"Yoo~"
A flash of white light and Pheromosa appeared in front of Axel.
The gauzy wings behind her fluttered lightly, keeping her hovering above the water as she gazed coldly at the Gyarados before her.
Her big purple eyes were full of disdain.
Seeing the Pokémon before him, Gyarados's eyes lit up at once.
He didn't know this pretty-looking Pokémon, but that aura was familiar.
'Definitely Bug + Fighting type!'
Gyarados tilted his head to glance at Crasher, his gaze full of pride.
'This? You think you can fight me with this?'
'Watch, I'll press her down into the water and grind her flat!'
He immediately let out a ferocious roar, and a downward light ring appeared around Pheromosa.
Crasher was dumbfounded.
'Wait, how am I supposed to throw the match now?'
'All I had was a Gyarados with a bit of Flying typing, and the other side sent out a Pheromosa?'
That thing's quadruple weak to Flying.
"Ahem!", Crasher coughed dryly, "I suddenly remembered Gyarados has been a bit sick lately, not really fit to fight."
"How about this, I release another Pokémon, you also switch yours, and we restart?"
Crasher kept winking desperately at Axel.
'If you don't fight, I can always hand you the badge elsewhere.'
'But since we've already started…'
'The gym has surveillance, so I can't fake it too much.'
'Just agree already!'
"No need. Switching Pokémon wastes time. The result will be the same anyway."
"Hm?", Crasher froze, not sure what Axel meant.
But he quickly understood.
Not long after Gyarados used Intimidate, Pheromosa reacted.
In her hands gathered a mass of golden light, crackling into a net of energy.
"Gyarados, Protect, now!"
Almost instinctively, Crasher snapped into battle mode.
As a gym leader, his experience far surpassed Gyarados's.
He didn't know the details, but he had heard that Ultra Beasts had appeared in Donghuang recently, so he knew such beings existed.
And Pheromosa, in his impression, was an extremely powerful mixed attacker.
Add in Electroweb, which hit Gyarados for quadruple damage, even with Gyarados's special defense and stamina, he couldn't take many hits.
Even if Crasher planned to throw the match, he still had to show his strength first.
Otherwise, it'd be meaningless, and he wouldn't earn any credit.
"ROAR!"
At his command, Gyarados roared again, white light condensing in front of him. A massive shield formed instantly.
Seeing Gyarados pull off Protect, Crasher nodded in satisfaction.
He had raised this Gyarados since it was a Magikarp, and their bond was excellent.
First step complete. Now he just needed to think of how to lose without making it too ugly.
"ROAR!"
As Crasher was thinking, Gyarados suddenly cried out in pain.
He looked up, and was instantly dumbstruck.
'What the hell?'
'Didn't Gyarados just use Protect?'
'Why is he wrapped up in an Electroweb now!'
Above the pool, Gyarados's blue body was bound by the web, endless lightning surging over him, turning his skin golden, looking terrifyingly majestic.
But Crasher had no heart to admire it. His mind was only full of disbelief.
'Sure, Gyarados had a quadruple weakness, but it shouldn't be this bad, right?'
Beside Axel, Platinum's eyes widened, her hands covering her mouth that refused to shut.
She'd spent more than a day with Axel, so she knew of his Pheromosa.
But she never imagined this not-so-eye-catching Pokémon could be so overwhelmingly strong.
To break through the supposedly unbreakable "Protect" move.
That kind of destructive power was on par with Glastrier.
Thinking back to yesterday when Axel trained Prinplup and Ponyta, Platinum suddenly understood.
'To raise this Pokémon to such strength, Axel must have spent a fortune, right?'
'But… he clearly doesn't even have money for a sandwich.'
With that thought, her gaze at Axel softened with unintentional pity.
'How much suffering has this man endured for the sake of raising his Pokémon?'
Platinum's mind filled in the blanks, 'Axel working ten jobs a day, unable to afford even a single sausage.'
'No wonder he is so exhausted and weak.'
Her brows knitted tight, and she sighed lightly.
'When there is a chance, I have to give Axel more money.'
'If he can't even pull out tens of millions, how pitiful…'
———
As for Platinum and Crasher's thoughts, Axel knew nothing.
His eyes calmly watched Pheromosa, assessing her current strength.
Pheromosa's level had reached 45.
Not high, she was still far behind the dragon general.
But that didn't mean she wasn't strong.
With the broken ability "King of Assassins," both her Attack and Special Attack were maxed out.
That Electroweb breaking through Protect still hadn't shown her true combat strength.
Pheromosa's greatest edge was single-target strikes.
They always hit critical. And those criticals dealt an extra 100% damage.
The ability sounded simple, but its effect was terrifying.
Against this Gyarados, she didn't even need Z-power.
"Use Stomp Out, end it quickly."
"Yoo~"
Pheromosa let out a low cry, her body leaving afterimages as she appeared above Gyarados.
Her right leg lifted high, then slammed hard toward Gyarados's brow.
Crack!
A thunderous sound.
Under Pheromosa's raw power, Gyarados's normally gaping jaws snapped shut with force.
At once, still electrified, Gyarados flinched, mind blank, and dropped like a cannonball into the water.
At the same time, a rising ring of light flashed around Pheromosa.
Beast Boost activated.
Her Speed rose again, wings fluttering like white gauze, cold winds quietly sweeping across the gym.
On the other side, Crasher froze.
Question: if a fully-electrified Gyarados fell into the water, and the electricity came from an overpowered Pokémon—
Answer: would the trainer swimming in the pool get fried?
"Gyarados, snap out of it, I'm still in the water!"
"Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Ludicolo, save me!"
At the same time, Crasher suddenly remembered his earlier chat with Jenny.
If that conversation record ever got out.
His body shuddered, and he quickly added, "If you really can't save me, don't forget to smash my phone!"
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