader's Pokémon pool was indeed deep.
The other side was amazed that Baimu possessed a rare Pokémon from the Unova Region... Wasn't he from the Hoenn Region?
Yasha originally thought he was from the Hoenn Region.
The moment of surprise was extremely brief, almost instant.
After a short breath, commands were issued from both sides.
"Energy Storage Flame Strike!"
"Power of the Earth!"
Magmortar was the first to take action, clearly showing its rapid reaction speed as its massive body suddenly transformed into a flame ball rushing towards Zweilous.
At the same time.
With its sprint, its speed became even swifter, flames and air friction emitted a booming rumble.
Fortunately, Zweilous was already accustomed to such movement speed, even capable of easily capturing attacks from even faster Gallade, its four eyes focused intently on the approaching Magmortar, its foreclaws suddenly striking the ground.
Boom!
The earth cracked with tree-like fissures straight ahead, bright Attribute energy gathered inside, and as Magmortar collided in an instant, it soared upwards.
Boom!
Surging Attribute energy shattered the cracked ground and surged out, instantly engulfing Magmortar!
Flames and yellow light clashed, a massive explosion swept through the entire arena.
Rumble——
Smoke rose.
But in the next moment, Zweilous retreated from the swirling dust, white smoke rising from various parts of its body.
"This Pokémon..."
Mura looked at Zweilous with astonishment, as a former Celestial King and decades-long Gym Leader, his insight into people and Pokémon was exceptionally keen.
Just now, that strike was neither more nor less than precisely hitting Magmortar, predicting its arrival and speed, already showcasing Zweilous's immense strength.
Was this result from the nurturing by this Trainer named Baimu?
Just as Mura intended to observe further, the latter swiftly issued a second command.
"Meteor Shower!"
Huh!?
It can even use Meteor Shower? Not bad! But isn't it risky to use the move without observing where the enemy is?
Mura watched as Zweilous gathered a mass of orange-red high energy in its chest and abdomen, then split the orange-red energy between its two heads, sending it skyward as it raised its heads and opened its mouths!
Whoosh——
Two Energy Bullets screeched as they shot into the sky, exploding into countless shining meteors rapidly falling down, dragging long fiery tails through the still dispersing dust cloud.
In the smoke.
Magmortar, barely recovering from Power of the Earth, looked up only to see several meteors breaking through the smoke above, descending towards it.
"Smoke Spray!!"
Yasha's command reached its ears.
Unfortunately, as Magmortar raised its cannon-like arms and sprayed outward, it was already a bit late, the first meteor fell, exploding into indigo flames, followed by the second, third——
The dense meteors, though they reduced single impact power, increased the frequency at which Magmortar was hit.
Dragon Flame rolled up.
And after it dissipated.
The fallen Magmortar suddenly entered the view of the three people on and off the field.
"This..."
Yasha looked at the unconscious Magmortar, her eyes unable to hide her surprise at Zweilous and Baimu.
More than the former, Mura saw more clearly and couldn't help but feel regret over his granddaughter's misjudgment.
Where was this merely an excellent challenger.
Clearly, it was a powerful Trainer that required her full attentiveness to deal with!
"Hey-Woo—!!" "Hey-Woo—!!"
Zweilous roared into the sky.
And suddenly had a premonition in its heart.
Just a little more.
Just a little!
It looked at the distant Yasha, intense battle desire rising, its mind filled with longing for the next victory!