Chapter 224: Cinnabar Gym's Gym Challenge
Following Blaine's footsteps, Aisha walked towards the crater.
If he remembered correctly, the battleground inside Cinnabar Gym was a platform suspended by four chains over a large lava pool.
Within the game, players who wanted to challenge Cinnabar Gym needed to continuously answer some questions.
Answering the questions correctly will allow you to progress normally, while answering incorrectly will require you to challenge the staff inside the gym.
Of course, back in the day, in order to brush up on experience for the Pokémon to upgrade, Aisha would always choose the wrong answers on purpose and then fight against the staff.
"The sparring ground is in the crater?"
Looking up at the crater in the distance, Aisha revealed a complicated expression.
In the future, Cinnabar Island was destroyed because of a volcanic eruption, all the people on this side migrated away, and Blaine's Cinnabar Gym was forced to rebuild in Seafoam Islands.
"Uh-huh."
Blaine nodded.
He was quite proud in his tone, saying, "This volcano is a dormant volcano that doesn't erupt, and this side's magma is perfect as a garrison and sparring ground for my Fire-type Gem."
"...I advise you to pay a little more attention."
Aisha could not stand it a bit, and reminded Blaine, saying, "After all, a natural disaster like a volcanic eruption, no one can say whether it will happen or not."
"Hmm..."
Blaine did listen.
He scratched his big shiny bald head and thought for a while.
"Indeed, with things like natural and man-made disasters, I really can't guarantee if and when they'll happen."
He spread his hands and said, "I also know that the dormant volcano is not a dead volcano, and that if left unattended, it will erupt one day sooner or later."
"At that point, Cinnabar Island won't be able to keep it at all, so..."
"So?"
Aisha looked at Blaine, waiting for it to follow.
"I've been searching, for a way to control the energy of the volcano, in an attempt to make the volcano that is Cinnabar Island never erupt, as a small compensation to this town from me, the irresponsible Gym Leader, hahahahahaha~"
Rubbing the back of his head, Blaine laughed as if to hide his embarrassment.
This was, however, his sincere words.
Blaine's experience was sort of rough, having once met a mountain disaster while hiking and getting lost as a result.
At the time of danger, it was the sudden appearance of Moltres, one of the legendary three divine birds, who guided him in the right direction, which allowed Blaine to escape from danger.
This incident had a great impact on Blaine, and even determined him to become a trainer specializing in Fire-type Pokémon.
Likewise, for this island that he had stayed on for decades, Blaine was unwilling to see it buried under the erupting lava just like that.
"Oh..."
After hearing Blaine's words, Aisha instead revealed a thoughtful expression.
"The technique to control the volcano's energy so that it stops erupting..."
"You have a clue?"
Blaine looked at Aisha with a bit of anticipation.
"Well..." Aisha scratched her hair a bit, looking at Blaine with a pang of envy and jealousy.
"How to say, it's true that I have a little bit of a clue."
"Really?"
Blaine was pleasantly surprised for a moment.
Although he was a scientist, the field he attacked was more in biology.
It was a little bit of a mystery about mechanical engineering.
"Well, really."
Aisha nodded and said, "Team Magma in the Hoenn region, its leader is a madman who tried to take control of the Legendary Pokémon Groudon, relying on Groudon's power of expanding the earth and controlling volcanoes to turn all of the world's oceans into land, so it's said that Team Magma is also fully researching on volcano related machinery. If I remember correctly, there should be some machinery within Team Magma that controls the energy of volcanoes, and no more than that, there would be some design ideas for such machinery."
"That's..."
Blaine got excited.
If, in fact, the device that controlled the volcano's energy actually existed, he would have been relieved of a decades-old problem.
"I'm not sure, anyway, Team Magma is overthrown now." With a wave of his hand, Aisha glanced at Blaine and said, "You're at least a Gym Leader, so it shouldn't be a problem for you to use your authority in the League to apply to the Hoenn League's wordmasters to check out Team Magma's internal information or to rent the Team Magma's device that the League seized."
"Well..."
"Besides, you have such a legitimate reason."
Saying that, Aisha glanced back down the hill.
Cinnabar Island was lined with buildings, and even though it was leaning against the volcano, the town was still being developed very well by people who loved life.
Whoever saw the lively atmosphere of life in the town wouldn't want it to turn into a pile of ruins and those who loved life to be displaced by natural disasters.
"Hmm~"
Aisha mused for a moment, as if thinking about something.
"I'm a bit of a friend of the champion of the Hoenn League, and I'm also credited with overthrowing Team Magma."
"Huh?"
Blaine stared at Aisha in disbelief as if he had seen a ghost.
He was a bit confused.
You said that you were friends with the Hoenn Champion and were involved in the overthrow of Team Magma itself, so why were you even attending the Indigo Plateau Conference?
Fish frying?
Instructor Ai, on the other hand, regardless of Blaine's astonished look, looked at the complex of Cinnabar Island, and his sight moved back to the endless sea, the sky above the sea and sky, and said, "If you're really interested in the device that controls the energy of the volcano, I can talk about it for you, after all..."
He smiles towards Blaine.
"The hot springs over here are so great, I don't want to, in the future, not be able to soak in them."
"Okay... okay!"
Blaine's excitement was already overflowing.
He almost wanted to directly give Aisha the Volcano Badge.
"Eh!"
Instructor Ai waved his hand and said, "At least have a sparring match, don't be like this and make my fans think that I'm participating in the Indigo Plateau Conference through the back door."
"OK."
Once Blaine heard that, he directly walked in front of him, leading Aisha all the way to the battlefield on the crater.
"Yeah?"
Standing on the edge of the crater, Instructor ignored the blast of heat that hit his face.
He stepped forward, ignoring the sweaty Blaine, and approached the sparring ground.
The field was built on top of the crater, with a limited platform, and underneath was steaming, "gurgling" magma as red as fondue soup.
"If this falls down, won't it take off layers of skin?"
"More than skin off!" Blaine followed up from behind and said, "Unless it's a Fire-type Pokémon that isn't afraid of lava, if a Pokémon falls, it definitely won't end well!"
He showed another smug expression.
"However, there's no need to worry."
At this moment, the magma below rolled for a moment.
A red head poked out from beneath the red-colored magma and smiled at the duo above.
It was a Magmortar.
"This is my Magmortar, it will be in charge of keeping the Pokémon safe down below, once a Pokémon or trainer accidentally falls, then it will be in charge of catching it down below, making sure that no one gets hurt."
"Then... This environment is really good."
Aisha nodded and looked around.
This crater, if you take away the danger, is a good place to exercise.
The heat is the opposite of the cold in the Seafoam Islands.
The effect of exercising both the body and willpower is excellent...
"Without further ado, let's begin, sparring."
"Uh-huh."
Aisha and Blaine stood at each end of the crater.
"Hey, you guys."
Suddenly, a disgruntled voice interrupted the movements of Aisha and Blaine, who were preparing to throw Pokémon balls.
An annoyed Lorelei appeared in the crater.
"A gym challenge without a referee is too sloppy." She walked to the side of the crater, right in the middle of it, raised her hand, and said, "Then, as one of Kanto's Elite Four, I declare myself in the position of referee for this Cinnabar Gym Challenge!"
"Trouble." Aisha smiled helplessly at Lorelei.
Before he left the house today, he said that he was going to challenge the gym, but he didn't expect Lorelei to follow him.
Thinking that he should be prepared to be a spectator to watch his gym challenge, as a result, he didn't expect Blaine to lead himself to this side to spar.
"It's okay~"
Lorelei responded to Instructor Ai with a smile on her face.
"Trouble you, Elite Lorelei."
Blaine also greeted Lorelei politely.
Lorelei, however, just glanced at him and didn't say anything.
The difference in treatment was too obvious!
"Hm~"
Lorelei wiped her sweat.
As the daughter of Ice, she didn't like such a hot environment.
However, for Aisha's sake, Lorelei still raised her hand and said, "The rules of the Standard Gym Challenge are that the Gym Leader and the challenger will fight in a three-on-three duel, with no Pokémon substitutions on the Gym Leader's side, and the side that has the first of three Pokémon in their hands to lose their ability to fight loses!"
"Battle... begin!"
Lorelei's jade hand waved down, and two Poké balls were thrown up into the sky.
Light blossomed, and the two Pokémon appeared at the two ends of the platform dangling from the lava.
In an instant, the hot environment seemed to get a few degrees hotter.
The sun was blazing like fire.
"Is that..." Aisha tilted his head once and looked at the Pokémon Blaine had released.
It was a Torkoal.
On all fours, carrying a large shell that looked like a coal stove, with a scorching steam spewing out from the center of the shell.
It was also a Torkoal with the Sunshine trait, the best weather hand for the Sunny Day team.
On Aisha's side, it was Azumarill playing the lead.
"Lu!"
Azumarill looked like it was pumping its fist.
"Aqua Jet!"
Aisha immediately gave the command to attack, because, he saw Torkoal's limbs already gripping the ground with a look of firing.
"Torkoal, Eruption!"
As expected, Blaine on the opposite side spoke the command.
Sunny Full Blood Eruption, a classic maneuver of Drought Characteristic Torkoal.
"Wow!"
Torkoal raised its head all of a sudden, and this heat was rapidly building up on the shell behind it.
Azumarill had already dodged in front of it, and without hesitation, swung a powerful punch that smashed into Torkoal's face.
The thick-skinned Torkoal ate the punch forcefully, rubbing its four feet on the ground as it stepped back a few meters and lowered its head.
Its shell, aimed at Azumarill.
"Boom-!!!"
At that moment, a might as fierce as a volcano erupting roared out along with hot flames.
It wasn't clear if it was flames or lava.
In short, the loud and powerful pillar of fire erupted from Torkoal's shell, pointing straight at Azumarill.
"Lu!"
Azumarill opened its mouth and spat out a raging column of water, a Hydro Pump that it did not specialize in, a Special Attack move that was not enhanced by the Huge Power trait.
However, it was just right to be used to defend against Torkoal's Eruption at this time.
"Throttle-!!!"
Water and fire collided, and water vapor overflowed in a piercing ablative sound.
Within the white vapor, fire appeared, but it was resisted.
This was also inseparable from the fact that Torkoal had taken a punch from Azumarill before unleashing Eruption, and couldn't unleash the maximum power of Eruption.
"Lu!"
Azumarill jumped out of the range of the water vapor, stained with some flames.
It was at least an Eruption under sunlight, and its water cannons alone couldn't withstand all the damage.
"Torkoal, Flamethrower."
"Whoa!"
A beam of flame ripped through the water vapor that filled the room and swept toward Azumarill.
"Aqua Jet."
"Lu!"
Azumarill sidestepped and dodged Torkoal's Flamethrower, which was followed by a step forward, rapidly closing in on it.
Torkoal used its turtle shell as a defense.
Azumarill, on the other hand, slammed its fist down.
"Boom!"
The huge force coming from above the turtle shell made Torkoal's eyes widen.
The shell blocked a lot of damage, but that huge impact was the one that almost made Torkoal spit out its overnight meal.
"Whoa!"
Forcing back the discomfort, Torkoal craned its neck and opened its mouth at the nearby Azumarill.
The daylight shortened its power buildup time by quite a bit.
Solar Beam's ball of energy appeared between Torkoal and Azumarill - once this move hit true, the damage from the attribute restraint would be incomparably lethal.
However...
"Lu!"
Before the Solar Beam could be launched, Azumarill's form was like a ghost's as it circled around to Torkoal's side.
Solar Beam fired, but it just grazed Azumarill's rabbit ears and fired into the sky.
"Aqua Tail after Liquidation."
"Lu!"
The end of Azumarill's bulbous tail was immediately covered in a stream of water and nimbly smashed into the side of Torkoal's shell.
It used the force from the counter-optimization on its tail to quickly turn around, while the fist wrapped in the water current greeted Torkoal's face without mercy.
"Wow!"
Torkoal was knocked into the air by the punch.
Azumarill opened his mouth and delivered a water cannon to the bottom of its shell, so much so that Torkoal flew out another dozen meters and rolled several times consecutively on top of the platform before coming to a stop.
"Wow..."
The four-legged Torkoal spun around like a gyroscope a few times, losing its ability to fight.
"Such monstrous strength, it's amazing."
Blaine looked at Azumarill with a surprised face.
No one knew better than himself how hard and resistant his Torkoal was.
Blaine then retrieved the Torkoal and threw a second Pokémon ball.
"Danai!"
A plump Venusaur landed on top of the field, the flowers on its back even more delicate in the sunlight.
"Venusaur, Sleep Powder!"
"Azumarill, get out of the way, Ice Punch!"
Aisha's eyes flinched, and he looked at Blaine with a bit of horror.
Good lord, I didn't think that you, an old boy specializing in Fire-type Pokémon, would also play hypnosis?
Blaine gave a speechless smile in response.
"There are two types of people that I hate in my life, those who hypnotize me and those who don't let me hypnotize them."
"You must not like the Safety Goggles prop, then?" Instructor Ai spat.
"Amoonguss the Pokémon doesn't really like it either."
As the two exchanged words, the two Pokémon moved.
Venusaur, who had doubled its speed, sprayed a cloudy yellow powder from within the large flower on its back, and Azumarill, still stepping in ghostly steps, dodged Sleep Powder with a flurry of moves, taking the opportunity to position himself in front of Venusaur, and swung a frost-wrapped fist without mercy.
"Danai!"
Venusaur cried out in pain as the damage from the Attribute Restriction and Azumarill's monstrous power knocked it back several steps.
However, it spewed out a large stream of Sleep Powder at that moment, the cloudy yellow powder enveloping Azumarill, who was maintaining his punching stance, all at once.
"Hmph hmph~" Blaine clasped his hands to his chest with a smug look on his face.
"I've carefully studied how to use Sleep Powder, and I'll be able to use it at the drop of a hat!"
With a wave of his hand, he said, "Venusaur, Solar Beam!"
"Danai!"
Venusaur, in turn, steadied itself, the large flower on it back blooming brightly.
"Lu..."
Azumarill inhaled a mouthful of Sleep Powder as it was caught off guard, and though it said it closed its breath in time, sleepiness inevitably invaded it nonetheless.
Solar Beam fired.
In the nick of time, Azumarill suddenly widened its eyes and strongly deflected its body.
Solar Beam hit half of its body, and the damage was not small.
However, it almost did!
"Lu!"
Then, Azumarill, whose spirit had been revitalized by the pain, got rid of the effects of hypnosis at once.
It closed in on Venusaur with an arrow step, and Aisha's command reached its ears at just the right time.
"Ice Punch, attack Venusaur's chin."
"Lu!"
"Danai!"
Azumarill struck Venusaur's chin with a shot of Ice Punch from the bottom up.
Ascending Dragon Punch!
The punch knocked the Venusaur, which was on all fours, backwards, and Azumarill's unbroken second punch hit it squarely in the stomach.
"Wake up in seconds?"
Blaine was shocked.
Never seen such an unreasonable player.
"Venusaur, Petal Dance!"
"Ice Punch, attack its hind legs."
While the grass attribute energy was building up, Azumarill grabbed and hit Venusaur's back legs.
The Venusaur, which had lost its support, fell to the ground, and several rounds of Ice Punch landed on its body.
"Danai..."
Venusaur finally fell under the Ice-type move that restrained it.
Lorelei nodded her head as she watched from the side, Azumarill's hand of Ice Punch striking deep into her heart.
"This Azumarill of yours is quite... one of its kind." Blaine shook his head as he retrieved the Venusaur.
I've never seen an Azumarill that woke up in seconds after being hit by Sleep Powder, took a hard shot of Solar Beam, and still managed to fight on.
"You're not afraid that my Azumarill is herbivorous."
"I know what my Torkoal's durability is, how can an Azumarill that isn't Huge Power hit it." Blaine chimed back in a no-nonsense manner.
He took out the third Poké ball.
Aisha also retrieved Azumarill who was breathing a little fast.
"It's your turn."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone