Chapter 52: Lavaridge Gym, A Scorching Battle!

Flannery has fiery red hair, which perfectly matches her passionate and blazing personality as a Gym Leader!

When Ashton arrived at the Lavaridge Gym, Flannery, who had always possessed a burning fighting spirit, was actually waiting right at the entrance. The moment she saw Ashton, she promptly arranged for the gym battle to begin!

With the referee taking his position, Ashton and Flannery stood at their respective places as the challenger and the Gym Leader to commence the battle!

"The gym battle between the challenger Ashton and Lavaridge Gym Leader Flannery is about to begin. The battle format is three-on-three, and only the challenger has the right to substitute Pokémon. Let the battle begin!"

Following the referee's command, Gym Leader Flannery sent out her first Pokémon!

A level 25 Slugma!

Perhaps every Gym Leader was the same; their first Pokémon was meant to test the challenger's strength, hence its relatively low level.

Facing the Slugma, Ashton also took out Growlithe's Poké Ball!

Accompanied by a flash of red light, Growlithe appeared before Slugma. Its Intimidate ability activated, instantly lowering Slugma's attack power significantly!

Seeing that Ashton had also sent out a Fire-type Pokémon, Flannery grew even more interested.

"Oh? I didn't expect you to be a trainer who loves Fire-type Pokémon as well. That's really great, but I won't hold back in battle!"

"Slugma, use Eruption!"

Upon receiving Flannery's command, Slugma immediately opened its mouth wide, and a burst of black smoke carrying a scorching heat instantly swept across the entire battle field!

Although Growlithe was also a Fire-type Pokémon, it did not possess the Flash Fire ability, so it still took damage from Eruption!

Seeing this, Ashton immediately called out to Growlithe!

"Growlithe, use Quick Attack, followed by Flame Wheel!"

Taking advantage of the speed boost from Quick Attack, just as it was about to close in on Slugma, Growlithe's entire body became engulfed in flames!

During the charge, the wind whipped up by its speed further amplified the attack power of the Flame Wheel!

The next instant, Growlithe crashed directly into Slugma, sending it flying backwards!

"Great, just like that! Growlithe, use Bite!"

Growlithe naturally harbored a deep aversion to Pokémon like Slugma. After all, hadn't Growlithe and its mother been surrounded and trapped by a pack of Torkoal back at Mt. Chimney?

Therefore, with an outlet for its pent-up emotions, Growlithe's fighting spirit soared!

Before Slugma could even pick itself up from the previous attack, Growlithe rushed right up to it, baring its teeth filled with malicious intent, and clamped down with a fierce bite!

Stung by the pain, Slugma tried to struggle and resist, but Growlithe pressed its entire body down upon it, rendering it completely immobile!

After a moment, Slugma exhausted all its stamina and fainted!

"Ding-dong, Growlithe defeated Slugma, gained 211 experience points, and leveled up! Current level: Lv. 23!"

"Slugma is unable to battle, Growlithe wins!"

Hearing the referee's declaration, Flannery took out her Poké Ball and recalled Slugma.

"What a wonderful fighting spirit! Ashton, you've raised this Growlithe exceptionally well. Next up, I'm counting on you, Slugma—wait, Slugma is done... Go, Magcargo!"

As Flannery sent out her next Pokémon, Magcargo's stats appeared before Ashton's eyes!

This Magcargo was quite massive, standing over a meter tall, which was one and a half times the size of an ordinary Magcargo!

One could easily tell the strength of Flannery's Magcargo from this alone!

Pokémon: Magcargo
Level: 33
Ability: Magma Armor
Type: Fire
Potential: Purple
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Locked
Moves: Clear Smog, Yawn, Rock Throw, Ancient Power, Incinerate, Rock Slide...

Facing this level 33 Magcargo, Ashton recalled Growlithe and sent out Monferno to take its place!

"Another Fire-type Pokémon? Wonderful, wonderful! Ashton, I'm liking you more and more. Trainers who love Fire-type Pokémon are the most adorable people!"

As Flannery finished speaking, she seemed somewhat unfamiliar with Ashton's Monferno.

"What kind of Pokémon is this?"

Faced with Flannery's confusion, Ashton smiled and said, "The starter Pokémon from the Sinnoh region, Chimchar's evolution, Monferno. I happened to obtain it by chance. Flannery, the passion for battle must keep burning!"

With that, Ashton immediately commanded Monferno to launch an attack!

"Monferno, go! Use Mach Punch!"

With the Iron Fist ability, Monferno naturally received a boost of over twenty percent to the power of all punching moves!

Therefore, Ashton started right off the bat by having Monferno use a punching technique!

"I see! As expected of a man who has already obtained four Gym Badges and defeated Gym Leader Norman of Petalburg Gym. Magcargo, use Rock Slide!"

Even though Magcargo used a Rock-type move, by the time the rocks condensed and began to plummet, Monferno had already charged right up to Magcargo!

Its right fist, glowing with a bright white light, punched out instantly and slammed directly into Magcargo, sending it flying!

Only then did the massive boulders come crashing down!

However, faced with Monferno's formidable fighting-type skills, the falling rocks were simply shattered to pieces by Monferno's attacks!

"Great, just like that! Use Flame Wheel!"

Upon receiving Ashton's command once again, Monferno let out a sharp cry, burst into flames all over its body, and began to spin rapidly!

"Magcargo, Ancient Power!"

Even though Magcargo tried to gather its energy for the move, Monferno was much faster, striking Magcargo first and forcibly interrupting its attack!

"The final blow, Thunder Punch!"

Accompanied by crackling electrical currents flickering across Monferno's hand, a dazzling flash of light cut through the air, and Magcargo was sent blasting backward!

When it crashed onto the ground, both of its eyes had turned into spiral swirls.

"Ding-dong, Monferno defeated Magcargo, gained 325 experience points, and leveled up! Current level: Lv. 34!"

"Magcargo is unable to battle, Monferno wins! Gym Leader Flannery, please send out your next Pokémon!"

Seeing herself defeated once again, Flannery was somewhat unwilling to accept it.

"This Monferno is really strong! Then come on out, my ultimate trump card!"

Accompanied by a flash of red light, a Torkoal made its grand entrance!

"Ding-dong, Torkoal's current stats are as follows:"

Pokémon: Torkoal
Level: 37
Ability: White Smoke
Type: Fire
Potential: Purple
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Locked
Moves: Withdraw, Rapid Spin, Flame Wheel, Protect, Eruption, Iron Defense, Body Slam, Flamethrower...