Clair's final Pokémon was Dragonite.
At the same time, it was also the hidden ace of her main team!
Aside from her own clan members, no one knew she possessed such a Pokémon!
"Awoo!"
The plump earth-yellow Dragonite flapped its little wings and landed on the ground. Its fierce gaze met Gallade's, only to become clear and innocent again in the next instant.
Pokémon: Dragonite
Type: Dragon, Flying
Level: 61
Ability: Multiscale
Moves: Extreme Speed… and others omitted.
A Dragonite with Extreme Speed!
And its strength had reached Elite Four level!
Sure enough, the "eighth Gym" of every region was no ordinary opponent.
Having an Elite Four-level ace truly made her quite strong.
Of course, compared to Pryce, Clair was still a little lacking.
"Awoo?" "Boss lady, why do you always call me out to deal with especially troublesome Pokémon like this?"
Clair's Dragonite stood there blankly, its wings trembling slightly.
It counted on its claws as it went over its recent battle record.
Last week, it had been pinned to the ground and crushed by Lance's Dragonite. Yesterday, it had taken a Cross Chop from Bruno's Machamp. Now, the one in front of it was an absolute monster that could slice meteors like fruit…
Good grief, boss lady, just say it if you have a problem with me!
Don't do this to me!
Once or twice would be one thing, but after this many times, it was obviously personal, right?
"Awoo!"
Dragonite let out a wronged little puff of sparks and weighed its own strength as an Elite Four gatekeeper again and again.
So why exactly did it have to challenge those monsters above its level every time it appeared?
It was just an ordinary Dragonite whose dream was to clock out on time and collect its Pokéblocks!
"Dragonite! You're the only Elite Four-level battler on the team right now! I'll leave this final battle to you! Restoring Dragonite's glory is our duty!"
"Awoo!" "Then I'd rather devolve!"
Clair's Dragonite did not really want to work, but under the pressure, it had no choice but to take the field and clash with Gallade.
"Awoo…" "Um, sir, do you want some Berries? Could you go a little easy in this battle? When it's late tonight and no one's around, I'll bring you two crates of milk and two baskets of Berries. How about it?"
Dragonite looked at Gallade with pleading eyes.
"Gallade." "Sure, no problem."
Gallade felt that was completely fine.
It was not like Dragonite was asking it to lose the match, just to hold back a little.
"Dragonite, Extreme Speed!"
Clair's command suddenly rang out!
"Awoo!" "Sorry about this!"
Dragonite's whole body erupted with a dazzling white glow, and in an instant, it turned into a streak of light tearing through the air.
Dragging a long afterimage behind it, Dragonite charged forward with an almost savage posture and slammed headfirst into Gallade!
Bang!
The violent collision shook the guardrails around the field until they buzzed. Gallade was knocked several meters back by that Extreme Speed, its feet carving two deep tracks into the battlefield!
There was a powerful gap between Elite Four level and Gym Leader level. Compared to the previous two Gym Leader-level Pokémon, this Extreme Speed was already very powerful.
Even Gallade took a bit of damage.
Not much, though.
"Dragon Claw!"
"Awoo!"
Dragonite roared and raised its sharp claws. Dazzling blue-green light suddenly erupted!
Dragon-type energy condensed into enormous energy claws, carrying the force to tear Gallade apart as they came slashing down!
Gallade forcibly took the heavy blow from Dragon Claw. Sparks flew across its body.
Immediately afterward, psychic arcs flashed in its eyes. Psychic power transformed into two crescent-shaped arcs of light and burst out!
Swish, swish!
At such close range, Dragonite's large body was forced to take the full damage. It flew backward uncontrollably, rolling several times across the ground before barely stopping.
With just one blow, the difference in strength was clear!
"Incredible, absolutely incredible! Gym Leader Grey's Gallade withstood Dragonite's fierce attack head-on, and the calm look in its eyes was way too cool!"
"Especially that Psycho Cut! It condensed it out of thin air. That was basically unbeatable!"
"Lord Gallade! Please discipline me!"
Cries of surprise erupted from the audience, and the host, Darknight, also commentated a few lines.
He pushed this battle to an even greater peak.
"Awoo!" "Whoa, your Psycho Cut is way too outrageous! Wait, where did you go?"
Dragonite flapped its wings and rose into the air, only to realize in shock that Gallade had already vanished from where it stood.
"Dragonite, watch behind you!"
Clair's alarmed shout burst out.
However, the warning came too late.
Gallade flashed behind Dragonite like a ghost. Its fist gathered biting cold, carrying the roar of exploding ice crystals as it smashed down hard!
Dragonite was slammed violently into the ground by that heavy punch, and the impact made the entire arena tremble.
It struggled to get up, only to discover that its wings were covered in thick ice. Every flap could only scrape off a few scattered ice chips, making its movements exceptionally difficult.
The four-times weakness brought by an Ice-type move was simply too serious.
That Ice Punch just now had heavily injured Dragonite's body and taken away most of its stamina.
At this moment, Dragonite was like a fish on a cutting board. It could only pant helplessly, watching as Gallade approached step by step.
"Awoo…" "Go easy, please…"
Dragonite pleaded bitterly.
"Gallade." "I know."
Silver light suddenly burst from Gallade's toes, and a sharp slash came down on Dragonite!
The Flying-type move, Aerial Ace!
Boom!
The ground caved in, and cracks spread outward.
Dragonite completely lost consciousness in the dust and smoke, its body slowly sinking into the bottom of the shattered pit.
"Dragonite is unable to battle. Since all of Gym Leader Clair's Pokémon are unable to battle, the winner is Gym Leader Grey."
The referee announced the result.
"Sigh, I lost after all."
Clair knew she could not beat Grey.
She had come to battle Grey with the mindset of learning from him.
It was just that in that battle just now…
It seemed like she had not learned anything?
Grey fought way too fast!
There had barely been any commands the entire time. He had completely toyed with her!
Thinking of this, Clair's expression also became somewhat resentful.
When he fought others, it looked like an exhibition match. How come when it was her turn, he used his main team?
Using his main team was one thing, but he had even used Aura too!
What did that mean? Did he think she was really that much of a threat?
"This battle forced me to use my full strength. Gym Leader Clair, you are the first Trainer in the past month who made me use silent command in battle."
Grey walked up and extended his hand, helping Clair save some face. "Also, your cousin told me to use my full strength. Ahem, don't blame me for not holding back."
"My cousin? Lance really said that?!"
Clair immediately looked toward Lance.
She found him nodding at her.
"Hiss!"
So her cousin had wanted Gym Leader Grey to train her?
So that was how it was. She understood!
As a Trainer of the Dragon clan, Clair immediately understood her cousin's thoughtful intentions.
Lance, I understand!
I will work hard to catch up to your footsteps!
"Mm, it's good that you understand."
Grey did not understand, because he had made that up.
But he knew Clair understood.
Since Clair understood, everyone was happy.
"Whoa! Grey, your battle just now was so cool! But why did you use Aura to command?"
After the battle ended, Green ran over, looking especially attentive.
It had to be said, Grey really was pretty handsome when he did not talk.
The problem was that every time he opened his mouth, Green wanted to beat him up.
It would be great if Grey could keep quiet forever and just be a silent handsome guy.
"I was just kind of sleepy. I was afraid I'd yawn while giving commands."
Grey felt a little embarrassed.
Mainly, his Gym Leader-level Pokémon had all gone off to repair the dojo.
He only had one or two Pokémon around with Gym Leader-level strength.
So in this battle, he simply went all-out from the start and sent Gallade in to fight.
Green fell silent.
So he had kept quiet and pretended to be an expert because he was afraid people would notice he wanted to sleep?
This was the first time Green had ever seen someone get so bored while battling a Gym Leader that they wanted to sleep.
"It can't be helped. When you reach my age, you'll understand."
Grey reached out and made a pinching motion from a distance.
Green instinctively stepped back, but Grey did not pinch her this time.
"Why aren't you pinching?"
"Too lazy."
"No, pinch."
As she spoke, Green took the initiative to move closer. She pried open Grey's hand and placed her cheek in his palm.
"Pinch."
"?"
Grey felt baffled.
But he still pinched her a few times.
Only when her cheek turned red did Green finally look satisfied.
"Mm, that's right."
"Are you sick or something? When I don't pinch you, you come over on your own. Don't tell me you're addicted to being pinched now?"
Grey was speechless. After pinching her, he quickly let go and found a cloth to wipe his hand.
"Tch, my face is very clean, okay? Why are you acting so disgusted with me?"
"When something abnormal happens, there has to be a reason. Talk. Did you do something to wrong me?"
Grey's intelligence was online.
In a situation like Green's, either she was possessed, or she wanted something from him.
Otherwise, she would not do something like this.
If not, then she was acting completely out of character.
Fine, she did that plenty in daily life too.
But this situation was even more serious than being out of character!
It was like she had gone to the Distortion World!
"Hehe, you found me out, huh? Actually, I do have a tiny little thing I want you to help me with."
Green blinked and looked at Grey with a giggly smile.
"Say it. What is it?"
Grey actually let out a breath of relief.
He had thought Green was possessed.
Fortunately, she just wanted something from him.
"Ahem, well… you should be able to beat Gym Leader Giovanni, right?"
Green still wanted to ask whether Grey was confident about the next battle.
If he fought for ages and then lost to Giovanni, then her taking the initiative to let Grey pinch her today would be such a huge loss.
"I'm confident."
Reshiram and Kyurem were both in his hands. If he still could not beat Giovanni, then he might as well go find somewhere to jump off.
"Hehe, then that's good. Come, come, our great Gym Leader, please sit on the sofa. You worked hard today. How about I give you a massage?"
Green pulled Grey over to the sofa, then massaged his shoulders and his calves.
With her being this attentive, Grey instantly understood what Green wanted from him.
"Green, don't tell me you want me to bully that old man Pryce in the finals."
Grey exposed the truth in one sentence.
"That's right… Oh, no, no. How can this be called bullying an old man? This is about letting Pryce know just how quickly a new star can rise. The current era belongs to our Gym Leader Grey!"
Green massaged Grey with great effort.
"Sigh, bullying an old person is something I, Grey, cannot do."
Grey shook his head. "How about this? Tell me what happened. Why do you want to bully that old man?"
"Do you trust me?"
Green blinked.
"I do. I believe you wouldn't lie to me about something like this."
Grey was willing to believe Green.
Just like how she had been willing to lend him Ditto back then.
"Ugh, Grey, you have no idea what kind of life I lived before! I was separated from my parents when I was little, and it was all because I was carried away by a bird Pokémon as a child!"
"Later, I joined some masked organization and lived each day never knowing where my next meal would come from. Fortunately, I escaped halfway with Silver. He stayed in Johto, and I found a chance to come to the Kanto region and return to Pallet Town. I took along a starter Pokémon that was willing to follow me and left."
"Then I reached Cerulean City, met you, and finally started living a good life."
"The culprit who took me away was Pryce. He has the strength to capture Ho-Oh and Lugia. Are you sure you can defeat him?"
Green's explanation was a little brief, but Grey, who had read the special manga, knew what had happened.
"I can."
Grey nodded.
"He captured Ho-Oh and Lugia!"
Green reminded him.
She was still a little afraid Grey would get overconfident.
"I know, but I'm still confident."
Unlike Ho-Oh, Reshiram gained strength through Grey's own will.
Right now, Reshiram's battle strength was equal to three Kyurems. It was only a battle against Pryce, not a fight to the death. Grey's win rate was quite high.
Back then, the reason Pryce had been able to capture Ho-Oh and Lugia was purely because he had the perfect timing, location, and circumstances on his side.
If he really had to fight them one-on-one, it was not certain whether he could capture them again.
Besides.
They were all first-class Legendary-level combatants, but Grey's side had genuine first-class Legendary Pokémon. His advantage was very good.
"Mm… Then don't get careless or underestimate him. That old man Pryce is seriously strong!"
Green kindly reminded him, afraid that Grey might get carried away and fight recklessly.
Of course, after knowing Grey for so long, she knew he would not mess around in something like this.
"I know. Don't worry. Just wait for my good news when the time comes."
"Mm. Good luck!"
Green cheered him on while continuing to massage him.
"Not bad, not bad. Pinch here too. Later, massage my shoulders, and then clean my ears."
Grey enjoyed it very much.
However, his gaze remained serious.
Fighting two boss-level figures one after another.
It would be a lie to say he was not nervous.
On Giovanni's side, he had already returned to the hotel.
He stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, thinking about how he should deal with Grey in tomorrow's battle.
Should he fight properly, or improperly?
Fighting properly meant he would fight as Giovanni, the Viridian Gym Leader.
Fighting improperly meant fighting to kill.
But it was not suitable to go for the kill in this situation. Besides, Grey had Reshiram…
Going for the kill against a first-class Legendary?
That would be laughable.
"Hah… In just two and a half months, you've grown to this point. Grey, you're even more absurd than Red and Blue."
"If not for our positions, perhaps we could have been very good friends."
"What a shame. Truly a shame."
"Our positions are opposed, and I still have to keep hiding…"
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