บท 61: Chapter 61: Rock Badge

"Alright, Heracross, brace yourself and charge straight ahead!"

Rex issued the same command as before. After all, without getting close, Heracross wouldn't be able to inflict much damage on Nosepass due to its sturdy defense.

"Nosepass, Rock Blast!"

Roxanne also continued to use Rock Blast to intercept Heracross.

But for Heracross, it was easy to crush the incoming rocks.

"Nosepass, Stone Edge!"

To keep Heracross from getting close, Roxanne chose to continue having Nosepass use its skills to hinder Heracross.

Countless sharp stones emerged from the ground, blocking Heracross's path, causing it to slow down.

"Heracross, use Aerial Ace!"

Upon hearing the command, Heracross's forelimbs were covered in Flying-type energy, like a bulldozer, smashing through the sharp stones blocking its path and continuing towards Nosepass.

"Nosepass, lock on, then use Zap Cannon!"

Seeing that Heracross was about to charge towards Nosepass, Roxanne calmly issued the command.

When Nosepass's locking skill hit Heracross, its body shook, feeling as if it were an insect caught in a web, struggling but unable to escape.

"Heracross, speed up and charge, use Close Combat!"

With Nosepass already locked onto by Heracross, it was certain that it wouldn't be able to avoid its Zap Cannon. However, launching the Zap Cannon required charging up, so as long as Heracross could hit Nosepass before it launched, victory could be obtained.

As Heracross used Close Combat and struck Nosepass, its accumulated Zap Cannon also fired directly, hitting Heracross and sending it flying backward.

"Use Endure!"

Rex knew that Heracross's strike could have rendered Nosepass unable to battle, but due to the Sturdy Ability, it retained a sliver of health, and now it depended on whether Heracross could withstand the damage from the Zap Cannon.

"Heracross!"

Heracross, knocked back by the Zap Cannon, staggered to its feet. Its current condition was quite sorry, but Rex noticed that its left forelimb was particularly severely injured, charred black.

Seeing this scene, Rex instantly understood what had happened. It seemed that before being hit by the Zap Cannon, Heracross had also used Close Combat with its left forelimb, just like during the recent training sessions, using Close Combat to block its opponent's attacks.

Initially, Nosepass's Zap Cannon had been in confrontation with Heracross's Close Combat. After breaking through Heracross's Fighting-type energy, it then continued to strike Heracross's body.

However, by this point, the energy of the Zap Cannon had already been somewhat depleted. Therefore, after hitting Heracross, it could barely stand up.

"Heracross, use Reversal!"

Rex ordered Heracross, which had completely stood up.

For Nosepass, which now had only a sliver of health left, this blow was quite fatal.

"The match is over, the winner is Rex from Fallabor Town!"

With the referee blowing the whistle, it represented Rex's victory in this Gym challenge.

"Congratulations, Rex, you brought us a wonderful match!"

After recalling Nosepass, Roxanne approached Rex.

"I think so too. Today's battle has been very enlightening for me!"

At this moment, Rex realized that he was also sweating profusely. When Heracross was hit by the Zap Cannon, he thought the Gym challenge would fail, but unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better.

"This is the Rock Badge, please accept it!"

At this moment, Roxanne took out a badge from her body and handed it to Rex.

"Thank you!"

After receiving the badge and taking a closer look, Rex saw that the Rock Badge resembled two overlapping triangular ores, colored earthy yellow.

"Well then, I'll take my leave!"

Having completed the challenge, Rex decided to leave.

"Please wait, Rex, would you be interested in coming to the Trainer School to share your travel experiences with the students?"

Seeing Rex about to leave, Roxanne invited him.

As a teacher at the Trainer School, Roxanne often invited Trainers who had passed Gym challenges to give lectures to her students, introducing them to experiences from their travels or some practical training techniques.

"I'm sorry, Roxanne, but my main profession is a farmer, so my travel experiences are not very rich. I'm afraid I can't teach others much!"

Rex felt that with his travel experiences, he really couldn't be a teacher to others, so it would be better not to mislead them.

"I see. Then I won't bother you!"

Roxanne said somewhat regretfully.

She wasn't someone who liked to entangle others. Although she really wanted Rex to give a lecture to the students at the Trainer School, since Rex wasn't willing, she wouldn't force him.

After leaving the Rustboro Gym, Rex went straight back to the room at the Pokémon Center because Heracross and Machop's injuries were quite severe. He decided to use his abilities to heal them.

"Machop!"

Even though Machop had already been treated by Rex several times, it still found this ability extremely magical.

Every time it was seriously injured, as long as it received his treatment, not only could it recover from its injuries, but its strength would also improve significantly. This feeling made it somewhat reluctant to stop.

Now its dependence on Rex was getting higher and higher. This Gym challenge had restored a lot of its confidence, at least making it feel that its efforts all this time were not in vain.

"Heracross!"

After Heracross finished treatment, it also flew over to Machop's side and chirped, as if saying, "Brother Machop, I've got your back."

At this point, Rex checked the time on his phone and found that it was almost noon. He planned to leave Rustboro City after having lunch and head straight to Lavaridge Town.

These two places were relatively close, and with Swellow's current speed, it wouldn't take more than three hours to reach.

"Hey, Flannery, have you been wandering around lately?"

Rex first called Flannery to ask if she had been to their own Gym.

Although she had taken over the position of Gym Leader from her grandfather, Moore, she still liked to travel around, or rather, both he and his granddaughter enjoyed traveling.

Usually, when her grandfather went out to travel, she would stay at Lavaridge Gym to accept challenges. When her grandfather returned, she could go out for a while, just like when they met in Slateport City last time.

This was what Flannery told him when they last contacted each other. However, he hadn't contacted Flannery in recent times and didn't know if she had gone somewhere else again.

"It's Rex, I just returned to Lavaridge Gym these past few days. Do you need anything?"

At this time, Flannery should be training her Pokémon. Through the noise from the phone, he could hear the sound of Overheat.

"That's great, if nothing unexpected happens, I'll arrive in Lavaridge Town this afternoon. I plan to challenge your Lavaridge Gym tomorrow, so let's consider this as an advance appointment for the Gym challenge!"

Rex heard that Flannery had been at

Lavaridge Gym these days and felt happy. He had been wanting to have another Pokémon battle with Flannery.

"Is that so? That's great! This time, my Torkoal won't lose to your Swellow again!"

Flannery, upon hearing that Rex was coming to challenge her Gym, was also very excited.

Last time, her Torkoal lost to Swellow, and she was actually a little unconvinced. After training during this time, her Torkoal had made quite a bit of progress in strength. She believed it could show Rex's Swellow some real skill this time.

"Well then, let's leave it at that. See you when we meet!"

Rex had already obtained the information he wanted, so he didn't intend to chat with Flannery anymore. After all, the afternoon was almost over.

"What? How dare he hang up on me! Tomorrow, I'll make sure he knows how powerful I am!"

Flannery, who originally wanted to chat with Rex about recent events, didn't expect him to hang up on her directly. Suddenly, an inexplicable anger rose within her, silently vowing to fully demonstrate her strength to Rex tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)