Giovanni didn't know Delia's thoughts behind him; he simply walked into Diglett's Cave.
Rhydon and Nidoking, leading the way, were like two great generals, knocking down one after another.
Giovanni quietly opened his mouth, "There are quite a few Diglett, but unfortunately, I don't have enough Poké Balls. It seems I'll have to send someone to catch a batch later."
The interior of Diglett's Cave was more complex than it appeared from the outside, with winding passages and traps made by Dugtrio everywhere.
But Giovanni seemed to know all about them, skillfully dodging traps and venturing deeper into the cave step by step.
As for the Senior Level Dugtrio inside the cave...
Are you kidding? Rhydon and the others are capable of matching Gym Leader Level Pokémon raised by Trainers.
Wild Senior Level Pokémon are just a piece of cake for them.
Finally, in a spacious chamber, he saw the Gym Leader Level Dugtrio.
The ground trembled slightly!
A massive Dugtrio burst out from underground, exuding the powerful aura unique to Gym Leader Level Pokémon, clearly the leader of this group of Diglett and Dugtrio.
"Surviving in the wild without wasting its potential, that's interesting." Giovanni's lips curved into a playful smile as he pointed, "Take it down for me!"
Persian tilted its head, looking at the Dugtrio, whose body was still underground. How was it supposed to take it down?
Nidoking and Machoke scratched their heads, also pondering the question.
Rhydon, not as clever as Persian and the others, didn't care. It roared and charged towards the Dugtrio.
The Dugtrio looked at the charging Rhydon and immediately used Ancient Power.
Huge rocks appeared under its control, flying with great force towards Rhydon.
Rhydon, seeing the oncoming rocks, not only wasn't intimidated but happily bared its large mouth.
Its horn spun wildly, then it used Horn Attack to smash fiercely into the oncoming rocks.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One by one, the rocks were shattered by it. Not only that, it even grabbed a rock directly, opened its maw, and bit down hard.
The rock made a crisp sound as it was directly bitten through, then swallowed in two bites. After eating, it somewhat disdainfully threw the half-eaten rock onto the ground.
Seeing this, the Dugtrio was so enraged that all three of its faces turned green.
Even if it could block its move, it shouldn't play like this.
What does that mean? Is it looking down on Dugtrio??!
Angrily, it stirred up a fierce Sandstorm!
The Sandstorm raged, sweeping through the entire cave, and the sharp sand seemed to turn into blades.
The Dugtrio's aura and energy instantly surged. Giovanni's eyes lit up, "Sand Force? That's a very good Ability too."
Under the boost of the Sand Force Ability, the Dugtrio's power instantly skyrocketed!
"Don't just watch, go at it together, but make sure it doesn't escape." Giovanni instructed Nidoking and Machoke in front of him.
Persian, disliking the piles of sand, was unwilling to go forward, and Giovanni didn't force it.
After all, cleaning up would indeed be a bit troublesome later.
Then he thought of something and spoke to the shadow beneath his feet: "Haunter, I need your help. Use Mean Look. Don't let this guy escape."
The slightly weary Haunter, at Giovanni's command, still struggled out of the shadow.
It immediately used Mean Look on the Dugtrio, which hadn't been completely obscured by the yellow sand. Its eyes were covered in black, and a special energy field connected it to the Dugtrio.
However, because the power difference was a little too great, Haunter probably wouldn't last too long.
The Dugtrio, sensing this situation, also looked at Haunter and Giovanni, realizing this was a trick they had pulled!
Its eyes were filled with burning rage!
Giovanni looked at the three Pokémon that had plunged into the yellow sand and simply instructed them, "Hurry!"
The battle was about to erupt.
This Dugtrio was very cunning. Under the cover of the yellow sand, it quickly adjusted its position, hiding directly within the sand, preparing to launch a Sucker Punch.
However, it clearly didn't know that someone could cheat. Giovanni calmly observed the battle. Nidoking and the others were on high alert, ready to counter Dugtrio's attack at any moment.
"Rhydon, to your lower left, don't let it get a chance to ambush." Giovanni gave Rhydon the command.
"Prepare to use Arm Thrust!"
Rhydon let out a low growl, its massive body trembling slightly on the ground, like a moving fortress.
Just then, as expected, the Dugtrio suddenly burst out from the left side of the yellow sand, heading straight for Rhydon.
It used a move, and a cloud of yellow dust consumed the earth, turning into quicksand that swept towards Rhydon.
It was Sand Tomb.
Fortunately, Giovanni had already given a warning. Rhydon leaped suddenly, instantly avoiding the Sand Tomb's attack, while gathering power in mid-air, its arms filled with energy, ready to unleash Arm Thrust at any moment.
However, this Dugtrio was very clever; it had no intention of clashing head-on with Rhydon.
After Rhydon dodged Sand Tomb, it immediately created distance from Rhydon again.
Rhydon had no choice but to give up on the Arm Thrust.
The Dugtrio also quickly burrowed back into the yellow sand the moment Rhydon landed, attempting to ambush Rhydon with Feint Attack.
It burst out fiercely, carrying immense destructive power!
Giovanni's eyes flashed, and he immediately commanded Rhydon, "Behind you, block it quickly!"
But Rhydon, upon Giovanni's command, turned sharply, crossed its arms, and directly used its sturdy body to block Dugtrio's attack.
Boom!
Because it was a hasty defense, Rhydon was still pushed back several steps by the Dugtrio.
Fortunately, at this moment, Nidoking, who was fumbling around, finally arrived.
Giovanni immediately gave the command, "Nidoking, Mega Horn!"
Nidoking, hearing this, immediately charged forward, focusing immensely powerful energy into its sharp horn, launching a fierce attack at the Dugtrio.
Dugtrio could only abandon its attack on Rhydon and dodge away instead.
However, with the two behemoths having joined forces, how could they let it escape so easily?
They instantly coordinated, attacking the Dugtrio simultaneously from two directions. One used Fury Attack, and the other used Take Down, forming a pincer movement!
Seeing this, the Dugtrio slyly used Sand Attack!
Yellow sand filled the air, becoming even denser under its concentration, directly obscuring their vision and preventing them from acting!
And thus, it narrowly escaped the full-force attacks of the two behemoths!
[T/N: Merry Christmas eve, everyone!]