Flannery was tall and slender, standing about half a head taller than Theo.
When she walked up to him, she raised her eyebrows slightly, her tone carrying a hint of deliberate provocation.
"So you're Theo?
A trainer from Devon Corporation, and you even caught a Larvesta?
Grandpa watched your previous Gym challenge videos and said you were quite impressive. He even told me to 'learn' from you.
Today, I want to see for myself just how capable you really are."
Before she even finished speaking, she flicked her ponytail and turned to walk toward the battle position, leaving behind a crisp and decisive remark.
"Come on. Don't waste time."
The live stream chat instantly exploded with activity.
"Here it comes! The real showdown at last!"
"Gym Leader Flannery is so cool! But I'm rooting for Larvesta!"
"Do you think Flannery will send out Quilava again? It was insanely strong just now!"
"Larvesta, charge! Win that Flame Badge!"
Just as the staff member was about to step up to the referee's platform, the side door of the arena suddenly opened.
Everyone's gaze turned toward it in unison.
Elder Moore walked out slowly, casually playing with a bright red badge in his hand. The edges of the badge were engraved with delicate flame patterns, shining brilliantly under the lights.
The prideful expression on Flannery's face melted away instantly. She quickly walked up to him, her tone carrying a faint trace of coquettishness that was hard to detect.
"Grandpa, what are you doing here?"
"What, your Gym battle, and I'm not allowed to watch?"
Mr. Moore smiled and patted her shoulder, but his gaze passed over the crowd and settled on Theo, filled with curiosity and scrutiny.
The livestream chat completely went wild.
"Woah!! It's Elder Moore! He hasn't shown up for more than half a year!"
"Now that I think about it, when Mr. Moore was the Gym Leader, getting badges wasn't this hard… ever since Flannery took over, it's seriously strict!"
"The streamer must be under huge pressure now, a former Elite Four member is watching from the sidelines!"
Seeing the discussion in the chat about how hard it was to obtain badges, Theo could not help but chuckle.
The difficulty of Gym badges in the Hoenn region varied greatly. It was not always necessary to win in order to obtain one. More often, it depended on the Gym Leader's recognition of the challenger.
For example, Wattson of the Mauville Gym had the temperament of a mischievous old man. As long as there were no major mistakes during the battle, the badge was basically guaranteed.
Roxanne of the Rustboro Gym, who also worked as a schoolteacher, would mercilessly point out a challenger's mistakes, yet in the end, she would still give a badge as encouragement.
In the past, the hardest badges to obtain were the Mind Badge from Mossdeep City and Winona's Feather Badge.
Now, Flannery's Heat Badge had to be counted among them as well.
After Flannery took over the Lavaridge Gym, her rule for awarding badges was very simple.
If you cannot beat me, then do not even think about getting a badge.
Of course, that only reflected the difficulty of obtaining badges, not necessarily the strength of the Gym Leaders.
In terms of sheer strength, the strongest Gym Leaders in Hoenn were Norman of Petalburg Gym, Wallace of Sootopolis Gym, and the man standing before them, the former Lavaridge Gym Leader, Mr. Moore.
Those three were the true strongest among all Gym Leaders in the Hoenn region.
After exchanging a few simple words with her grandfather, Flannery took a deep breath and returned to her battle position.
The cold expression returned to her face, as if the girl who had just acted coquettishly had never existed.
"Referee, you may begin."
The referee stepped onto the platform, cleared his throat, and announced in a loud voice:
"Both trainers, please take note. This Gym challenge will be a three-on-three battle. If all Pokémon on one side lose their ability to battle, that side will be declared the loser. The challenger may freely switch Pokémon.
Now, let the match begin!"
Flannery raised her hand and threw out a Poké Ball.
"You've already seen my Quilava, so let it continue the battle!"
A flash of red light appeared, and Quilava landed steadily in the center of the field. Flames burned vigorously around its body, clearly having recovered to its peak condition.
"Larvesta, it's your turn."
Theo tossed his Poké Ball. A burst of white light flashed, and the plump Larvesta appeared on the field.
It tilted its head curiously, the five horns around its head swaying gently as it examined the Quilava in front of it.
A wave of murmurs rose from the audience.
Quilava was nearly a meter long, yet compared to Larvesta, it actually seemed somewhat small.
Such a difference in size caused many spectators who had never seen a Larvesta before to show expressions of surprise, their whispers spreading like ripples.
Quilava seemed irritated by Larvesta's gaze. The flames on its head and back suddenly flared up, crackling loudly as it bared its teeth in a show of intimidation.
But how could Larvesta tolerate that?
The five horns around its head instantly erupted with intense flames, far fiercer than the fire surrounding Quilava, as if it were saying:
"You little runt, where did you get the confidence to challenge me?"
Theo had absolute confidence in Larvesta.
Flannery's Quilava was indeed talented and had already mastered powerful Fire-type moves like Fire Blast and Overheat.
However, at this stage, the energy levels of Larvesta and Quilava were not even on the same level. The gap between them was enormous.
Unless Quilava evolved into Typhlosion, it might barely be able to contend. But as things stood now, the difference in energy intensity between the two Pokémon was simply too great.
After spending these days together, Theo and Larvesta had grown increasingly in sync. He also came to understand why Larvesta treasured that stone marked with the "Ω" symbol so much.
It had been left to it by its mother when it was young.
With Metang acting as a translator, Larvesta explained that after the volcanic eruption, Victini and Volcarona did not leave immediately. Instead, they stayed in Hoenn to find a suitable place for it to grow.
The environment of Mt. Chimney was the most suitable for its development, so Victini and Volcarona left Larvesta there.
That stone with the "Ω" symbol had also been found by Victini within Mt. Chimney and was specifically given to Larvesta for its protection.
They had told it that as long as it absorbed energy within the volcano and grew strong enough to evolve, it could then fly north and eventually find its way home to reunite with its mother.
So that was the truth.
After learning this, Theo promised Larvesta that he would definitely help it evolve, and when the opportunity arose, he would take it to find its mother.
At the time, Larvesta had been so happy that it rubbed against him repeatedly in his arms, completely forgetting about the unease it had felt during their earlier bet, and fully accepting him as its trainer.
"Victini…"
A ripple stirred in Theo's heart.
Under normal circumstances, the habitats of Victini and Volcarona were in the Unova region. Why had they appeared in Hoenn?
Victini had helped Larvesta's mother evolve into Volcarona. What kind of connection existed between them?
Theo had carefully examined Larvesta's move panel.
The only inherited move it had was Morning Sun. He had also asked Larvesta to think carefully about whether it had any memory of how to use the move V-create.
But Larvesta had simply shaken its head blankly, clearly having no concept of that move at all.
"What are you thinking about? Too scared to fight?"
Flannery's voice interrupted Theo's thoughts. She raised her eyebrows at him.
"If you're afraid, it's not too late to admit defeat now."
(End of Chapter)