Swoosh!!
Just as the two moves were about to collide, Claydol suddenly vanished from its original position and reappeared behind Aggron and Gardevoir.
"Now, use the power of the earth to take them both down!" Liza ordered urgently.
At that moment, Aggron and Gardevoir happened to be standing close together, and the range of Earth Power was enough to hit them both.
"Claaay!"
Claydol began channeling its psychic energy to summon Earth Power. But just as it started—
Snap!!
A bolt of crackling, lightning-like spiritual energy fell from above, disrupting the concentration.
"Claaay-dol!!"
Claydol cried out in pain, and its move was forcefully interrupted.
"Focus on Claydol! Aggron, use Stone Edge! Gardevoir, Hyper Beam!" Gary commanded.
"Aggron!"
Aggron roared and summoned jagged stone spikes from beneath the battlefield, while Gardevoir quickly condensed a glowing orange sphere of energy.
"Garde-VOOOOIIIR!"
The sphere burst into a massive beam and fired straight at Claydol.
Boom!!
Both attacks hit simultaneously. Claydol was blasted backward, tumbling in mid-air. But just before hitting the ground, it hovered—still trying to stay aloft. Its eyes swirled, signaling its defeat.
"Claydol and Xatu are unable to battle! Aggron and Gardevoir are the winners!"
Tate and Liza's mother announced. "The winner of this Mossdeep Gym battle is the challenger—Gary Oak!"
"Thanks for your hard work," Gary said, taking out his Poké Balls to recall both Pokémon. "Aggron, Gardevoir, return."
This was their first time battling together. While their teamwork wasn't flawless, it was more than enough to secure the Gym Badge.
With the match over, everyone returned to the Mossdeep Gym.
Due to Team Rocket's earlier sabotage, the battlefield at Mossdeep Gym was out of commission and would take at least a week to repair.
"Gary, Ash—these are your Mind Badges," Tate and Liza said in unison as they handed over the official badges to both trainers.
Gary looked at Ash briefly. Although Ash had technically finished his match first, they both received the badge at the same time. In the end, the lead didn't matter much.
[Ding! Mission complete. Rewards have been distributed to the space backpack.]
The moment the badge entered his hand, the system notification chimed, confirming the task completion.
Later, Gary and Ash left the Gym together, heading back toward the Pokémon Center.
"Gary, are you going to Sootopolis City next?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, but I'm planning to train my Pokémon here in Mossdeep for a while first," Gary replied.
"But there are only two months left before the Ever Grande Conference. Sootopolis is really far from here. Aren't you worried about the time?" Brock asked curiously.
As the group's navigator, Brock was always careful about scheduling routes and timeframes.
Ash and his team weren't taking a direct sea route—they planned to travel through the surrounding islands. That would take at least a month of walking to reach Sootopolis City.
"I'm not worried. I can fly there on a Pokémon and be there in an hour," Gary answered coolly.
"Oh, right. I was overthinking it," Brock chuckled, realizing he had forgotten about the convenience of flight.
Technically, Ash's group could take a boat and reach Sootopolis in under a week, but since they wanted to explore the eastern archipelago, walking was the only choice.
Once back at the Pokémon Center, Gary handed over his injured team to Nurse Joy. Afterward, he returned to his room, eager to check the mission rewards.
[Top-grade Z-Crystal – Firium-Z: Allows use of Fire-type Z-Moves. Power increased by 50%.]
"A Z-Crystal, huh?" Gary muttered in surprise. "Didn't expect the reward this time to be something so rare."
But then his excitement dulled a little.
He didn't have a Z-Ring.
Still, it wasn't a big deal. He knew exactly how to get one—by asking his grandfather.
Gary's grandfather was none other than Samson Oak, Professor Oak's cousin, who lived in the Alola Region and served as the principal of the Pokémon School there.
Z-Moves were native to the Alola Region. If Gary wanted a Z-Ring, he just needed to give his grandfather a call.
The Firium-Z he received wasn't just any regular Z-Crystal—it had a more brilliant color than the standard ones, suggesting a higher purity. It was visually identical to normal Firium-Z but looked even better.
Gary was curious about its power.
With the Z-Crystal's 50% bonus, using Blast Burn through Z-Move would result in a devastating effect.
If Charizard's Blast Burn had a base power of 200, the Z-Crystal would boost it to a frightening 400—easily bypassing Protect, Detect, or even Light Screen.
"Scary strong…" Gary whispered to himself. "Now, let's decide on the next Psychic move to teach Gardevoir."
He opened the system's skill exchange menu.
Among powerful Psychic moves, only the standard Psychic move was available to exchange. Others, like Psystrike, were signature moves and locked.
Most of the other Psychic-type moves available were field-effect moves, not direct attacks.
"System, exchange Psychic," Gary confirmed.
[Ding! Skill exchange successful.]
With the skill now available, Gary went downstairs, retrieved Gardevoir from Nurse Joy, and immediately taught her the Psychic move.
Then he walked over to the video phone and dialed Professor Oak's lab.
The screen flickered to life, revealing Tracey Sketchit.
"Hey Gary, what's up?" Tracey asked with a smile.
"I need to talk to Grandpa. Can you get him for me?"
"Sure thing. I'll go call him," Tracey said, a little awkwardly as he walked away.
Gary smirked. He understood why Tracey looked embarrassed. After Gary sent back the Great Tusk for study, Professor Oak had likely been obsessively researching it and didn't want any interruptions.
After about seven or eight minutes, Professor Oak finally appeared on the screen, looking slightly annoyed.
"Gary, what is it this time?" he asked impatiently.
"Grandpa, didn't my other grandfather open a school in the Alola Region to study Z-Moves?" Gary asked.
"Yes, he did," Professor Oak replied, squinting. "Why do you ask?"
Gary pulled out the crystal from his bag and held it to the camera.
"It's like this—I found this thing," he said.
Professor Oak's eyes widened as he leaned in.
"Ah! That's a Z-Crystal—Firium-Z, no less! You found it?"
"Yeah. Looks like someone from the Alola Region may have accidentally dropped it while passing through Hoenn," Gary replied.
Professor Oak nodded thoughtfully. "That's possible. Trainers from Alola sometimes travel here for research or battling. Still, these things are rare. You're lucky."