Gabite stood at about 1.7 meters tall—which was already considered well-developed for its species—but compared to the Totem-class Pupitar in front of it, nearly 4 meters tall, it didn't even reach half its height.
Pupitar glanced down at the smaller Pokémon with clear disdain. If it had arms right now, it would probably be making some mocking gestures.
Earlier, it had felt that Metagross was far too powerful and unbeatable. But now that Julian had sent out Gabite, Pupitar felt this opponent might actually be too weak.
Gabite, however, was extremely proud. It had always looked down on other Pokémon, so being looked down on now by Pupitar made it incredibly irritated.
With long strides, it charged forward, picking up speed before leaping into the air. Its arm fins glowed with a white light, slashing down like a crescent blade.
Seeing this, Pupitar blasted powerful jets of air from beneath its body. Despite its massive size, it burst forward with surprising speed, whooshing away from its original position.
Boom!
Gabite's Brick Break missed and slammed into the ground instead, leaving a sizable crater.
The sound of rushing air reached its ears—Pupitar was already repositioning, jets propelling it behind Gabite.
Gabite spun around, crossing its arms in front of itself just as Pupitar's head slammed into it. The tremendous impact sent Gabite skidding backward.
After sliding over ten meters, the force finally dissipated, and Gabite came to a stop.
"Garr!"
With a powerful shove, Gabite unleashed the strength in its arms, knocking Pupitar back.
But even as Pupitar was knocked back, it had already activated Rock Slide.
Over a dozen boulders, each the size of millstones, materialized above Gabite's head.
As they rained down, they completely sealed off any chance to dodge.
The whistling sound of falling rocks reached Gabite's ears. It tilted its head slightly, and a golden light began gathering in its jaws.
Then, to everyone's surprise, Gabite fired its Hyper Beam—not at the rocks above, but at Pupitar, still in mid-retreat.
BOOM!!
The Hyper Beam struck Pupitar head-on, slamming it into the cliffside with such force that the rock face cracked and groaned under the pressure.
At the same time, the falling rocks landed on Gabite.
But only one of the falling stones actually hit—nowhere near enough to interrupt its Hyper Beam.
Rock Slide, after all, was usually more useful for disrupting enemy movements or blocking escape routes than for direct damage.
With the stones mostly spread out horizontally, even a direct hit usually only meant one or two stones landing. So Gabite had simply tanked through it.
As the Hyper Beam ended, Gabite kicked off the ground. Even though rocks were scattered in front of it, they didn't slow it down much. Its body surged forward, charging straight toward Pupitar, who was still embedded in the mountain wall.
As for the recoil paralysis after using Hyper Beam? Gabite had long since overcome that.
For a professional Trainer, if your Pokémon still couldn't reduce the recoil time of Hyper Beam, you simply weren't qualified.
Though Pupitar had taken a direct hit from Hyper Beam, the damage wasn't severe. Its armored shell wasn't just for show.
Now, as Gabite closed in, arm fins glowing with another Brick Break, Pupitar suddenly formed a jaw with swirling Dark-type energy—Crunch.
Gabite had no choice but to abandon its attack to avoid being caught.
Rumble rumble—
The instant Gabite stopped, the ground suddenly began to shake violently. The intense tremor made its internal organs feel like they were flipping inside out. It staggered, struggling to maintain balance.
Under Earthquake, all were equal.
By now, Julian had already mounted Moltres into the air.
From above, he watched Pupitar finish the Earthquake and then jet upward again with powerful air bursts, rocketing like a cannonball toward the disoriented Gabite.
"Protect!" Julian called out.
Almost instinctively, upon hearing the command, a green protective barrier surrounded Gabite.
The next second, Pupitar crashed headfirst into the shield. Unable to break through, it was bounced back by the barrier and flung away.
By the time the Earthquake's aftershocks faded, Gabite had taken considerable damage from the tremors but it gritted its teeth and retaliated with a searing Dragon Breath, aimed at the still airborne Pupitar.
A metallic gleam flashed over Pupitar's body.
"Iron Defense, not bad timing," Julian nodded approvingly.
Iron Defense boosted Pupitar's already high defense, minimizing the damage it took from Dragon Breath.
But now it was in the air—with no wings—it would have to land eventually. And while airborne, its mobility was almost nonexistent.
As soon as Pupitar landed, what greeted it was Gabite's Dragon Rush.
The powerful strike sent Pupitar flying again, crashing all the way to the mountain wall. Rocks cracked and shattered under the impact as its body was driven deeper and deeper into the cliff.
Even its tough armor began to crack under the Dragon Rush, crimson seeping from the fractures.
Just as Pupitar was about to fully fall unconscious, Gabite suddenly stopped attacking.
Julian landed and Gabite walked over to stand in front of him.
"…Well done."
Julian patted its shoulder and said with a faint smile, "So, how's its strength?"
Gabite: "Strong. But I'm stronger."
'Such a prideful guy'. Julian smiled silently.
After all, a Pokémon raised by him—of course it would be the strongest.
A few minutes later, Pupitar had recovered enough to hover over on its jet-like air currents, stopping in front of Julian and Gabite.
Julian: "What, still not convinced?"
Seeing Pupitar glaring at Gabite, clearly unwilling to accept defeat. Julian chuckled.
Pupitar looked at Julian as if to say: 'If you hadn't forced me awake mid-evolution, I wouldn't have lost.'
It had already been in the middle of evolving. But Julian had forced it awake, interrupting its evolution. That not only halted the process—it also caused some physical side effects, weakening its power.
"So you really aren't convinced, huh?"
What Pupitar said wasn't wrong. Because of Julian's actions, it hadn't been able to fight at full strength.
But even at 100%, it still wouldn't have been able to beat Gabite.
Gabite: "Get yourself healed. I won't. Then we'll fight again."
As prideful as it was, Gabite clearly wanted to completely crush Pupitar and leave no room for doubt.
Since Pupitar thought the match was unfair, Gabite would flip the disadvantage onto itself this time.
Pupitar was momentarily stunned. It hadn't expected such a response from Gabite.
It looked toward Julian and, after a moment of thought, said: "I'm willing to join your team."
There was no point in continuing to fight Gabite. During their battle, it had already roughly gauged Gabite's strength. Even at full power, there was an 80% chance it still wouldn't win.
Its earlier defiance? Just saving face.
*****
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