The next morning, Rex slept soundly and felt that the Lavaridge Hot Spring did have some effects. It alleviated much of his fatigue from the journey, and the Pokemons also felt full of vitality.
After breakfast, Rex led the spirited Pokemons to challenge the Lavaridge Gym.
Arriving at the entrance of the Lavaridge Gym, Rex saw a quaint building with white walls and red tiles, divided into three floors, and it was quite spacious.
Since the gates of the Lavaridge Gym were not closed, Rex walked in directly.
"Young man, do you have any business here?" Moore asked Rex as he entered the gym.
"Hello, I'm here to challenge the gym. I've already made an appointment with the gym leader, Flannery." Rex explained hastily, not wanting to be seen as suspicious.
"I see, then follow me. She's already in the battle arena. I was wondering why she was so unusual today, getting up so early and preparing." The old man said, not waiting for Rex's response, and walked off in a direction.
"Rex, you're finally here! I've been waiting for a while!" Flannery exclaimed excitedly upon seeing Rex.
"Oh, Grandpa, you're here too? Weren't you supposed to go fishing with your old friends today?" Flannery said upon seeing the old man leading Rex in.
"George, who was supposed to greet at the door today, hasn't arrived yet, so I brought this young man in first." Moore explained.
"I see, then leave it to me here. Grandpa, you can go fishing now!" Flannery said suddenly.
"Forget it, since I'm here, I'll watch your match first and then go over." Moore also wanted to see if his granddaughter had improved recently. Although he had retired as the gym trainer, he still worried about his granddaughter.
"Alright, it's up to you. Rex and I are going to have a 6V6 Pokémon battle!" Flannery said, ignoring her grandfather and signaling the referee to start the match.
"Oh!" Moore's interest was immediately piqued. 6V6, also known as full-team battles, was the best way to assess a trainer's strength.
"Now, with Rex from Fallabor Town challenging the Lavaridge Gym, the 6V6 battle officially begins. The challenger can switch Pokémon, but the gym leader cannot."
"Go, Houndour!"
"Go, Mareep!"
With the referee's whistle, Rex and Flannery almost simultaneously released their Pokémon.
Neither side had the advantage in terms of attributes, so the outcome depended on the strength of the Pokémon and the trainer's command abilities.
"Houndour, use Ember!" Flannery initiated the attack.
"Mareep, use Thunder Shock!" Rex countered with his Mareep, opting for a counterattack rather than a defensive stance. His Mareep was not afraid of standstill output.
Sure enough, Mareep's Thunder Shock directly pierced Houndour's Ember and hit it, but the power of Thunder Shock was weakened by Ember, causing only some damage to Houndour.
"Houndour, charge forward and use Bite!" Seeing that her Houndour was at a disadvantage in terms of skill power, Flannery had to change her strategy and go for close-range attacks.
"Mareep, use Cotton Guard!" Upon hearing the command, Mareep's golden fur quickly expanded, covering its body.
By this time, Houndour had already approached, but seeing this scene, it was a bit at a loss and could only circle around Mareep, trying to find a way to bite it.
"Mareep, use Charge!" Rex wasn't going to just wait for the opponent to break through Cotton Guard. He chose to strengthen his Mareep directly.
"Since that's the case, Houndour, use Flamethrower!"
Suddenly, a fire surrounded Mareep, and its outer wool was slightly scorched.
But because of using the Charge skill, Mareep's wool was full of electric energy at this time, which helped it defend against the flames, preventing it from being roasted by Houndour.
"Mareep, use Discharge!" Rex ordered without waiting for the opponent to break through Cotton Guard.
Upon hearing the command, a powerful electric current emanated from Mareep, dispersing in all directions from its center, directly overwhelming the Flamethrower surrounding it.
Then, Houndour was directly swept away by this terrifying electric current, losing its ability to fight.
"Come out, Growlithe!"
After recalling Houndour, Flannery released her second Pokémon.
Seeing Growlithe, Rex couldn't help but marvel at Flannery's resources as the second generation gym leader. Growlithe was very rare in the wild, basically controlled by the Jenny family, making it difficult for outsiders to obtain.
"Growlithe, use Sunny Day!"
After Flannery gave the command, Growlithe sprayed a fireball into the sky, making the air suddenly hot.
"Mareep, use Thunder Shock!"
"Growlithe, use Flamethrower!"
This time, the skill contest was completely opposite to before. The Flamethrower confronted the Thunder Shock, and Growlithe's Flamethrower sent Mareep flying.
But thanks to Cotton Guard, Mareep had some buffer, although its fur was burnt a lot, even the top of its head was bald.
After standing up, Mareep touched its head and found that its elegant hair was gone, which made it angry. After all, it usually took great care of its hairstyle.
"Mareep!"
As a burst of white light appeared, Mareep began its first evolution. In no time, a Flaaffy, standing on two feet with fur covering only above its chest, appeared in front of everyone.
After the evolution, the Flaaffy touched its fur, finding that it had grown back. It became happy again. As long as its hairstyle was fine, it could accept the lack of fur in other places.
Rex looked at the evolved golden Flaaffy and couldn't help but think of a name, Super Saiyan Sheep, appearing in his mind.
Especially with occasional electric currents on its golden fur, this special effect was really full, giving a feeling of a hot-blooded anime.
Looking at the Pokédex, he found that the evolved furry sheep had already learned the skill Volt Tackle, a move that could counter Flamethrower.
Then, the match, which had stopped due to the evolution of Mareep, resumed.
"Growlithe, use Flamethrower!"
"Flaaffy, use Volt Tackle!"
With a significant improvement in strength after evolution, the Flaaffy's strength was greatly enhanced. Even with the amplification of Sunny Day, this time Growlithe's Flamethrower was only in a stalemate with the furry sheep's Volt Tackle.
After all, having experienced a battle, Flaaffy's stamina was relatively low. In the end, it was eliminated by Growlithe, but after eliminating the Flaaffy, Growlithe was also exhausted and it was difficult to make any more effort.
"Go, Gastly!"
Rex chose Gastly as his second Pokémon, this being its first time participating in a battle.
"Gastly, use Shadow Ball!"
"Growlithe, use Sunny Day again!"
After Growlithe successfully launched the fireball into the sky and ascended halfway, it was directly hit by Gastly's Shadow Ball, losing its fighting ability.
Flannery knew that Growlithe's current state was definitely not a match for Gastly, so she chose to let Growlithe use Sunny Day again. As its skill was released, the field, which was supposed to cool down, became hot again.
"Thank you for your hard work, Growlithe. Rest well!"
After recalling Growlithe, Flannery gently said to it.
"Go, Rapidash!"
Immediately after, Flannery released her third Pokémon, a unicorn giant horse emitting flames all over its body, Rapidash.
Under the blessing of Sunny Day, the flames on Rapidash's body became even more vigorous, and even Rex, who was relatively far away, could feel the scorching heat.
The flames on Rapidash were a kind of spiritual flames. As long as it recognized someone, even if someone rode on its back, they wouldn't feel the heat, let alone be harmed by the flames on its body.
"Gastly, use Confuse Ray!"
"Rapidash, use Flame Charge!"
With its super-fast speed, Rapidash dodged Gastly's Confuse Ray and then, with unabated momentum, directly rammed into Gastly, making it lose its combat ability.
Ordinary impact attacks would be ineffective against Gastly, but Fire Charge wrapped Rapidash in a layer of fire attribute energy, which Gastly couldn't evade.
(End of this chapter)