The Rustboro Gym Challenge, with Rock Badges as the stakes, has officially begun.
The mode is Double Battle, with each trainer allowed four Pokémon. Trainers cannot use items; a team loses when all of its Pokémon are unable to battle.
"Go, Onix, Nosepass."
"Fennekin, Finneon, prepare for battle."
Seeing Link send out two Pokémon, one Water and one Fire, exactly the same as last night, Du Juan frowned. Did he have excellent training abilities but not fully understand type advantages?
Or was it that Finneon was completely unable to move without Fennekin? Otherwise, why send Fennekin in?
Link's thought at this moment was, hopefully, it's not like in the games where almost everyone has mastered "Explosion," otherwise it would be quite troublesome to deal with.
"Type advantages are key to battle. Let me teach you Gym Leaders how to battle. Nosepass, use 'Stealth Rock,' Onix, use 'Roar' on Finneon!" "
Diane, are you going to scatter nails too?
You're treating the gym challengers like newbies, Link isn't going to let her get away with it!
" "Just like before, use 'Psychic' on Nosepass again."
The instant Nosepass conjured an invisible rock-type energy bomb and launched it towards its opponent's half, a psychic attack precisely swept across every single rock bomb around it.
As everyone knows, the trigger mechanism for "Invisible Rocks" is "rotation," meaning they explode when the sensor is subjected to external force.
At this moment, the pressure exerted on it by Fennekin using 'Psychic' simulated this phenomenon.
Normally, it's impossible to see through these invisible rocks with such precision, but the energy angle field of vision provided by "Miracle Eye" allowed to demonstrate exceptional precision.
Thanks to Scizor's bomb that killed all their Stealth Rocks last night, Link, who hadn't experienced it firsthand, wouldn't have thought of this solution.
Nosepass invisible Rock-type energy exploded, creating a huge crater around it—a truly horrific sight, as if it had been bombarded.
Nosepass's condition significantly declined after this bombardment, and the Fennekin unleashed damage far beyond its usual level.
Now Du Juan understood why the opponent had sent out such a countered Fennekin—"I'm bombing myself?"
Nosepass wasn't rendered unable to battle by the bombardment, so Finneon followed up with "One More Time."
Just then, Onix's long-charged "Roar" hit precisely, but nothing happened.
"Roar" utilizes the Pokémon's instinct to shrink, forcing the hit opponent back into their Poké Ball for a short time, forcing them to switch to another Pokémon.
However… this move didn't do anything?
"I only brought two Pokémon, Fennekin and Finneon, so you can't force me to switch."
"Are you kidding me?" Du Juan frowned, her breathing slightly rapid. "Doesn't this mean you're going to challenge all four of my Pokémon with only two?"
Link nodded: "I think this is a reasonable concession. Then, 'One More Time' on Onix. What do you think, Du Juan? Or are you trying to use switching to get rid of the status quo?"
Hearing this, Du Juan's pupils widened suddenly. She was really being looked down upon!
Despite her strong abilities and pride, her rationality prevented her from being provoked by such an obvious challenge. She immediately analyzed the current situation.
Without emergency treatment, Nosepass was already considered unable to battle, and Onix, due to "One More Time," was essentially AFK, in a situation where it could be easily eliminated by Finneon with moves like "Water Gun."
In that case…
"Come back, Nosepass, Kabuto, it's your turn now."
Just as Nosepass was about to be attacked by its own "Stealth Rock" again, Du Juan chose to switch.
In high-level gym battles, even if the gym leader chooses to switch out, it doesn't count as the Pokémon losing its ability to battle.
However, to avoid both sides dragging out the battle by switching out repeatedly, torturing themselves, their opponents, and the audience, both sides have a so-called "cooldown" limit for switching out; they can only choose to switch out again after 30 seconds.
Not only that...
"Onix, wake up! Use 'Dig' to burrow underground to avoid the interference from Finneon!"
"'Water Gun'."
Du juan chose Rejuvenation Roar!
Onix, having received instructions from its beloved trainer, regained its senses. How could it have acted so impulsively?
It immediately dove into the ground, swimming freely in the solid soil as if it were a fish in water.
However, just before burrowing, Onix was hit by Finneon's "Water Gun," a move with a four-fold advantage that caused considerable damage to its weak Special Defense. Kabuto, on the other hand, suffered some damage due to the "Stealth Rock" left on its own side of the field by Proboscis.
Seeing this, Link remarked, "The Rock/Ground type Gym Leader has it tough. Digging so often must make it hard to recover after a battle, right?"
"It's alright. Because of the constant digging and recovery, the soil underneath is quite loose. It won't be long before it's back to normal."
The battle resumed.
Kabuto, Fennekin, and Finneon faced off on the surface, while Onix continued digging underground, waiting for an opportunity to attack.
However, Link had anticipated this kind of move and immediately had Fennekin use "Psychic."
Fennekin and Finneon once again became one, using "Psychic" to fly into the air above the battlefield.
Seeing this, Du Juan finally realized that it was precisely because Finneon could fly that Fennekin was sent into the field by her opponent.
But how could she, a Rock-type expert, not have considered countermeasures when her opponent could fly?
"Kabuto, unleash 'Sandstorm'!"
"Finneon, 'One More Time'!"
Another "One More Time. "
Another "One More Time!"
Du Juan cried out in exasperation, "Ignore it!"
Kabuto had activated the abundant Rock/Ground type energy within the Rustboro Gym, transforming it into a sandstorm favorable to Rock-type Pokémon.
Despite its trainer's instruction to ignore the "one more time" interference, Kabuto, feeling no remorse, failed to demonstrate willpower and force an exemption, instead further activating the Rock/Ground type energy in the area.
The sandstorm, already enough to leave stings and wounds, intensified, the air itself seeming to howl.
Du Juan, slightly agitated, finally realized that the stronger the sandstorm, the better. Link's two Pokémon wouldn't be able to withstand it for long, forcing them to descend and defeat Kabuto to find an opening!
However, amidst this violent sandstorm, Fennekin's "Psychic" managed to create a vacuum.
Though weak and precarious, it briefly shielded them from the weather's damage.
However, being still young, it couldn't hold out for long, and the vacuum zone was about to be overwhelmed by the ever-growing sandstorms!
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(End of Chapter)