**Chapter 98: You're Getting Way Too Cocky**
Soon the two arrived at the Coupling Gym's Battlefield. Bai Feng said awkwardly, "The referee and others aren't here, so please just make do."
Mairin waved her hand, "It's fine, it's fine."
"Then... shall we begin?" Bai Feng asked.
"Let's start."
The two stood ready on opposite sides of the Battlefield. Bai Feng said, "I won't waste any more words. I'm the Acting Gym Leader, so I'll send out my Pokémon first. You can choose a suitable Pokémon for battle based on the one I send out."
Since the opponent was still a beginner, Bai Feng couldn't help but say a few extra words. He had also watched several Gym Battles at the Coupling Gym and was very clear on the rules of a Gym Battle.
"Mhm mhm..." Mairin nodded repeatedly.
The first Pokémon Bai Feng sent out was Larvitar.
"Yo~~~"
As soon as it appeared, Larvitar let out an excited cry. Its two small feet stomped back and forth on the ground, clearly filled with expectation for the upcoming battle.
This little guy, even at a young age, was clearly a battle maniac. Recently, it had been sparring intensely with Carbink, and that was literally the case.
Seeing a rare Pokémon like Larvitar, Mairin exclaimed with a look of surprise, "Wow, it's a Larvitar! This is my first time battling a Larvitar!"
However, she immediately seemed to think of something else. "Huh? Isn't the Coupling Gym a Grass-type Gym?"
Bai Feng nodded, "That's right, but I'm just the Acting Gym Leader."
"Oh, right. Never mind then." Mairin didn't think too much about it and directly took out a Poké Ball, sending out her own Pokémon.
Mairin's first Pokémon was Eevee.
"Bui~ Bui~"
The little Eevee was very cute. As soon as it appeared, it hopped and skipped around the Battlefield, even playfully winking at Larvitar.
(_) Larvitar: What are you doing?
"The Challenger goes first!" Bai Feng shouted loudly. "The Challenger can switch Pokémon at any time during the battle."
"Then I won't hold back! Eevee, Quick Attack!" Mairin waved her hand, pointing towards Larvitar.
"Bui!!!"
Eevee suddenly put its two front paws on the ground, pushed off forcefully with its hind legs, and charged towards Larvitar, its whole body glowing white.
"Larvitar, Iron Head!"
"Yo~"
Under Bai Feng's command, Larvitar's head turned metallic, and it charged headfirst towards the Eevee that was also rushing at it.
*Bang!!!*
The two Pokémon collided. Although their sizes weren't too different, Eevee couldn't compare to the impact force generated by Larvitar's weight.
"Bui~"
Eevee cried out miserably and was sent tumbling back. Its originally beautiful fur was instantly covered in dust.
"Yo~"
Larvitar was very pleased. It put its little hands on its hips, lifted its chin, and looked at Eevee: You were looking down on me just now, weren't you? Let's see if you dare to do it again.
A great victory right at the start; it was getting way too cocky.
"Eevee, are you okay?" Mairin asked nervously.
"Bui~ Bui~"
Eevee got up from the ground, shook its head, and then shook off the dust from its fur, looking angrily at Larvitar.
Seeing that Eevee was fine, Mairin breathed a sigh of relief. "In that case, Eevee, Swift!" If close combat wouldn't work, they could only rely on ranged bombardment.
"Bui~"
Eevee nodded, leaped up, and fired strings of golden stars from its tail, shooting them towards Larvitar.
"Larvitar, Power-Up Punch!"
"Yo..."
Larvitar nodded firmly. It stood still in place, its two small fists tucked at its waist, its feet planted firmly in a horse stance.
The moment the golden stars shot over, it threw a punch. Its fist glowed white, and the stars were shattered by the punch, turning into golden light and dissipating into the air.
"Bui~ Bui~ Bui~"
This wasn't the end. Subsequent Swift attacks continued to fly over relentlessly thanks to Eevee's persistent effort.
Larvitar threw punch after punch after punch. Each movement was incredibly fluid, and every punch could accurately shatter a star.
After the repeated barrage, Eevee became a little out of breath and finally stopped using Swift. But Larvitar remained very steady, still standing calmly in place.
The high-level Pokéblocks and expensive Silver-Gold Stone had paid off. They brought Larvitar comprehensive growth, not to mention the help from Bai Feng's special ability.
Overall, Larvitar was stronger than Eevee.
At this moment, Larvitar seized the opportunity and planned to use a ranged attack Move to strike Eevee. Around its body, rock spears appeared, aimed at Eevee.
It was Stone Edge.
Just as it was about to control the rock spears to shoot out, those rock spears suddenly turned into powder and disappeared.
Larvitar's Stone Edge was just learned from Carbink with Bai Feng's help. Unfortunately, it hadn't mastered the Move well and couldn't use it proficiently. Now it insisted on showing off, and it failed, didn't it?
"Larvitar, Rock Slide!" Bai Feng instructed it at this moment.
Although Larvitar hadn't mastered Stone Edge yet, it could already initially use Rock Slide, another Move it also learned from Carbink.
Above Eevee's head, rocks suddenly appeared, each larger than Eevee's body, and they looked like they were about to fall.
However, Larvitar's forced attempt at Stone Edge failed, ultimately delaying the timing. Just as the rocks were about to fall, Eevee rolled on the ground, narrowly dodging the Rock Slide attack.
*Thump~ Thump~ Thump~*
The rocks fell. Although they didn't hit Eevee, they left the ground pitted and uneven, making Eevee feel lingering fear.
Rock Slide missed, and Larvitar was so angry it stomped its feet.
"Eevee, let's use Charm." Mairin shouted to Eevee at this moment.
Eevee, which had just been full of anger, instantly became charming and lovely upon hearing Mairin's words. It kept batting its big, sparkling eyes at Larvitar, and even threw flirtatious glances.
Unfortunately, Larvitar was completely dense and didn't take its Charm seriously at all.
However, even so, the effect of Charm was achieved; Larvitar's attack was lowered.
Eevee smiled smugly, while poor Larvitar still didn't know what had happened.
"Eevee, let's use Charm again!" Mairin continued, attempting to lower Larvitar's attack once more.
But Bai Feng wouldn't let Eevee succeed a second time. He shouted to Larvitar, "Larvitar, use Rock Slide!"
Larvitar nodded confidently. However, when it used the Move, it immediately noticed something was wrong. With its attack power lowered, the size of the rocks it created had shrunk significantly.
"Bui~ Bui~"
The Eevee opposite it frantically pawed at the ground, continuously mocking Larvitar.
"Yo~ Yo~ Yo~"
o(▼皿▼メ;)o Larvitar was enraged and embarrassed. It actually gave up on using Rock Slide and switched back to Stone Edge, which it still couldn't use proficiently.
Luckily, this time it succeeded in using it.
Several sharp rock spears shot out with a whooshing sound, directly blocking all of Eevee's escape routes, and the last one directly pierced Eevee.
The rock spears turned into yellow light particles and disappeared, and Eevee also fell to the ground, motionless.
"Eevee!"
Mairin ran to Eevee's side with a worried look. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it had simply fainted.
After recalling Eevee into its Poké Ball, Mairin looked at Bai Feng and Larvitar and said, "You guys are really strong! Next, I'm going to get serious!"
┗=(˙牛˙)=┛ Hearing its opponent's praise, Larvitar smugly put its hands on its hips, lifting its chin very high.
I'm just that awesome!
Mairin's second Pokémon was a Steel/Fairy type Mawile.
As soon as this Mawile appeared, it coyly threw a flirtatious glance at Larvitar. A pink heart instantly hit Larvitar.
That was the Move Attract.
Larvitar, which had just been full of complacency, fell victim the next second.
The moment it was hit by Attract, hearts started appearing in Larvitar's pupils, and it looked at Mawile with an infatuated expression.
"Kuku~~~" Come here!
Mawile waved shyly at Larvitar, and Larvitar actually obediently walked over.
"Larvitar!" Bai Feng shouted loudly for Larvitar, but it paid no attention, still walking towards Mawile with an infatuated look.
"Kuku..."
Mawile hugged the approaching Larvitar and kept gently patting Larvitar's back, seemingly trying to lower its guard.
"Larvitar, Larvitar! Wake up!" No matter how Bai Feng called out, Larvitar didn't snap out of the Attract.
Just then, the giant mouth behind Mawile's head suddenly opened and instantly swallowed Larvitar whole.
Cold air overflowed from the giant mouth. Mawile was using an Ice type Move that was super effective against Larvitar—Ice Fang.
By the time Larvitar was spat out of Mawile's giant mouth, it had already lost consciousness.
"Oh dear~" Bai Feng covered his forehead. "This is too embarrassing!"
See if you're still cocky! Bai Feng was helpless.
After recalling Larvitar, Bai Feng sent out Carbink.
Seeing Carbink, Mairin said in surprise, "So, big brother, you specialize in Rock type Pokémon!"
Bai Feng shook his head, "I don't really specialize in any type. It's just a coincidence."
Perhaps realizing that Attract was ineffective against genderless Pokémon, Mawile didn't use Attract on Carbink this time but instead used Fairy Wind.
With a wave of its small hand, gusts of wind carrying pink light immediately swept across the Battlefield. All the dust on the field was stirred up, and Bai Feng could even barely see the situation inside the field.
Using the cover of the dust, Mawile silently approached Carbink.
Behind Carbink, Mawile burst out with pink light all over its body and fiercely crashed into Carbink. The ferocious expression on its face was completely different from the gentle appearance it had when dealing with Larvitar in the previous match.
Mawile's natural ability to disguise itself and feign weakness was fully displayed at this moment.
With a loud noise, a transparent barrier was seen surrounding Carbink. Mawile didn't hit Carbink but instead crashed into that barrier.
It turned out that when Mawile stirred up the dust, Carbink had already guessed its intention.
Because before Larvitar learned the two ranged attack Moves, Rock Slide and Stone Edge, when it sparred with Carbink, it liked to stir up dust/sand to cover its tracks and get close.
Carbink had long since developed a mature countermeasure for this.
As soon as the dust rose, it would first use the Iron Defense Move to strengthen its Defense. While Mawile was approaching it, it would then use Sharpen to strengthen its Attack. By the time Mawile made its move, it had already put up Reflect.
In any case, it wouldn't foolishly stand there waiting for Mawile to ambush it.
Carbink's Defense was already excessively high. With the boost from Iron Defense and the resistance from Reflect, Mawile's attack instantly became like a tickle.
When Mawile's gaze met Carbink's, a hint of surprise couldn't help but appear: How are you so hard?
"Carbink, Earth Power!" Bai Feng shouted at this moment.
Carbink smiled slightly. Yellow light emerged from the rock body beneath it and spread towards the ground. The ground beneath their feet suddenly cracked open, and Mawile fell to the ground amidst a tremor.
"Kuku..."
Ground-type Moves were super effective against Mawile, and Mawile's Special Defense wasn't high. Carbink's attack instantly made Mawile grimace in pain.
It was also fortunate that Carbink wasn't a Pokémon specializing in strong attacks, otherwise, with just that one hit, Mawile would have been directly knocked out.
This was essentially point-blank damage.
"Mawile, quickly get away from Carbink!" Mairin shouted.
But it was already too late. Before Mawile could get up from the ground, Carbink used Stealth Rock, surrounding all the space around Mawile layer by layer.
Mawile got up and took just one step back when invisible rocks appeared one after another and struck it. Mawile couldn't help but let out cries of pain.
Mawile used Fairy Wind, attempting to clear away the surrounding Stealth Rock. But the next second, a rock spear descended from the sky and directly pierced Mawile.
Although Rock type Moves were resisted by Mawile, Mawile was already at the end of its rope. One Stone Edge attack directly caused it to lose its ability to battle.
Mawile's defeat finally made the relaxed expression on Mairin's face disappear. As she recalled Mawile, she sighed:
"I thought dealing with big brother, the Acting Gym Leader, would be easy. I didn't expect I was mistaken."
Saying this, Mairin sent out her last Pokémon. As a Pokémon Trainer specializing in Fairy-type Pokémon, Mairin's last Pokémon was naturally also Fairy type.
A small Aromatisse.
Carbink had already set up Stealth Rock on the Battlefield, so Aromatisse was attacked as soon as it came out. This made Mairin's expression turn a little unpleasant.
"Aromatisse, Trick Room!"
After a painful wail from Aromatisse, Mairin gave this command.
A square, transparent space suddenly opened up around Aromatisse. The space grew larger and larger, enveloping the entire Battlefield in the blink of an eye.
The effect of Trick Room is that slower Pokémon gain faster turns, while faster Pokémon have their speed restricted.
Carbink was already a very slow-moving Pokémon, but Aromatisse was even slower. The Trick Room Move was highly compatible with it.
Indeed, with the appearance of Trick Room, Carbink felt its body seemed to become heavier, with an unspeakable sense of oppression.
(End of this chapter)