Three Gyms Battle

While Ryoichi was giving a speech, Hisoka walked into the room. He had just arrived a few minutes ago.

Then, he looked around and saw Mayor Chris waving his hand toward him. He quickly walked toward him and sat down.

"Hisoka, are you ready?" Mayor Chris asked him.

"Yes," he said confidently.

"Good. Just do your best."

While both of them were talking with each other, a voice suddenly interrupted them.

"So, you're the new gym leader of Dark City."

Hisoka turned around and saw Erika looking at him with a smile.

"Hello, Miss Erika. Yeah. I'm the new gym leader," he said politely.

Erika shook her head with a smile and said, "It turns out to be you. I never expected that."

She knew Hisoka quite well. He was one of the regular customers of her shop. She didn't expect him to be one of her opponents in this match.

"Well, good luck. May the best trainer win," Hisoka said with a smile.

"You too," she replied.

...

"Once again, I want to thank everyone who worked together to complete this nature reserve. We will not be able to do it without your help. Thank you!"

Clap!

Clap!

Everyone clapped their hands politely after Ryoichi finished his welcoming speech.

Then, he waited for everyone to settle down before saying, "The first match will begin soon. Mr. Koga and Miss Erika, would you please head to the arena?"

As the person in charge of the nature reserver, he will naturally favor Hisoka. Letting Erika and Koga fight first would at least give him a chance to investigate his opponents.

Some people knew that Hisoka and Ryoichi were friends, but they couldn't do anything. Hisoka was the youngest gym leader among them. Naturally, he would have a certain privilege.

The battle would be held outside the building, where an arena had been prepared a few days ago. There were many seats on the sidelines for the spectators to sit.

The first match between Koga and Erika will be a 1vs1 battle. The loser of the first round would have to fight Hisoka in the second match. After that, the winner of the second match will fight against the winner of the first match, where the winner of this competition will be decided.

Erika was the first to walk into the arena, followed by Koga.

"Koga," she greeted while taking out a Pokeball from inside her kimono sleeve.

"Erika," Koga said seriously.

He narrowed his eyes and took a Pokeball from his belt.

"Come out, Vileplume!"

"Go! Venomoth!"

Both threw their Pokeball at the same time.

Pop!

Two Pokemon appeared in the arena.

On Erika's side was an indigo-colored Pokemon with a Rafflesia flower on top of its head. It twirled around and let out a cry as the crowd started to cheer.

Meanwhile, the other Pokemon looked similar to a giant moth. Its body had varying shades of purple. It had a three-pint crest on its head and a pair of large wings.

Since she knew Koga was a master at using Poison-type Pokemon, she decided to use Vileplume, a Grass/Poison-type Pokemon. She would not have to worry about his Pokemon Poison-type moves due to Vileplume's resistance against them.

"Use Bullet Seed, Vileplume!" Erika decided to strike first.

Vileplume pointed its head forward and fired several seeds from its bud.

"Vee!"

"Dodge Venomoth!" Koga ordered.

It flew from side to side, avoiding the glowing seeds easily.

"Now, follow it up with a Bugg Buzz!" he continued.

Then, it raised its head and released red sound waves that spread throughout the arena.

"Vee!"

Vileplume took a few steps back while covering its ears due. The high-pitched sounds rang in its head, making it hard for it to concentrate.

"Nice one, daddy! Wooo!" Janine waved her dango excitedly.

"Stop it! You almost poke my eyes with that," Aya said angrily while taking the dango off her hands.

Both of them were rooting for Koga in the crowd.

"Say, who do you think will win between Erika and that annoying guy, Hisoka?" Janine whispered to Aya.

Janine thought for a moment before saying, "Hmmm. I think Hisoka will win. That Rhydon is not a joke."

It never crossed their mind that Koga would lose this competition. Both of them were very confident in his strength.

...

From the beginning of this match, Erika was at an absolute disadvantage in many aspects, such as air superiority, type resistance, and speed.

Seeing her attack was useless, she decided to resort to her baiting tactics.

"Lure it, Vileplume!" she said quickly.

It twirled once and released a pink powder from its head at the opponent.

"Hehe!"

Since there was no energy shield on the arena, some spectators were affected by the pink powder. Fortunately, many people were prepared and began to help the other people to snap out of their trance-like states.

Koga waved his hand and shouted, "Disperse it, Venomoth!"

Venomoth flapped its wing repeatedly, trying to blow the pink powder away.

"Stop it!" Erika shouted.

There was no way she would let the opponent do that.

Multiple pink petals circled around Vileplume's body before she fired them at the opponent.

"Block it!" Koga said worriedly.

Seeing so many pink powders scattered in the arena, he didn't dare to let his Pokemon dodge Vileplume's attack.

Venomoth flashed blue as it released blue energy from its body, forming a large energy barrier. Just in time to block the violent petal storm.

Ding!

Still, some of them managed to break through the shield and hit its body.

...

"Wow! Koga is in trouble, now," Ryoichi said in surprise.

"Koga will still this match," Hisoka replied.

Even though Erika had the upper hand now, it was still hard for her to defeat Koga at her current strength.

Erika was far from reaching Koga in terms of battle experience. The reason she could fight Koga until now was due to her strong Vileplume.

If she had chosen a Fire-type Pokemon of similar strength, there was a high chance for her to win this game. Unfortunately, she only specialized in Grass-type Pokemon.

Although a trainer could become stronger much faster with a single-type specialization, it would also limit their option in a battle.

The battle continued for some time as they exchanged moves back and forth. But most of the time, Erika was on the defensive side while Koga had more options to attack.

When Vileplume released a Stun Spore at the Venomoth, it burst into a cloud of smoke.

Seeing the opportunity, Koga ordered his Pokemon to use Bug Buzz again.

Several red waves spread throughout the arena, causing the Vileplume to kneel in pain.

Erika bit her lips in worry and decided to bite the bullet, "Vileplume! Use Solar Beam!"

When Koga heard that, he knew the battle was coming to an end. Solar Beam needed some time to store the energy. As long as he managed to attack it before it could release the Solar Beam, he would win the match.

"Use Sludge Bomb now!" he pointed to Vileplume, who was drawing in the sunlight into the flower's pistil on its head.

Venomoth opened its mouth and fired several globs of purplish sludge at it.

By the time Vileplume was about to release the Solar Beam, it was hit by the purplish globs, causing it to miss its target as the golden beam of light made a long crack on the ground.

Thud!

Vileplume fell to the ground unconscious.

"Vileplume has lost its ability to fight! The winner is Koga!"

The referee announced the result of the match after confirming that Vileplume had passed out.

Clap!

Everyone started to cheer for Koga as he nodded to Erika and retrieved his Pokemon. Then, he walked off the arena amidst the applause of the crowd.

And as the loser of this match, Erika would have to fight against Hiroka after this. If she won this match, she would have another chance to fight against Koga.

...

"It's okay, Erika. Don't worry about it too much," Miyamoto comforted her after seeing the stressed look on her face.

"Thank you, Uncle Miyamoto. I will still try my best as the gym leader of Celadon City," Erika said with a smile.

"Erika and Hisoka, please enter the arena now," Ryoichi said through his mic.

After that, Erika and Hisoka slowly walked into the arena.

"Are you ready?" The referee asked while raising his flags.

Both of them nodded at the same time.

"The battle starts now!"

...

Hisoka didn't have any Fire-type Pokemon, but Weavile, who was a Dark/Ice-type Pokemon, would do well against Erika, a Grass-type Pokemon trainer.

"Come out, Weavile!"

"Go, Victreebel!"

As a botanist, Erika preferred a Pokemon with similar features to a plant, such as her previous, Vileplume and Victreebel. She particularly liked the honey-liked scent in Victreebel's body, even though she knew it was dangerous.

"I'm going to start now! Taunt it, Weavile," Hisoka ordered without hesitation.

Even if Erika was a beautiful woman, he would not hold back.

To deal with a Pokemon like Victreebel, he must find a way to block its status effect moves such as Poison Powder, Sleep Powder, and Stun Spore.

Weavile smiles tauntingly at Victreebel as she beckoned toward her. Victeebel, who was known for their irritability, quickly became angry as it rushed forward recklessly.

"Victreebel!" Erika shouted, trying to stop it.

Unfortunately, it refused to listen to her in its rage.

"Ice Punch, Weavile!"

Bang!

An icy, glowing fist landed on the Victreebel, knocking it back.

"Are you okay, Victreebel?" Erika shouted in worry.

"Vee!"

It nodded to her. Apparently, it had come back to its senses.

"Good!" she sighed in relief.

"Use Acid Spray!"

Victreebel raised its mouth and fired a large drop of purple acid at the opponent.

"Vee!"

Seeing that, Weavile decided to stop her attack and took a few steps back. She didn't dare to be careless while facing a Poison-type attack.

"Success!" Erika cheered silently.

The poison sprayed by Victreebel quickly evaporated under the sunlight as a purple mist started to fill the air.

"Weavile!"

She frowned while retreating backward as the purple mist started to come to her.

At this time, Hisoka's voice rang in the arena.

"Weavile! Use Icy Wind to blow them away!"

She jumped into the sky and blew a cold wind at the poisonous mist, blowing them away. There was also a thin layer of ice on the ground, covering the acid on the ground.

Swoosh!

After it landed on the ground, it rushed toward its opponents with blinding speed.

"Ice Punch again!" Hisoka roared.

Blue energy covered Weavile's arm. As she punched her opponent, her fist was covered in an icy glow as blue energy started coming out of it.

Quickly, Victreebel was covered in a large block of ice.

A few seconds later, the ice cracked, and Victreebel fell to the ground with swirly eyes.

KO!

"Victreebel has lost its ability to fight. The winner is Hisoka!"

After the referee announced the result, the crowd cheered loudly.

Erika, who had lost two battles, had lost her chance to compete for the nature reserve. She walked off the arena dejectedly toward her friends.

After fifteen minutes break, the final match between Koga and Hisoka was starting soon. This match would decide the final outcome of this competition.

"Mr. Hisoka, I want to apologize to you for my sister and daughter's actions. I just found out what they did the other day. When this match is over, I'll bring them to apologize to you in person," he bowed slightly.

Although Koga was a ninja, he had an air of an upright man around him.

Hisoka shook his head with a smile and said, "It's fine. They-"

Before he could finish it, Koga interrupted him saying, "They will take responsibility for their action. They did something wrong, and they will have to be punished for that."

He finished solemnly.

Since Koga said that, he could only accept it.

After the referee waved his flags, the third match officially began.

This time, Koga decided to use Muk instead of Venomoth.

Muk was large, stinky Pokemon made of living purple sludges. It wriggled its body slightly, revealing a gaping mouth, two small eyes, and two long arms.

Meanwhile, Hisoka released Kirlia, one of his strongest Pokemon.

...

"What is that Pokemon?"

Erika did not leave after the fight just now but stood with Sabrina on the sidelines to watch the match. She was quite curious about who would win in the end.

"It's a Psychic-type and the new Fairy-type Pokemon from Hoenn, Kirlia," Sabrina replied quietly.

As a trainer who specialized in Psychic-type Pokemon, she knew about many Psychic-type Pokemon from other regions.

...