Alex stepped into the Petalburg Gym, immediately noticing how much larger it was compared to the version he remembered from the games.

The interior was spacious and refined, clearly designed to host high-level battles.

He approached the reception desk and was quickly recognized. Within moments, he was guided through the facility and led straight to the main arena.

Norman was already there, standing calmly at the opposite side of the battlefield. A full camera crew had set up around the arena, preparing for the broadcast.

Alex exchanged a few brief words with them before walking forward to face Norman.

"Thanks for accepting so quickly," Alex said with a faint smile. "I'm looking forward to the match."

Norman studied him for a moment, his expression serious. "No problem, Although I have to admit, I was a little surprised that you reached this level so quickly… and that you think you can defeat my strongest Pokémon."

A faint, almost predatory smile appeared on his face. "I hope for your sake that you're strong enough, or this match will destroy your reputation as a genius trainer."

Alex met his gaze calmly. "We'll see. You've already chosen the format, right?"

Norman's expression returned to neutral. "Yes. This will be a 2 vs. 2 battle. In addition, you are not allowed to change the Pokemon in the match"

He paused briefly before continuing, "In a 1 vs. 1, I would have the highest chance of winning. But I'll give you a fair opportunity."

For a brief moment, Alex wasn't sure if that was arrogance… or confidence. He'd find out soon enough.

…

Fifteen minutes later, everything was ready.

A referee stood at the center of the battlefield, and a powerful energy barrier surrounded the arena—strong enough to protect both trainers and the environment from attacks reaching low Champion-level strength.

The referee signaled Alex and Norman to call out their first Pokemon at the same time.

A Blaziken and a Tauros appeared in the Stadium at the same time.

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Pokémon: Blaziken

LV: 56

Type: Fire/Fighting

Abilities: Speed Boost (Hidden Ability)

Gender: Female

Potential: Shallow Diamond (5%)

Moves:

- Growl, Scratch, Ember, Sand Attack, Peck, Double Kick, Flame Charge, Quick Attack, Bulk Up, Blaze Kick, Focus Energy, Sunny Day [M], High Jump Kick [E], Slash, Brave Bird

- (Perfect Talent) Attract [M], (Perfect Talent) Overheat [M]

- (TM) Protect [E], (TM) Flamethrower [E], (TM) Rock slide [M], (TM) Will-O-Wisp [M], (TM) Poison Jab [E], (TM) Solar Beam [M], (TM) Dig, (TM) Facade, (TM) Helping Hand, (TM) Brick Break, (TM) Acrobatics, (TM) Shadow Claw, (TM) Low Sweep, (TM) U-turn, (TM) Swift, (TM) Substitute

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Pokémon: Tauros

LV: 57

Type: Normal

Ability: Intimidate

Gender: Male

Potential: Gold (94%)

Moves:

- Tackle, Tail Whip, Rage, Horn Attack, Scary Face, Pursuit, Rest, Payback [M], Work Up [M], Zen Headbutt [M], Swagger, Thrash

- (Innate Talent) Earthquake [M], (Innate Talent) Fire Blast [M], (Innate Talent) Take Down [E]

- (TM) Protect [M], (TM) Facade [M], (TM) Stone Edge [E], (TM) Substitute, (TM) Bulldoze [E], (TM) Giga Impact [M], (TM) Wild Charge [E],

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Alex saw that Tauros had 8 moves at Master Rank, even though it only had S-Rank potential, and couldn't help but be impressed. Protect at Master Rank, in particular, should take an extremely long time for an S-Rank Pokémon.

That couldn't have been achieved without effective, consistent training for many years.

"3, 2, 1, GO!"

After the referee started the match, both trainers immediately began giving their first orders.

"D1"

"Work Up"

Blaziken began to move as she prepared her move, but when she saw Tauros charging towards her, she suddenly felt something change in her body.

She didn't have time to think about it too much as she moved and prepared her move.

Alex, with his high Psychic power, noticed that Blaziken's body was getting a little weaker. But he knew that the reason for this was Tauros's ability: Intimidate, which reduced the power of Pokémon of the same or lower level.

He wasn't thinking about Intimidate at the moment, though, but rather why Tauros was moving towards Blaziken if he was only using Work Up.

In less than two seconds, he had come up with two possibilities that he considered most likely.

One was a feint, and the other was to be able to use Earthquake more effectively immediately afterward.

Blaziken finished her move a bit too quickly and used Will-O-Wisp against Tauros, who was very close.

Tauros tried to dodge while also using his move, Work Up, but couldn't avoid Will-O-Wisp.

Furthermore, because Tauros was considerably faster than Blaziken, he was now only 10 meters away from her. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Blaziken prepared her next move without waiting for Alex. At the same time, she tried to run away from Tauros.

Norman quickly said, "Facade."

Although Blaziken was slowly getting faster, she was still a bit slower than Tauros, so Tauros had no problem maintaining a distance of 5–10 meters between them as he prepared his move.

Blaziken finished first and used Attract.

Tauros, who had been watching Blaziken, was suddenly stunned and stared at her silently. That's also why the energy of the move he had almost finished preparing was interrupted.

Blaziken, realizing everything was going according to plan, smiled as she prepared her next move.

Norman looked at Tauros and said loudly, "Tauros, what are you doing? Wake up!"

Tauros woke up immediately after hearing Norman's words.

Alex, who saw this, was surprised at how quickly Tauros came out of a Master Rank Attract, even though Tauros was a level higher than Blaziken and his trainer had helped him.

Norman quickly said, "Try it again. Facade."

Blaziken seized the opportunity and used Sunny Day, which finished during this time. Then she began preparing her next move.

Alex looked at Tauros, who had not only taken damage from Will-O-Wisp during this time but had also failed to damage Blaziken, and felt that his plan had worked perfectly so far.

Tauros finished first and used Facade.

Blaziken tried to dodge but failed and was hit.

Although, in the case of a burn, the usual attack lowering still occurs, so Facade hits not with full power. But It was still at Master Rank and a STAB move, which greatly increased the power (plus the one Work Up).

"Again, Tauros. Facade."

Blaziken suppressed the pain as she finished her move.

She used High Jump Kick, which was the risky part of Alex's plan. If she missed this attack, Alex's entire plan would fall apart.

Blaziken jumped several meters into the air as her feet began to gather a tremendous amount of energy. She flew like a meteorite toward Tauros, who tried to dodge but unfortunately failed.

Tauros was even unlucky enough to have the High Jump Kick hit his head perfectly.

A critical hit.

Tauros took a lot of damage but quickly suppressed the pain and prepared his next move.

Blaziken began preparing a new move.

Tauros finished his move and used Facade again, which Blaziken blocked with Protect.

Blaziken immediately began preparing a new move after completely blocking this one.

Norman noticed that Tauros's condition was deteriorating and said, "Tauros, it's time."

Alex thought that Tauros was probably preparing Protect, which is why he had a calm expression. Although he was right, he was only half right.

Blaziken finished first and used Flamethrower.

Tauros suddenly used Protect while simultaneously preparing a move.

Alex, who saw this, was impressed by how Protect could now be used at any moment at Master Rank.

He didn't have time to think about it, though, as he telepathically told Blaziken, "Run away and use Flamethrower again."

Blaziken was now faster than Tauros, so she tried to run out of his range.

Unfortunately, Tauros was too close and had already finished his move.

Tauros used Giga Impact, which also hit Blaziken as she tried to dodge. Unfortunately, it struck Blaziken in the head.

A critical hit.

Blaziken and Tauros both fell unconscious to the ground.

*******

if the story gets 150 powerstones in 24 hours, I will upload 1 bonus chapter tomorrow.

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