"Luxray, Discharge!"
Alex's voice echoed through the gym.
Luxray raised its head and let out a low growl, suddenly erupting in a blinding golden thunder light.
The thunder light spread out from it in all directions, like a massive electric net enveloping the entire field.
"Moonblast." Ash's command sounded, and even though it was issued later, Gardevoir's skill was even faster than Luxray's Discharge!
In a moment, a pinkish-white light gathered in her palm, and in the next instant, she lightly raised her hand and pushed the moon-like light forward.
The lightning on the field disappeared the moment it touched the moonblast, as if swallowed by the light, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye!
Alex wanted to order a dodge, but it was too late.
The light orb gently imprinted on Luxray's chest, and its stout body flew backward like an arrow from a bow, skimming past Alex, stirring up a gust of wind, and then crashed solidly against the gym's metal wall.
A dull thud echoed through the gym.
Luxray slid down the wall, its limbs spread, the fur on its chest leaving a faint scorch mark, its eyes swirling in circles.
Once again—a one-hit knockout.
Alex stared blankly at the Luxray slumped at the wall for a long moment before he snapped back to reality.
He looked down at the Pokeball in his hand, then silently returned Luxray to the Pokeball.
From the moment the first Electabuzz fell, until the last Luxray lost its ability to battle, the entire exchange took less than two minutes.
This timeframe included Alex retrieving his Pokemon, throwing out the next one, and even those seconds he spent in a daze.
The actual combat time, added up, was probably less than a minute.
In that one minute, a trainer comparable to a true gym leader was resolved by Ash, showcasing Ash's true strength.
In the past, his struggles and victories against gym leaders were all just to train and improve his other Pokemon.
If he truly went all out, this would be the most normal outcome.
Normally, Ash wouldn't conduct battles like this, as continual one-sided battles are not beneficial for his and his Pokemon's growth, but this time was different.
Since Volkner chose to test his abilities by letting a student step in, Ash had no choice but to give his all and demonstrate his power to Volkner.
Ash lifted his gaze, looking across the field to the blond youth sitting at the judge's stand.
"Do I have the qualifications to battle you?"
Volkner did not reply immediately. He stood at the judge's stand, his gaze slowly retracting from Gardevoir.
After a few beats of silence, he raised his hands and started to clap, the applause sounding especially clear in the quiet gym.
"Gardevoir at Champion Junior Level." Volkner's voice was calm, but to Alex, those words were as deafening as thunder.
This Gardevoir was actually Champion level!
He had actually faced off against a Champion-level Pokemon? A level at the pinnacle of the world, and he, merely a gym-level trainer, had battled a Champion-level Pokemon!
Knowing that Gardevoir was Champion level soothed the complex emotions in Alex's heart, replaced instead with a sense of relief—given his opponent was Champion level, losing was no disgrace.
At least he was able to make a move in front of a Champion-level Pokemon—even if that might have been the opponent going easy on him.
Regardless, a gym-level Pokemon making the first move in front of a Champion-level Pokemon already surpassed 99% of gym-level Pokemon.
"A trainer with a Champion-level Pokemon can't possibly be an unknown... but your appearance is too young, how old are you?" Volkner didn't immediately answer Ash's question, instead walking onto the battlefield while asking Ash.
He was genuinely curious about Ash's age.
He knew most of the renowned trainers from the 'older generation,' Cynthia, Dragon Taming Lance, Steven Stone... these trainers were generally around twenty-five years old.
Cynthia was somewhat of an exception, being just over twenty this year...
Even then, ascending to Champion in ten years was a testament to supreme talent among humans, and Cynthia becoming Champion in five years was unprecedented.
But the age of the person in front of him was definitely younger than Cynthia and the other Champions.
If he wasn't even eighteen, that would be terrifying.
"In two months, I'll be sixteen." Ash casually mentioned it, like he was just stating he would have cabbage for dinner.
Yet this one sentence caused Volkner's usual calm demeanor to change dramatically.
In two months, sixteen years old? That means he's only fifteen?! Does this mean this guy has been on his journey for less than a year?!
Having a Champion-level Pokemon within less than a year of starting out was simply too astonishing.
As to whether this Gardevoir was given to Ash by a senior... Volkner had already ruled this out, for if Gardevoir wasn't reared by Ash himself, they wouldn't exhibit such a harmonious aura.
Plus, Ash wouldn't command Gardevoir with such ease, as if they'd paired up for a long time.
So this Gardevoir was definitely a Pokemon Ash cultivated himself... Breeding a Champion-level Pokemon in a year couldn't be described as just talent, it was downright monstrous!
Hearing this, Alex's mouth dropped open and stayed that way, overwhelmed by emotions crashing over him like turbulent waves!
This year, he's twenty-two, and with six Gym Level Pokemon at his side, he's a veritable Gym Level Trainer.
Alex is quite satisfied with his own talent. Even if he can't compare with those Champion-level prodigies, he can barely count as a unique genius among ordinary people.
But compared to Ash, he's instantly crushed to the point of having nothing left! A fifteen-year-old Champion-level Trainer... this is ridiculous!
At first glance, fifteen and twenty-five seem only a decade apart, but if you calculate the travel time separately, that's a difference of ten years, ten times over!
Volkner took a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent emotions inside, but the excitement was hard to quell no matter how much he tried.
A genius Trainer... that's what outsiders have called him too. Since childhood, he's been labeled a genius. After becoming the Gym Leader of Sunyshore Gym, he grew at an incredible pace, achieving an Elite Four Level by the age of just twenty.
This year he's twenty-four, already possessing Champion-level Pokemon. His talent does not fall short of those Champions, but during his time as Gym Leader, he hasn't met an evenly matched opponent for a long time.
His passion as a Trainer has gradually worn away during his time as Gym Leader, and ultimately, his strength has stagnated.
When he was in Sunyshore Town, he spread the news that he was the no.1 Gym Leader in Sinnoh, stating that he hadn't lost in quite some time.
He let out the news not out of arrogance, but to attract evenly matched opponents to battle, hoping to reignite his passion as a Trainer.
But the final result was disappointing; so far, he still hasn't lost.
The only Trainers who could beat him might be those top Elites or Champions.
Those amateur Trainers outside couldn't possibly be his opponents, further wearing down his enthusiasm for Pokemon and training.
After coming to Johto, he was full of expectations, wanting to meet Trainers here who could make him exert his full strength.
However, the result was entirely different from what he had imagined!
The battles since coming to Johto were even worse than when he was in Sunyshore Town!
All kinds of Trainers flooded into the Gym, making battles increasingly meaningless. In the end, he temporarily passed the Gym Leader position to his disciple and stood by as a referee.
The outside world's evaluation of him grew worse, but Volkner didn't care; he only wanted to have a battle with a truly matched opponent, nothing else mattered!
Today, finally, there was a Trainer who was somewhat up to par... no, this was one of the top Trainers in the world!
"Ash, I've remembered your name. Maybe I've seen your name somewhere before and forgot, but it doesn't matter now. Let's start our battle."
Volkner said as he walked over to Alex, patting him on the shoulder.
Alex got the hint and jogged to the referee's seat, standing where Volkner originally was.
Though all his Pokemon had lost their ability to battle, they hadn't suffered serious injuries, just exhaustion. So he could delay going to the Pokemon Center a bit.
Right now, he just wanted to see the battle between the Gym Leader and that Trainer named Ash!
Volkner took out a palm-sized controller from his pocket and pressed the button on it.
The ground in the four corners of the battlefield opened up simultaneously, and four silver-gray metal pillars rose silently.
Each pillar's top embedded with a pale blue diamond-shaped crystal, gleaming with a cold light under illumination.
Once the four pillars fully rose, the crystals lit up simultaneously, forming a semi-transparent pale blue barrier, enveloping the entire battlefield.
This was a protective device issued by the League, capable of withstanding Elite Four Peak Level impact waves.
Volkner rarely used this thing in the past—after all, challengers who could force him to use over-Elite Four Level Pokemon were few and far between each year.
Alex stood at the referee's stand, taking a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound steady: "The battle rules are 3 vs. 3, with both sides using three Pokemon each. The Gym goes first, and the challenger can freely switch Pokemon. The battle begins!"
Volkner took a Pokeball from his waist, tossing it up with a flip.
In a flash of light, a blue and yellow quadruped Pokemon landed solidly in the center of the arena. Manectric.
It was the same type as the Manectric Alex used earlier, but their strengths were worlds apart!
Elite Four Advanced!
With his Eye of Insight, Ash instantly saw through the true level of the Manectric.
The strongest Gym Leader in Sinnoh, indeed deserving of his pride.
Previously, on his phone, when checking the data on Volkner, the level of his Manectric was marked as between Mid-Elite to Elite Four Advanced. Turns out, that information was outdated.
Volkner stood with arms crossed, his gaze falling on Ash, waiting to see which Pokemon he would use to counter.
Ash then threw his Pokeball.
The light faded, and a large round body appeared in the center of the arena—Snorlax.
Since capturing Snorlax, Ash had rarely sent it into battle. Snorlax spent its days at Oak's Research Institute, eating and sleeping, then sleeping and eating again, but its strength grew at an astonishing rate.
This is partly due to Snorlax's notable talent and also related to the berries planted with Life Power by Venusaur.
Snorlax is a uniquely special Pokemon among many in the world. Even without training, just eating and sleeping can increase its strength, depending on sleep quality and food quality, alongside its innate talent.
And Ash's Snorlax has strong talent, eats well and drinks well, so its strength has reached Gym Intermediate Level in just two months!
This was originally to contend with Volkner's Mid-Elite Four Level Pokemon, but evidently, there was a mistake in the intel; the lowest level Pokemon he'd have would be this Elite Four Advanced Manectric; regardless, it wasn't a problem.
It sat on the ground, its white belly slightly moving with its breath, and squinted eyes looked around confusedly, as if unsure of its situation. But when it turned and saw Ash, a clear expression of joy spread across its face.
Although it hadn't seen Ash for a while, Snorlax's feelings for him hadn't lessened, but instead increased!
After all, the days in the backyard of Oak's Research Institute were far more comfortable compared to its previous wandering days!
And all of this was because of Ash! So even though they spent less time together, Snorlax's affection for Ash only grew stronger.
On the other side, Volkner frowned. He could tell that this Snorlax was well-bred, its fur glossy, and its size was larger than an ordinary Snorlax, but that was about it.
It definitely didn't have the momentum of surpassing the Elite Four Level, putting a Gym Level Snorlax against his Elite Four Advanced Manectric?
This kid, earlier using a Champion-level Gardevoir to wipe out all three of Alex's Pokemon, and now it's his turn, and he's starting to go easy?
"What do you mean by this?" Volkner's voice dropped, laced with clear displeasure.
Ash looked at him, speaking unhurriedly, "Don't worry, I won't send my Pokemon into a losing battle."
Aura lies within my heart, Aura Fusion!
With the infusion of Aura Power, a vast aura erupted from Snorlax's round body, instantly elevating Snorlax beyond the standard of the Elite Four Level!
Volkner's eyes widened, his mouth opened but he said nothing, his expression exaggerated as if he were seeing something beyond his comprehension.
What had Ash done to that Snorlax? Why, in his observation, that Snorlax now... was nearly matching his Manectric in aura!
Jumping from Gym Level straight to Elite Four Advanced? How could this happen in the world!
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