Chapter 72: Wattson

"Alright, our special training ends here!"

Rex clapped his hands, looking at the completely transformed Sandslash, then shouted loudly.

It was now close to noon on the second day. After nearly a day of training, Sandslash had greatly improved its mastery of the Rollout skill. At least, it could adjust its rolling direction in time during the rolling process, thus hitting targets set in different directions.

Moreover, Sandslash seemed to have developed a liking for the sensation of rolling.

After becoming round, it concealed all the soft parts of its body, using its sturdy back covered with sharp spikes to crash into targets. This reckless feeling fascinated it.

The reason Sandslash disliked battling was actually related to its weak strength during its Sandshrew period, often bullied by other Pokémon. At that time, it could only rely on its digging skills to escape, gradually losing confidence and only wanting to live a flat life.

For Sandslash's transformation, Rex was also pleased, but he also knew that to maintain this state, Sandslash needed to continuously feel the strength of its own power.

At this moment, the other Pokémon, upon hearing Rex's call, gathered around. Their conditions weren't very good, except for a certain Torchic that had been spectating the whole time.

"Victreebel, could you please use your Grassy Terrain for them?"

Rex said to Victreebel whose wondering around.

Upon hearing its trainer's words, Victreebel promptly activated Grassy Terrain.

Instantly, a green light emerged from the grass, and due to the dual effects of the Grassy Terrain, the healing effect was particularly good. The injuries caused by training on the Pokémon were visibly healing at a rapid rate.

Although Rex mainly focused his energy on training Sandslash, during Sandslash's rest periods, he would still watch the training of other Pokémon.

The progress in strength was still pleasing, as always. Now, Heracross couldn't easily flip it over anymore, occasionally showing some defensive flaws, getting hit by Heracross's skills.

Of course, Machop also made progress. Faced with the increasingly tricky attack angles and stronger power of Strength, it could block most attacks and even counterattack, which was already very good.

As for the other group of sparring partners, Swellow initially looked down on the younger ones.

However, after being hit by Flaffy's Thunder Wave, and then seized the opportunity by Poliwhirl's successive slaps, it woke up, feeling a bit out of it.

After that incident, Swellow didn't dare to underestimate its opponents anymore, with the Tailwind effect constantly supporting it.

As for Poliwhirl, which had taken a beating after seizing the opportunity against Swellow, it became the focus of Swellow's attention. With the Tailwind effect, the speed of Swellow was unmatched by them.

Swellow didn't use any skills, just swiftly flew in front of them, then flapped its strong wings left and right, not waiting for them to react before quickly ascending.

As the primary target, Poliwhirl's face swelled up, and of course, Flaffy and Gastly didn't escape unscathed, although they fared better than Poliwhirl.

Although Poliwhirl suffered a bit from the revenge, it felt worth it. Being able to give Swellow a few slaps was quite rare. After returning, it planned to boast to its partner and the little Poliwhirls for a while!

After confirming that all the Pokémon had recovered to their best condition, Rex recalled them into their Poké Balls, leaving only Swellow to carry him back to Mauville City.

After resting at the Pokémon Center until noon, Rex set off for the Mauville Gym at 3 p.m. Fortunately, the distance between the Pokémon Center and the Mauville Gym was not far, and he arrived in less than 10 minutes.

"Hello, I'm here to challenge as agreed!"

Rex said to a young man with glasses, looking somewhat refined.

"Oh, what's your name, please?"

Liam asked.

"I'm Rex from Fallarbor Town, and I registered yesterday!"

Rex replied.

"Indeed, I saw it. Follow me, I'll take you to see Gym Leader Wattson!"

After Liam glanced at the registration book and confirmed the information was correct, he said.

Rex followed Liam to a teleportation pad, and then the teleportation pad started, pushing him and Liam forward.

After turning a few corners, the teleportation pad stopped at the entrance of a room. Liam pushed open the door first, and what came into view was a battle arena. Rex followed him in.

"Hey hey, young man, are you the challenger this time?"

Wattson asked with a big laugh.

"That's right, please advise me, Mr. Wattson."

Rex politely replied, looking at the chubby old man in front of him.

For someone of his age who could be his grandfather, he was indeed a young man, so he didn't feel belittled or anything like that.

"In that case, let's start the match. Liam, you'll be the referee for this match!"

Wattson turned to George and said.

"I understand, Gym Leader Wattson!"

Liam respectfully replied.

"So, with Rex from Fallarbor Town challenging the Mauville Gym's 3v3 Gym challenge, trainers are allowed to switch Pokémon, while Gym trainers are not allowed!"

Liam announced after walking to the referee position.

"Go, Magnemite!"

Wattson had already released the three Pokémon he was going to use from their Poké Balls in advance, showing his confidence in his own strength.

"Come on, Machop!"

Rex saw that the opponent's Pokémon were already in position and matched the data he found online, so he sent out Machop.

"Haha, a spirited Machop! Magnemite, use Thunder Shock!"

Unexpectedly, Wattson didn't seem surprised by Machop's abnormality, perhaps because he had been a Gym Trainer for many years and had seen countless challengers, so he could treat everyone equally!

For Machop, which was good at close combat, it could only rely on its agility to dodge the opponent's Thunder Shock attack and then try to get as close to Magnemite as possible.

Fortunately, during the sparring with Heracross, its steps became much more agile, avoiding most of the Thunder Shock attacks, but still getting hit by a few.

However, Machop, relying on its own perseverance, forcibly advanced to Magnemite.

At the moment when Magnemite was about to dodge, it rolled and came to its blind spot, concentrating Fighting-type energy in its left hand, then unleashed a Brick Break directly on Magnemite.

"Magnemite, use Thunderbolt at maximum power!"

Seeing Magnemite take a fatal blow, Wattson didn't hesitate to give the command to continue. His Magnemite had Sturdy as its ability and wouldn't be taken out in one hit.

Suddenly, a powerful electric light emerged from Magnemite, smashing heavily onto Machop.

Machop also let out a painful groan, but it didn't give up. Instead, it endured the electric light and delivered a powerful Fire Punch onto Magnemite. After taking this hit, Magnemite collapsed on the ground, losing its fighting ability.

As for Machop, its condition wasn't much better after such a powerful Thunderbolt attack. It was staggering, only able to support its body through sheer willpower.

"What a persevering kid. Young man, you have a very good partner!"

Seeing Machop's performance, Wattson said meaningfully to Rex.

"There's no doubt about that. Machop has always worked hard and never let me down. Now, you can rest, Machop!"

Rex looked at Machop, still struggling to support itself, then recalled it into its Poké Ball for rest.

"Alright, let's continue our match. It's your turn, Voltorb!"

As expected, Wattson sent out Voltorb.

"Sandslash, it's up to you!"

Rex promptly sent out his second Pokémon.

"Haha, it seems you've done your homework, young man. That's good. But my Voltorb isn't that easy to defeat."

Wattson, upon seeing Rex using Sandslash, knew that the opponent had probably investigated the situation of his Gym in advance. However, he didn't dislike this behavior; it meant that Rex wasn't reckless.

(End of this chapter)