"Hello? Is there anyone inside? We want to challenge the gym!"
Two children around the age of twelve were standing outside the gym.
Of the two, the taller one was called Larry. While the shorter oner was called Percy. They are rookie trainers who have just come out for their trip this year.
Both of them are from Fuchsia City and are childhood friends. After getting their initial Pokemon, they decided to travel together and look out for each other.
They had knocked on the front door several times, but there was no answer yet. They did try to push the door open, but no matter how hard they tried, it would not budge.
When Hisoka renovated the gym, he had replaced the front door with a much larger one made from solid wood. It was so heavy that it would need the help of a Pokemon to open the door.
Initially, they wanted to go to the Safari Zone to catch some Pokemon first. But last night, they accidentally saw the news on the League website about the new opening of the twelfth Kanto Gym in Dark City.
It caused quite a stir among many young trainers. It had been three years since the last official gym was established. The new gym had also given many trainers, who were not confident in their own strength, a new option.
Less than a day after the news had spread, Hisoka's gym was soon listed in the gym ranking list. Although it wasn't clearly known how strong the new gym was, they made an estimate based on the geographic location, wild Pokemon distribution as well as the city's urban development.
And Dark City stood at the bottom of the list of the cities in the Kanto region. There were no known local specialties in this city. Even the city's annual tax revenue was much lower than some famous towns such as Stone Town, which was known for producing high-quality Evolution Stones. Its annual tax revenue was about twenty times more than Dark City.
It was also quite hard to get to Dark City. Not many people were willing to come to this city because of its isolated location. All in all, it was a city with no future prospects.
Thus, the challenge rating of Hisoka's new gym was ranked at D for the time being. A few strong gyms with a low passing rate would be ranked at A, such as Cinnabar Gym and Viridian Gym. Previously, the only gym with a D challenge rate would be the well-known Cerulean Gym.
Now, with the opening of a new gym, there was another suitable option for aspiring young trainers. And if Dark Gym managed to prove its strength in the future, its challenge rating would be adjusted accordingly.
When Hisoka became the temporary gym leader of Cerulean Gym, it also managed to improve its rating slightly. Unfortunately, it fell back to where it was after Hisoka left.
"Rhydon!"
Rhydon stretched his body in comfort.
'It was nice to have a wash,' thought Rhydon.
Since he used to go fishing in the sea, he was quite resistant to water. He quite liked it, actually. And he can't go without a shower after his usual training.
Rhydon's body was too big, and he liked to play in the mud. Hisoka had built a small area filled with mud for him to soak. Although it strengthened his skin, it was unbearable for other people because of its bad smell.
So after getting a new assistant, Hisoka had given her the task of cleaning Rhydon every day.
Ran had no other choice but to accept it reluctantly. She had been working hard for a week because she feared that Hisoka would kick her out of the gym. Not that he would do that, mind you.
"Larry, I think the gym is closed," Percy, the shorter one, said sadly.
Larry knocked on the door a few more times and turned to him.
"Don't worry. The League said that a new gym leader must stay at his gym for a whole month. Even if there is an urgent matter, the gym leader must find a temporary replacement," he patted his chest confidently.
Squeak!
Suddenly, the large door opened with a squeak, revealing a small gap. When it was completely opened, a large shadow blocked their sight.
The figure had red eyes, a sharp horn, and rocky plates. The most striking thing was its large body.
Larry gulped and took a few steps back. A bead of sweat trailed down his face.
'What the fuck! Is this a new gym? Fuck the challenge rating. I'll never trust it again,' he cursed in his mind.
There was no way they would be able to defeat this behemoth. He wasn't even sure if his Pokemon would be able to break that Pokemon's thick armor.
"Excuse me, did you come for the gym challenge?"
Suddenly, Ran walked out from behind Rhydon with a smile. She was actually trying to hold back her laughter as she stared at the two frightened children with trembling legs.
"Yes!"
But after seeing Ran, they shouted forcefully. They didn't want to show their weak side in front of a beautiful girl like her.
'Thankfully, that big Pokemon didn't attack us,' they thought in relief.
Rhydon stared at the little children for a while, thinking of scaring them. But after seeing them putting on an act, he immediately lost interest. He snorted and walked back toward the yard. Then, he lay on the ground and closed his eyes.
Zzz!
He soon fell asleep. Currently, it was lunch break. Since there was no training in the evening, he decided to take a nap.
"Please come with me. I'll take you guys to the venue," Ran turned around and beckoned to them.
Larry and Percy quickly scrambled to catch up with her. They didn't want to stay behind with the scary-looking Pokemon, even if it was sleeping.
...
"Miss Ran, are you a gym trainer?" Larry asked curiously, walking next to her.
Ran shook her head.
"No, I'm just a trainee now. I'm not a trainer of Dark Gym yet," she said with a smile.
"Oh."
Suddenly, she stopped in front of a big tree and said, "You guys stay here. I'll let the gym leader know that you're here."
Then, she took a few steps toward the tree and looked up.
"Weavile! Can you tell Hisoka to come here? There are two trainers who want to challenge the gym," she shouted.
Weavile was lying on top of the tree with her hands behind her head. Suddenly, she heard Ran shouting something at her. Then, she opened her eyes and slowly stood up. She looked down and nodded toward her before running toward the house.
"What kind of Pokemon is that?" Percy whispered to his friend.
He only saw a black figure jumping out of the tree. He didn't even catch its appearance.
Larry also shook his head. He didn't see it too. And he was quite embarrassed to ask Miss Ran.
Also, he was having quite some trouble calming himself down after seeing the giant Rhydon at the gate. It put him under enormous pressure.
There was no doubt that the two Pokemon he had seen belonged to the new gym leader. He tried to think of some ways to win the fight, but he seemed to have no hope of victory.
...
The garden,
Hisoka was sitting in the gazebo with his laptop.
Feebas jumped out of the water regularly in the pond. Her eyes would light up with joy every time she saw Hisoka.
She was getting more lively day by day. It seemed that the perfume recommended by Suzie was indeed working well. And coupled with Hisoka's meticulous care and company, she became more confident in herself.
During this time, Hisoka had been doing an important program. He started working on it two years ago.
And now, his program was finally finished. Although the software still had many defects, it was passable. It just needed some time to improve the program.
Then, he moved the cursor to a black folder and double-clicked it. Soon, a blank window with a few options appeared on the screen.
After that, he opened the encrypted folder and chose to extract all data of his Rhydon into the running program.
When he pressed started, the screen turned into a background selection. There were about five areas to choose from which were grassland, lake, mountain, desert, and forest. He chose the mountain venue.
Beep!
Generating background,
10%, 25%, 40%...85%, 99%...
Ding!
The screen suddenly turned black. Then, a mountain valley appeared on the screen. There was also a Rhydon that looked similar to his Rhydon.
Hisoka zoomed in on the scene with his mouse to take a closer look at the simulated Rhydon. There were still some flaws in the details, but in general, it didn't look too different.
Nodding his head with satisfaction, he then extracted another data into the program.
About thirty seconds later, a giant Pokemon similar to Rhydon appeared on the screen.
It was a dinosaurian Pokemon with a green, armor-like hide covering its body. It has two pairs of pointed teeth and several spikes of varying sizes near its head. Its eyes looked fierce.
Tyranitar, the iconic Pokemon of Johto, is an extremely strong Pokemon. It is so strong that it can change the landscape alone.
It is also one of the semi-legendary Pokemon such as Dragonite from Kanto, Salamence, and Metagross from Hoenn. These Pokemon are born with extraordinary talent and powerful strength. They are also the goal of many trainers. Unfortunately, they are rarely seen.
He had obtained Tyranitar information from a research lab in Mount Silver. They had been observing one of the female Tyranitar there. Generally, male Pokemon were much stronger than females. But Tyranitar was different. The females were much larger in size and had a more ferocious personality. Especially a pregnant Tyranitar. Their temper was really terrifying. They would attack anyone that dared to step into their territory without batting an eye.
Tyranitar was a Pokemon that was somewhat similar to Rhydon. They both had a high defense. They both had a high endurance too. But Tyranitar was much stronger in terms of physical strength than Rhydon.
And semi-legendary Pokemon wasn't called that for nothing. They had a much higher talent for learning powerful moves. It was also easy for them to use their respective type of energy.
'Rhydon. Earthquake.'
Hisoka entered a few lines into the software.
Following that, the Rhydon on the screen raised its leg slightly and stomped it down hard.
Boom!
The valley shook. A crack formed on the ground and spread toward the Tyranitar at fast speed. Along with several white shockwaves.
...