Tatsuya and Simon came to challenge the Gym again, and Terrance gladly accepted their challenge.
Terrance still remembered a question Simon asked when they were leaving after the first challenge.
Normal-type Pokémon…
Of course, Terrance had one—Castform, which fit perfectly with the Rogge Gym’s type. However, during previous battles, no challenger had managed to get past Terrance’s first Pokémon.
“Challengers, we meet again,” Terrance greeted the two in a mature tone.
“Mr. Gym Leader, we meet again. I’m Simon from Saffron City. This time, I’ll be the first to challenge you!” After researching Terrance Gallade’s attack patterns extensively and devising numerous battle strategies, he had finally found a way to counter them and was now determined to obtain the Rogge Gym Badge.
“As for how to deal with the unknown Normal-type Pokémon, I’ve brought along my Fighting-type partner,” Simon thought to himself.
“The battle rules are two-on-two, and the Gym Trainer cannot switch Pokémon mid-battle. Then, let the match begin!”
Terrance was the first to send out his Pokémon—Castform, resembling a small gray water droplet. Simon reached for his Poké Ball, but upon seeing the Pokémon Terrance sent out, he was taken aback. So the Normal Type Pokémon is Castform?
“Why is it Castform? I remember this Pokémon can also use Ice-type moves. If that’s the case, Breloom’s type advantage is gone!” Simon thought regretfully.
After a moment of hesitation, Simon threw out his Poké Ball.
“Go, Breloom!”
Because of its appearance, Breloom is jokingly called a “mushroom kangaroo” by people from other regions. As a Grass/Fighting-type Pokémon, it was Simon’s trump card to counter Terrance’s Normal-type Pokémon. However, there was an unexpected turn of events.
“Breloom, huh?” Terrance rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Breloom, Mach Punch!
The moment the battle began, Simon, knowing Castform’s characteristics, commanded an immediate fast attack. He didn’t want to give Castform any chance to change the weather and transform.
However, Terrance and Castform also reacted swiftly. Without giving Breloom a chance to get close, Castform used Powder Snow to form an arc, serving as a defensive measure to block Breloom’s advance.
Crush!
With a single punch, Breloom scattered the Powder Snow. But when it looked again, Castform had floated into the air and was staring down at it mockingly.
“Attack!” Simon shouted.
Breloom immediately pushed off with its legs, displaying astonishing bouncing power, and launched Sky Uppercut!
Castform swayed its body, seemingly chanting something softly. In an instant, water elements began to converge rapidly, and in the next moment, dark clouds surged over the arena, turning the sky pitch black.
“So fast!” Simon exclaimed in surprise. The Sky Uppercut hadn’t even connected yet, and the opponent had already summoned rain clouds?
The next moment, Castform transformed into its Rainy Form and a bright blue Energy Ball shot out, colliding with Breloom’s Sky Uppercut. The clash triggered a powerful explosion that engulfed both Pokémon in its aftermath.
“Breloom?!”
Thankfully…
Seeing the green figure land on the ground and stabilize its footing, Simon let out a sigh of relief. However, Castform also appeared largely unharmed, which caused Simon’s expression to turn grave.
“It has been trained well in timing and retraction of moves, and is also above the normal level at using combo moves, which meets the criteria for earning the Badge.” After two rounds of confrontation, Terrance had a general understanding of Simon’s skills.
Next, the Rainy Weather transformed into Hail Weather. Castform changed its form once again. Breloom only felt the Hail hitting its body, reducing its strength to 60%. All of its focus was on resisting the hail. Facing Castform’s Snowstorm, Breloom was in a miserable state. Countless Hailstones, under Castform’s control, even blocked Breloom’s Fighting-type moves, creating layer upon layer of defense, ultimately wearing down Breloom.
“To think he would raise a Pokémon like Castform, that’s quite interesting,” Inspector Aida exclaimed in surprise from the audience seats.
Whether it’s Altaria or Gallade, both are powerful and rare Pokémon. As for Castform, its fighting style was quite different compared to the previous two.
“It’s too early to be surprised,” Lucy Joy didn’t elaborate.
She had witnessed Castform’s full power before, back on the deserted island. The rain clouds it created in the wild were at least five times larger than what it had just produced here, and its condensation speed was even faster. With a single Thunder move, it had repelled hundreds of Spearow. What was happening now was clearly Castform holding back.
Lucy Joy had observed Castform’s training before. Its strongest Ice-type move wasn’t inferior to turning a torrential rainstorm into a full-blown blizzard. Combined with the move Hurricane, it could create an enormous Blizzard capable of transforming an entire area into an ice field.
The current approach of using Snowstorm in conjunction with Hail for interference and consuming stamina is already very considerate of the challenger’s emotions.
“Is it over…?” Seeing Breloom faint, Simon sighed as he took out the Poké Ball and recalled it: “You did good, it looks like Castform’s stamina is running low as well. If that’s the case, go, Wobbuffet!”
A blue Pokémon appeared, swaying its black tail. Its squinted eyes looked as if they were enduring something. Terrance stared at the Pokémon in front of him, momentarily stunned into silence.
“Haha, so that’s Simon’s secret weapon! His trump card against Gallade,” Tatsuya, watching from the side, burst into laughter. No wonder he had lost more than he had won in battles against Simon.
“Hmm, Wobbuffet, huh?” Terrance glanced at Castform, and the two seemed to share an unspoken understanding. “Castform, Weather Ball!”
An icy blue ball, radiating frigid cold shot out.
Seeing that, however, Simon smirked with a look of “you’ve fallen for it” on his face.
At the same time, Wobbuffet’s body glowed, and it didn’t even try to dodge the Ice-type Weather Ball. It simply let it hit it. As Wobbuffet let out a pained cry, Castform was “stunned” and looked at the Weather Ball, which was bouncing back at an accelerated speed, at a loss for what to do.
Mirror Coat!
Boom!
The weather cleared, and the massive icy beam reflected back, striking the panicked Castform. With a cry of pain, Castform was sent flying, fainting.
“Nice!” Simon clenched his fists and said: “Wobbuffet, well done!”
“Mirror Coat? I see now…” Terrance was “surprised”. He praised Castform briefly before recalling it. He then threw out another Poké Ball.
“In that case, let’s see if you can handle this. Go, Gallade.”
The silent swordsman, Gallade, entered the stage. Simon immediately composed himself and nervously looked at Gallade. To him, Gallade was far more difficult to deal with than Castform.
However, if it were up to Terrance to decide, the outcome of a battle between Castform and Gallade is really hard to say.
If Castform fails to gain home field advantage, Gallade has a very high chance of winning. But if Castform can prepare the weather first, even though Gallade’s Teleport is very fast, as long as it can’t defeat Castform in one hit, the Hurricane and Thunder that follow closely behind will definitely leave Gallade in a tough spot.
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