"I want it."
The whole crowd cheered for the trainer who had just won the boulder badge. But rather than cheering along with them, Daemon was standing rooted to his spot, looking at the fire dragon standing right behind its trainer.
"Want what?" Misty asked from the side as she clapped for the orange-haired boy.
As much as she disliked Cross for how it treated Charmander, the orange-haired girl had to admit he was one heck of a trainer to be able to train a Turtonator to such levels of power. Moreover, the fire dragon listened to the boy's every command without hesitation.
Daemon thought of Misty's question and then of his desire. What did he want?
"Unrelentingly, overwhelming strength."
The future path that he wanted to walk as a trainer opened up for him, as he could now see the kind of trainer he wanted to be. Albeit, the lesson was learned from the boy he clearly disliked, just like Misty, for how Cross had treated Charmander.
Misty watched the black-haired boy from the corner of her eyes and she immediately noticed the shift in his body language. The orange-haired girl knew the battle had lit a fire in him and had inspired Daemon as well as shed light on his future course of action.
And she was absolutely right.
Daemon was glad he came to watch this fight; had he done the same on a TV, the impact this battle had on him would have been nothing but a drop in the ocean. But watching it live had been a lesson he would never forget.
As for what the biggest lesson he had learned today? Type matchups were a joke at least after a certain point. After all, he had just seen a fire-type move do more damage to an Onix, a rock/ground-type Pokémon, than what some super-effective moves would have otherwise.
Unlike the games he played in trainer school, which simulated Pokémon Battles but restricted the number of moves to only four, trainers had to carefully plan their teams as well as counters.
But in the real world, numbers mattered little, and more importantly, Pokémon could learn more than four moves. Additionally, the physical strength of Pokémon played a crucial role in determining a large part of their power.
These were little things that might seem like common knowledge, but they weren't. This battle had shown Daemon what could be achieved and blurred the line between possible and impossible.
His mind, which had been researching for a third addition to his team, immediately eliminated various Pokémon which he had previously marked in the 'can be caught' category. The range was soon narrowed down until a few options were left, which perfectly fit the requirements of what he now wanted in a future teammate.
"It's going to take a while before the next match begins. Want to grab something to eat?"
Misty asked from the side as the crowd settled back into their seats and many rock and ground-type Pokémon began fixing the arena. Some people were already leaving for the washrooms, and some were going to grab snacks.
Even Flint had left to cool himself down from the excitement of battle and also to send his Pokémon off to the nearest Pokémon Centre for healing.
"Are you hungry?"
"I need to use the washroom first."
"Can you grab me something to drink on the way back?"
"Sure, what do you want?"
"A blueberry protein shake."
"Gotcha." Misty gave him a two-finger salute before she left hurriedly for the washroom; one could not tell if it was urgent or if she just wanted to hurry in case she had to miss the next battle.
Daemon sat back down on the seat and tapped his glasses. Next, he opened the Circuit Forums and started scrolling through them.
The thread for this battle was already active with more than two thousand comments, and the fight had just ended. The black-haired boy knew the trainers were going to dissect every inch of this battle.
But for now, the most common comment under the thread was about how Flint had used an Onix as well as an Aerodactyl. While the gym leader used a former, albeit a bit weaker version, for first-level badges as well, it was very rare. As for the fossil Pokémon, it might be the first in the last year or two.
Onix was a tank that could take hits and then shrug them off. If one judged this Pokémon by how easily the Turtonator had taken it down, then they were either stupid or maybe even worse.
"How would I take it down?" The black-haired boy muttered to himself since there was a possibility Flint might use an Onix in their battle.
He had a plan, but it had changed quite drastically after the training his Pokémon had been through for the last week, especially his Ralts.
However, since the growth had been so significant, the moment Daemon defeated Flint's first Pokémon, the second Pokémon the gym leader would choose might end up being far stronger than what would have been used otherwise.
And that was something which Daemon could not predict too accurately.
Another fifteen minutes passed until Roark came back with a fresh set of Pokémon on his belt. Gyms had dozens of Pokémon of all skill levels available to them, able to be used by gym trainers or the leader alike. That was the only way they were able to keep going the entire day without stopping, except for a lunch break.
None of these were a part of the gym leader's actual team, which was even stronger than the Pokémon they used for the eighth gym challenge.
Almost every single current gym leader had previously made it to a conference during a gym circuit and won the whole thing. Flint was forty-four years old, but he was not the oldest gym leader in Kanto. The middle-aged man had won a conference on his sixth attempt and was also ranked quite high in the WCC rankings.
But now there were rumours that his son, Brock, was being trained to take over the gym. The young man had already won the Indigo Conference once, which meant he was strong enough to take over whenever Flint retired.
"I am back!" Misty panted for breath as she had run back as soon as possible; in her hands were two drinks as well as some popcorn. "We could use some of these." She grinned while handing the protein drink to Daemon along with a bag of popcorn, and she took a seat.
"Who is up next? Gary Oak or Jon Dickson?" The black-haired boy asked, but before the girl sitting beside him could answer, the next challenger after Cross walked in.
Gary Oak, son of Blue Oak and grandson of Samuel Oak.
Both Blue and Samuel were champions who had retired quite early in their careers. While no one knew what Blue did now, Samuel Oak was the most famous Pokémon Professor whose greatest creation was the biggest help to every trainer: The Pokedex.
Now, the next heir to the Oak Family had begun his circuit, and people wanted to see how good he was. Afterall, it had been a very long time since Kanto had a champion of their own.
Lance, while being the champion of Kanto, also held the same position in Johto. Moreover, his birth was in the latter region. People of Kanto were not happy to have a champion not of their own region and were desperately waiting for someone from their region to kick the Dragon Master out of his position.
However, they were left disappointed year after year when no new trainer from Kanto was able to establish themselves after the era of Red and Blue.
Two rivals who had taken the world by storm. Their Pokémon were so strong that even after their disappearance from the public eye for the last ten years, they were still considered among the strongest trainers in the world.
They had ushered in a new era of Pokémon battling in Kanto; unfortunately, no one had been able to carry the fire they had lit in the hearts of every Kanto resident.
Gary Oak was a fifteen-year-old boy with spiky brown hair like his father. He wore a purple T-shirt with black pants, a simple attire with three Pokeballs attached to his waist.
Everyone in the crowd held their breath.
They knew this battle was not going to be as explosive as the previous ones; however, it was more important to them. It would show them whether they could once again dream or not.
Flint, with his usual stoic face, walked to the opposite side, and immediately the referee made the announcement.
"This is an official gym battle for the first gym badge between gym leader Flint and challenger Gary Oak. It will be a two-vs-two with only one switch-in allowed, only to the challenger. The Gym Leader keeps the right to use any Pokémon they deem fit to test the challenger's capabilities." The referee looked at the two of them. "Both of you, ready?"
The duo nodded their heads.
"Begin!"
"Squirtle, front and centre." Before the gym leader could even release his Pokémon, the spiky-haired boy took charge.
The royal starter of the Kanto Region appeared at the centre of the battlefield.
"Its soooooo cuteeee~." The water-type trainer sitting next to Daemon gushed at the indigo turtle.
The Pokémon's appearance left the whole crowd shocked before they erupted into loud cheers.
Royal Pokémon were special.
These Pokémon were not only strong, but they were also equally rare to find in the wild. If one did find them, they were protected by the rangers, and thus, there were only a few ways to get one in your team.
The most common way to get one was to perform exceptionally well in the annual trainer exam and then be sponsored by the regional professor.
It was common knowledge that the three top scorers of this year were Gary Oak, Ritchie Jayne and Andrew Jackson.
It was every trainer's dream to have at least one regional starter in their roster. Daemon and Misty were the same.
Flint looked at the spiky-haired boy with a smile. "A bit impatient, aren't you?"
"You go first or me, it will not change the outcome of this battle," Gary replied coolly as the gym leader released his Pokémon.
"Rhyhorn!" The rock-type landed before the dragon and dug its feet into the ground.
"Rhyhorn start with a [Rock Polish]!" Flint yelled out, shifting into gear right away.
"[Water Gun]," Gary said in a calm tone.
Rhyhorn glowed white twice and increased its speed as Squirtle burped, then gurgled and spat out a pressured jet of water.
"Outflank it to the right! Don't get hit!" Flint screamed.
Rhyhorn ran left and hid behind a boulder. The [Water Gun] shortly followed and—
The boulder exploded, sending chunks that would have landed in the stands if not for Kadabra's barrier.
[Aqua Jet] followed by [Brick Break] hit Rhyhorn, who promptly fell to the ground unconscious.
While the rock-type was busy escaping, the water-type had used the small window of opportunity where Rhyhorn could not see it from behind the boulder and rushed forward with [Aqua Jet], closely following the trail of the [Water Gun].
Then, it simply finished the rock-type with a super-effective [Brick Break] in the head.
Even though its trainer had not given any command, the water-type was clearly given instructions to do so before the battle, judging from the pleased expression of Gary.
"Rhyhorn is unable to battle. Leader Flint, send out your next Pokémon."
"That's one heck of a Squirtle you have trained." The gym leader nodded at the water-type, who was not wasting any opportunity and was already using an [Iron Defence]. Without any hesitation, Roark sent out his next Pokémon.
A large bipedal Pokémon with two scythes as arms appeared on the battlefield.
Daemon nodded since any first evolution Flint had in his arsenal was probably too weak to take on that overpowered Squirtle, which was surely loaded with TMs. Moreover, Kabutops was likely the only Pokémon fast enough to counter the indigo turtle.
However, this also answered many questions for the trainers who were watching this battle. Flint would not hold back if he knew your Pokémon were well-trained and stronger than the level of the first gym battle.
If you easily defeat his first Pokémon, he WILL up the difficulty, judging what the absolute limit you can handle was. This was also a valuable source of information for Daemon for his upcoming gym battle.
"Squirtle, [Icy Wind]."
The water-type brought its hands forward after doubling down on [Iron Defence], and the air around it shifted. Flakes of snow drifted around it before shooting off towards the Kabutops.
"[Aqua Jet] to escape, flank it."
The fossil Pokémon shot from the side, but soon, it was cut off by Squirtle, who was fast approaching with an [Aqua Jet] as well.
"[Slash]."
"Dip down, and then give it your all."
Kabutops slashed at Squirtle, but the indigo turtle squatted down before jumping up with the help of another [Aqua Jet] and hammering a [Brick Break] under the fossil Pokémon's chin.
The crowd gasped at the speed at which Squirtle was fighting. It was using different combinations of moves to increase the output of its attacks.
"Kabutpos, dodge…"
A blue fist smashed into the fossil pokemon sending it flying all the way to Flint.
"That was quick," Misty said in disbelief.
"Kabutops is unable to battle. Squirtle is the winner, victory goes to Gary Oak of Pallet Town!"
Gary Oak nodded with a proud smile as he returned the indigo turtle to its Pokeball.
"You did a great job!" He complimented his Pokémon before walking to the centre where Flint was waiting for him.
"Impressive. In my few short years working as a gym leader, this is the most impressive Pokémon I've seen a brand-new trainer raise," Flint said while handing the Boulder Badge to the spiky-haired boy.
"Thanks," Gary smirked as he, too, was proud of the fact that he had raised the Squirtle to be so strong. The boy shook hands with Flint before giving the gym leader a two-finger salute.
"Smell ya later."
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[Author's Note]:
[1]: Hope you all like the chapter.
[2]: Thanks for the reviews, guys. Really appreciate that!
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