Bang!
Because of the effect of Smack Down, Rotom's Levitate ability was temporarily nullified.
"Rotom is unable to battle. Rhyperior wins!" the machine referee announced.
"Rotom, come back and rest."
Rotom was recalled. Volkner realized he had underestimated Gary and probably should have brought Raichu along, but since he'd already fought his way down to his last Pokémon, there was no point in swapping strategies now.
"This one is my last trump card."
"Go, Electivire!"
Volkner sent out his final Pokémon.
In a flash of light, Electivire appeared.
[LV56 Electivire / Champion]
Volkner's Electivire wasn't at a particularly high level, but its potential was excellent. Like Gary's own Electivire, it had Champion-tier potential—it was just that the levels happened to be fairly close.
"Electivire, use Brick Break!" Volkner immediately launched an attack.
Electivire rushed toward Rhyperior at tremendous speed, giving it no chance to use any other move. Within a single breath, it closed the distance and threw a punch.
Whack!!
Rhyperior raised its arms to block Electivire's Brick Break, its body remaining completely still.
"It held the attack down..."
Volkner's expression tightened, and he immediately had a guess as to what was coming.
"Stone Edge!" Gary ordered.
"Roar---!"
Rhyperior raised its foot and stomped down.
Seeing this, Electivire tried to retreat immediately, but it was already too late. The moment Rhyperior's foot struck the ground, jagged rock blades shot up from beneath Electivire and struck it directly.
"...!"
"It can still do that?!"
Both Volkner and Flint were shocked. They hadn't expected Rhyperior to unleash Stone Edge in that manner—an attack like that was nearly impossible to dodge.
"Gah...!"
Electivire took heavy damage from that single blow.
Rhyperior was holding a premium-grade Smooth Rock, which not only extended the duration of the sandstorm but also boosted the power of Rock-type moves by 30%. Combined with the level difference between the two Pokémon, the damage from that hit was substantial.
"Electivire, use Low Kick!"
"Rhyperior, use Drill Run!"
Both sides launched their attacks at the same time.
Electivire charged toward Rhyperior.
Rhyperior spun rapidly, Ground-type energy swirling around its body in sync with the rotation of its drill-like horn, forming a protective vortex of churning air around itself.
"Roar----!"
Rhyperior charged forward with heavy, thundering steps, the ground trembling with each stride.
"Vire!"
Electivire showed no sign of backing down. As the two closed the distance, Electivire swung its leg down toward Rhyperior's knee, but the attack was blocked by the swirling Ground-type energy surrounding Rhyperior's body—there was no way to land the kick.
Bang!!
Rhyperior's drill-like horn, wrapped in a layer of Ground-type energy, slammed into Electivire.
"Vire!!"
Electivire screamed in pain as its whole body was sent flying backward more than ten meters, crashing heavily to the ground, its eyes spinning in circles.
The power gap was simply too great. Electivire's strength was right at the Elite level, but colliding head-on with Rhyperior, whose overall strength was also Elite-level but carried far more raw force behind it, was like a heavy tank running straight into a wall.
"Electivire is unable to battle! Rhyperior wins!"
"All three of the Gym Leader's Pokémon have been defeated. The winner is the challenger, Gary."
The Gym battle had come to an end.
The tension that had built up in Volkner disappeared in that instant. He hadn't expected to lose so thoroughly.
The last time he'd been swept three-for-three like this was back when he was just a child. It had never happened again after he became a Gym Leader.
"You really are strong. This is the Beacon Badge—it's yours now." After the match, Volkner took out the Beacon Badge and handed it to Gary.
"Thank you."
Gary accepted the Badge.
[Ding! Mission complete. The reward has been sent to your storage.]
"Thanks for the lesson. Really."
Ash didn't say much else. Beating an Electivire wasn't really that big a deal for him—it had felt about as easy as defeating a fourth-generation Blaziken.
"This Gary is really strong, way stronger than Ash," Flint said, walking over.
"Indeed. It's a shame I made the wrong call. I should have used my full team," Volkner said with some regret.
Even though Electivire had already recovered its usual composure, it still wanted to face off against a truly powerful Trainer. There was no telling how long it would be before it ran into another challenger like Gary.
"Nothing you could've done—who could've known this Gary was actually this strong? But don't worry, there are plenty of powerful Trainers waiting for you at the World Championships," Flint said.
"True enough."
Flint had also decided to participate in the World Championships himself, if only to avoid being stuck constantly grinding through Gym battles.
After leaving the Sunyshore Gym, Gary immediately checked what reward item he'd received.
[Best Toxic Orb (The Pokémon holding this item will fall into a badly poisoned status, but its physical Attack stat increases by 50%)]
"This is..."
Gary wasn't entirely sure whether this top-tier Toxic Orb was actually a good thing or not.
An ordinary Toxic Orb simply inflicted poison on the holder. But this system-rewarded version was something else entirely—it still poisoned the Pokémon, but in exchange, it boosted physical Attack by a full 50%. That kind of increase was substantial, essentially equivalent to granting an extra ability that triggered specifically off being poisoned.
Gary thought it over and realized he had two Pokémon that would be a great fit for this Best Toxic Orb.
One was Machamp, and the other was Heracross. Both of their abilities revolved around Guts.
Gary's Machamp already naturally had the Guts ability.
As for Heracross, even though its current ability was Moxie, using an Ability Expansion Stone would let it unlock two additional abilities: Guts and Swarm.
Looking at it that way, Heracross was actually the better fit to carry the Best Toxic Orb, since being poisoned would trigger Guts and double its physical Attack.
Being badly poisoned constantly drained physical strength over time. Once Heracross's HP dropped below one-third, its Bug-type move power would also increase thanks to Swarm.
Heracross's original ability, Moxie, would trigger normally too—as long as it defeated an opposing Pokémon, there wouldn't be any issue activating that boost either.
Gary could also strengthen all three of Heracross's abilities.
Looking at it from every angle, this Toxic Orb was practically a perfect match made specifically for Heracross. Once the poison effect kicked in, its overall performance would surpass even Mega Evolution.
After Mega Evolving, Heracross only gained a single continuous-attack ability, and in exchange, it lost its Flying-type altogether. While its offensive power increased significantly, its overall versatility ended up weakened.
With that thought, Gary released Cyclizar and rode it toward the Pokémon Center.
"Tracey, could you help me transfer Heracross over here?" Gary said.
"Sure, just give me a moment."
A few minutes later, Tracey brought Heracross's Poké Ball over and completed the transfer.