The Cianwood Gym was the city's only official gym. It specialized in Fighting-type Pokémon, and defeating Chuck earned a trainer the Storm Badge.
When Natsui arrived, Chuck was already dressed and waiting for him at the entrance.
Seeing Natsui jog up at his own pace, instead of being completely out of breath like other challengers, Chuck nodded in approval.
"Very good. Unlike those simple-minded guys, you know how to save your energy. You didn't cheat, either. You're a smart and hardworking trainer!"
Natsui didn't feel happy about the praise at all. He bent over slightly, catching his breath and wiping the sweat from his forehead. He couldn't help but glance at Chuck.
Chuck looked strong, but he had a pretty big belly. Natsui had assumed that even as a martial arts master, he probably wasn't a great runner. But now it seemed his stamina was much better than his own.
Sigh, if it wasn't for last night, and if I knew the way, I wouldn't have taken so long...
"Mr. Chuck, can we start the gym battle now?"
Chuck nodded and led Natsui inside.
What Natsui didn't know was that while Chuck acted like a top athlete, he had only just arrived himself, not even a few minutes earlier. He had been eating a lot of sweets lately, and his body fat was increasing. The run from the beach had left him sweating and his legs feeling weak too. He had pushed himself to get back, quickly changed into clean clothes, and kept up his image before Natsui arrived.
He was only able to do this because Natsui didn't know the way. If not for that, Chuck might have arrived even later. Coming from him, it was ironic.
Inside the gym, a group of young kids surrounded Chuck and bowed.
"Welcome back, Teacher!"
The group ranged from seven or eight years old to fifteen or sixteen. They all wore the same uniform and called Chuck "Teacher," so they were clearly his students. Next to them were a few Mankey, Machop, and Hitmontop, which must have been their Pokémon.
Chuck walked confidently past his students.
"Did you all practice hard while I was away?"
The students bowed again in unison, their voices loud. "Of course!"
"We didn't slack off!"
You could see on their faces that they truly respected Chuck. It was clear he managed the gym well and the atmosphere was very positive.
After the greeting, the students noticed Natsui. They looked at him with curiosity, knowing a gym battle was about to happen, and they all got excited. A good battle was much more fun than boring practice.
At Chuck's signal, his students cleared a space for the battle and sat down on both sides, watching intently.
Natsui had seen this kind of attention many times before and was completely calm. He and Chuck stood on opposite sides of the trainer's area. The oldest student stepped into the middle to act as the referee.
"This will be a three-on-three battle! The Gym Leader will send out his Pokémon first. The challenger wins when all of the Gym Leader's Pokémon are unable to battle!"
Just as the referee finished, Erika appeared at the gym entrance.
She saw Natsui, gave him a nod, and quietly sat down behind him.
When the beautiful older girl appeared, a few of the younger, less experienced boys in the gym immediately got shy. They were all so innocent that they didn't dare look at her face. Erika was not only very pretty, but she also had the gentle air of a kind older sister, which was very charming to the younger boys.
On the other side of the field, Chuck looked at Natsui seriously. "Let me reintroduce myself. I am the king of Fighting-type Pokémon, the Gym Leader of Cianwood Gym—Chuck!"
With that, he sent out his first Pokémon.
A flash of blue light, and a Primeape appeared in front of Natsui.
Primeape, huh...
It was a very common Fighting-type Pokémon in both Kanto and Johto and was popular with trainers. With the angry cross-shaped vein on its forehead and its terrifying glare, Primeape looked much angrier and scarier than its pre-evolved form, Mankey.
After a moment's thought, Natsui took out a Poké Ball and sent out his own Pokémon. A flash of light revealed his Dragonair.
"It's a Dragonair!"
"Wow! This is my first time seeing one!"
Some of the students recognized the rare Pokémon and let out cries of surprise.
Unlike his excited students, Chuck frowned. "Young man, you know this is a Fighting-type gym. Why didn't you send out a Fighting-type Pokémon to battle me?"
In his view, a challenger should use Fighting-types in his gym. That was the honorable way for a man to battle.
"Sorry," Natsui shook his head. "I don't have any Fighting-type Pokémon right now, so I have to use other types."
"None?" Chuck's eyes narrowed. "You don't like Fighting-type Pokémon?"
"That's not it. I just haven't found one I like yet."
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Chuck laughed loudly. "Look around! Machamp, Machoke, Machop, or Primeape and Hitmontop—they're all very cute. You should hurry up and catch a few!"
Natsui gave a tired smile.
He wasn't saying those Pokémon were bad, but he had limited energy and couldn't take care of so many. So even if he found a wild Fighting-type, he would only catch the ones he really liked.
Luckily, Chuck knew he couldn't force the issue and didn't press the topic.
Seeing that both Pokémon were ready, he wasted no more time. At his command, Primeape charged toward Dragonair!
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