"Very well, I accept your challenge. Gym rules are a two-on-two battle, everything else follows Kanto League standards. Do you understand?"
Roxanne spoke with practiced confidence.
The attendant who had shown Gary inside took his place as referee.
"The Rustboro Gym battle will now begin! Each side may use two Pokémon. Leader Roxanne, please send out your first Pokémon."
"Then I'll start with this one—go, Geodude!"
A round, rock-like Pokémon with two sturdy arms materialized. For more chapters visıt 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝙣𝙚𝙩
[Lv. 15 Geodude ♂ / Gym]
Its level confirmed what Gary suspected—Rustboro Gym was designed for brand-new Trainers.
"Shroomish, you're up!"
A Shiny Shroomish with orange-red markings appeared on the battlefield.
[Lv. 16 Shroomish ♂ / Gym]
"A Shiny Shroomish!" Roxanne exclaimed. "Did you catch it here in Hoenn?"
"Sure did. I'm using only Pokémon I've captured in this region," Gary replied casually.
"Interesting. Geodude, use Mega Punch!"
Geodude lunged forward, its right fist cloaked in white-hot energy.
Shroomish sprang forward. The punch landed—WHAM!—and Shroomish was knocked backward. But as it hit the ground, a cloud of spores burst from his body. Geodude inhaled them—and immediately collapsed, fast asleep.
"Spore...!" Roxanne gasped.
Gary was just as surprised. The EX variant of Effect Spore had triggered on the very first hit, inflicting the Sleep status condition.
"Finish it—Solar Beam!"
Shroomish began absorbing sunlight. A moment later, he loosed a dazzling white beam of energy.
Geodude was blasted off its feet and knocked unconscious.
"Geodude is unable to battle! Shroomish wins!"
Roxanne withdrew her Pokémon with a thoughtful expression. "I underestimated you. Time to get serious. Go—Nosepass!"
A stub-armed, stone-like Pokémon with a large red nose emerged.
[Lv. 43 Nosepass ♂ / Gym]
Gary blinked. "Level 43…?"
"Shroomish, return!" he called immediately. There was no way a level-16 Shroomish could take even one hit.
[Lv. 65 Latios / Legendary]
"L-Latios?!" Roxanne froze for a moment, then refocused. "Nosepass, Rock Tomb!"
Boulders rained from above, but Latios had already gathered swirling draconic energy and fired a roaring pulse of light.
When the dust cleared, Nosepass was down and unconscious. Latios hovered above, entirely unscathed.
"Nosepass is unable to battle—Latios wins! The victory goes to the challenger, Gary!"
"Latios, return." Gary recalled the Eon Pokémon immediately, Legendary Pokémon tended to draw too much attention.
Roxanne stepped forward and presented a badge.
"This Stone Badge is proof of your victory at the Rustboro Gym."
"Thank you." Gary accepted it with a nod.
[Ding! Mission complete. Rewards have been delivered to the inventory.]
"Good-bye." With a brief nod, Gary turned and exited the Gym.
Watching him leave, Roxanne murmured, "The Ever Grande Conference is going to be worth watching."
Outside the Gym, Gary opened his inventory to inspect the "random battle item" reward—and froze.
A Mega Stone that allows Manectric to Mega Evolve.
Technically, it qualified as an in-battle effect item, so it seemed the system could award Mega Stones at random.
"Manectric, huh…" Gary sighed. Even with Mega Evolution, Manectric was fairly niche: Intimidate only triggered on entry, and you had to send it out and Mega Evolve before it took full advantage. Still, a free Mega Stone was nothing to scoff at. Who knew—he might catch a strong Manectric later.