"BISHARP!"
After knocking Golurk away, Bisharp attacked once more with Iron Head.
"Thunder Punch didn't work?" Clay was a little surprised.
Steel-type Pokémon weren't weak to Electric-type moves, but the metal armor on their bodies conducted electricity easily, which made them prone to paralysis.
Bisharp was different, though. Every part of its body was covered in steel armor that acted like a lightning rod, channeling any current harmlessly into the ground so that electric shocks couldn't do real damage. Unless the power behind them was overwhelming, Electric-type moves were essentially useless against Bisharp.
Golurk wasn't an Electric-type, and its level was lower than Bisharp's besides. The Electric-type move it used naturally couldn't hurt Bisharp, let alone paralyze it.
Bang!!
Golurk, still being pushed back, had no time to defend before Iron Head connected again. It staggered backward and, unable to keep its footing, toppled over.
"Now's our chance — Night Slash!" Gary pressed the advantage.
"BISHARP!"
Bisharp loomed over it, the sharp blades on its arms coated in black light, and swung two extended energy blades downward.
"Don't think I can't fight back from here — Mega Punch!" Clay ordered.
"GOLURK!"
Golurk threw a straight punch — a plain blow with no elemental energy behind it. Bisharp knocked the fist aside with one blade and slashed Golurk across the chest with the other.
Bang!!
"GOLURK—!"
Golurk cried out in pain, its legs kicked, and its body went still.
"Golurk is unable to battle! Bisharp wins!"
"All of Gym Leader Clay's Pokémon are unable to battle. The victory goes to the challenger, Gary!"
Bisharp had successfully cut down two of Clay's Pokémon in a row.
"That last strike was so cool — amazing!" Benga was flushed with excitement. He rarely got to see matches this good at school.
"Gary, what an interesting young man you are. I've lost this one fair and square." Now that Clay knew Gary had nothing to do with his daughter, his attitude had turned downright cheerful.
"Can I have the Badge, then?" Gary asked.
"Of course. You won it."
Clay immediately had one of his men go fetch the Gym Badge.
"This is the Quake Badge. It's yours." Clay handed the Badge over to Gary.
"Thank you."
Gary accepted the Badge.
[Ding! Mission complete. Rewards have been delivered to the system storage.]
"Clay, it's my turn now. Do your Pokémon need healing first?" Benga came over.
"No need. I've got other Pokémon to use. Once the field's tidied up, we can battle," Clay said.
"Great, I can't wait."
Having just watched such a heated match, Benga was itching to go a few hundred rounds himself.
"Then you two have your battle. I'll head out first." Gary said his goodbyes and turned to leave.
"You're going? Don't you want to stay and watch my Gym battle?" Benga asked.
"You're only so strong. There's nothing worth watching," Gary said.
"What did you say?! I've gotten stronger!" Benga protested.
Gary: →_→
"We battled three days ago. Three days. How much stronger could you have gotten? If you really think you've improved, qualify for the Vertress Conference first, then come tell me."
With that parting line, Gary turned and left.
One of Clay's men saw him out as well.
While riding the elevator, Gary took the chance to check what the reward item was.
[Move Enlightenment Tome (When used on a Pokémon, it will comprehend an exclusive move corresponding to its type.)]
Gary: (QAQ)!?
Seeing the reward in his storage, Gary was stunned. This was something he'd never received before — a randomly produced move item.
What did it mean, exactly?
Comprehend an exclusive move, one matching the Pokémon's type.
Could it unlock the kind of moves that couldn't be converted into Move Tutors?
After leaving the Driftveil Gym, Gary asked silently in his mind, "System, this Move Enlightenment Tome is used on a Pokémon — can it unlock moves that can't be obtained through move learning?"
[A new move corresponding to the Pokémon's own type will be randomly generated.]
"What about dual-type Pokémon?"
[The move will be comprehended based on the Pokémon's primary type.]
"Would it awaken a more powerful move if used on a Legendary Pokémon?"
Judging by the moves Pokémon currently possessed, most of those with exclusive moves were Legendary Pokémon. Ordinary Pokémon rarely had exclusive moves — at most, they had exclusive Abilities.
[Random.]
"Then how powerful would the comprehended move be?"
[The comprehended move is random. If it turns out to be a status move, it will not be powerful.]
This Move Enlightenment Tome really was something — everything about it came down to chance.
"Which Pokémon should I try it on?"
There was only one Move Enlightenment Tome for now, and Gary wasn't sure who to use it on. Either way, it was definitely going to one of his main team's Pokémon.
He did want to use it on Blastoise — it was his Starter Pokémon, after all — but Water-type exclusive moves didn't seem especially powerful. He was worried Blastoise would end up comprehending some defense-oriented Water move instead.
Gary only wanted offensive moves, so his options came down to aggressive types like Fire, Electric, Fighting, and Dragon.
After thinking it over, Gary narrowed it down to Charizard, Tyranitar, and Zapdos — all three were highly combative Pokémon.
Charizard and Tyranitar both loved to fight, and Zapdos was a Legendary Pokémon in its own right.
Although the system said the comprehended move was completely random, most exclusive moves currently belonged to Legendary Pokémon, so Gary figured that using the tome on a Legendary might produce something stronger.
"Better to go with Charizard — it can Mega Evolve, after all!" The more Gary thought about it, the more suitable Charizard seemed. After Mega Evolution, Charizard was stronger than Zapdos, and combined with Mega Charizard Y's Drought Ability, the power of any Fire-type move it used would be even more devastating.
"System, redeem Spikes from the Ground-type Self-Select Permanent Move Tutor," Gary said.
Before using the Move Enlightenment Tome, Gary first spent the Ground-type Self-Select Move Tutor he'd gotten this time. The truly powerful Ground-type moves were all exclusives — otherwise they could only be learned by the Pokémon themselves — and the Ground-type moves available through a tutor were few, most of them useless.
He already had Ground-type moves covered for both physical and special attacks, and Dig, which let a Pokémon hide underground, had been redeemed too.
Now Spikes had been redeemed as well. If Gary received another Ground-type Self-Select Move Tutor after this, he honestly wouldn't know what to pick.