On the other side of the battlefield.
After giving orders to Haunter and watching it disappear, Shiro braced himself against the storm of snow and reached for another Poké Ball.
Corviknight's Protect could only last for so long. He had to act fast.
Thinking for a moment, he released the next Pokémon.
"Come out, Bewear."
"Beeeweaaar!"
From the burst of red light, a large pink bear-like figure appeared. It stood calmly beside Corviknight in the raging storm, showing no sign that the snow bothered it in the slightest.
Bewear's body was incredibly sturdy, with high defenses. Its ability, Fluffy, cut contact damage in half but made it take double from Fire-type moves. The thick fur covering its body was the visible trait of this ability, and it also helped shield it from moves like Blizzard.
"Bewear!" Shiro shouted, his voice almost lost in the storm. "Charge in, stop that Darmanitan's attack!"
Though the winds blurred his words, the bear understood what he meant.
"Bewear!"
It thumped its chest, lifted its arms high, and rushed straight into the storm.
Meanwhile, Darmanitan kept generating waves of snow and ice, its gaze sweeping across the field. Since it was the one creating the storm, it could see clearly through the swirling snowflakes.
When Bewear's figure burst forward from behind Corviknight, it immediately caught Darmanitan's attention. It still had no idea its trainer had already collapsed. Locked in a forced Blizzard state, it didn't need orders to keep the move going.
Bewear charged ahead with its arms raised. The sharp snow and energy-filled flakes stung slightly, but the pain didn't slow it down.
Darmanitan's eyes widened at the sight. It could only watch as the powerful figure came closer and closer. Unless Melony commanded otherwise, it couldn't stop its attack. And halting now would just give the opponent an opening. But what was it supposed to do when the enemy charged head-on?
"Weeeaaar!"
The pink bear remembered its trainer's order clearly: to break Darmanitan's move. It had already prepared to strike with Take Down and Strength.
Snow whipped around it as the ice ape desperately tried to condense more power. But Bewear's huge arms swatted the frozen chunks aside, shattering them like glass. A faint gray aura spread across its body, and fear flickered in Darmanitan's eyes.
Then the pink bear lunged.
(Don't come any closer!)
The ice Pokémon panicked. It finally cut off Blizzard and spun around to retreat.
The Galarian Darmanitan was pure Ice-type, while Bewear was Normal and Fighting. Normal moves had no particular advantage against Ice, but Fighting attacks hit for double damage.
At this moment, Darmanitan couldn't use any other moves. If Bewear got close and landed even a single Hammer Arm, it would be finished.
"Darma!"
It cried out in terror, calling out for its trainer.
As soon as it stopped using Blizzard, the snow across the battlefield began to fade. The storm cleared fastest in the area behind it, which hadn't been affected as much to begin with. Now, it looked almost the same as before the attack had started.
And there lay Melony, collapsed and unmoving in the command area.
"Darma!"
The Pokémon cried again, stunned, but before it could react, a massive fist came down on its head. The force of the punch made its scalp numb, followed by pain sharp as a spike hammering into its skull. It whimpered briefly, then fell flat to the ground.
"Wear?"
Bewear tilted its head and glanced at its own fist, puzzled. It hadn't even used Hammer Arm or any proper Fighting-type move, so why had its opponent gone down so easily?
Darmanitan lay in front of it, one eye half-open. After a sluggish glance around, it let out a faint groan, sounding as though it were gravely injured and unable to rise.
Seeing this, Bewear didn't bother to follow up. Instead, it turned and calmly looked back at its trainer, who was slowly walking over with Corviknight.
"Return, Bewear."
Shiro held out the Poké Ball and recalled his Pokémon. Then he stepped past the trembling Darmanitan on the ground, heading straight toward Melony.
On the edge of the field, the fading snowstorm finally allowed the cameramen and staff, who had been hiding inside makeshift shelters, to poke their heads out.
After making sure no more attacks were coming, they scrambled out of their hiding spots.
"Nothing's broken, right?" Ryan's movements were sharp and quick. He had been the first to run and hide, so his black suit hadn't gathered much snow. With a few pats it looked clean again.
The other cameramen didn't waste time fixing their disheveled clothes or worrying about the minor equipment half-buried in snow. They grabbed their cameras and hurried to Ryan's side, ready to resume the broadcast for the Galar audience who had been waiting to see this chaotic battle.
But all the viewers knew was that Melony had repeatedly broken the rules, using Pokémon attacks directly against the trainer.
"Ladies and gentlemen, after that Blizzard which nearly swallowed us all..." Ryan shouted hoarsely into the mic, his voice full of anger. "Gym Leader Melony has once again broken the rules, targeting not only her opponent Shiro but also staff outside the field. She almost caused a large-scale disaster with that move!"
His outrage was real. Covering the entire arena with a Blizzard was madness.
It was one thing to cheat in a gym battle, but to target the cameramen and workers on the sidelines as well? What kind of Gym Leader would do that? Disputes between the gyms and Macro Cosmos were one matter, but dragging innocent staff into it was something like this was unforgivable.
"We can reasonably suspect," Ryan continued furiously, "that Gym Leader Melony let her resentment fester because of her own son's foolish mistakes. Out of spite, she deliberately targeted challenger Shiro and even tried to cover her actions by unleashing a massive Blizzard. Shameless beyond belief!"
The more he spoke, the angrier he became. He had noticed Shiro had sent out multiple Pokémon at once, which was also technically against the rules, but he ignored it.
His gaze landed on Melony's collapsed form. For the briefest moment, doubt flickered in his mind, but it passed quickly. He raised his voice once more, delivering the conclusion the audience wanted to see.
"Gym Leader Melony is unable to continue the match due to her condition. Therefore, the winner of this battle is, challenger Shiro!"
He didn't care what had actually happened. Declaring the result now was the safest choice. As long as Melony lost, everything else would remain under control.
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