"The final 6-on-6 battle... in the end, it's you and me."
After a series of battles, Ethan and Ryan, without any surprise, made it to the end.
"Yes. To be honest, I'm quite looking forward to battling you."
"When I had just become a Trainer, I received quite a bit of help from you. Now, let me show you how much I've grown during this time!"
Ethan smiled broadly and took out a Poké Ball.
"Then come. My first Pokémon will be this one!"
Ryan nodded and threw the Poké Ball in his hand. An Ursaring appeared on the field.
Among Pokémon Gyms, Ryan represented the Normal-type Gym, and Ursaring was also a Normal-type Pokémon.
"Ursaring, huh."
Ethan smiled faintly, feeling that Ryan seemed to have sent out Ursaring as the vanguard on purpose.
Although this Ursaring did not seem to be the same Ursaring from back then.
Unfortunately, the Gym he represented was the Sunny Weather Gym, and Sandslash was not with him either.
Otherwise, he truly would not have minded letting Sandslash stretch its muscles a little.
After Ryan released his Pokémon, Ethan also threw the Poké Ball in his hand.
With a roar, Charizard's figure appeared.
"This time it's Charizard?"
Seeing Charizard enter the field, the Gym Leaders present became serious.
"Now, Ursaring against Charizard. Let the battle begin."
Rachel, who was acting as referee, spoke after seeing that both sides were ready.
"The first attack is mine. Ursaring, use Bulk Up."
When the battle began, Ryan immediately gave the order.
Greatly increasing combat strength through the move Bulk Up was precisely the evaluation content of Ryan's Pokémon Gym.
The goal was to evaluate how the challenger responded to the opponent's boosting moves during battle.
"Charizard, Sunny Day."
Ethan also gave an order, and that was likewise the evaluation content of his Pokémon Gym.
At the start of the battle, both sides deployed their most mastered tactics!
"It's started! They're using boosting moves right from the beginning. It looks like both of them are serious!"
"Look, it's a clash between Hammer Arm and Flamethrower!"
As everyone commented, Ursaring's figure leaped, charging toward the Charizard in front of it.
Charizard had the ability to fly. If they allowed Charizard to rise into the sky, the battle would become very troublesome.
Therefore, Ryan directly chose to take advantage of the moment when Charizard had not yet taken off to have Ursaring launch a fierce attack.
On the other side, Charizard opened its mouth and fired the move Flamethrower.
It was only the move Flamethrower, but under the double boost of sunny weather and the Solar Power ability, it suddenly transformed into a huge wave of fire that swallowed Ursaring.
The flames burned fiercely, and the terrifying temperature made everyone watching from outside the field unable to help but retreat several steps before stabilizing themselves.
When their gazes returned to the field, they saw that the ground was already completely scorched. In the center of the field, Ursaring was still standing, but its fur was burned all over and it looked extremely battered.
It was evident that, in the first exchange, Charizard had occupied an absolute advantage.
"Why is that Charizard so strong?"
Seeing this, everyone showed expressions of surprise.
Although they knew that Ethan was truly strong and that before the Gym's opening, he had defeated all the training challengers from other Leagues.
Back then, the Pokémon Ethan fought with was not a Gym Pokémon. Accepting challenges the day before the Gym opened had been precisely to avoid Gym rules and use his main Pokémon in battle.
But they had not expected that Ethan also had such high mastery over Fire-type Pokémon!
The Charizard on the field and Ryan's Ursaring did not seem like existences of the same level at all.
"Charizard, finish it."
Seeing this, Ethan shook his head slightly. He suddenly felt that the battle had lost its interest.
"Damn it. Ursaring, don't give up. Use Hyper Beam!"
Seeing this, Ryan's face became extremely gloomy.
Under his order, Ursaring let out a low growl and began preparing the move Hyper Beam.
On the other side, Charizard calmly opened its mouth and launched the move Flamethrower.
In the eyes of these Gym Leaders, Charizard had truly spat out a flame with absolute ease.
But that attack, so casual, directly suppressed the move Hyper Beam, an ultimate move!
Under everyone's incredulous gazes, the pillar of fire swept across the field, directly destroyed the move Hyper Beam, and sent Ursaring flying, displaying a posture capable of crushing everything.
"Is the battle already over?"
A Gym Leader could not help but mutter in a low voice.
"Yes, it's over."
"The strength of the two is not on the same level."
Joy appeared in Rachel's eyes. Ethan's strength once again deeply surprised her.
Of course, this was also because they did not know what had happened on the other side of the ocean.
After all, that matter was related to Elite-level Trainers and also to the prestige of the Federal League and the Tavaria League, so naturally they would not spread it on their own initiative.
If they knew that Ethan had easily defeated an Elite, their expressions would probably be very different.
"Damn it. Looks like I can only use my trump card."
Ryan gritted his teeth, opened the Poké Ball in his hand, and released a Slaking.
"Slaking, use Amnesia."
After Slaking came out, Ryan once again ordered it to use a boosting move.
A strange light shone over its body, and Slaking, who originally looked lazy, immediately became much more energetic.
"Using the move Amnesia again to forget the Truant ability?"
"It seems this can also be considered an inheritance of the Grant family. The move Amnesia combined with Slaking... it certainly is quite strong."
Seeing this, Ethan smiled with appreciation. However, his words made Ryan's expression change drastically.
For his proudest technique to be revealed so easily by the other party... to tell the truth, Ryan's mentality began to crack a little.
"Slaking, use Rock Slide."
Without caring about anything else, Ryan gave another order first.
Afterward, Rock-type energy could be seen condensing in Slaking's hand, transforming into a huge rock that Slaking lifted. Immediately after, it hurled it forcefully toward Charizard, causing a whistling sound in the air.
Seeing this, Charizard showed a slightly more serious face and once again opened its mouth to use the move Flamethrower.
This time, the move Rock Slide thrown by Slaking with its terrifying physical strength also had very powerful force.
The move Flamethrower and the huge rock collided in the air and exploded directly, scattering smoke and dust.
"Now use Giga Impact!"
Seeing this, Ryan seemed to regain some confidence and gave another order.
Slaking let out a low roar. A protective layer formed around its body, and it charged toward Charizard.
And then... there was nothing more.
The Charizard on the other side began to burn with furious flames. The fire of the sun directly enveloped Slaking.
Facing an Elite-level Charizard, Slaking was completely incapable of withstanding a single blow.
"The next Pokémon."
Ethan's calm voice rang out, making everyone draw in a cold breath.
That attack was too terrifying. Even such a strong Slaking had been instantly defeated.
"Why do I feel that Leader Ethan's strength is already approaching the Elite level?"
A Gym Leader saw this and, with some doubt, voiced his guess, making everyone freeze in shock.
At that moment, even Rachel's face showed a complicated expression.
Elite level. To them, that completely belonged to another level of existence.
"I... lost."
Opposite him, Ryan took out a Poké Ball, raised it, and then slowly lowered it. In the end, he said those words weakly.
After his trump card, Slaking, was mercilessly defeated by the opponent in a single blow, he felt as if something inside him had broken.
An opponent of that level no longer awakened any desire to resist in his heart. He was truly too strong.
"Although my feelings are complicated, I think this might be a good thing. With Leader Ethan on our team, we can completely secure a victory."
"If we can make Leader Ethan face the opposing team's trump card, our chances of winning will increase tremendously."
After accepting Ethan's strength, these Gym Leaders became excited again.
If they could obtain a good position in this tournament, the benefits for them would be enormous.
"If everyone agrees, then the team captain for this occasion will be Ethan."
Seeing this, Rachel also stepped forward and spoke. Naturally, the others had no objections.
After confirming the captain, they gathered again to exchange information. After all, it was a team tournament, and they needed to understand one another well enough as teammates in order to arrange the lineup.
"Water, Fire, Ground, Ice, Normal, Psychic, and Flying."
"Our team composition this time isn't bad. In terms of defensive coverage, we can also make some combinations."
Since he had become captain, Ethan also began to combine the team's configuration and think of some tactics.
As long as they could make use of their respective type advantages, the upcoming battles would become much easier. This was crucial when facing opponents of the same level.
As the exchange continued, the other Gym Leaders trusted Ethan more and more. In addition, through the exchange battles, they occasionally received some advice from Ethan, which made them very happy and allowed them to improve their strength quite a bit.
(End of chapter)