"Hello, Miss Roxanne. I'm Natsui, and I'm here to challenge the Rustboro Gym."
"Hello, I'm Misty, Natsui's traveling partner."
Hearing Natsui introduce himself and seeing his face, Roxanne looked surprised.
"You're him! We actually broke down your Silver Conference battles last week. Didn't expect the real Natsui here, in my gym!" Roxanne exclaimed, voice sharp with excitement, her eyes alight with surprise.
The students next to her also gathered around, looking as excited as if they had met a huge celebrity. They crowded in front of Natsui, asking for photos. Someone even magically produced a marker for an autograph.
It was a very enthusiastic welcome, but understandable. These students hadn't left the academy yet. A trainer like Natsui, who had already achieved results in the Pokémon League, was someone they would normally never get to meet.
Misty puffed up, eyes blazing with competitive pride.
She felt a sense of pride and happiness seeing the person she liked held in such high regard.
Natsui, unable to get away, took some time to fulfill the students' various requests. After their initial excitement died down a bit, he finally turned his attention back to Roxanne.
Roxanne smiled. "Here for Hoenn, then? Planning to challenge Ever Grande? Since it's you, want to face my main team? I've wanted to battle you since watching your last matches."
"Not this time. My main team's training is elsewhere. See me as a rookie—no special treatment."
"A rookie with two trophies? Alright. Regular challenger rules!" Roxanne grinned.
Hearing that a gym battle was about to take place, the students were energized. They backed away to the sides of the field and began setting up recording equipment.
Roxanne smiled apologetically. "Can we record this battle? Besides being a Gym Leader, I'm also a teacher. We save videos for the students to analyze."
"Go ahead," Natsui replied.
It wasn't like he was leaking tactics or anything, and his Pokémon were just rookies. If others wanted to watch, let them. He could consider it a contribution to the academy.
After their brief chat, they each went to their respective trainer positions on the field.
An older student stepped up to act as the referee and announced the rules.
"The Rustboro Gym battle will now begin! This will be a two-on-two knockout match. Only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon during the battle!"
These were standard rules, no different from what most gyms used.
After hearing the rules, Natsui focused on Roxanne again.
At first glance, just like her outfit, Roxanne appeared to be a very quiet and dignified person. But standing on the battlefield, she showed a confident side, and the expression on her face was different from before.
As the Gym Leader, Roxanne was the first to send out her Pokémon.
She threw her Poké Ball, and a Geodude appeared on the battlefield.
As an extremely common Rock-type Pokémon, trainers like Brock and Roxanne, who specialized in Rock and Ground types, almost all had one. It was nothing special.
In fact, not just them, but almost any trainer with a "tough" style would catch a Geodude to round out their team.
But even among Gym Leaders, the strength of their Geodude varied. As for whose Geodude was stronger, Roxanne's or Brock's, they would have to battle to find out.
As for what to use against it...
Natsui thought for a moment and sent out his Eevee.
Among his newly caught Pokémon, Eevee was the most battle-ready. Although it hadn't evolved yet, it had accumulated considerable experience and strength. It just lacked the right item for evolution.
Once it found a suitable one and evolved, it could definitely hold a position in its main lineup alongside Dragonite, Scizor, and Tyranitar.
Roxanne looked at Eevee and grinned. "Your calm style hides an edgy Eevee! He's ready to run." Natsui chuckled, eyes on Eevee. "He's wild, sure. So we try new tricks."
In contrast to the tense atmosphere on the battlefield, the two trainers were relaxed and even had time to chat.
The only one who wasn't happy was Misty, sitting in the spectator area.
Maybe she was paranoid, but Misty eyed Roxanne, suspicious of her friendliness toward Natsui.
Natsui's charm was legendary. Sabrina, Erika—she was smitten too, after all.
Still, Misty secretly relaxed—Roxanne couldn't compete with Sabrina, Erika, or herself in looks.
Natsui's not falling for her, Misty huffed. With me around—the World's #1 Beauty—what chance does Roxanne have?
Natsui, focused on the battle, had no idea what Misty was thinking.
If he knew, he would have definitely given her a "karate chop."
But Misty was right about one thing. After the 'tempering' from Sabrina, Erika, and even Maya, his standards for girls who weren't exceptionally stunning had indeed risen.
Someone like Roxanne—ordinary at first glance, just "pretty" up close—didn't faze him anymore.
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