A scorching flame immediately burst forth from Magby's small body. The flame swiftly enveloped its entire form, and then it violently charged toward the Riolu opposite it.
"Riolu, be careful and dodge!" Derick frowned, trying hard to remain calm.
However, the high-temperature ground environment had already thrown Riolu into disarray.
It couldn't use its skills normally at all.
Magby's Flame Wheel slammed into Riolu, and Riolu's body instantly flew backward.
"Don't give the opponent an opening, Magby, Fire Punch!"
While Riolu had yet to get up, Alex suddenly stretched out his finger and issued the command to pursue.
"Riolu, danger! Get up quickly!" Derick reacted immediately.
But the high-temperature floor of this Gym affected it too much. Riolu was hopping around on the scorching ground, completely unable to execute its Trainer's command.
Magby's Fire Punch followed closely.
Under Magby's fierce offensive, Riolu quickly lost its ability to battle.
"The first battle goes to Magby!" The referee announced the result of the battle. He looked at Derick and said, "Contestant Derick, please send out a Pokémon that can continue the battle!"
A Pokémon to continue the battle?
Derick opened his mouth, but he only had Riolu with him right now...
What should he do?
Derick looked at the incapacitated Riolu, gritted his teeth, and said, "I forfeit the challenge!"
"Oh?" Alex was slightly puzzled.
"I haven't had time to catch a second Pokémon yet!" Derick continued, "Gym Leader Alex, I will come back to challenge you later!"
"I see... It looks like you're a rookie Trainer!" Alfred suddenly realized, and then advised, "If you are a rookie Trainer, I suggest you don't rush to challenge the Gym yet."
"You can first go to the wilderness for special training. While honing your strength, you can also see if there are any wild Pokémon suitable for you. Catching them and improving your overall strength will make challenging the Gym much easier."
"More importantly, Trainers must adapt to local conditions when challenging a Gym."
"For example, the characteristic feature of his Castelia Gym is the extremely high temperature of the battle arena floor.
This is because he placed a large number of Fire Gemstones beneath the battlefield."
"Those Fire Gemstones can emit extremely high temperatures, and under their effect, the temperature of the ground rapidly increases.
In this situation, it will have a significant impact on Pokémon that specialize in ground combat."
"Of course, there is a way to break through this.
That is to use Flying-type Pokémon for aerial combat, or use Water-type Pokémon to lower the temperature, which can greatly reduce the difficulty of the challenge."
"This is also a test of basic knowledge for the Trainers challenging the Gym.
A smart Trainer, upon seeing the fire arena, will quickly think of a solution based on type advantage."
Thinking of this, Alex said, "Go treat Riolu first. I will be here waiting for you to challenge me!"
"Yes, Gym Leader Alex!" Derick didn't dare to think any further and hurriedly took Riolu to the Pokémon Center in Castelia City.
After he left, another figure walked in from outside.
However, when Alex clearly saw the appearance of that figure, he was instantly stunned.
"Sister Anna? Didn't you go to work for the Trainer Association in Opelucid City? Why do you have time to come here?"
"Hehe!" Anna smiled slyly, "Of course, I came to collect Gym Badges!"
Alex's eyes instantly widened.
"Sister Anna, stop joking! How could we be your opponents? And did His Majesty know you came here?"
"My teacher certainly knows!" As she spoke, Anna couldn't help but feel a little guilty, but if her teacher knew, he would definitely support her coming to collect Gym Badges and participate in the Battle Grand Event at the end of the year!
However, before that, she had to get the castelia badge from Alex.
"Alright, Alex, we can discuss the rest later. Now, let's have a Pokémon battle!"
In the days since leaving Nimbasa City, her and Zoroark's strength had improved significantly, and the Rufflet by her side had also evolved into a Braviary.
Not only that, but Anna had also caught several new partners.
Onix, massive in size and composed entirely of giant rocks.
Roserade, the noble and elegant Rose Dancer.
And Emolga, a Pokémon small and cute in appearance, but capable of releasing tremendously dangerous currents.
Her strength now was far greater than before.
Even her teacher would be greatly surprised.
However, Anna didn't plan to let Draconis know immediately. She planned to wait until the Battle Grand Event to give Draconis a big surprise.
Seeing Anna's demeanor, Alex felt helpless.
But as a Gym Leader, he couldn't refuse a challenger, so he had no choice but to brace himself and accept Anna's challenge.
Fifteen minutes later.
Anna looked at the castelia badge in her hand, grinned, and waved at Alex:
"That was tough work, Alex!"
Alex, who had just been thoroughly defeated: "..."
At the same time, in the forest between Accumula Town and Striaton City.
Alia and Patrat were nervously looking at the wild Heracross in front of them.
Not long ago, after surviving the Nidoqueen Crisis, Alia and Patrat returned to town.
Because the wilderness was too dangerous and they could be attacked by wild Pokémon at any time, more than half of the Trainers in Accumula Town had given up on traveling and stayed in the town instead.
Alia originally intended to give up too, but then they thought, if others can overcome their fear, why can't they?
Thus, Alia and Patrat made up their minds again. They left the town and resumed their journey, defeating many wild Pokémon that tried to attack them along the way.
Today, Alia was originally planning to camp in this spot, but a big guy suddenly appeared in front of them and snatched her bag!
"Hey, you! That's mine!" Seeing the Pokémon tear open her bag, Alia couldn't stand it anymore and tried to communicate with the Pokémon.
However, the wild Heracross paid no attention to Alia. It rummaged through the bag by itself until it pulled out a glass jar containing sweet honey.
Looking at the golden sweet honey inside, Heracross instantly showed a sweet, innocent smile.
"Ahhh! That's my food!" Seeing her food being stolen, Alia immediately tried to step forward to grab it back.
But her movement was ultimately a step too slow.
Heracross had already opened the jar and started sucking up the sweet honey with its tongue.
"We're doomed!"
Alia's eyes widened instantly, and Patrat was also filled with despair.
But as a Trainer, Alia quickly calmed down.
She knew that their safety was more important than that jar of sweet honey.
After all, if the sweet honey was gone, they could buy more, but if they angered this Pokémon and it attacked them, then they would truly be doomed.
"Forget it, forget it." Alia stepped forward to pick up the bag that Heracross had thrown on the ground, packed her things, and immediately ran away with Patrat.
Soon, the girl and her Pokémon found a safer and more perfect campsite on the other side of the forest.
"It's settled! We'll rest here tonight! Patrat, help keep watch, and I'll set up the tent!" Alia said.
When she left Accumula Town, she bought a medicine called Repel Spray from the Friendly Store in town.
This medicine emits a scent that wild Pokémon dislike. If sprayed around the camp, it can effectively drive away wild Pokémon and prevent attacks from them.
Alia immediately started getting busy.
Patrat, meanwhile, jumped onto a tree to observe the surrounding environment.
But just then, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in Patrat's line of sight.
Patrat's eyes instantly widened, and it couldn't help but let out a gasp.
"Patrat!!!"
Alia, hearing the sound, immediately became alert.
"What is it? Patrat, is a dangerous Pokémon approaching?!"
"Patrat!" Patrat nodded repeatedly, pointing its finger into the distance.
Alia looked in the direction it was pointing, and the next second, she saw that the Heracross who had snatched her sweet honey had actually followed them here!
"Ahhhhh! Why did it follow us again?!" Alia was frantic.
But soon, that Heracross arrived at their campsite.
It did not attack, nor did it try to snatch Alia's bag like before. Instead, it just stood there, looking gently at Alia and Patrat.
Seeing this, Alia was slightly stunned.
What does this Pokémon mean?
Patrat was equally confused by this.
"Does this guy want to eat our sweet honey?" Alia suddenly realized the potential reason.
She looked at the Heracross in front of her and said, "Hey, we don't have any more sweet honey. You ate all the leftover sweet honey just now. Hurry up and leave!"
Heracross shook its head.
"Hera!"
Hearing Heracross's cry, Patrat beside her was startled.
"Patrat?!"
Then, Alia saw Heracross walk up to her, reach into her backpack, and pull out a Poké Ball.
It tilted its head, seemingly observing how to use the ball.
The next second, Heracross's body turned into a red light and was sucked into the ball.
The Poké Ball fell onto the grass, bounced twice, and made a "thump thump" sound.
Immediately afterward, to the disbelief and incomprehension of Alia and Patrat, the Poké Ball began to shake gently.
"What... what is going on?!"
Alia couldn't help but murmur. Just then, she suddenly remembered the scene where she had recalled Patrat into its Poké Ball—it was highly likely that this Heracross had seen it!
There seemed to be some kind of misunderstanding between them... Perhaps Heracross thought that as long as it entered this ball, it could eat delicious sweet honey?
Before Alia could react, the Poké Ball on the grass stopped shaking.
This meant the capture was successful!
Nimbasa City.
"Your Majesty, the Jennys have begun receiving training at the Police Station as you instructed." Alfred reported the progress to Draconis.
Hearing this, Draconis nodded slightly.
But just then, he suddenly remembered something.
"Do the Jenny ladies know that they will have to separate and take up positions in different cities in the future?" Draconis asked.
Alfred paused, then shook his head, saying, "It seems... they are not yet aware."
"I see." Draconis fell into contemplation.
The Thunder Roar Gang founded by Jenny Rei is a very united gang organization. That group of Jennys has always lived together and has hardly ever been separated.
Now that they are working for the Kingdom, it means the Thunder Roar Gang faces the crisis of disbandment, and the Jennys who have lived together for so long will face separation.
This might be unacceptable to some of the Jennys.
After a brief moment of thought, Draconis said to Alfred, "No matter what, we must let the Jenny ladies know about this in advance."
Alfred understood Draconis's meaning. He nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will go inform them immediately."
"Mm." Draconis nodded then.
Alfred turned and left. He went to the Police Station, separately called out Jenny Rei, the leader of the Thunder Roar Gang, and conveyed Draconis's words to her verbatim.
After listening, Jenny Rei was not too surprised.
She nodded thoughtfully and said to Alfred, "I understand. I will go tell the other Jennys."
"Don't worry, even if you separate, you won't be unable to see each other again." Alfred said with a smile, "With the pokémon flying taxi invented by His Majesty, if you want to meet, you only need a few hours to see each other."
Upon hearing this, Jenny Rei immediately thought of the flying taxi she rode that day.
That mode of travel was indeed very convenient.
"Thank you, Lord Alfred." Jenny Rei said.
"It will probably not be easy for the other Jennys to accept this..." Alfred then looked at the other Jennys not far away.
"Miss Jenny Rei, I entrust this to you. But please rest assured, no matter what decision you make, His Majesty will not force you. Even if you refuse the police work and return to Anxi Town, there will be no problem."
Jenny Rei nodded calmly: "I understand."
She watched Alfred turn and leave, then returned to the Police Station, called her Jenny sisters together, and announced:
"Everyone, I have something I want to announce."
The Jennys immediately looked over.
"Big Sister, what is it?" A Jenny couldn't help but ask.
"After we complete the training here, we will likely have to scatter, just like the Joys, and go to work in various parts of the Kingdom. We may no longer be able to stay together as we did before."
"Therefore, I want to announce here that the Thunder Roar Gang will be disbanded starting today. But don't worry, even if the Thunder Roar Gang is no more, we are still sisters, still family!" Jenny Rei declared.
Hearing this, the Jennys immediately showed expressions of disbelief.
"What? The Thunder Roar Gang is disbanding?!"
"Why, Big Sister?"
"Was this a decision made by His Majesty Draconis?"
"No, not His Majesty Draconis." Jenny Rei shook her head. "It was my decision."
....
Power Stones PlZZZZ
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