Battle Start

"Then, Professor Rope, let this lady see your power!"

In the center of the confrontation field, Erika bowed slightly to Rope, then walked towards the side of the confrontation field.

Rope's face was still a little pale, but he smiled and said, "I'll do my best!"

After saying that, he also walked over towards his position.

Rope woke up fairly quickly. Before everyone could get him to a resting place, he had already woken up leisurely, and although his face was pale and he looked breathless, he insisted on getting up, then sent a light request to Erika for a sparring match.

Erika had wanted to refuse. After all, with such an obviously out of shape trainer challenging herself, it didn't seem necessary for her to take advantage of the situation. But after Erika saw the seriousness and determination in Rope's eyes, Erika let go of the idea of refusing Rope's challenge and waiting for him to rest before starting again.

When the trainers' eyes meet, it's the time for the battle to begin.

And the battle intent in Rope's eyes could no longer be ignored.

All Rope could feel right now was the excitement of his heart, which could only be resolved by a good sparring match!

...Just kidding.

He was just too tired, but unwilling to change his original plan.

As for losing the challenge...Rope hadn't really thought about it.

Rope wasn't Ash, after all, who could memorize the attribute restraint table backwards. He could only memorize it positively.

So he really didn't think that fire-type Entei, Growlithe, and Charmeleon would lose to Erika, and if they did...so be it. Even Red didn't win all the way to the end.

Of course, Rope didn't think too much about losing.

He was still very confident in his own strength.

"Celadon Gym, the battle between Gym Leader Erika and the challenger, Rope from Pallet Town, with Rainbow Badge as a bet... begins!"

On the sidelines, the not-so-old and not-so-vocal female referees shouted.

Most of these referees were trained by the gyms themselves. But their job wasn't really that onerous. This was because most of the time, the sparring matches between the Gym Leader and the challenger tended not to have any moments that were too difficult to adjudicate.

In other words, the kind of situation where they would pretty much lose their ability to fight at the same time rarely occurred.

As for why each gym trains its own referees. It was mainly because some matches, though important, were often not allowed to see the light of day, and the only way to feel secure was to use one of their own to adjudicate. As for the role of the referee, it was still very important in a regular match.

After all, the trainers who were in the offensive angle would often make a ruling in their mind in favor of themselves, and the referee was the one who stepped out of the two-player sparring match to make a judgment and decision based solely on the state of the two Pokémon.

"Both contestants, please send out your Pokémon!" the referee's words had just fallen, and the voices of Rope and Erika rang out at the same moment. Rope's and Erika's voices carried a similar level of forcefulness and determination.

"Go!" ×2

Two Pokéballs flew from the hands of the two to the center of the field before opening at the same time, their respective Pokémon landing on top of the field.

Growlithe sat on the ground, tongue out, and cocked his head at Vileplume across the room. a look of overwhelm.

"Very cute Growlithe. the fur color is also very bright. rope, you really have your own unique opinion on breeding with fire-type Pokémon." Erika sized up Growlithe, then couldn't help but marvel.

Hearing Erika's words, Rope smiled and said, "I don't dare to talk about any unique insights, I can only say that it's just a bit of insight. But Erika, this Vileplume of yours is really cultivated excellently!"

Rope's words really weren't an embarrassing boast. The Vileplume in front of her was about one-half the size of a normal Vileplume, and the color of the flower on its head was much more colorful, which was a reflection of the strong toxicity of the Vileplume. And Erika's Vileplume's eyes didn't have the slightly dull eyes of a normal wild Vileplume, instead they were full of wariness and vigilance.

I have to say that Celadon Gym is really unique in the cultivation of grass-type Pokémon. There are many ways to cultivate grass-type Pokémon with strong abilities, but most grass-type Pokémon are even more peaceful than water-type Pokémon at heart and are not good at fighting. How to make grass-type Pokémon have a strong will to fight, so that they can bring out 100% or even 200% of their fighting ability in battle, this is the biggest problem plaguing the trainers of grass-type Pokémon.

It seemed like Erika had a solution.

As if she could see Rope's thoughts, Erika smiled and said, "You're overstating it, this kid's fighting spirit is innate."

Rope made a dazed expression, and as for inside, it was a hell of a thing to believe.

Is Erika saying it's natural is natural?Rope also said that Entei and their crimson flames are natural as well. With a family like this, it would be strange if they didn't have two handfuls of cards that they could use but didn't show off.

Of course, Erika didn't explain much, people wouldn't believe her even if she said this kind of thing too much. People like Rope certainly won't believe it.

But believe it or not, Erika and the whole Celadon Gym said the same thing.

With that in mind, Rope felt that he should take his estimation of Erika's true strength to the next level.

It was hard to tell if the strength Erika was showing now was also the effect of hiding some of her strength.

If so, then Celadon Gym's ranking might have to go up a little further in the Kanto region.

But it didn't matter, whether Erika was hiding her strength or not, Rope was confident that Rope would be able to beat Erika right now, without having to say anything about a promising future.

"Growlithe, say hello Flame Wheel."

Rope commanded calmly.

Growlithe made Flame Wheel in response, then charged straight in Vileplume's direction.

"Bullet Seed!"

Vileplume answered before shooting a thumb-sized seed from its own stamen. The seed swept out and Growlithe changed her direction.

Erika looked at the ruddy flames burning on Growlithe, and a flash of amazement flashed in her eyes. There seemed to be something unusual about Rope's Growlithe's flames. She looked at Growlithe and then at Rope, momentarily unable to tell whether it was Rope's special ability or Growlithe's own exceptional talent.

She subconsciously covered the lower half of her face with the sleeve of her kimono.

A thousand thoughts flashed through her mind, but she said nothing.

Rope looked at the seed nailed into the ground, at the green smoke coming out from wherever it was, and at Vileplume with the same expression of one point more astonishment.

This kind of seed is poisonous!

If you were to be directly hit by this kind of seed, it wouldn't really be as simple as just receiving an attack. The probability of being poisoned wasn't low either.

Damn, is this a Grass Gym or a Poison Gym?

Rope felt that he had underestimated Erika. He had also underestimated himself. Obviously when dealing with herself...

Erika was likewise not holding back at all.

[That's... better!]

A smile appeared on Rope's pale face, and flames flashed under his eyes.