Hong Meiling Sleepwalks Through the Heavens

Poor little Mine was struck in the air, and as soon as she hit the ground, she fainted immediately.

“Minun has fainted!” the referee announced.

Meiling sighed as she unsummoned Minun. Still too weak for a Gym Leader.

Thinking for a moment, she decided to sent out her Plusle. Although she estimates that he couldn’t defeat Hitmontop, it is still valuable training for them.

“Plus, use Growl!” she ordered.

Immediately, Plus let out a shrill growl towards Hitmontop. Growl is able to reduce an opponent’s attack power, which basically debuffs them.

At the same time, Petal barked out the same set of instructions towards Hitmontop, ordering it to use Triple Kick again.

Hitmontop skipped towards Plus, but Meiling was not in a hurry to bark out her orders.

Just as it was about to land its first kick onto Plus, Meiling yelled, “Plus, Discharge!”

Plus and Mine have slightly different abilities. Mine could cast Shock Wave, but not Discharge, and vice versa in the case of Plus.

Discharge releases electricity currents to its surroundings, and it is much wider than a linear Shock Wave.

Meiling decided to let Hitmontop approach before letting Plus unleash Discharge, ensuring that it will hit.

Hitmontop hurriedly spun around to avoid it, but failed. Electricity coursed through its body violently, but it still got up and spun back into a fighting position.

Discharge has a chance to paralyze a target, but it must’ve failed considering that Hitmontop was still moving.

“Hitmontop, use Revenge!” Petal’s voice sounded.

Meiling’s eyes widened upon hearing this – Revenge is a Fighting-type move, and if used on its own, it is weak. However, if used after being damaged, the power doubles.

Hitmontop arced across the air, kicking Plus in the head.

It seemed like an ordinary kick, but it was buffed by Revenge. Although Hitmontop was weakened by Growl, Revenge’s buff was strong enough to cause Plus to faint immediately.

“Plusle has fainted!” the referee announced.

Meiling sighed again, taking Plusle back into her Poké Ball.

Petal was confused. This girl-in-green seemed confident, but her strength did not match how confident she was.

Her first two Pokémon was subdued by Hitmontop alone. Although it was slightly hurt, it was still very healthy.

Gym Leaders have the right to adjust their battle plan according to how strong their challenger was, and he had high expectations for this ‘Hong Meiling’ in front of him. Such high expectations crumbled instantly.

Hence, to teach her a lesson, he didn’t intend on holding back. Judging from her first two Pokémon, her third Pokémon must not be very powerful. Hitmontop will be able to solo the three of them, and after winning, he’ll simply comfort and encourage her to do better, and he can go back to resting.

Just as he was planning his words of encouragement, Meiling summoned her third Pokémon.

Under such circumstances, there was no way she would throw Cotton out, so naturally, she sent out Heatran.

Petal’s jaw dropped.

Is that… the Legendary Pokémon Heatran? Why is this thing here?! Does it belong to her?! No, this must be from another Traine- what kind of Trainer has a Heatran?!

The referee and other students stopped what they were doing, and they too, were speechless.

They thought that their mentor was sure to win, but why did a Heatran emerge from this strange Trainer’s Poké Ball?

Petal forced himself to calm down. Fighting-types do double damage to Heatran. I got this.

“Triple Kick again, Hitmontop!” Petal ordered.

“Heatran, wait for it to get close and use Magma Storm!”

Hitmontop suppressed the fear in its heart, and hopped towards the menacing Heatran.

Three swift kicks hit Heatran on the head, and despite the various buffs including STAB and Triple Kick’s inherent buffs, Heatran did not flinch. Instead, Hitmontop’s own feet were burnt.

Hitmontop hopped off Heatran, but Meiling could clearly see that it was in pain.

Immediately, Heatran launched Magma Storm.

A whirlpool of flames surrounded Hitmontop, and although Hitmontop wanted to escape from the fiery vortex, it was too late, engulfing its body in flames.

As the tornado subsided, Hitmontop’s body laid motionless on the floor.

“H-Hitmontop has fainted!” the referee announced.

Petal frowned as he took Hitmontop back into its Poké Ball. All of his Pokémon were about as strong as Hitmontop, but Hitmontop itself was defeated with ease. The results were basically decided as soon as the strange girl sent out Heatran.

Plus, all of his Pokémon excelled in melee range, but Heatran’s body was hot enough that even just by getting close, you are likely to suffer from severe burns.

If I had known earlier, I would’ve taught them some ranged attacks…

No. I can’t surrender. What kind of Gym Leader surrenders after seeing a powerful Pokémon? I am no disgrace!

“I choose you, Machoke!” Petal shouted.

Machoke is also a Fighting-type Pokémon, and is an evolved form of Machop. It resembles a human, and its muscular skin is colored dark gray.

Machoke can evolve into Machamp, but obviously, it hasn’t reached that level yet.

“Machoke, use Dynamic Punch!”

Dynamic Punch confuses the opponent on hit. If it connects, there might be a chance for Petal to win. Machoke held his fist up and rushed towards Heatran.

Meiling hurriedly gave timely instructions, yelling, “Heatran, use Lava Plume!”

Heatran opened its maw and spat out a burst of thick smoke, wrapping the Machoke in smoke too. Its vision was heavily obscured by the unbearably hot smoke, and it was burnt from how hot it was.

Machoke tried to gauge Heatran’s position despite the burning pain. Suddenly, a fireball shot out from outside the smoke, hitting Machoke square in the chest.

As a Legendary Pokémon, Heatran would naturally use its own moves based on its own intelligent judgement, rather than just following its Trainer’s instructions.

Continuous fireballs hit Machoke on the chest, forcing him out of the smoke screen.

After a few seconds, the barrage of fireballs stopped, and Machoke, with scorch marks on its chest, winced in pain as it fainted.

“Machoke has fainted!”

Petal held a wry smile as he wrapped his fingers around his final Poké Ball.

Losing to a Legendary Pokémon is no shameful thing, but I can’t surrender now. I am the Gym Leader! I will never surrender!

Of course, some Gym Leaders aren’t that strict, and would simply toss over a Gym Badge when facing Trainers way out of their league.

“Fight hard, Hariyama!” Petal shouted.

Hariyama is also a Fighting-type Pokémon, and it evolves from Makuhita. It resembles a sumo wrestler, with palms as large as its body. It is said that it is powerful enough to push away a ten-ton truck with a single hand.

“Hariyama, use Arm Thrust!” Petal commanded.

Arm Thrust, in game, punches opponents two to five times. However, in real life battles, if it wasn’t interrupted, it will punch continuously.

Hariyama, fearlessly, rushed into battle.

“Heatran, wait until it gets close and use Heat Wave!” Meiling ordered.