Nova's current mood was one of resignation. Since there was no way to avoid the situation, he figured he might as well relax and just go along with it.
When Nova said he wanted to fight Gilbert Armstrong with everything he had, that statement was half true and half false.
The false part was that he never actually meant to provoke Gilbert in the first place.
After all, Nova wasn't the kind of battle maniac who truly loved Pokemon battles, unlike characters such as Red or Ash from the well known stories. Compared to battling, he found much more joy in his everyday moments with his Pokemon.
His reluctance to provoke Gilbert had nothing to do with fear of facing a Ground type Elite Trainer. It was simply because dealing with him seemed like far too much trouble.
The true part was that if he agreed to the opponent's idea of an instructional battle, one where the other side would clearly hold back, winning wouldn't feel satisfying, and losing would just be irritating. There was no reason to put himself through that.
So instead, he requested a proper formal battle. That way, even if he ended up losing, he could at least get an honest sense of how far he stood from a true Elite Four level trainer.
Honestly, he had hoped Gilbert might be arrogant enough to say that Nova's current skill level wasn't even worth a formal battle.
That outcome would have let Nova avoid all this unnecessary trouble.
Unfortunately, Gilbert's personality turned out to be the complete opposite of Nova's own. Despite being a sixty year old man, he was somehow even more passionate than Nova himself. Did that even make sense?
A pair of hands, each one roughly the size of half a pot lid, clapped down onto Nova's shoulders, and Gilbert burst out laughing.
"Now that's the spirit of an all out battle! Wonderful! Young people should have exactly this kind of energy! Looking at you, I can see myself when I was young! I accept your challenge!"
Please, don't accept it. Maybe think it over a little more first?
Were they truly forced to have this battle, or what exactly was happening here?
What was even the point of a match where winning brought no reward and losing carried no penalty? Someone needed to explain that to him.
Gilbert continued, "Since this will be a formal battle, it wouldn't be fair to count it as your official Gym evaluation. So instead, I will arrange for one of the Gym's Ace Trainers to have a proper Gym battle with you. If you manage to win and officially earn the Cliff Badge, then you may come and challenge me."
And just like that, the matter was settled.
Nova couldn't help but silently complain to himself that this blunt senior trainer's personality might actually be even more stubborn than his own equally blunt mentor's.
His mentor, Mort, at least listened when Nova had something to say. But this man acted like a clan elder, deciding everything on his own without asking for anyone's input.
He hadn't even bothered to ask Nova's opinion on the matter.
As he walked toward the battlefield, a thought crossed Nova's mind. What if, after winning the badge battle, he simply turned around and ran off? Would the old man explode in anger?
Of course, it was only a passing thought. Nova had no real intention of doing that.
Because the truth was, he wasn't afraid of battling at all.
Before the battlefield's protective barrier rose into place, the Ace Trainer sent to face Nova in the Gym battle greeted him cheerfully from across the field.
Nova exchanged a few polite words with him, feeling a bit puzzled. Did he know this person from somewhere?
In truth, Nova had no idea who this man was, but the man clearly knew exactly who Nova was.
After all, while Nova had been dominating the qualifiers, this man had been sitting on top of his Pidgeot, holding a pair of cracked binoculars, watching the entire thing unfold as an observer.
This Ace Trainer, named Aston, had always been known as a friendly and unassuming presence within the Layered Peaks Gym.
However, when Gilbert suddenly called for an Ace Trainer to battle Nova, Aston, who usually wore a calm smile, immediately volunteered himself for the job.
Watching Nova's performance during the cross-country race had stirred up a competitive spirit buried somewhere deep inside him.
He wanted to step into the arena himself and find out firsthand just how talented this young genius really was, the one who had even caught the attention of Gilbert.
"Don't hold anything back in this Gym battle. That young man across from you genuinely loves to battle, and our Layered Peaks Gym must not disappoint someone like him."
That was the instruction Gilbert gave Aston before the match began.
Now, looking across the field at the polite, kind faced, and rather handsome young man standing opposite him, Aston kept smiling on the outside while a storm of excitement raged within.
Aston said, "Of course, Gym Leader Gilbert. You don't need to remind me of that. Defeating talented young trainers happens to be my favorite thing in the world."
The opening bell rang!
"I'm counting on you, Growlithe!"
"Go, Pidgeot!"
Both trainers were caught a little off guard.
Nova asked, "Isn't your Gym supposed to specialize in Ground types? Why would you send out a Flying type the moment the battle actually begins?"
Aston shot back, "What's wrong with you, kid? You're up against a Ground type Gym, and you're opening with a Rock type?"
Nova explained that he didn't have much choice. His Growlithe had the special trait called "Leader," so he needed to send it out first in order to activate the trait's effect.
As for Aston, he had simply been running a clever trick of his own.
Since the Gym Leader of the Layered Peaks Gym was a Ground type Elite Trainer, most challengers naturally assumed that every trainer inside the Gym would only use Ground type Pokemon. However, Gilbert's true ambition reached far beyond simply dominating with Ground types alone.
Gilbert had always dreamed of one day challenging for the Champion title, but as the years passed, that dream slowly became less realistic for him personally. So instead, he placed his hopes in the next generation, hoping to raise a future Champion from within the Layered Peaks Gym.
To become a Champion, focusing on just one type was actually not much of an advantage. Because of this, when the Layered Peaks Gym recruited its Ace Trainers, it welcomed skilled trainers of every type without any kind of discrimination.
Aston happened to be a trainer who specialized in Flying types. Every time he faced a new challenger, he would always lead with his strongest type first. This approach not only caught many Ground type focused strategies completely off guard, but it also occasionally allowed him to catch challengers' Grass type Pokemon by surprise.
It worked extremely well, almost every single time.
Except today, he had run into someone who refused to play by the expected rules.
Nova found it hard to keep a straight face as well. He had assumed he would be the one exploiting a type disadvantage, but instead, it seemed the tables had turned and his opponent had unknowingly walked right into one.
Well, in that case, there was no reason to hold back out of politeness.
"Growlithe, use Smack Down!"
A Rock type move against a Flying type opponent, a direct hit from Smack Down, delivered with full respect for the matchup.
The tactical value of this move was actually even greater in real life than in the games. In games, Flying type Pokemon with damaged wings often don't show many extra negative effects.
But in reality, wings are one of the most important parts of a bird Pokemon's body. Many of their moves, and even basic movement itself, depend on flapping their wings properly. Once struck by a move like Smack Down, which specifically targets the wings, a bird Pokemon's overall strength can drop significantly.
"Pidgeot, use Aerial Ace to dodge!"
Pidgeot traced a graceful arc through the air, narrowly slipping past the incoming rock projectile. Using the curve created by the move, it smoothly circled around to the open space behind Growlithe, then dove sharply downward.
A stream of cyan colored Flying type energy swept across Pidgeot's body like a rapidly falling meteor, aiming to slice the still gleeful little dog standing in the center of the arena clean in two.
Nova said, "This is exactly what I've been waiting for!"