"We will now begin an official match between the Cerulean Gym Trainer, Hisoka, and the challenger from Pallet Town, Gary Oak. The stakes are the Cascade Badge. Each trainer will use three Pokémon. The match ends when one side's Pokémon are all unable to battle!"
The referee announced the rules and then shouted, "Are both contestants ready?"
"Let's make this quick!" Gary curled his lip in disdain. "Cerulean Gym is famous for being the weakest. Let it serve as the second stepping stone on my path to becoming a Pokémon Master."
Gary took the Poké Ball from his neck and tossed it out with a pitcher's form.
"Go! My baby!"
A very well-developed Squirtle appeared on the floating platform in the pool. It had bright, spirited black eyes, glossy sea-blue skin, and a thick, sturdy shell. Judging by its size alone, it was much larger than a typical Squirtle.
As expected of a Pokémon from the Oak Research Lab, its quality was nearly perfect.
In the Kanto region, the three Starters provided to new trainers were Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur. Most of the natural habitats for these three species were controlled by the League, and the Indigo League distributed them to research labs to serve as initial Pokémon for rookies.
As the saying goes, rarity creates value. The more the League controlled them, the higher their market price rose. The Starters all had two stages of evolution, excellent potential, and powerful final forms. Because they were rarely found in the wild, there had been frequent reports in recent years of bold poacher organizations raiding controlled habitats to steal them.
From Hisoka's professional eye as a bounty hunter, this Squirtle of Gary's could easily sell for over 100,000 Poké Dollars on the black market.
"Quite the arrogant kid," Hisoka muttered. The boy's attitude was starting to annoy him. Shrugging, Hisoka threw out his first Pokémon.
With a splash, Feebas entered the water.
The little fellow had lost fourteen matches over the last three days, mostly in a single hit. It couldn't be helped; Feebas was simply too weak. It had no offensive moves and very low stamina. If it swam for too long, it would get exhausted. One couldn't blame the Feebas species for preferring to stay motionless at the bottom of the water.
"Huh?" Gary looked curiously at the Pokémon he had never seen before and burst into laughter. "What kind of Pokémon is that? It's so ugly! Hey, you're not trying to scam me with some deformed Magikarp, are you?"
Curiously, despite being beaten badly over the last three days, Feebas had never shown anger toward its opponents' attacks. However, whenever a challenger mocked its appearance, the little creature would knit its brow, and its emotions would become briefly unstable.
Hisoka hadn't let Lulu use Telepathy to facilitate a deep conversation with Feebas yet. Instead, he had been observing it with a detached attitude. After all, the journey toward evolving into Milotic was filled with uncertainty. No one could guarantee a Feebas would evolve, so Hisoka had to be fully prepared.
...
The first round went exactly as expected. Gary had Squirtle dive into the water and deliver a Skull Bash that sent Feebas flying out of the pool. Feebas hit the floor15 losses and 0 wins!
"What a joke!" Gary shook his head in disappointment. "They said Cerulean Gym was weak, but this is pathetic. I didn't even use ten percent of my power."
"Gary, Gary, you're the man! Gary, Gary, you're so grand!" the cheerleaders shrieked again.
"You worked hard," Hisoka said as he picked up the unconscious Feebas. He gently stroked its swollen head before recalling it to its Poké Ball.
"The match is only just beginning," Hisoka whispered, before snapping his fingers with style.
With that crisp sound, the water on the other side of the pool began to surge violently. A black shadow burst from the surface, leaping high with a speed the naked eye could barely track, before landing steadily.
A slight ripple spread from under Sneasel's feet on the floating board. An expert trainer would have noticed that this Sneasel had exceptional control over its own physical power.
"Another Pokémon I've never seen!" Gary picked at his ear, still looking dismissive. Perhaps because he had secured an instant win in the first round, Gary's naturally arrogant personality had inflated to its limit.
Hisoka had realized that feigning weakness often worked well, especially against these "fearless" rookie trainers. If you let them get an easy knockout, they immediately became overconfident, feeling invincible and stylish. They wouldn't stop to wonder why a Gym Trainer would use a Pokémon with no offensive moves in the first place.
After beating rookies for three straight days, Hisoka had already figured out the perfect routine for handling these overambitious brats.
Now, it was time to let the opponent experience true despair!
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