"Electabuzz, Thunderbolt!"
"Kingler, get moving. Circle it, and fire off Mud Shot!"
"King!" Kingler burst into motion and began running rings around Electabuzz. A moment later it was moving so fast it left afterimages, and Electabuzz's Thunderbolt kept striking empty air.
While it ran, Kingler kept lobbing Mud Shot into the centre. Thick mud splattered across Electabuzz, and because Mud Shot was super effective—and even triggered Kingler's Sheer Force—Electabuzz took a nasty chunk of damage.
"Kingler, close in! Crabhammer!"
"King!" Kingler surged forward, claws raised.
The teenager had already seen what those pincers could do. He didn't dare take it head-on and immediately ordered, "Protect!"
"Buzzz!" Electabuzz threw up a pale green barrier just in time. It blocked the first hit… but it wasn't going to hold forever.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kingler hammered the shield like a sledge, forcing Electabuzz into pure defence. Against Kingler, you didn't win by turtling—you won by being faster and striking first. Once you let it dictate the tempo, you were already sliding downhill.
A few more crushing blows later, Electabuzz finally went down, stunned senseless. Kingler had taken two straight wins.
"Challenger, send out your third Pokémon," Reiji said as the teenager recalled Electabuzz.
"That claw…," the teenager muttered. The pounding sound from those hits kept echoing in his head, and his heart wouldn't slow down. Even breathing felt hard.
In that kind of pressure, Electabuzz couldn't run, couldn't set up, couldn't even squeeze out a clean counter. Without Protect, it wouldn't have survived a single solid hit—never mind getting a move off. Moves weren't magic words you shouted for instant results; if you hadn't trained for it, you needed timing and space.
Only now did the teenager fully accept it: the rumours weren't exaggeration. This stand-in Gym Leader wasn't like the "easy" Gyms back in Kanto. Reiji was the real thing.
"Go, Exeggutor!"
"Alright," Reiji said, eyes on Kingler. "You're up first."
"Exeggutor—Leech Seed!"
The seeds fired out, but Kingler was already moving. They hit nothing but the floor.
"Kingler, keep the pressure. Mud Shot!"
"King!" Kingler ran and fired in rhythm. Exeggutor was basically a stationary target, and after several shots it was plastered in mud, its movements visibly dulled.
The teenager tried to shift tactics. He wanted to use Grass Knot to pin Kingler down, but it didn't work.
"Exeggutor… Gravity!"
A blue halo flared from Exeggutor's eyes and spread across the entire field.
It was meant to slow Kingler down, sure—but Gravity didn't pick sides. It blanketed the whole arena.
"King…" Kingler did slow, but it could still move. That hard exoskeleton did it favours under pressure.
Exeggutor wasn't so lucky. The weight hit it like a truck, and it ended up rooted in place by its own field.
After that, the fight was almost comical. Kingler scuttled up, raised a smaller claw, and knocked Exeggutor out cold with Metal Claw.
"If you can't handle a move yourself," Reiji said flatly, "don't throw it out in a Gym battle."
"Uh… sorry," the teenager said, rubbing his nose as he recalled Exeggutor. "I only knew it could learn Gravity. First time actually using it."
He looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him. The third match had ended in the dumbest way possible—his Exeggutor pinned by its own Gravity while Kingler walked in and finished it off.
Three straight wins. Into bad matchups. With one Pokémon.
No excuses left.
"Get to a Pokémon Center," Reiji said, waving him off. "Don't delay treatment."
"I'll be back!" the teenager blurted, then bolted out the door with his Poké Balls clutched tight.
Reiji watched him go and sighed. "What a headache."
These kids were loud and cocky, but once you beat them, they came back again and again until they finally got their win. It was relentless.
Still, Reiji wasn't staying as the acting gym leader for long. Once Cissy wrapped up the citrus harvest, he'd hand the Gym back. After that, the repeat challengers could become her problem.
"Rai… your Kingler is seriously strong," Senta said, eyes glittering as he stared at Kingler like it had just rewritten reality.
"It's fine," Reiji said. "Nothing special."
Senta and Squirtle exchanged a look that said they both wanted to crawl into a hole.
If that was "nothing special," what did that make them?
"Train properly and you'll get there," Reiji said, not interested in crushing a kid who finally had some drive. If things ever went the way Senta kept joking about, this would be his "brother-in-law." Better to keep the peace.
"We will," Senta said, pumping his fist.
"Squirtle, squirtle!" Squirtle copied him, fist up, eyes set.
After that, the Gym sank back into its usual sweat-and-repetition rhythm. Senta drilled Squirtle's Water Gun aim. Over at the side, Reiji read in silence, occasionally jotting notes and diagrams.
The teenager must have gone straight to the Pokémon Center. No one else came to challenge all afternoon, and Reiji didn't mind the quiet. Cissy still hadn't returned by dinner.
He packed up more than a dozen meals from the kitchen, thanked the kitchen lady, said goodbye to Senta, then climbed onto Pelipper and headed back to the lakeside cabin.
As soon as they landed, Butterfree and the others were already waiting.
"Free!" Butterfree shot forward and threw itself into Reiji's arms, clinging like it hadn't seen him in a week.
"It's been half a day," Reiji said, laughing under his breath as he rubbed its soft head. Butterfree had always been like this—shamelessly affectionate, and completely unstoppable.
"Free…" Butterfree refused to let go.
"Did those Tentacruel come back this afternoon?"
Butterfree blinked at him, blank as could be. It had spent the day sneaking honey and hadn't paid attention to the lake at all.
"Alright. I'll have Poliwhirl check," Reiji said, giving Butterfree one more gentle pat before sending Poliwhirl down to the water to see if any wild Water-types had wandered in again.
"Poli!" Poliwhirl hopped off—older now, and clearly unimpressed by Butterfree's clingy routine. Butterfree could act like a tough big sister in front of other Pokémon, but the second it saw Reiji, it turned into a baby again.
"Free!" Butterfree stuck its tongue out at Poliwhirl from inside Reiji's arms, proud as anything. They'd been bickering forever—ever since the deserted-island days, back when Poliwhirl was still a tiny tadpole and somehow already its sworn enemy.
When Poliwhirl returned, Reiji had the evening meals set. He laid out more than twenty bowls across the grass. Together, trainer and Pokémon ate while the lake glowed gold under the sinking sun.
After dinner they played around on the lawn for a while. Mudkip and Zapdos had already settled in, and the others fussed over them like family. When night finally fell, everyone flopped onto the grass and stared up at the stars.
"Poliwhirl—anything in the lake?"
"Poli." Poliwhirl shook its head. The underground current had been blocked off; the Tentacruel couldn't get back in. Only a few amphibious wild Pokémon still lingered along the shore.
"Good," Reiji said. He reached for another Poké Ball. "Tentacool, come out."
The moment Tentacool appeared, it froze—several large, dangerous-looking Pokémon were already surrounding it.
"Tenta…" Tentacool shrank back, terrified.
Reiji crouched in front of it. "Two choices. One: eat this Water-type Pokéblock and join us. Two: get beaten up… and then join us."
The ring of Pokémon collectively went still, awkward in a way that almost hurt. This was not a normal recruitment speech, and it reminded more than one of them of a very familiar "welcome" from the past.
"Spinarak??" Spinarak sounded completely done with life. "Again?"
"Tenta…" Tentacool didn't need the proverb about choosing the wise option. It just needed to not get beaten up. It reached for the Pokéblock.
The moment it tasted it, Tentacool went rigid, then melted into bliss. The Pokéblock dissolved like warm syrup and spread through its body. Without thinking, it stretched out its tentacles, almost dazed.
Reiji watched it closely. "If you join us, you get that three times a day. Still want in?"
"Tenta!" Tentacool nodded so fast it almost toppled over.
"Good," Reiji said, setting a full box down in front of it. "Eat."
Tentacool grabbed them eagerly. It looked small for its kind—like it had spent too long hungry out in the wild. After five Pokéblocks, it finally hit its limit and sagged, stuffed.
Reiji recalled it into its Poké Ball so it could sleep and digest in peace.
With that settled, it was time to turn in. Poliwhirl and the others didn't need night training—Poliwhirl's potential had already hit its ceiling, and daytime work was enough to keep its fundamentals solid.
"Croagunk, back inside," Reiji said, recalling Croagunk as well.
Croagunk's skin was laced with poison, and it couldn't fully control the toxins at the surface yet. If it fell asleep against someone and rubbed the wrong way, that was a real problem. Keeping it in the Poké Ball at night was simply easier—and safer.
[Croagunk]
[Type: Poison/Fighting]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 55.9%]
[Level: 28.43%]
[Ability: Anticipation/9.68%] [Hidden Ability: Poison Touch/27.88%]
[Moves: (Dynamic Punch/8.47%) (Bullet Punch/10.27%) (Poison Jab/27.11%) (Mud-Slap/24.31%) (Toxic/28.55%) (Venoshock/24.44%) (Drain Punch/8.24%) (Protect/23.51%) (Rest/20.72%) (Shadow Ball/13.25%)]
Reiji hadn't checked Croagunk's panel in over a month. Its potential had even climbed a little, and it had long since stepped into Elite tier.
Anticipation had jumped too. Croagunk had started sensory drills and sparred with Gengar constantly—sometimes in dreams, sometimes in reality—two Poison-types sharpening each other again and again.
As for Poison Touch… nothing had changed there. Croagunk was still poison incarnate. Skin contact meant poisoning, which was exactly why it slept inside a Poké Ball.
The good news was that its physical conditioning had started catching up to the toxins inside it. If it kept building its body, it could eventually shake off the worst of the poison problem.
Its move progress was just as noticeable.
Dynamic Punch was up seven percent—trained during punching drills with Poliwhirl.
Bullet Punch was up nine percent as well, also from those drills. The gains weren't huge, but the point of the move was speed.
Poison Jab had surged the most. That had been the main focus during sparring, and combined with Toxic, even a clean graze could turn a fight ugly fast.
Mud-Slap had climbed sharply too. It used it constantly during perception sparring with Gengar.
Toxic didn't need explanation. Its overall strength had only just caught up with Croagunk's current level, and Reiji didn't want it getting complacent. If Croagunk ever slacked off, Reiji suspected the poison would come roaring back.
Croagunk had also picked up several new moves.
Venoshock was straightforward—spitting toxin from its poison sac to attack. If the target was already poisoned, the move hit twice as hard. Croagunk learning it was only natural.
Drain Punch came from Poliwhirl as well, and it fit Croagunk perfectly as a stab move.
Protect was another easy one. During those sensing spars with Gengar, whenever Croagunk couldn't dodge in time, it would throw up Protect—probably learned by watching the others.
Rest was even simpler.
The last one was Shadow Ball, and that one made Reiji pause. How did Croagunk even learn Shadow Ball? From Gengar? Somehow?
Either way, it mattered. Shadow Ball finally gave Croagunk a real tool against Ghost-types—at least the ones it could actually target.
If the Ghost-type was hidden and untouchable, that was still another story.
Reiji kept the same three-pronged plan for Croagunk: scheduled detox, constant antidote supplies, and relentless conditioning. All three together, until Croagunk could fully rein in the poison inside its own body.
As for evolving, it was still too early. Probably another month or more. Right now the priority was suppression, not evolution, and anything else could come naturally.
And with talent like Croagunk's, Elite Four tier was never going to be the ceiling.
For Pokémon like this, the first real wall was Champion.
[End of chapter]
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