Chapter 57: A Clean Sweep of Three and the Fifth Badge

With a flash of red light, a Pokémon with short limbs, tightly closed eyes resembling small rocks, and a reddish-brown flower blooming on its head appeared on the battle field.

Its appearance was quite similar to the Rafflesia of a tropical rainforest. The pistil on its head was surrounded by four spherical petals, and beneath the massive flower was a body resembling a blue plant bulb.

Pokédex: "Gloom, the Weed Pokémon. Grass and Poison type. The evolved form of Oddish. It constantly drools a honey-like nectar from its mouth that emits a foul stench. However, when it feels relaxed, it does not release the stench; it only emits the foul odor to drive away enemies when it feels nervous or senses danger."

A pungent odor diffused around Gloom. Even standing in the trainer's command box, Sakuya could smell it from afar.

Judging by this, much like the Skuntank encountered yesterday, it likely possessed the Stench Ability!

Looking back at Charmeleon, perhaps having gained experience from previous battles, although it was currently suffering from a headache-inducing stench that made it want to vomit, it relied on the stubborn tenacity deep within its bloodline to stubbornly stand its ground without taking a single step backward!

Knowing that the longer this dragged on, the more unfavorable the situation would become, Sakuya took the initiative and commanded, "Charmeleon, let's strike first!"

Charmeleon opened its mouth, and a stream of flames—stronger, larger, and at a higher temperature than Ember—erupted!

"Have you already mastered Flamethrower?" Erika waved her hand and shouted, "Gloom, dodge quickly!"

Unfortunately, without the aid of Chlorophyll, given Gloom's sluggish speed, even if it wanted to evade, it was futile and was ultimately struck by the scorching flames.

Its body was scorched, and as the flames dissipated, Erika hurriedly shouted, "Gloom, use Sleep Powder!"

Faced with this preemptive use of Sleep Powder, Sakuya knew that it would typically be followed up by other high-power moves, so he dared not lower his guard and decisively ordered, "Charmeleon, use Smokescreen again!"

The smoke released in the previous battle had long since dissipated. Hearing the command, Charmeleon hurriedly spat out black smoke once more, wrapping itself back inside.

On the other side, clusters of powder drifted from Gloom's pistil, gradually spreading across the entire field and eventually seeping into the smokescreen.

Taking advantage of the thinness of the smoke, through the faint outlines, Erika could vaguely see Charmeleon standing in place, having fallen into a deep sleep.

"Very good! Gloom, use Growth!"

A faint green light emanated from Gloom's body. Not only did its size increase, but under the sunlight, the power of its moves was also greatly enhanced.

In the command box, Sakuya understood that while Charmeleon was asleep, without external attacks, it simply could not wake up by itself in a short time. Therefore, he remained silent, watching quietly to see how things would unfold.

What could be done had already been done. Next, it was time to watch the opponent's performance!

At this moment, having suppressed her moves for so long, Erika finally revealed her trump card.

"Gloom, use Solar Beam!"

At Erika's command, Gloom began to absorb sunlight. Innumerable rays of light particles rapidly gathered and condensed at its pistil, ultimately forming a ball of light!

And when the energy reached its peak, that ball of light was fiercely launched toward Charmeleon!

A beam of light cut straight through, shattering layers of smoke and striking directly onto Charmeleon!

Solar Beam is an advanced Grass-type move capable of dealing massive damage. Normally, because of its long preparation time, it requires pre-charging to gather sunlight. However, under today's abundant sunlight conditions, its energy accumulation time was drastically shortened!

Charmeleon took the full brunt of the damage, staggered, and collapsed to the ground.

Although Grass attacks against Fire types only deal half-effective elemental damage, under the enhancement of the Growth skill, this single blow was enough to nearly incapacitate Charmeleon entirely!

With a painful expression on its face, Charmeleon gritted its teeth and managed to climb back up with great difficulty.

Both its stamina and endurance had reached their absolute limits by now, but thanks to this beam-like attack, the sleep status was finally broken!

It let out a roar, triggering its Blaze Ability. Without waiting for Sakuya's command, driven purely by battle instinct, it charged straight toward Gloom!

"How truly tenacious!" Erika first praised, then shook her head. "However, with just that tiny bit of stamina left, what can you possibly do? Gloom, use Poison Powder!"

Gloom fluttered its petals, and clusters of sickly green powder instantly formed a barrier in front of it.

Erika's intention was to force Charmeleon to change direction, but who would have thought that it didn't evade or dodge at all? Charging directly into the poison powder, right before the move took effect, it suddenly leaped high into the air, pouncing forward with its mouth wide open, its teeth glowing with flames as it bit fiercely into Gloom's body!

In a flash of lightning, Gloom shrieked in agonizing pain!

Fire Fang activated! It's super effective!

"What?!"

Erika was shocked, and just as she wanted to order Gloom to shake it off, she saw Charmeleon's body sway. Drained of its final stamina by the poison powder, it collapsed to the ground and fainted.

She let out a long breath of relief, and just as the blue-haired girl nearby was about to announce the match result, the unexpected happened!

Gloom's body suddenly flashed red. Its entire body began to tremble violently as if it had been badly burned!

"Oh no, it's the burn status!"

Erika couldn't help but cry out, and before her words had even faded, Gloom collapsed to the ground as well, similarly losing its ability to battle.

"This..."

Erika and the blue-haired girl exchanged glances, both shocked by such an outcome. It wasn't until a few seconds later that the blue-haired girl recovered her senses and raised her right hand high.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle! The challenger wins!"

Retrieving her Poké Ball, Sakuya silently recalled Charmeleon. It had truly worked hard for this Gym challenge.

This sudden turn of events also allowed him to witness Charmeleon's latent potential. If properly nurtured from now on, it would undoubtedly become his most reliable assistant!

"Congratulations on defeating me and winning the Rainbow Badge." Erika walked up to Sakuya, gently clapping her hands, and said sincerely, "I have to say, this Charmeleon of yours is truly formidable, especially its indomitable spirit at the end, which really gave me a whole new level of respect."

"Its performance startled me too," Sakuya shook his head. "I'll continue to train it moving forward, helping it become even more outstanding."

Erika said no more, retrieving a badge from her pocket and handing it over to Sakuya.

Fantastic, the fifth badge was finally in hand!

Looking closely, the shape of this badge resembled a blooming flower, and its petals corresponded precisely to the colors of the rainbow, making it extremely distinctive.

Placing it into his badge collection case, Sakuya expressed his gratitude: "Thank you for the guidance, Miss Erika. I suppose we shall meet again if fate allows."