"Roar!"
Rhyperior leaped straight into the smoke.
Even though it was a heavyweight Pokémon, its raw physical power was more than enough to let it jump several meters high. On top of that, its earlier charge had already shortened the distance a great deal.
So there was no doubt—it could reach Torterra's position.
"Be careful! Watch the sky!" Terran immediately shouted. "The moment you see Rhyperior come down, use Bullet Seed!"
"Terra!"
Torterra lifted its head and stared into the smoke overhead. It was mainly focused on the black cloud in the air, and before long, it noticed movement inside it. A huge figure burst out from the smoke and came crashing down from above.
Torterra reacted at once.
Its mouth opened, and one glowing seed after another shot into the air. The golden-green energy pellets were each about the size of marbles and rained continuously onto Rhyperior's body.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack...!
Bullet Seed was landing.
But it wasn't doing anything meaningful.
The attacks couldn't stop Rhyperior at all.
Bang!!
Rhyperior slammed down and pinned Torterra directly to the ground.
"Terra...!"
Torterra tried to push itself back up, but Rhyperior's weight was too much. It didn't have enough time to build up strength and couldn't get back onto its feet.
"Ice Punch!"
Gary didn't hesitate in the slightest and immediately ordered the finishing blow.
"Roar."
Rhyperior was just as ruthless. It raised a fist wrapped in freezing energy and drove it into Torterra's back.
Crack!!
A burst of cold spread across Torterra's shell, instantly freezing over half of its body.
Torterra lost the last of its strength and fainted completely.
Yuko's brows were tightly drawn together in frustration.
She had thought the battle had finally turned around. Torterra had landed Grass Knot cleanly, and for a moment she had really believed they had a chance. But in the end, they still lost.
She found it hard to accept Torterra's defeat.
But as the referee, she could only grit her teeth and announce the result.
"Torterra has lost the ability to battle. Rhyperior wins."
Only one Pokémon remained on Terran's side now. If he wanted to turn the match around with a one-against-three comeback, the possibility was almost zero.
Yuko already knew that the Scorching Sands TM was about to leave her hands.
If I'd known this would happen, I never would have made that bet...
At this point, she could only accept her fate.
Terran, on the other hand, remained calm.
He had been a Gym Leader for ten years. It wasn't as if he had never been swept before. Being taken down one against three by an overwhelmingly strong opponent was unusual, but not impossible.
After all, for a Trainer Gary's age, just having a Pokémon around Level 40 or 50 was already considered good. A Pokémon over Level 60 was almost unbelievable. Losing to that kind of strength simply wasn't something worth being ashamed of.
"Then let's finish this properly. I'll leave it to you in the end."
"Come out, Gliscor."
Terran sent out his final Pokémon.
Flash!
[Lv.48 Gliscor / Elite-tier]
Terran's last Pokémon was Gliscor.
Gary guessed that this Gliscor's Ability was probably Sand Veil. But because the Pokémon Gary sent out was Rhyperior, Terran had been forced to send Torterra out ahead of schedule.
He also guessed that this Gliscor probably didn't have Sandstorm in its move pool yet. Otherwise, there would have been no need for Hippowdon to be the one setting the weather earlier.
"Rhyperior, use Smack Down!" Gary didn't switch Rhyperior out and simply continued the battle.
"Roar!"
Rhyperior raised both arms and aimed upward at Gliscor, which was hovering high in the air.
Bang!!
With a heavy blast, a chunk of rock shot from the opening in Rhyperior's palm and tore through the air straight toward Gliscor.
The stone was flying far too fast to dodge.
Terran reacted immediately. "X-Scissor!"
Gliscor swung both pincers and tried to slash apart the incoming rock. But the instant its claws made contact, the sheer force behind the projectile blasted through its guard and knocked it backward. Fortunately, using X-Scissor had reduced most of the impact. Otherwise, it would have been no different from taking the shot head-on.
But Rhyperior's attack wasn't over yet.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
More rocks shot from the holes in its palms one after another, leaving Gliscor no breathing room at all. Faced with the continuous barrage, Gliscor simply couldn't hold on. The gap in power between the two sides was too large.
After being hit by two more rocks, Gliscor lost control and fell to the ground.
It tried to stand.
It couldn't.
Gliscor lost consciousness.
Yuko let out a quiet breath and announced the final result.
"All three of Gym Leader Terran's Pokémon have been defeated. The winner of this Gym battle is the challenger, Gary."
The Gym battle was over.
Both sides recalled their Pokémon.
"Congratulations," Terran said after the match, taking out the Gym Badge. "This is the Terrain Badge, proof that you defeated the Silvercrown Gym."
"Thanks."
Gary accepted the Badge.
[Ding! Task completed. Reward distributed to space backpack.]
"This is yours."
Yuko also walked over and handed him a TM.
Gary hadn't really planned to insist on taking it. After all, with the level difference involved, it felt a little like bullying. But since Yuko took the initiative to hand it over herself, it would have been more awkward to refuse.
"Thank you."
Gary still accepted the Scorching Sands TM.
Seeing Gary take it, Terran suddenly asked, "Gary, are you planning to use the Peat Block you have?"
"Not for now. Do you want it, Mr. Terran?" Gary asked.
If Terran was bringing it up himself, then he was clearly interested.
"Yes," Terran admitted. "To be honest, I want to raise an Ursaluna. I really need the Peat Block in your hands. If possible, name your price. I'm willing to pay."
Gary thought about it for a moment.
He himself had no plans to raise an Ursaluna, but he also didn't want to exchange the Peat Block for money. If he could trade it for something actually useful, that would be much better.
"Mr. Terran, I don't need money," Gary said.
Terran understood immediately.
He wanted to trade item for item.
"Then what do you need?" Terran asked.
"Let me think."
Gary genuinely didn't know what he needed most right now. After thinking it over, the only answer that came to mind was Pokémon.
After the Sinnoh League, Gary planned to head to the Unova Region. Because of that, he wanted to start preparing a batch of Unova Pokémon in advance.
Right now, he didn't have many Unova Pokémon at all.
Strictly speaking, there was still one—Pawniard.
But once Pawniard evolved into Bisharp, it wouldn't really count as the kind of Ground-type Pokémon Gary was specifically looking for. And even if it did, having just one wasn't nearly enough.
He needed a few more.
The Silvercrown Gym was an old Gym with real history behind it. Its family breeding house wasn't something ordinary operations could compare to. Logically speaking, they should have access to a lot of Ground-type Pokémon with good potential.
Of course, this was still the Sinnoh Region. Terran's breeding house might not have any Ground-type species unique to Unova.
Still, there was no harm in asking. If they didn't have any, then Gary could only give up.
"I want a Ground-type Pokémon," Gary said. "But it has to be a species unique to the Unova Region. Mr. Terran, do you have any way to get a high-potential Drilbur or Sandile?"
Drilbur and Sandile were both Pokémon unique to Unova. Their final evolutions, Excadrill and Krookodile, were both extremely strong Ground-type Pokémon.
If he could get one of them here, that would save him a lot of trouble later.