As per the stats, Beedrill was the most powerful Pokemon in Axel's team right now. But Axel knew that Beedrill had not done ruthless training as Nidorino had. And if there was a fight, Shedinja was still a boss. Shedinja's battle tactics were way superior to any other Pokemons in Axel's team.
As for the core mastery of Beedrill, It was a bug/poison type Pokemon. Axel wanted to capitalize on Bug-type for its core mastery as a Pokemon can only have 1 type of core mastery.
Since Shedinja had a ghost type mastery and Nidorino had a poison type mastery, Bug type core mastery for Beedrill looked good. But Axel would obviously ask for Beedrill's opinion on this.
To analyze Beedrill's power, Axel let it fight with Shedinja and Nidorino.
Against Shedinja, It lost miserably. Shedinja was immune to poison and bug typing.
But against Nidorino, It won.
Yes, It won. It was a close battle and Beedrill almost lost it but it had won. It was now in second place after Shedinja. This proved that its stats and moves mastery after 'Resolve' was not unreliable.
Resolve was in stage I right now. It could be improved upto Stage VIII
11 feet to 10 feet: Stage I
10 feet to 9 feet: Stage II
9 feet to 8 feet: Stage III
8 feet to 7 feet: Stage IV
7 feet to 6 feet: Stage V
6 feet to 5 feet: Stage VI
5 feet to 4 feet: Stage VII
4 feet to 3 feet: Stage VIII
Axel predicted that when Beedrill reaches the last stage, it may be as powerful as Kyogre or Groudon. Imagine a bug-type Pokemon as strong as legendary Pokemon like Kyogre or Groudon.
After the discussion with Beedrill, it was decided that Beedrill will go for bug-type core mastery. It aligned with Axel's plan for the team. Axel still had 1 week for a gym battle. But he concluded that he would not need it as Beedrill was already a rare ranked now and a powerful rare ranked.
So, he went to the gym to register for the fight. You would have to register for the gym match and it would take at least 2 days for your turn. This was cause there were only 10 gyms in the Kanto region and millions of trainers.
Axel went to the gym. The gym was very big. It was not like a 1-floor building like in the games. The gym had five floors.
The entire building seemed to be made of a single rock. It was beautifully carved with an Onyx-craved rock surrounding it. There was a giant rock door. It was magnificent. Axel had never seen such kind of building in his entire life. Axel walked inside the door and was greeted by a receptionist. He registered himself and was allocated the number 3756 and was told to come 2 days later.
There were 2 days left. Axel didn't want to overtrain Shedinja, Nidorino, and Beedrill. He told them to have mandatory rest for 2 days. He also has to discuss battle plans with them. This was Axel's first gym battle and he didn't want to lose it.
###
Time Skip, after 2 days.
Axel was now standing on the first floor of the gym. This was where the gym leader challenges as an intermediate trainer. The receptionist had told Axel to wait for 5 minutes. The entire floor was as big as a football field. The left and right sides of the field consisted of viewers seats which were empty by the way. It was like a stadium.
The battleground was rocky with many large and small rocks embedded within. There was a Pokeball sign in the center of the battleground. Axel was now standing on either side of the battleground waiting for Flint.
Suddenly, a door opened automatically from the opposite side of Axel and a middle-aged man walked out. The man was tall and strong-built. He had brown hair and the smallest eyes. He was wearing a half-red shirt and cargo pants with blue sneakers. This man clearly didn't have a good fashion sense.
"Ohh hello, Axel. My name is Flint and I am currently the Rock-type Gym leader here in Pewter City."
"Hello. You didn't have to formally introduce yourself. Your face and name are all over the city" said Axel
"Yes. But we had a whole issue with another trainer when I didn't introduce myself a while back. He went on to say that he didn't lose the battle cause I didn't introduce myself as the current gym leader."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I meet a lot of weirdos out there. Anyways, I have heard a lot about you from Koga. I am excited about today's battle. As per the records, this might be your first gym battle. My friend here would be the referee of the battle. So, why don't we get started.", said Flint.
Axel loved that Flint was direct. He didn't want to waste his time talking nonsense.
"Hello, my name is Luko and I would be the referee of this gym challenge. The challenger is Axel Blaze. The rules are:
1. This would be the 3 Pokemon battle
2. Only the trainer could switch out his Pokemon
3. If the battle ends in draw, trainer would be the winner.
4. Gym leader Flint would take out his Pokemon first
Now take out your first Pokemon."
Flint threw the Pokeball and a Pokemon popped out.
The Pokemon was Bipedal with several draconic features. It had small sharply pointed ears, narrow dark green eyes, a ridged snout, a gaping mouth, and a strong lower jaw full of serrated fangs. Its body was covered in light blue-gray skin and it had large, violet membranous wings.
The clawed hands at the end of each wing allow it to grasp objects. There was a hump-like ridge with a spike on its back, and it had a strong tail with an arrow-shaped tip.
"We have an interesting trainer, Mari. Let's show them what we have got.", said Flint.