"Go! Ninjask!"
Zheng Xiong sent out his ace Pokémon.
Facing an old rival, Red didn't hesitate either. He immediately took out Marshtomp's Poké Ball.
"You've been waiting for this day for a long time, haven't you?"
He threw the Poké Ball.
The moment Marshtomp saw Ninjask, a completely different light burst into its eyes—
The flames of revenge ignited!
"Ninjask, use Double Team!"
Zheng Xiong immediately ordered Ninjask to create clones and stall for time.
Because Ninjask's Ability was extremely powerful—
Speed Boost.
[Speed Boost: Raises the Pokémon's Speed by one stage over time]
As long as it could stall at the start of the battle, Ninjask's speed would keep increasing—
until it became so fast it resembled an afterimage.
Combined with its already incredible reaction speed, it would be almost impossible to hit.
Looking at the dozens of Ninjask illusions in front of him, Red remained completely calm.
"Set up Rain Dance."
As a core specialty of a weather-based Gym, even though Marshtomp wasn't the strongest at weather control—
its Rain Dance activation speed was absolutely top-tier.
From charging to dark clouds forming and rain falling—
it took less than ten seconds.
At the same time, the stadium activated its overhead barriers, preventing the audience from getting drenched.
Following Red's command, Marshtomp exerted force—
condensing a head-sized rock between its hands.
In the next instant—
its arms tensed violently.
Those seemingly ordinary arms bulged with power, muscles swelling as veins surged like coiling serpents beneath its skin.
With a full-force punch—
Marshtomp smashed the rock.
The stone instantly shattered into countless sharp fragments—
shooting toward every single Ninjask clone!
In a split second, all the illusions were destroyed—
leaving only the real Ninjask, staring at the overwhelming barrage of stone blades in terror.
"Use Bug Buzz!"
Zheng Xiong reacted instantly.
A high-frequency buzzing sound erupted from Ninjask's mouth, shattering the incoming stone fragments into dust.
The debris mixed with the rain—
turning the once-clear water muddy.
Zheng Xiong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Gym Leader Red's newly developed move is terrifying… not only did it clear Double Team, it almost severely injured Ninjask."
But Red shook his head.
"You're wrong. I didn't develop that move."
"…You didn't?" Zheng Xiong froze.
Red pointed at Marshtomp.
"It came up with it itself."
"Zheng Xiong—never underestimate a Pokémon's intelligence."
Zheng Xiong looked at Marshtomp, whose expression had remained calm since the start—
and felt a chill.
"I underestimated you… Marshtomp."
Red smiled slightly.
"But since you want to see my own developed techniques…"
"I'll show you."
Zheng Xiong and Ninjask immediately tensed up, watching Marshtomp closely.
At that moment—
something felt off.
Ninjask suddenly realized its wings were moving unusually easily.
The rain around it… seemed to disappear.
Then—
both Ninjask and Zheng Xiong saw in shock—
the surrounding rainwater condensed into a massive hand-like shape—
and grabbed Ninjask midair!
"This is bad! Ninjask—break free!"
Zheng Xiong was stunned.
He never imagined Marshtomp could use rainwater—
to directly form a Whirlpool-like grasp right in front of Ninjask!
This was only the first stage of the "Frozen Domain."
If Marshtomp's control over water improved further—
it could eventually manipulate even moisture in the air to capture opponents.
For now, it could only do this under heavy rain.
Trapped, Ninjask frantically beat its wings, trying to escape—
"Phase Two—Mud Prison."
In the next moment—
mud surged up from the ground, replacing the water with thick, heavy sludge!
Once trapped in mud—
there was no escape.
Marshtomp, however, wasn't having an easy time either—
it had to control both the water and the mud simultaneously.
But the effort paid off.
Looking at the immobilized Ninjask, Red gave the final command:
Marshtomp condensed another massive rock—
veins bulging as it hurled it forward with explosive force!
Rock Slide!
Even though Ninjask used Bug Buzz to weaken the attack—
it had underestimated Marshtomp's strength.
"Ninjask is unable to battle! Zheng Xiong, please send out your next Pokémon!"
[Ding~ Congratulations, Host. Marshtomp defeated Ninjask. Level Up: 29 → 30]
Red chuckled.
"So this counts as breaking through a mental barrier?"
Zheng Xiong sighed.
"As expected of you, Gym Leader Red… Compared to you, my Ninjask's growth is still too slow."
But he had no intention of surrendering.
He sent out his second Pokémon.
Seeing the halo-bearing Pokémon, many spectators looked confused.
Because this Pokémon—
was rare and extremely unique.
Shedinja.
It possessed what could be called the strongest Ability in the Pokémon world—
and the weakest HP.
[Shedinja]
[Talent: Medium]
[Type: Bug / Ghost]
[Ability: Wonder Guard (Only takes damage from super-effective moves)]
[Description: A Pokémon with only 1 HP, yet capable of incredible performance thanks to its unique Ability]
Simply put—
Shedinja only takes damage from super-effective attacks (Fire, Dark, Rock, Flying, Ghost).
All other moves deal zero damage.
A notorious "mechanics monster" in Pokémon battles.
However—
Zheng Xiong's expression wasn't optimistic.
Against many opponents, Shedinja could achieve total immunity and become unbeatable.
But against Red…
His expression turned bitter.
Red recalled Marshtomp and sent out Larvitar.
As soon as Larvitar appeared—
its Ability activated.
Sand Stream!
A sandstorm swept across the battlefield.
[Sandstorm: Deals periodic damage to all Pokémon except Rock, Ground, and Steel types]
Unfortunately—
despite Shedinja's broken mechanics—
sandstorm was its natural enemy.
The sandstorm struck.
Shedinja took damage.
Shedinja fainted.
Watching it get instantly defeated—
question marks practically appeared above the audience's heads.
"That's it? It got one-shot? Isn't that Pokémon way too weak?!"
Zheng Xiong took a deep breath and sent out his final Pokémon—
a classic choice for Bug Catchers.
"Go—Beedrill!"
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