Chapter 24: Battling Norman - Part 1

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"What is about to begin is the gym challenge between Gary from Pallet Town and Norman, the leader of Petalburg Gym. Both sides can use three Pokémon. When all three Pokémon of one side lose their combat ability, the battle ends. In addition, gym leaders cannot switch Pokémon during the battle."

After taking a look at both sides, the referee of Petalburg Gym continued to announce: "Now, please have the gym leader send out their Pokémon first!"

Although Gary had a great time chatting with Norman, the gym challenge still needed to proceed, so Gary and Rosa's Petalburg Gym challenge began.

Because of his girlfriend Rosa's modesty, Gary was the first to have a gym battle with Norman.

Norman took out a Poké Ball under the eyes of the referee and threw it out.

"My first Pokémon is, please, Slakoth!"

Accompanied by a flash of white light, a lazy-looking gray ape Pokémon appeared opposite Gary.

"It's Slakoth!"

Gary recognized the first Pokémon sent by Norman, which is also one of his representative Pokémon, Slakoth.

And reading from the system panel, Gary also knew that the Slakoth in front of him was only level 26.

Gary looked at the intermediate-level Slakoth sent by Norman and knew that he was testing Gary's strength in the way he dealt with ordinary trainers.

After seeing the strength of Slakoth, Gary also had an idea about the Pokémon he would send.

"I'll leave it to you, Elekid!"

Under the same white light, Gary's Elekid also appeared.

"The battle begins!"

After seeing both sides send out their Pokémon, the referee announced the official start of the battle.

"Let's go, Elekid, use Quick Attack!"

As soon as the referee finished speaking, Gary, the challenger, took the lead in launching an attack.

Elekid was immediately enveloped by a white light and then rushed towards the direction of Slakoth like a flash of lightning.

On Slakoth's side, although there was no command from Norman, it still lazily moved its position and dodged Elekid's Quick Attack move.

"Slakoth, Focus Punch!"

And Norman also took the opportunity to give orders to Slakoth when Elekid's attack missed.

Slakoth, who was attacking sideways, yawned at this time, waved its fist, and aimed to hit Elekid in front of it.

"Now, Elekid, Screech!"

Looking at the attacking Slakoth, Gary also smiled slightly and then gave an order to Elekid.

Just when the attack of Slakoth was about to hit, Elekid suddenly made a piercing sound.

This screech instantly attacked Slakoth, who was close at hand, forcing its fist to stop, and then it had to use both hands to cover its ears tightly.

In this way, Slakoth's attack was interrupted.

Gary also quickly seized the gap in Slakoth's attack and quickly issued the next order to Elekid.

"Take advantage of this moment, Elekid, use Thunderbolt!"

After hearing Gary's order, Elekid suddenly jumped with tiny lightning, and then these lightnings merged into a thick Thunderbolt, attacking Slakoth not far away.

Slakoth, who did not recover from the screech, certainly could not stop this attack, so the Thunderbolt also hit the target directly.

"Slakoth!"

After seeing this scene, Norman also shouted with concern.

However, under the Thunderbolt attack of Elekid, Slakoth finally failed to hold on and fell to the ground.

"Slakoth lost its ability to fight, and Elekid won!"

After the referee confirmed that Slakoth had lost consciousness, he announced the victory of the battle.

"Great, Gary!"

Seeing Gary's victory, Rosa, who was watching the battle, also shouted excitedly at this time.

"Thank you for your hard work, Slakoth."

After Norman took back Slakoth, he looked at Gary and said, "You react very quickly, Gary!"

Even Norman was surprised by Gary's ability to adapt to changes.

"Mr. Norman, you are too kind."

Gary just smiled indifferently at the praise from Norman.

"Then your next opponent is this one. Go ahead, Vigoroth!"

The Poké Ball thrown by Norman was instantly opened, and then a Pokémon that was stronger than the previous Slakoth appeared in front of Norman, namely Norman's Vigoroth.

Pokémon: Vigoroth

Type: Normal

Ability: Vital Spirit

Gender: Male

Level: Level 48

Qualification: Quasi-Elite

Moves: Scratch, Fury Swipes, Slash, Focus Punch, Double-Edge, Bulk Up, Flamethrower, Fire Punch, Metal Claw, Shadow Ball...

"It seems that Norman's test is over!"

After Gary saw the strength of the Vigoroth in front of him, he thought to himself.

That's right, after the previous test, Norman was also roughly aware of Gary's strength, so he sent out a stronger Pokémon.

Such an opponent is no match for Elekid and Pupitar, so Gary decisively sent out the main Pokémon he was holding now.

"I'll leave this game to you, Umbreon!"

Facing the Vigoroth whose strength reached the elite level, Gary decisively took back Elekid and sent Umbreon to fight.

"Vigoroth, use Flamethrower!"

Norman decisively launched the first attack in this round. Vigoroth obeyed his order and immediately opened its mouth, and the surging and hot flames gushed out continuously, forming a pillar of fire, rushing towards the direction of Umbreon.

"We can't give up, Umbreon, use Dark Pulse!"

The Dark Pulse formed by Umbreon's accumulated energy did not go beyond Gary's idea and directly broke Vigoroth's Flamethrower and went straight to Vigoroth.

"Brick Break!"

Vigoroth also decisively used the Brick Break move under Norman's instructions, which defeated the Dark Pulse that consumed a lot, but it was also forced to retreat a few steps.

In the first round of confrontation, Vigoroth was at a disadvantage, which made Norman further understand Gary's strength.

"It's our turn, Umbreon, use Shadow Ball, and fire continuously!"

Gary saw Vigoroth being forced back and decisively launched his own offensive.

Umbreon quickly gathered purple-black power in front of its mouth, forming shadow balls, and rushed towards Vigoroth one after another.

"Vigoroth, pay attention to dodge!"

Vigoroth, under Norman's instructions, used its agile posture to constantly dodge the incoming shadow balls and also began to approach the position of Umbreon.

When it was only one step away from Umbreon, Norman immediately issued an order to Vigoroth.

"Vigoroth, use Brick Break!"

After hearing Norman's order, Vigoroth immediately attacked Umbreon in front of it.

Faced with this close attack, Umbreon found it difficult to dodge for a moment, and the situation began to become critical.