As the smoke over the field dissipated, Sawsbuck's figure came into view.
"Sawsbuck is unable to battle. Chandelure wins!"
"Gym Leader Lenora's Pokémon are all unable to continue. The winner of this Gym battle is the challenger, Gary."
Hawes had no choice but to make the announcement.
"What?!"
Lenora stared at the fallen Sawsbuck in disbelief.
Sawsbuck was fully unconscious, its body covered in burn marks. The smell of scorched fur reached her from several meters away.
"Why? Why didn't Protect work?" Lenora looked at Gary in surprise. She was sure he had something to do with it.
"It's nothing complicated. My Chandelure has the Infiltrator Ability," Gary said, not bothering to hide it.
"Infiltrator… I thought that Ability could only get through barriers like Light Screen. It can bypass Protect too?" Lenora asked, confused.
"Pokémon Abilities can vary in strength. My Chandelure's Infiltrator is stronger than the standard version—strong enough to break through Protect," Gary said.
Lenora was speechless. She'd heard that some Pokémon had Abilities stronger than others of their kind, but this was her first time actually encountering one.
Bzzzt!
At that moment, an electrical buzz sounded overhead, and the lights on the ceiling above the Gym suddenly went out. Luckily, Chandelure was still on the field—without it, they wouldn't have been able to see anything.
"A power outage?" Hawes said, surprised. He'd never experienced a power outage here before. Encountering one so suddenly felt like a rare occurrence.
"My luck really is terrible today."
Lenora felt like she'd been running on bad luck all day. First she'd sold the strange stone for a pittance, then Gary had gotten the better of her in battle, and now the Gym was without power. It was too much.
"Vee!"
Eevee's ears suddenly perked up, and it spun around, growling in warning at something behind them.
"What is it?"
Gary turned around. Behind him was pitch darkness. He couldn't see a thing.
"Chandelure, let your flames shine brighter," Gary said.
"Chan!"
Chandelure's flames swelled a little, casting a soft light across the Gym.
"Who are you?!"
"Who's there?"
Lenora and Hawes cried out.
Now that the Gym was lit, they could see three strangers standing inside. All three were young men with white hair, identical hairstyles, and matching outfits.
"Who are you? Why did you break in here?" Lenora immediately demanded.
The three of them were dressed identically—clearly accomplices—and the sudden power outage had to be their doing.
The Shadow Triad? Gary was startled.
The three were Team Plasma's Shadow Triad—elite operatives who answered directly to Ghetsis and N.
"Come out."
Gary immediately released the rest of the Pokémon he was carrying.
Excadrill, Bisharp, Latios, and Togekiss all appeared.
When the Shadow Triad saw the Pokémon Gary sent out, they froze. None of them had expected Gary to have a Latios.
Go!!!
The three members of the Shadow Triad each threw two Poké Balls.
Go!!!
[LV54 Bisharp♂ / Quasi-Elite]
[LV54 Bisharp♂ / Quasi-Elite]
[LV54 Bisharp♂ / Quasi-Elite]
[LV52 Banette♂ / Elite]
[LV52 Absol♂ / Quasi-Elite]
[LV53 Accelgor♂ / Elite]
Six Pokémon in total. Each of the three had a Bisharp along with one other Pokémon, and every single one had reached Quasi-Elite level.
"Latios, take the Bisharp—Aura Sphere. Everyone else, defend and counter." Gary gave the order immediately.
"Lati!"
Latios quickly fired an Aura Sphere at the closest Bisharp.
"Night Slash!"
Bisharp swung its blade at the Aura Sphere, but instead of knocking it aside as expected, the Aura Sphere shattered the energy blade outright and slammed into Bisharp.
Boom!
The Aura Sphere detonated, taking Bisharp out in one shot.
The Shadow Triad didn't stand by idly. Their remaining Pokémon launched their own moves at Gary's team—but every attack was blocked.
"Togekiss, Dazzling Gleam!" Gary ordered.
"Kii!"
Togekiss's whole body erupted with dazzling Fairy-type light.
Dazzling Gleam swept across the entire battlefield. Every Pokémon belonging to the Shadow Triad took the hit, while Gary's Pokémon were untouched.
Accelgor, Banette, and Bisharp weathered it reasonably well. Absol collapsed on the spot.
The three Shadow Triad members were stunned. They'd thought they had this in the bag, but two of their Pokémon had already been knocked out in an instant. The boy in front of them was outrageously strong.
"They didn't all go down—what a shame."
Gary looked at the Pokémon the Shadow Triad had left and knew they wouldn't be able to make any waves. If Togekiss had been holding a Premium Life Orb, that Dazzling Gleam would have wiped their entire team in one hit.
"Retreat!"
One of the Shadow Triad called for a retreat, and the other two nodded without argument.
"You think you can just come and go as you please? You're not leaving."
"Latios, tie those three up with Psychic!"
"Togekiss, Dazzling Gleam!"
Gary hadn't intended to pick a fight with Team Plasma, but now that they'd come to him, he had to cut this off at the root.
"Bisharp, defend!"
One of the remaining Bisharp charged in front of the group, throwing up an energy wall built from steel fighting spirit that blocked both Togekiss's and Latios's attacks.
The three Shadow Triad members pulled black spheres from their pockets and hurled them at the ground. Smoke exploded outward, spreading rapidly.
"Latios, use Psychic to gather the smoke," Gary ordered.
"Lati!"
Latios's eyes flashed with blue light, and the spreading smoke was instantly pulled together into a single cloud that floated up into the air.
Gary scanned for the Shadow Triad and caught sight of them running down the corridor.
"After them!"
Gary recalled all his Pokémon except Eevee, Togekiss, and Latios, and gave chase.
The Shadow Triad were well trained—not only were their Pokémon powerful, they themselves were also formidable in close combat.
Lenora and Hawes realized things had escalated and rushed after Gary. By the time everyone reached the museum entrance, the three Shadow Triad members had already made it out the door—only for a blast of freezing air to sweep in the next moment, sealing the doorway in ice.
"Eevee, Iron Tail!" Gary ordered.
Eevee lunged at the door, Iron Tail crashing down.