As the pressure from the wind died down, the smoke cleared swiftly, revealing the exaggerated crater left on the field and the two Pokémon lying motionless within it.

Neither showed any signs of movement. As the camera zoomed in, the audience finally realized that both Pokémon the newly evolved Corvisquire and Toxapex had lost consciousness at the same time.

Marie let out a soft sigh. She wasn't exactly sure what had happened at the very end, but it was highly likely that Little Chirp had once again plowed face-first into the ground. The terrain here was far harder than usual, and combined with the sheer power of the newly evolved Brave Bird, it was entirely possible that while the move had dealt critical damage to Toxapex, it had also knocked Little Chirp out cold in the process.

Of course, that was just Marie's speculation. It was also possible that Toxapex had launched a final attack at the last second, causing both Pokémon to fall together.

Either way, it was clear that Little Chirp was now ready to start training Brave Bird properly. Corvisquire's physical build could finally support such an intense move.

Now that the evolution was complete, it was time to officially put his training regimen on the schedule.

Unclipping the luxury ball from her belt, Marie stepped forward and recalled the unconscious Corvisquire, then looked across the field at Nessa, who had done the same. With a soft smile, she turned and returned to her side of the arena.

Her thoughts were mixed as she reattached the ball to her waist. She hadn't expected a double knockout. But Little Chirp's post-evolution power had certainly caught everyone off guard.

Thinking about it now, whether it was Silky, Little Chirp, or even Ethan, their power spikes after evolving had all been unusually high, compared to the lab's standard data. They ranked among the top percentiles in terms of growth.

Pokémon naturally have different types of innate talent. Ethan, for instance, had strong psychic potential due to her special ability. Little Chirp's strength came from his genetic inheritance and move pool.

But those sorts of talents didn't necessarily translate into massive gains after evolution. In fact, they usually had very little effect on the Pokémon's base stats. So Marie couldn't help but think back to something Ball once told her.

Maybe the one with something special wasn't the Pokémon. Maybe it was her.

Could she really be some kind of walking Pokémon amplifier?

The thought came to her unbidden, and oddly enough, she couldn't completely dismiss it. She couldn't sense anything strange about herself. She certainly couldn't trigger any sort of mysterious power at will.

So maybe it was something passive? Something always active without her realizing?

She pushed the thought aside. After all, the world of Pokémon was full of strange abilities. If anything, Yuri's situation was quite similar. Her and Hop's Pokémon were also growing at an alarming rate.

If Marie could choose, she'd much rather have a cool psychic power. At least it'd look stylish. And it'd be more versatile.

Returning her focus to the battle, both sides had now used up two Pokémon each.

Marie's final Pokémon was Ethan. Following standard Gym Challenge format, Nessa's last Pokémon was likely one of equal strength, well matched to Marie's own.

That meant even though only Little Chirp had fainted so far, Silky wasn't going to be much help in the final battle. She hadn't evolved into Gardevoir yet and was already drained from her earlier fight. Relying on her now would only set them back.

In theory, a 3v3 Gym match should be about strategizing Pokémon order, using type synergy and coordinated tactics to gain the upper hand. It was meant to be about smart team rotation and matchup reads.

But Marie's team, with its uneven power levels and training-focused purpose, had turned what should have been a tactical rotation battle into three straight one-on-one fights.

You could tell by Nessa's choices alone. First she sent out Drednaw, a Water/Rock type that countered Little Chirp. Then came Toxapex, which stood toe-to-toe with Silky thanks to its Poison type.

Unless Marie was some kind of reverse-type battle maniac, the team order basically decided itself.

She wasn't about to throw her water-averse Little Chirp against a Rock-type Drednaw, or send her already fatigued Silky to trade low-margin hits with Toxapex.

From the very beginning, Nessa had structured this as a series of one-on-one duels. And once you excluded the overwhelming force that was Ethan, there was really no point in trying to rotate mid-battle between Silky and Little Chirp.

So that left the final Pokémon. Marie half-wondered if Nessa might actually pull out a Vikavolt or something a high-defense, high-offense Bug type that could hard-counter Ethan.

Bug-type moves had a natural advantage, and that, combined with solid stats, would make for a difficult matchup.

She hoped Nessa wasn't going that far just to counter her.

With a firm motion, Marie tossed out Ethan's Poké Ball. The Gallade appeared at the center of the arena, focused and ready. Marie caught the rebounding Moon Ball with ease, then fixed her eyes on Nessa, who still hadn't moved.

Nessa noticed the look. She couldn't read minds, of course, but judging by Marie's subtle expression, it was clear what she was thinking. And to be fair, her Pokémon order had made her intentions fairly transparent.

But Marie's worries were unnecessary. Gym leaders already knew the challenger's team beforehand, and Nessa, at least, didn't believe in pulling out hard counters just to win a match unless, of course, someone was foolish enough to bring a Fire type against her Water team.

Unclipping her third and final Poké Ball, Nessa raised her leg in a signature athletic motion and launched it into the air with power and precision.

"Raaawr!"

Another Drednaw appeared on the battlefield.

Marie let out a small breath of relief.

...

In the stands, as Ethan took the field, Farfetch'd who had been lounging disinterestedly before suddenly perked up. According to Yuri, who sat beside him explaining things, the final opponent was always the strongest one.

That got Farfetch'd fired up. As a battle lover, he didn't want to miss a second.

Yuri, meanwhile, was sitting cross-legged with her Eevee nestled in her lap, watching the battle intently. Little Chirp's sudden evolution had taken her by complete surprise.

Not knowing the full details, Yuri had simply assumed it was like something from a novel one of those last-minute, back-against-the-wall evolutions that led to a fiery comeback. Especially that final Brave Bird it was the second time she'd seen him use it, and compared to when they'd first met, the difference in power was like night and day.

She gave her Eevee a gentle scratch behind the ears.

"Ethan's up next~ You better watch closely."

"Vee!"

As another Eevee on the team, Yuri's own was quite interested in seeing Ethan in action. It had learned a lot from him already. That was why it insisted on staying outside its Poké Ball today, despite the noisy crowd just to see him fight.

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