Serena’s eyes lit up.
The previous challengers were either arrogantly ignorant or too reserved.
Only Logan’s attitude was the most different.
Confident but not arrogant, restrained but not nervous, with a light smile hiding cunning.
“This person is different from all the previous challengers,” Serena secretly thought.
Standing on the other side of the field, Logan deeply understood Serena’s charm.
Just standing there already conveyed a feeling of joy and vitality.
“First-rate player Logan?
That Logan from the intelligence suppression?” “Who else could it be?
He’s also from Arcaia City.
I didn’t expect him to challenge the gym on the first day too.” “Although his strength is high, he should be a little below the beautiful Rachel.
Winning will be very difficult.” There was some agitation in the stands: approval, expectation, and doubt, all mixed together.
“Player Logan Cross challenges the leader of the Seloria Gym, Serena.
The rule will be 3-on-3.
Only the challenger may freely change Pokémon!” “Come out, Hawlucha.” “Come out, Pancham.” “Haawlluucchh!” “Cham!” Logan nodded.
As expected, it was Pancham.
In terms of types, Hawlucha’s Flying type had the advantage.
In the battle against Rachel, Pancham was the one that lost the least energy and was in the best condition.
It was completely normal for it to come out in the first battle.
“Hawlucha?” Serena showed a reminiscent expression and said, “Although you have type advantage, it won’t be easy to defeat Pancham.” “Cham!” “We’ll only know after fighting.” Logan shook his head.
“Hawlucha, use Wing Attack.” “Pancham, wait for Hawlucha to come close and use Karate Chop.” Bang!
At the instant of the attack, Pancham’s Karate Chop also landed.
But Flying type countered Fighting type, so Pancham’s injuries were more serious.
Karate Chop was, among all of Pancham’s moves, the one that could do the least damage to Hawlucha.
Evidently, Serena, as a Gym Leader, had certain suspicions of holding back.
But holding back also had a price.
“Now, Hawlucha, use Encore on Pancham.” “Pancham, chase it and use Comet Punch.” Pancham went after it.
Originally, it wanted to give Hawlucha a few punches to let it know that type advantage was not everything.
Even if it was a bird, it could also knock it down.
But just as it extended its fist, it transformed into Karate Chop.
“Cham!” Pancham made a strange expression.
It could not control itself!
Serena also found it incredible, but upon remembering the effect of Encore, she immediately understood.
Encore made the Pokémon lose autonomy when using moves for three turns, forcing it to repeat the move used on the previous turn.
What could be done in three turns?
Enough to leave Pancham with low HP!
“Hawlucha, dodge it and use Aerial Ace.” Amid the chaos, Pancham’s Karate Chop had no precision at all.
Hawlucha dodged it easily, and two slashes made Pancham’s energy drop rapidly.
“Pancham!” Serena exclaimed.
Since opening the gym until now, she had never been this passive.
“Hawlucha, keep using Aerial Ace.” “Pancham, use Karate Chop.” Both sides exchanged damage.
Precisely because Karate Chop was a move with relatively low power, Hawlucha’s Aerial Ace was able to maintain clear pressure.
“Hawlucha, use Wing Attack.” Logan was completely focused on Flying-type moves.
The advantage relationship was there; if he could use it, why not?
Serena did not make Pancham use other moves.
In any case, it would not be able to use them successfully, and moreover, that could make Pancham panic and show openings.
A Fighting type was similar to a true martial artist.
Every opening could be fatal.
“Pancham, use Karate Chop.” After three accumulated turns, the effect of Encore was about to dissipate.
Just at the instant when the two Pokémon collided, Logan showed a somewhat cunning smile.
He had been waiting precisely for those words!
“Hawlucha, immediately use Encore on Pancham.” “Pancham, use Body Slam!” Serena’s voice sounded almost at the same time as Logan’s, but when she noticed something was wrong, it was already too late.
Body Slam was Pancham’s strongest Normal-type move.
If it hit, Hawlucha would most likely be defeated in a single blow.
But it was impossible for it to execute it.
Pancham jumped, trying to smash Hawlucha into the ground.
But its right hand, out of control, gathered strength.
Encore the move Karate Chop!
Facing the Karate Chop full of openings, Hawlucha only had to slightly extend its wings to rise and dodge it.
“Hawlucha, use Aerial Ace.” Against Pancham, Encore was simply a divine move.
Without experience, that move would destroy Pancham’s will to fight.
“Pancham, use Karate Chop.” Serena could no longer remember how many times she had used Karate Chop.
Since the start of the battle, she had been guided by Logan.
After the final Karate Chop, Pancham finally fell to the ground.
Hawlucha was not in good condition either.
Its injuries were not light, and it would not be able to endure many more turns.
“Come out, Delphox.” After recalling Pancham, Serena sent out Delphox without hesitation.
Both Sylveon, a Fairy type, and Delphox, a Fire + Psychic type, countered Hawlucha.
But evidently, Delphox, who knew Future Sight, was more suitable to come out second.
“Delphox, use Future Sight.” “Hawlucha, use Wing Attack.” At the instant the mysterious psychic energy sank into the void, Delphox was also struck by Wing Attack.
The amount of HP it lost was quite considerable.
Delphox was a Pokémon specialized in special attack and special defense.
Close combat was its weakness.
Logan mentally calculated the turns.
Future Sight was an enormous threat.
“Delphox, use Psybeam.” “Hawlucha, use Aerial Ace to dodge Psybeam.” Shiu!
Like a fired arrow, Hawlucha dodged Psybeam, closed its claws, and executed consecutive slashes.
“Delphox, use Flame Charge.” “Hawlucha, withstand it and use Encore.” If it had been Ember, Hawlucha surely would not have been able to endure.
But Flame Charge, a physical attack, was completely different.
After locking Delphox’s move, Hawlucha’s HP also hit rock bottom.
Serena did not completely understand Logan’s actions.
For Delphox, no matter what move it used, it could defeat Hawlucha in two hits.
“Come back, Hawlucha.” At that moment, Logan suddenly changed Pokémon.
Without hesitation, he sent out Growlithe.
Growlithe was the Pokémon with the lowest Combat Power among Logan’s Pokémon.
But if used well, its effect would not be inferior to the other three.
The atmosphere among the spectators became hotter and hotter.
No one expected that Hawlucha could defeat Pancham alone and also withstand Delphox’s moves without falling.
Especially Encore: by using it, he managed to completely erase Serena’s move advantage.
“Compared with Logan, the previous challengers were too weak.
Only the beautiful Rachel can compare a little with him.” “Logan’s style hasn’t changed at all.
Even facing a Gym Leader, he can crush with intelligence.
Incredible!” Nolan listened among the crowd to the praise toward Logan and felt very uncomfortable.
Compared with Logan, was he, Nolan, weak to the extreme?
He had clearly leveled up desperately.
How could he still be weaker than Logan?
Rachel, on the other hand, was much calmer.
Both were from Arcaia City, so she paid a lot of attention to Logan.
But that Logan ignored the level difference and defeated Pancham also left her very surprised.
Her Normal-type team had clearly been in an extremely passive situation against Pancham.
“Growlithe?” Serena murmured.
“Delphox, use Flame Charge.” “Growlithe, don’t mind it.
Charge and use Bite.” Under the effect of Encore, Delphox could only use Flame Charge, which did not have much effect against Growlithe.
Pff!
Growlithe’s sharp fangs sank deeply into Delphox’s shoulder, while that body wrapped in flames seemed not to exist for Growlithe.
Suddenly, Growlithe’s body also shone with flames.
The Flash Fire ability activated.
Immune to Fire-type moves and, at the same time, the damage of its own Fire-type moves increased by fifty percent.
Bite, a Dark-type move, was super effective against Delphox!
“Flash Fire!” Serena was secretly surprised, but also felt quite helpless.
The current Delphox could only use Flame Charge, a Fire-type move, and moreover, it was a physical move in which Delphox did not excel.
Without realizing it, Serena had once again been led by Logan.
(End of Chapter) PKGO-En