"Skorupi, finish it with Cross Poison."
With a loud cry, Skorupi raised its pincers glowing with a violet poison aura and lunged toward Machoke, slashing fiercely at its abdomen!
Machoke had barely any stamina left to begin with, so it was no surprise when it collapsed to the ground after the blow.
"Machoke is unable to battle. Skorupi wins. The victor is Gym Leader Sato!"
Sato called Skorupi back to his side, then turned to face the challenger across from him.
"Machoke has power, but it lacks adaptability. Even for a Fighting-type, strength alone isn't enough. If you think you can earn my recognition with a Machoke you just caught less than a week ago, you'll have to try harder. Go home and keep training."
The challenger walked off dejectedly. Though he knew full well that Gym Leader Sato wouldn't send out any of his main team, the massive gap between them was still hard to swallow.
"Grayson, how many challengers are left?" Sato turned to ask the trainee beside him.
"Reporting, Gym Leader. There are still thirteen challengers on the list. Nine of them already have four or more Gym Badges and are requesting to battle you directly."
"Alright, send in the next one." Sato nodded. As he spoke, he crouched down and checked Skorupi's condition.
Skorupi lifted its pincers and nodded firmly. For it, having the chance to battle so frequently was a rare and valuable opportunity.
"Gym Leader, the next challenger is here. They've earned five Gym Badges, the most among today's challengers."
Grayson came over obediently and gave a formal report, putting away the starry-eyed admiration in his expression.
"Alright, Skorupi, you're up again." Sato nodded back at him. He didn't particularly care whether challengers had Badges or how many they had.
The challenger took their place, and Sato sent out Skorupi right away. Once the referee finished reading the standard battle rules, the new challenger suddenly raised a hand in protest.
"Gym Leader Sato, I checked online. Your Gym is officially registered as a Dark-type Gym. Because of that, we challengers prepare specifically to face Dark-type Pokémon. The rıghtful source is 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽
But Skorupi is a Poison/Bug-type Pokémon. Suddenly sending out something of a different type… don't you think that's a little unfair to the challenger?"
"Oh?" Sato raised an eyebrow slightly, amused by how "self-righteous" the challenger sounded.
"You agree with me, don't you, Gym Leader Sato?" The challenger seemed even more fired up when Sato didn't answer right away.
"Skorupi is the weakest Pokémon on my team. If you can't even beat it, what do you want me to do?"
"You-" The challenger was momentarily speechless, realizing Sato had just mocked him.
Before the challenger could reply, Skorupi was already worked up. Why couldn't it be the one to battle?
Besides, it had its own underlings now… it wasn't the weakest anymore!
…In the next instant, a brilliant blue light suddenly erupted from Skorupi's body, enveloping it completely.
Right before the challenger's stunned eyes, Skorupi evolved directly into Drapion!
The newly evolved Drapion let out a powerful roar, swinging its massive pincers with pride.
Its entire body was now a striking mix of deep crimson and rose pink. It had lost the cold, eerie feel typical of Poison-types, replaced by a bold, commanding presence.
Of course, Sato would never admit he had just secretly swallowed a bit of saliva…
"Allow me to reintroduce it: Drapion, the Ogre Scorp Pokémon, mostly found in the Sinnoh Region. Its typing is Poison… and Dark!"
Sato's lips curled slightly as he continued, "So, does its typing meet your expectations now?"
The challenger's face instantly turned bright red. He only had to deal with a Skorupi, but thanks to his own big mouth, he had provoked it into evolving on the spot!
"Challenger, send out your Pokémon!" the Gym referee called coldly. As someone who had once been a Gym trainee himself, he had no intention of being polite to such an arrogant challenger.
"Hmph, so what if it just evolved? Rapidash, take it down!"
To everyone's surprise, the challenger sent out a Fire-type Rapidash; clearly showing that while he complained about Sato using a non-Dark-type earlier, he had actually prepared counters in advance.
What he didn't expect, however, was that Skorupi would evolve on the spot. Its new typing no longer feared Fire-type moves.
"Rapidash, use Flame Wheel!"
"Drapion, block it and use Swords Dance."
Sato gave his command with authority, and Drapion dug its four short legs into the ground, ignoring the incoming Flame Wheel as it began using Swords Dance on its own.
Rapidash's Flame Wheel struck Drapion head-on, sending it skidding backward a good distance.
But looking closely, Drapion had already braced itself with its massive pincers, stopping Rapidash's momentum. The actual damage it took was minimal.
"Drapion, Night Slash."
With a roar, Drapion shifted from defense to offense, locking down Rapidash's movements by clamping its pincers tightly around it.
The next moment, a burst of dark energy shot out from the left side of Drapion's head, its tail pincer had launched a precise Night Slash directly at Rapidash's neck.
Combined with its Sniper Ability, the power of Night Slash was multiplied by 2.25 times…
As Drapion released its grip, Rapidash collapsed limply to the ground. The flames on its body had lost all their heat.
"Rapidash is unable to battle. Drapion wins. Challenger, please send out your next Pokémon!"
The referee raised his flag and shouted, while the Gym trainees in the audience ignored Sato's usual rules and burst into applause.
After all, this challenger really had it coming.
"DAMMIT! Pidgeot, use Aerial Ace!"
The challenger sent out his next Pokémon immediately. He had clearly noticed Drapion's enormous pincers that could rotate in all directions, making ground combat a pain; so now he was going for an aerial attack.
"Drapion, brace yourself. Night Slash."
Pidgeot's Aerial Ace struck Drapion squarely in the lower back, but this time, it was caught by Drapion's tail pincer.
Drapion's neck twisted a full 180 degrees, and it immediately countered with a Night Slash using its front pincers.
"Pidgeot is unable to battle. Drapion wins. Challenger, please send out your next Pokémon!"
Based on the number of Badges a challenger held, Sato would randomly select a battle format: 2v2, 3v3, or a full 6v6 match.
That meant this particular challenger had only one Pokémon left to use.
But as he stared blankly at his Pidgeot being tossed aside like trash by Drapion, he finally understood just how vast the gap was between himself and Gym Leader Sato.