"Hippowdon, use Earthquake!" Terran attacked first.
Although he didn't know Gary's exact strength, the fact that Gary had opened with Rhyperior already showed confidence. A trainer without real skill wouldn't have the nerve to lead with a Pokémon at such a disadvantage.
"Rhyperior, use Drill Run!" Gary countered head-on.
"Roar!"
Rhyperior took one large step forward. The drill on its head began rotating rapidly, channeling Ground energy around its body. The energy condensed into a swirling cyclone, like a small Twister, and Rhyperior charged straight ahead.
Hippowdon stamped on the ground, triggering a violent Earthquake. The shockwaves spread outward and slammed into Rhyperior mid-charge—but failed to stop its advance.
"What?!"
Yuko was shocked. She hadn't expected Rhyperior to take an Earthquake head-on and still keep going.
Although Rhyperior had endured the attack, its speed was slightly affected, which gave Hippowdon enough time to launch a second move.
"Hippowdon, use Take Down!" Terran ordered.
"Hippow!"
Hippowdon rushed forward to meet Rhyperior.
Bang!
The two Pokémon collided. But it wasn't a balanced clash. Hippowdon's Take Down had no follow-up power, while Rhyperior's charge wasn't interrupted at all. The impact knocked Hippowdon clean backward, sending it slamming into the wall at the edge of the arena.
Bang!
"Ugh!"
The collision left Hippowdon dazed and barely conscious.
"Ice Punch!"
Rhyperior swung its massive arm, freezing energy condensing around its fist.
Whoosh!!
"Hippow!!"
With one cry, Hippowdon collapsed, its eyes rolling back.
Terran and Yuko both froze.
The result had come far too quickly and far too suddenly.
"Hippowdon loses combat ability. Rhyperior wins!" Yuko, as the referee, still had to announce the call.
"Hippowdon, return."
Terran recalled the defeated Hippowdon.
Seeing Hippowdon withdrawn, Rhyperior strode back to Gary's side of the field and waited for the next Pokémon.
"You're strong," Terran said. "It seems I'll have to take this seriously."
"Gym Leader Terran, please do your best," Gary said. "Rhyperior is one of the Pokémon I raised myself from the beginning. Because of the Gym's level-matching rule, it's been limited."
Although the system mission had already been issued and the rewards probably wouldn't change, Gary still hoped Terran would show his real strength.
Yuko, however, just thought Gary was being arrogant. Hippowdon was already her father's main battle Pokémon, and he was still complaining about it being too weak. How could any Pokémon possibly defeat him?
But more than anything, Yuko was worried about her TM. She had finally received the Scorching Sands skill secret, and now it was about to be handed over before she'd even had time to use it. The thought was unbearable.
"Even though I'd love to use my full strength, those Pokémon belong to my father," Terran said. "I don't want to defeat you with Pokémon I didn't raise myself."
Like Brock's father, Terran had inherited the Silvercrown Gym from his own father. The elder Terran had been a powerful trainer in his time, and many of his Pokémon were still at the Gym. But ever since Terran took over, the Pokémon he used in Gym battles were always the ones he had personally bred and raised himself.
"Then please send out your next Pokémon," Gary said.
"Alright! Torterra, I'm counting on you!" Terran threw out a Poké Ball.
Flash!
A massive Pokémon resembling an ankylosaurus appeared.
[Lv.46 Torterra / Gym-tier]
"A traitor," Gary muttered.
The moment Gary saw Torterra, the term Ground-type traitor came to mind.
Before later generations introduced new Grass/Ground combinations, Torterra had been the only Grass and Ground dual-type Pokémon. It wasn't particularly good at fighting outsiders, but it was terrifying when used against fellow Ground-types.
The key issue was that Torterra's stats and movepool were oddly mismatched.
Its highest offensive stat was physical Attack, not Special Attack, yet its strongest Grass-type moves were special attacks like Solar Beam. It couldn't learn the strongest physical Grass moves, and the strongest Ground-type move it had access to was Earthquake at 100 base power.
The only redeeming quality of Torterra was its defense. But although its defense was solid, its weaknesses were Flying, Bug, Fire, and Ice. Aside from Ice, the other three were extremely common attack types in modern battles, which meant even its defense wasn't all that impressive.
If not for Lunge being introduced as a 120 power Bug-type physical move in later generations, Torterra would have lost nearly all relevance.
Even so, as a Ground-type traitor, Torterra still posed a real threat against other Ground-types—especially against Rhyperior.
"This is perfect. I'll win now," Yuko thought smugly to herself.
She knew Rhyperior was 4x weak to Grass-type moves. There was no way it could survive against Torterra.
"Rhyperior, charge in—do whatever you want!" Gary attacked directly.
"Rhy!"
Rhyperior roared. Red, scorching breath rolled off its body as it surged forward, picking up speed as it charged at Torterra.
Seeing Gary and Rhyperior attack head-on, Terran didn't rush to give an order. He waited until Rhyperior had built up enough speed, then suddenly commanded, "Now—Grass Knot!"
"What!"
Gary was caught off guard.
He wanted to call it off, but it was too late.
Torterra didn't move. It simply controlled the energy of plants and trees around the arena. At Rhyperior's feet, a series of vine-like grass knots quickly grew out of the ground. Rhyperior, being heavy and clunky, was easily caught.
Bang!!
Rhyperior crashed face-first into the ground, the impact cracking the arena floor beneath it.
"Rhy...!"
A rare expression of pain crossed Rhyperior's face.
Grass Knot was a special attack move, and its power scaled based on the opponent's weight. A weight of over 200 kilograms gave it 120 base power—but that was just the in-game cap. In real battles, there was no upper limit. The heavier the target, the stronger the move.
Gary's Rhyperior weighed over 300 kilograms, easily putting Grass Knot's power above 150. Combined with Rhyperior's naturally low Special Defense, if it hadn't been for the EX Solid Rock Ability reducing super-effective damage, Rhyperior's life would have been in real danger.
However, Grass Knot was difficult to land. It only worked properly when the opponent was actively moving, which was why Terran had waited until Rhyperior was charging.
"Rhyperior, use Fire Blast!" Gary ordered.
"Roar!"
Rhyperior stood back up and spat out a ball of flame toward Torterra.
Terran hadn't expected Gary's Rhyperior to also know a Fire-type move. He quickly ordered, "Use Razor Leaf to block it!"
Torterra shook its body, and a barrage of energy-infused leaves flew out to meet the flames.
Boom!!
The two attacks collided. Fire Blast exploded on contact, and a cloud of smoke burst out across the arena.
Gary wasn't bothered at all by Rhyperior losing its line of sight. He simply continued issuing orders.
"Rhyperior, use Body Slam—same position Torterra was standing in."