However, upon witnessing Leah's strategy, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Maki's lips. He had been waiting for this exact moment!
Instead of instructing Cottonee to evade, he commanded her to use a move directly on the Ivysaur that had just lashed out with Vine Whip.
"Encore!" Maki shouted.
Cottonee gently fluttered the leaves on her sides, and a mystical energy wrapped itself around Ivysaur.
"Ivy...?" Ivysaur let out a startled cry.
[This is bad!]
Leah immediately realized the danger. Any Pokémon affected by Encore would be forced to repeat their last move until the effect wore off.
If timed correctly, this technique could effectively lock an opponent into using the same move over and over again, making it a terrifyingly powerful ability.
For Ivysaur, this meant it could now only use Vine Whip.
Without access to Sludge Bomb, the one move capable of dealing serious damage to Cottonee, merely relying on Vine Whip—even if it managed to entangle Cottonee—would be futile.
In the end, Leah's plan to ensnare Cottonee with Vine Whip completely fell apart. Before the vines could even reach Cottonee, she had already used her move and darted away.
Now restricted to Vine Whip, Ivysaur could no longer keep Cottonee under pressure. After enduring multiple devastating hits from Cottonee's Tri Attack, Ivysaur was finally knocked out.
Neither Jasmine nor Erika—who had been watching from the sidelines—could hide their astonishment. Even Leah herself fell into silence. This was the most frustrating Gym battle she had ever fought.
"The winner of this match is the challenger, Maki!"
The referee sat in stunned silence for a moment before finally announcing Maki's victory.
As a veteran referee who had officiated in multiple Gyms, he had rarely seen a scenario where the Gym Leader's Pokémon held the advantage yet still lost.
For the first time, he found himself wondering—just who was this boy?
"You've won. Here is your Gym Badge."
Although clearly reluctant, Leah accepted the outcome without hesitation. She wasn't the type to be a sore loser.
After recalling her defeated Ivysaur into its Poké Ball, she stepped forward and handed Maki the Rainbow Badge of Celadon Gym.
Maki reached out to take the badge—it was shaped like a flower, with eight differently colored petals surrounding its center.
"Perhaps Gym Leader Leah went easy on me?" Maki remarked.
"Holding back? I wouldn't say that."
Leah let out a helpless smile. While this battle hadn't displayed her full strength, the two Pokémon she had sent out were typically used by apprentices in the Gym.
However, even though she wasn't at full power, she hadn't taken this battle lightly. In fact, she had fought seriously.
And yet, Maki had still managed to defeat her with such ease, earning his badge—a fact that left her utterly astonished.
"Mr. Maki, your Cottonee is amazing! I can't believe she managed to win under such circumstances!"
As soon as the battle ended, Jasmine and Erika hurried over from the spectator's area. Naturally, it was Jasmine who spoke first.
"Come on, Jasmine. If I had been serious, this kid wouldn't stand a chance against me," Leah said, feigning annoyance.
"Ah! Aunt Leah, I didn't mean it that way—I just thought Maki's Cottonee was incredible!" Jasmine waved her hands frantically, afraid she had genuinely upset Leah.
"Alright, Mother, stop teasing Jasmine," Erika interjected, immediately recognizing her mother's playful intentions.
"Besides, I wouldn't say you were holding back at all."
Erika, ever the sharp observer, exposed her mother's bluff with practiced ease.
"Hmm... Is that any way to talk to your mother?" Leah reached out and pinched Erika's cheek in feigned irritation.
"By the way, Mr. Maki..." Jasmine seemed to recall something and started speaking, but before she could finish, Maki interrupted her.
"Don't call me 'Mr. Maki.' It makes me feel like I'm already an old man. Just call me Maki."
[TL/N: It was my mistake. In the previous chapters, Jasmine kept calling Maki "Mr. Maki", hence the situation here.]
Maki quickly corrected Jasmine and Erika's formal way of addressing him. He was only fourteen, after all! Being called 'Mister' felt way too strange.
"Uh... Maki."
Jasmine struggled a little, but she managed to say his name. Given her personality, calling someone by their first name so casually wasn't easy—especially since they had only just met today.
"So, I was wondering..."
Jasmine was about to ask how Maki had trained Cottonee to use such an ingenious battle strategy, but before she could finish, she was interrupted once again.
This time, however, it wasn't Maki—it was Leah's phone ringing.
She picked up her phone, glanced at the caller ID, and her expression shifted to one of confusion. Looking up at Maki and the others, she spoke.
"I need to take this call. You guys keep chatting—but don't leave yet, kid. I still have to finalize the badge documentation."
Since Maki's trainer information had already been recorded when he registered for the Gym Challenge, he needed to complete some final verification steps.
As Leah stepped away, she muttered under her breath, "Why are those old geezers calling me now?"
"Uh... What were you about to ask?" Maki turned to Jasmine with curiosity.
"...Never mind~"
Jasmine had originally wanted to ask about Cottonee's training, but after being interrupted twice, she decided to drop it.
Instead, Erika eagerly stepped in to discuss battle techniques with Maki.
As the three of them chatted, Leah eventually returned. However, Maki immediately noticed something odd—her gaze had changed.
Well, to be fair, she had already been looking at him strangely before. But now, it was even more intense.
Her eyes were filled with a mix of surprise and curiosity, curiosity laced with even more surprise.
"What's wrong?"
Even Erika noticed her mother's odd expression and quickly asked.
"Well... how should I put this? It seems the young man standing before us is more special than we realized."
Hearing this, Maki froze. His first thought was—had his undercover identity been exposed?
But after thinking it through, he found it unlikely. If Leah had really discovered his secret, she wouldn't just be looking at him curiously—she would have already sent out her Pokémon to take him down.
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