Join my p@treon for more chapters
[email protected]/Tempest_29
100 P.S -1 Bonus chapter
"Aron, Rock Tomb!"
Steven swung his arm decisively, launching the first attack.
"Aron!" Aron stared at the round Poké Ball-shaped Pokémon in front of him with visible dissatisfaction.
Why can't it be a rock?
Aron stomped its feet hard, and suddenly several rocks erupted from beneath Electrode, trapping it in place.
"Electrode, use Charge!"
Trapped by the rocks, Electrode's eyes narrowed as several electric currents surged around its body.
Charge would increase the power of its next Electric-type attack, and the crackling electricity also boosted its Special Defense.
"Still trying to power up?" Steven chuckled. "Use Stomp!"
"Oh no!" Wattson felt a bad premonition.
Aron let out a mischievous laugh, lifting its legs high and slamming them down!
The entire arena began to shake slightly, and the ground beneath Electrode suddenly bulged, shaking it free from Rock Tomb's confinement.
Many people mistakenly believed that Rock-type moves were super effective against Electric-types, but that wasn't true. Rock-type moves dealt neutral damage to Electric-types. Only Ground-type moves were super effective against Electric-types.
To prepare for the Mauville City Gym challenge, Steven had specifically taught Aron the move Stomp.
"Electrode!" Wattson's voice carried a note of concern. That Stomp attack must have hurt.
It was unfortunate that Aron wasn't a Ground-type Pokémon, so it didn't receive Same-Type Attack Bonus. Otherwise, it would have knocked out Electrode instantly.
"Bzzzt..." Electrode struggled to right itself. The previous Stomp had been quite painful.
"Let's hit it with another Stomp!" Steven commanded.
"Aron!"
The arena began to vibrate again, and this time Wattson didn't dare be careless.
"Magnet Rise!"
Electrode used electricity to generate magnetism, levitating into the air.
Sensing the change in the ground, Electrode quickly dodged.
The next second, a section of the ground suddenly bulged upward, nearly launching Electrode into the air.
"Rock Slide!"
The rocks originally used for Rock Tomb now broke free from the ground, floating in mid-air.
They hurtled toward the levitating Electrode!
"Block it with Discharge!"
"Bzzzt!"
Electrode released a massive amount of electricity from its body. The crackling lightning shattered all the incoming rocks!
"Well done! Now charge forward—"
Despite being visibly exhausted, Electrode gritted its metaphorical teeth and charged ahead!
"I see what you're planning..." Steven had already figured out Wattson's strategy.
"Use Explosion!"
"Protect yourself with Rock Tomb!"
Aron looked at Electrode, which was rapidly approaching while glowing with white light. It quickly manipulated the ground around itself, swiftly raising a rock formation to surround its body!
Boom!
The next moment, Electrode erupted in a brilliant white light, and a massive explosion echoed across the battle arena.
In an instant, the shockwave from the explosion spread to the edges of the arena.
When the white light faded, Electrode lay fainted on the ground.
The two rocks in front of Aron were destroyed by the explosion, but Aron itself remained unharmed.
"Oh dear! He saw through it!" Wattson rubbed his bald head in frustration.
Trainers who used Voltorb or Electrode always kept Explosion as a trump card.
Just by seeing Wattson make Electrode charge forward recklessly, Steven knew it intended to use Explosion.
Electrode had taken heavy damage from Stomp and had expended most of its internal electricity resisting Rock Slide.
As the Gym Leader, Wattson couldn't switch out his Pokémon mid-battle, so perhaps Explosion was the best option at that moment.
Explosion released all of a Pokémon's power at once, causing the user to faint.
But compared to being knocked out by an opponent's attack, fainting after exhausting one's own power seemed slightly more advantageous.
"Come back, Electrode." Wattson looked at the Poké Ball with a hint of helplessness. "You did your best..."
Skarmory's type matchup had been quite unfavorable, making that battle very difficult.
Aron, at least, had moves that were super effective against Electric-types, making its battle much smoother.
"My last Pokémon is this one!" Wattson threw out his final Poké Ball.
With a flash of white light, a Pokémon that looked like three Magnemite connected together appeared on the field.
Magneton was formed when three Magnemite linked together, similar to how Metagross evolved from Metang.
However, Magneton clearly looked more like a fusion than Metagross did.
"Magneton, huh..." Steven remained calm. As long as he could land a Stomp, he could deal heavy damage.
Magneton, being Electric and Steel-type, had a quadruple weakness to Ground-type moves, so the effect would be even better than it was on Electrode.
However, since he'd already revealed his Ground-type move, Wattson would likely have a counter prepared.
"Use Magnet Rise!"
As expected, Wattson immediately had the newly appeared Magneton use Magnet Rise to avoid taking heavy damage from Ground-type moves.
"Rock Slide!"
"Aron!"
Aron controlled the shattered rocks from the Explosion, sending them flying toward Magneton.
Magneton, being Electric and Steel-type, also resisted Rock-type moves, so even if this attack landed, the damage wouldn't be significant.
"Shock Wave!"
Electric currents flickered around Magneton, and a powerful bolt of lightning shot out!
"Aron!"
The attack struck Aron directly. Parts of Aron's steel armor became charred, with faint wisps of black smoke rising from them.
"Such strong offensive power..." Steven's expression grew serious.
Even though Aron was slightly stronger than Magneton in terms of raw power, Magneton had the type advantage while using Magnet Rise. Its powerful Special Attack truly gave Steven trouble.
After all, he wasn't a master of reverse-type battles.
Aron shook its head, glancing back at the faint black smoke rising from its back. A surge of anger welled up inside.
"Aron!!!"
I'll have to eat so many more meals of ore to repair this damage!
Do you know how much I can eat in one meal?!
Aron trembled all over, clearly furious.
"Calm down, Aron. Just block the next attack with Rock Tomb," Steven instructed.
Steven noticed Aron's agitation. As long as he gave the command first next time, he could avoid most of the Electric-type damage.
"Shock Wave!" Wattson didn't care about Aron's anger and trembling, choosing to press his advantage.
Watching the golden current slither through the air like a serpent, Steven quickly ordered Aron to use Rock Tomb to block it.
But unexpectedly, Aron didn't use Rock Tomb.
It seemed like it was still charging up?
"Aron..."
Almost... just a little more!
That immense power inside me is about to burst forth!
Boom!
Shock Wave struck Aron, but it seemed to have no effect.
Whoosh—
Aron's body was suddenly enveloped in white light, and its small frame began to grow larger!
"Evolution?!" Steven was stunned. Aron shouldn't have been ready to evolve yet.
He had explained long ago when Metagross evolved that evolution should only happen when a Pokémon's energy was sufficient.
Forcing a premature evolution could lead to many negative side effects.
Although Aron was gluttonous, it wasn't foolish.
It shouldn't force an evolution out of anger.
Unless... this Pokémon had stored part of the energy from the ore it consumed inside its body, and the Shock Wave triggered a release mechanism, allowing that energy to meet the requirements for proper evolution.
"Aron!!!"
The evolving Aron roared, dispelling both the white light and the electric shock from its body!
After evolution, Aron's body resembled a four-legged dinosaur.
Its back was covered with several segmented steel plates, each with a prominent ridge running down the center.
"I'm taking you for a full body check-up right after this battle! If there's anything wrong with your body, you'll be in serious trouble!" Steven shouted.
Even if Aron lost, Steven could still win by sending out Scyther or Metagross.
But if Aron suffered permanent physical damage due to forcing its own evolution, Steven would be genuinely furious.
"It evolved at this very moment?" Wattson was somewhat surprised.
Well, now he was going to be completely overwhelmed.
"Lairon!"
The newly evolved Lairon instantly released a powerful surge of energy, causing the surrounding debris—shattered rocks—to condense into a massive sphere.
Lairon pushed the enormous sphere toward Magneton. Its immense power even repelled Magneton's resisting electric attacks.
Boom!
Magneton took the full force of this powerful attack directly!
The massive explosion of Steel-type energy created a whirlwind inside the Gym.
With tiny rock fragments caught in the wind, spectators had to raise their arms to shield their faces.