After a brief standoff, the impatient Yoshiki finally chose to attack first.
Most of the audience's anger had been directed at him, which made Yoshiki increasingly envious of Gary's privileged status. Under the influence of these negative emotions, his mindset gradually deteriorated.
"Onix, use Stone Edge!" Yoshiki commanded.
"Rhydon, we'll also use Stone Edge," Gary replied calmly.
Sharp stone blades materialized mid-air. Under Rhydon and Onix's control, they streaked toward each other at fierce velocity, colliding violently at the Rock venue's center.
"You think you can defeat my Rhydon with just Stone Edge? Is your strength really this mediocre?" Gary taunted, deliberately trying to anger Yoshiki and provoke Onix into attacking.
Just as Gary predicted, Yoshiki cracked under the audience's pressure. He immediately commanded Onix to use Take Down, charging straight toward Rhydon.
"Rhydon, I trust your strength. Take Onix's charge head-on," Gary commanded.
Rhydon spread its arms wide and roared skyward, standing firm against the incoming Onix. It extended both arms and tensed its muscles, using its formidable brute strength to forcibly halt Onix's Take Down.
Witnessing Onix's towering body stopped by the comparatively smaller Rhydon left Yoshiki too shocked to react.
"Gary's clearly done intensive power training with Rhydon," Red observed. Although Yoshiki's deteriorating mindset played a role, this couldn't diminish Gary's dedication to carefully training his Pokémon.
Red couldn't help but glance at the reluctant Ash beside him with disappointed eyes, sighing inwardly. If only Ash could be slightly more diligent.
Don't be fooled by Ash's reluctant appearance—his flickering eyes betrayed his actual thoughts.
In Leaf's view, these childhood friends both hoped the other would achieve excellent results, but due to stubborn pride, they could only mock each other to motivate growth. Quite inexplicable to her.
"Rhydon, use Iron Tail now!" Gary commanded.
Under Onix's shocked gaze, Rhydon forcefully shoved Onix's entire body backward before pivoting to swing its thick tail. The appendage gleamed with metallic silver light as it struck Onix heavily, making it scream in agony.
"Press the advantage! Rhydon, use Hammer Arm!" Gary shouted, denying Yoshiki any opportunity to counterattack.
"No! Onix, quickly use Dig!" Yoshiki called out desperately.
"Too late," Gary stated calmly.
Just as Onix began burrowing underground, before it could fully submerge, it felt its tail end gripped by tremendous force.
In everyone's view, Rhydon used its brute strength to forcibly hold Onix's tail, preventing it from escaping underground.
Rhydon could have defeated Onix through Earthquake, but Gary preferred overwhelming suppression to shatter his opponent's confidence. This was Gary's tactical philosophy.
After a brief struggle, Rhydon yanked Onix's body free before raising its right arm high, swinging a devastating punch at Onix's exposed form.
The violent impact reverberated throughout the Rock venue. Rhydon's Hammer Arm kicked up clouds of dust, demonstrating its terrifying strength.
After the dust settled, Rhydon stood atop Onix's prone body with arms raised high in a victor's pose, declaring its triumph to the audience.
"Onix is unable to battle!" the referee announced.
"Seems the goddess of victory favors me more," Gary teased, touching the necklace around his neck.
"I'm counting on you next, Hitmonlee!" Yoshiki shouted, throwing another Poké Ball.
Hitmonlee materialized with a brown body, some sections khaki-colored, and distinctive spring-shaped segments on its limbs.
"Quite a troublesome opponent," Gary admitted cautiously. Hitmonlee's Fighting-type moves could deal double super-effective damage to his Rhydon, requiring careful strategy.
"Hitmonlee, use Double Kick!" Yoshiki commanded.
Hitmonlee's legs were highly elastic and could be extended freely, allowing it to strike opponents from considerable distances with flying kicks.
Following Yoshiki's command, Hitmonlee leaped effortlessly, exploiting the Rock venue's environmental advantages to bound between stone pillars. Finally, when Rhydon's attention wavered, it launched upward and delivered two consecutive kicks.
Rhydon roared furiously from the heavy damage, its eyes bloodshot as it glared at Hitmonlee. Its explosive aura made even the advantaged Hitmonlee momentarily tremble.
"Rhydon, use Rock Blast."
Rhydon bellowed before hurling several hardened rocks toward Hitmonlee.
"Hitmonlee, use Double Kick repeatedly."
Facing the incoming projectiles, Hitmonlee showed no tension, easily shattering the rocks with its powerful kicks.
"This is problematic," Gary muttered warily, not expecting Yoshiki to deploy Fighting-type Hitmonlee, which posed serious disadvantages for Rhydon.
"Rhydon, use Stomp!"
Rhydon stomped the ground forcefully. The resulting tremors disrupted Hitmonlee's movement. Gary seized this opportunity to command Stone Edge, using sharp blades to strike Hitmonlee directly, dealing considerable damage.
"Don't get cocky! Hitmonlee, use Mega Kick!"
Hitmonlee launched off a stone pillar into the air, exploiting the sunlight from above to temporarily blind Rhydon as it looked upward.
Hitmonlee capitalized on this opening, unleashing its tremendously powerful flying kick to strike Rhydon's body with full force.
Absorbing Mega Kick's devastating impact, Rhydon panted heavily with obviously depleted stamina. Fortunately, while being attacked, Rhydon had managed to execute Take Down at close range, partially affecting Hitmonlee's stamina as well.
"You did well, Rhydon," Gary said, withdrawing his Poké Ball to recall the severely injured Pokémon.
"I'm counting on you, Nidoking."
Gary playfully kissed the Poké Ball before forcefully throwing it to release Nidoking.
Nidoking possessed a distinctive purple appearance with a thick tail, powerful forelimbs, and a fearsome poison horn—all weapons for combat.
Nidoking's skin was reputedly as hard as rock, and its tail could snap utility poles in half like matchsticks.
"This is trouble," Yoshiki admitted warily.
Unlike Rhydon taking double super-effective damage from Fighting-type moves, Nidoking's dual Poison and Ground typing reduced Fighting-type effectiveness by half, meaning Hitmonlee posed minimal threat.
Moreover, according to Yoshiki's analysis, Nidoking was likely one of Gary's primary fighters. The aura it emanated wasn't something the previous Rhydon could match.