Above Oreburgh Gym, countless icicles gathered.
Each one was nearly ten meters long, shaped like cones.
With the added potential energy from falling out of the sky, their force was terrifying to the extreme.
Under the crashing icicles, the roof of Oreburgh Gym quickly split open.
In the densest cluster, the icicles even pierced through the roof, stabbing into the interior of the gym.
Seeing the freezing spikes spilling cold air from the cracks in the ceiling, Onix only felt its scalp go numb.
'What the hell…'
'For just a Gym battle, you're really playing like this?'
"ROOAAAR!"
Onix let out a deafening roar, its gaze firm as it stared at the distant Glastrier.
'Even if you're the legendary Pokémon Glastrier, even if your Ice-type moves have type advantage over me—'
'But!'
'I'll never let you have it easy!'
A rich earthen light spread from Onix's body, quickly covering it completely.
The wall that had embedded Onix suddenly softened, as if it had turned to flowing water.
"Shrrrk~"
With a sharp sound, Onix easily broke through the hard floor, burrowing its whole body deep into the ground.
Dig, the skill that let Pokémon move freely beneath the earth.
Perhaps because of its Ground typing, Onix was even more agile underground than on the surface.
Before Glastrier could react, Onix had already tunneled a long distance, instantly reaching the side of the arena.
Next.
Glastrier heard a cold laugh, and then saw Onix break out from the ground and ram straight into the Poké Ball in Byron's hand.
A flash of white light.
Onix surrendered.
Byron: "???"
'Bro, what are you running for?'
'If the opponent had gone zero-frame, releasing Glastrier right at the start, then sure, forfeiting is understandable.'
'After all, that would've been bullying, and giving up wouldn't be shameful.'
But just now, Byron had released the higher-level Pokémon first, that made it awkward.
Through the little window of its Poké Ball, Onix looked at its own Byron, its gaze carrying a "whatever" nonchalance.
'Whoever wants to fight can fight. I'm not doing it!'
Seeing Onix admit defeat, Glastrier's move immediately stopped.
It turned its gaze impatiently toward Byron.
"Snort!"
'Hurry, hurry, send out the next one, I'm in a rush to save the world!'
Byron sighed, pulling out another Poké Ball.
Sure enough, the second Pokémon was also instantly one-shotted by Glastrier's rampaging move.
The only difference was that Byron's second Pokémon didn't have the Sturdy ability, so it didn't even have the chance to flee back into its Poké Ball.
After it was defeated, Byron actually felt relieved.
At last, no more facing this freak Axel.
"Sir, here, this is our Gym Badge."
"It represents my recognition of you as a Gym Trainer."
"Once you've collected all eight, you can go straight into the Sinnoh League's top one hundred competition."
Byron smiled on the surface, but in his heart he cursed nonstop.
'This lunatic!'
'He really used a legendary Pokémon to fight a Gym battle.'
'Just hurry up and get lost!'
Axel accepted the badge, smiling at Byron, while his powerful mental energy easily picked up Byron's thoughts.
'So you're cursing me, huh?'
'Then you're really going to have something to curse about later…'
Originally Axel felt Glastrier had gone a bit too far, even smashing the man's roof.
But now, he just wanted Platinum to personally grind Byron down once.
"Byron, I remember the League once explained: unless there are special circumstances, Gym Leaders cannot lightly refuse a Trainer's challenge, right?"
Byron blinked, about to explain.
A Gym Leader could refuse the same challenger's second attempt.
But before the words came out, he saw Platinum standing at the side.
In that instant, one giant word appeared in Byron's mind.
["Danger!"]
Even though Axel had just challenged, he still had a companion.
If this little girl also brought Axel's Glastrier in here to wreck the place, could this Gym even keep running anymore?
Byron fell silent for a few seconds, then secretly pulled out a blackboard from behind him and quickly scribbled a few big words.
[As this Gym is the first in the Sinnoh League, the Pokémon of both challenger and Gym Leader cannot exceed level 20!]
After writing, Byron breathed a sigh of relief and put the board in front of Axel.
"Sorry, Mr. Axel. As Gym Leader, I have the authority to set the rules for challenges."
"In that last battle, I truly felt the drawbacks of no level restrictions."
"Your Pokémon exceeds level 20. Even if you lend it to someone else, it still cannot continue with my Gym challenge."
Axel grinned. "That's perfect, this friend of mine's two Pokémon are both level 15."
Byron: "???"
'I was wondering why a man with a divine beast would bother coming to fight me, a small fry.'
'So that's what you were plotting?'
'But… as Gym Leader, I absolutely will not easily lose in a sub-level-20 battle.'
Byron drew a deep breath, overflowing with confidence inside.
In high-level matches he might not beat Axel.
But when it came to baby cup battles, if he was second in Sinnoh, no one would dare claim first.
———
Axel waved for Glastrier, and man and horse walked toward Platinum together.
At the same time, Axel's mind shifted to the system panel.
In the last battle, Byron had dropped a purple tag called Rock Mastery.
With that, Axel could finally push Breeder to gold rank.
He had a feeling that once Breeder reached gold, it would get a major boost.
Maybe even abilities never seen before.
Back before the worlds merged, Axel had seen in derivative works that some could level Pokémon up, or let them learn moves.
After fusing with Blue's Advancement tag, Axel's food already had the effect of boosting Pokémon levels during evolution.
As for letting Pokémon learn moves, that hadn't shown up yet.
But since it was all system-based, Axel felt his system had no reason to be weaker than anyone else's.
Surely it wouldn't take reaching the ultimate Exalted tier just to unlock quick move-learning?
"System, help me level up!"
[Ding! Your Breeder tag has grown to Gold level.]
[Ding! Your Gold tag Breeder has gained a new ability. Please discover it yourself!]
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