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Roxanne took out her second Poké Ball. With a flash of blue light, a Nosepass appeared before Kai.
This Pokémon was quite peculiar in appearance. Its body resembled a massive block of enchanted stone, completely blue in color. It had both arms and legs, and a huge, bright red nose that stood out prominently!
As a pure Rock-type Pokémon, the magnetic force in Nosepass's nose never fails it constantly points north. If someone ever got lost deep in the mountains, encountering a Nosepass would immediately give them a sense of direction. That was also the origin of its name.
There was another interesting trait as well. Because magnets of the same polarity repel each other, two Nosepass can never press their faces together. It was also said that wild Nosepass move only about one centimeter a year. However, when danger strikes, they can instantly rotate their bodies and burrow underground to escape.
By remaining perfectly still, Nosepass used the intense magnetic force emitted from its body to attract prey toward itself for hunting.
The colder the season, the stronger this magnetic force became. However, this ability could sometimes backfire, attracting natural predators like Metang.
After recalling Eevee, Kai carefully examined the Nosepass before him.
He clearly remembered Roxanne's Nosepass from the games it had always left a deep impression on him and was practically her signature Pokémon.
Its battle strength was exceptional. If challengers came unprepared without a high enough level or proper type advantage it often took several Pokémon just to take this one down.
Just like Geodude, one look at Nosepass's icy, stony body made it obvious that this was another high-defense wall of a Pokémon.
With Eevee's current strength, it probably wouldn't even be able to scratch its surface!
Facing such a solid wall of stone, and to keep Eevee from getting injured by reckless attacks, Kai hesitated for a moment and considered switching to a Pokémon that could confront it head-on.
But right then, before he could make up his mind, he suddenly felt something brush against his pant leg.
Looking down, he saw Eevee gazing up at him eagerly, its eyes filled with determination.
Kai raised an eyebrow. "What is it? You still want to fight?"
Eevee nodded vigorously and let out a resolute cry.
Even though the massive stone Pokémon before it was many times larger than itself, and its claws and fangs would hardly leave a mark, Eevee showed not a trace of fear!
Seeing this, Kai knew full well that Eevee was no match for Nosepass. Still, he agreed to let it take the field once more.
After all, earning a Gym Badge was only one goal. More important was tempering his Pokémon through real battles.
Even if there would be defeat… even if there would be injuries… something had to be gained from the loss!
With Kai's approval, Eevee sprinted back to the center of the battlefield.
Roxanne, who had been watching closely, naturally understood what Kai intended. She didn't say anything, only smiled faintly.
Once the battle resumed, she showed no mercy and commanded with full focus. In contrast, Kai became noticeably more cautious.
Under his orders, Eevee pushed itself to its absolute limit, dashing across the rocky battlefield again and again, launching relentless attacks in an attempt to defeat its opponent.
However, this time, sheer effort could not make up for the overwhelming disadvantage in attributes.
In the end, a single Rock Tomb from Nosepass sealed the outcome.
Eevee collapsed.
The student acting as referee raised the flag. "Eevee is unable to battle! The winner of the second round is Nosepass!"
With Eevee's defeat, the score was now tied at one to one.
When Misty saw the result, she showed no sign of worry. Eevee was at a clear disadvantage in both typing and evolution stage, and its offensive options were limited it was only natural that it couldn't deal meaningful damage to Nosepass.
Still, she knew one thing for certain:
The moment this round ended, Kai would send out a much stronger Pokémon to take back the momentum.
On the Trainer's Platform, Kai retrieved Eevee's unconscious body.
Though the battle had been short, it was far from meaningless.
At the very least, Eevee had gained valuable combat experience and Kai now had critical data on Nosepass, which would be vital for the next battle.
His gaze returned to the battlefield. This time, there was no hesitation.
With a decisive swing of his arm, Kai threw out his next Poké Ball.
"Go—Tyranitar!"
The moment it appeared just like its fearsome predecessors, the red Gyarados and the crystalline Steelix Tyranitar threw its head back and let out a thunderous roar!
"ROAAAR!!!"
The sheer force of the sound caused several timid students to stumble backward in fear. Even Misty in the audience couldn't help but cover her ears.
Honestly… she thought with a faint shiver no matter how many times she saw it, a Pokémon with such a violent presence was always terrifying.
Power aside, that overwhelming aura alone was enough to command absolute attention!
Seeing that Kai had sent out Tyranitar, Roxanne nodded in approval.
Compared to Eevee, which had been completely suppressed by typing, Tyranitar held the clear advantage this time. Its Ground-type moves could deal super-effective damage, and its armored body would have no problem clashing head-on with solid rock.
It was undeniably an excellent choice.
However, even as she acknowledged this, Roxanne knew this battle would be incredibly difficult.
She had watched Kai's previous matches. She knew exactly how terrifying this Tyranitar had been during the Silver Conference.
Facing a Pokémon with near-tournament-level strength, she felt uncertain. If she used her strongest Pokémon, she might stand a chance. But against Tyranitar, relying on Nosepass alone…
Even she had to admit the odds were grim.
This wasn't fear it was simply the conclusion drawn from experience and rational judgment.
The referee raised the flag once more.
"The third round—begin!"
If Kai defeated Nosepass here, he would earn his first Gym Badge of the Hoenn region.
If he lost… he would have to return tomorrow and challenge again.
On the field, Nosepass remained completely motionless.
Tyranitar stomped its foot, channeling energy into the ground. Instantly, more than a dozen razor-sharp rocks erupted upward, surging toward Nosepass!
Almost simultaneously, Nosepass fired back with Stone Edge—two massive waves of jagged rock surged toward each other from opposite directions!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The two Stone Edge attacks collided head-on and canceled each other out, exploding into a storm of rock fragments that shot upward before raining down across the battlefield.
The碎 fragments struck both Pokémon, producing a constant clang clang clang of impacts…
As the dust settled, both Pokémon opened their mouths at nearly the same time—
And unleashed their next attacks!
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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