<h4>Chapter 1114: Cheren VS Yuga</h4>


    Looking around, seeing that the tour of the Verdanturf Gym was nearlyplete, Yuga said to Cheren, "How about we have a battle?" Since Cheren was here to intern at Verdanturf Gym, Yuga felt it necessary to gauge his strength.


    "Right now?" Cheren was taken aback for a moment.


    "Is it inconvenient?" Yuga asked, puzzled. "If today doesn''t work, we can do it another day."


    "No, today is fine!" Cheren quickly shook his head upon hearing this. "I was just a bit surprised, that''s all."


    "That''s good then." Yuga smiled and said, "I just have some free time." After delegating the task of training the Sunflora, Yuga suddenly found himself with plenty of time on his hands.


    After they agreed, the two headed to the Gym''s battle field and stood at opposite sides of the arena.


    Yuga had no intention of holding back. He directly said to Cheren on the other side, "You can send out your Pokémon first!"


    "Alright, please guide me, Gym Leader Shimizu!"


    Cheren didn''t find it odd that Yuga wanted him to send out his Pokémon first. Yuga was his senior, and this wasn''t an official battle. Cheren could roughly guess Yuga''s intention.


    With this in mind, Cheren took out a Poké Ball and released a Stound.


    ...


    [ Stound ]


    Type: Normal


    Ability: Intimidate


    Gender: Male


    Potential: Green


    Level: 62


    Moves: Leer, Odor Sleuth, Bite, Tackle, Crunch, Roar, Last Resort, Covet, Giga Impact, y Rough, Shadow Ball, Double Team, Wild Charge, Endure, Hyper Voice, Fire Fang.


    ...


    After checking Stound''s data, Yuga thought to himself: No wonder he was directly appointed by the League as the Gym Leader of Aspertia City. Despite his young age, he''s already a pseudo-Elite trainer!


    After thinking for a moment, Yuga chose Abomasnow as his first Pokémon.


    "Abomasnow!"


    Yuga''s Abomasnow was unusuallyrge, and its presence alone was overwhelming, creating a strong sense of pressure that affected both sight and mind.


    "Stound, be cautious!"


    Seeing Yuga release Abomasnow, Cheren''s expression became serious, and he carefully reminded Stound.


    In fact, Yuga''s Abomasnow and Cheren''s Stound were simr in level, but the actual difference in battle strength could only be revealed throughbat.


    "I''ll let you take the first move this time!" Yuga finally decided to give way to his junior.


    Cheren nodded. "Alright! Stound, use Double Team and then Fire Fang!"


    "Stound!"


    Stound let out a powerful roar, its figure flickering as more than a dozen identical Stound appeared on the battlefield. With mes pouring from its mouth, it charged toward Abomasnow.


    Abomasnow stood motionless, calmly watching Stound rush at it. Due to itsrge size, Abomasnow couldn''t move as freely as other Pokémon during battle; it had always relied on stillness to counter motion.


    Boom!


    The moment Stound pounced, Abomasnow raised its sturdy arm, and two deep rows of bite marks immediately appeared on its emerald green limb.


    Being both Grass- and Ice-type, Abomasnow was at a four-times disadvantage against Fire-type moves. If it had been any other Abomasnow, that Fire Fang would have likely knocked it out of the battle already!


    Stound, havingnded its Fire Fang on Abomasnow, didn''t let go. It held on tightly, its mouth continuously spewing mes that scorched Abomasnow.


    "Abomasnow!"


    Abomasnow roared and swung its arm wildly, throwing Stound around as it clung to its limb. Though Stound was alsorge, inparison to Abomasnow, it was like a three-year-old child standing before an adult.


    After two swings failed to dislodge Stound, Abomasnow lifted its arm and mmed it toward the ground. Just before Stound was about to be smashed into the floor, Cheren ordered it to release its grip just in time.


    Stound backed away from Abomasnow, but before Cheren could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw the wounds on Abomasnow healing at a visible rate. In the blink of an eye, all of its injuries were restored.


    "This..."


    Both Cheren and Stound were stunned!


    Yuga smiled at Cheren and said, "My Abomasnow is very special. If you can''t take it down in a single blow, then any damage it sustains will heal instantly." There was also another way, which was to deplete Abomasnow''s stored energy.


    However, Yuga didn''t mention thetter. Although he just wanted to test Cheren''s abilities without putting too much mental pressure on him, he couldn''t reveal everything.


    "So, if you want to win, give it your all!" At that moment, Yuga seemed like the final boss guarding a treasure in a video game maze, waiting for the adventurer to defeat him and im the prize.


    After hearing Yuga''s words, Cheren remained rtively calm. He spoke to Stound, "Stound, we have to go all out!"


    "Stound!"


    Stound responded to Cheren with high spirits, quickly positioning itself for the next attack.


    "Stound, Shadow Ball!"


    At Cheren''smand, a dozen Shadow Balls shot toward Abomasnow simultaneously.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    A series of explosions rang out, and dust and smoke filled the battlefield.


    With its vision obscured, Abomasnow quickly lost sight of Stound.


    Stound wasn''t specialized in special attacks, so its Shadow Ball wasn''t very powerful. Even with more than a dozen fired at once, it was just for show. Abomasnow didn''t suffer any real damage.


    Using the smoke as cover, Stound, relying on Odor Sleuth, precisely located Abomasnow. After charging up its Giga Impact, it rushed forward without hesitation.


    Boom!


    A wave of air pressure spread across the battlefield, and as the smoke was swept away by the impact, Yuga and Cheren''s vision cleared instantly.


    At that moment, Stound was ramming its head into Abomasnow''s stomach, its expression one of pain, but Abomasnow''s hands were tightly gripping Stound''s fur.


    It was obvious that Stound''s all-out attack had failed to take Abomasnow down in a single blow. As a result, Abomasnow''s wounds began to heal once again.


    "Abomasnow!"


    Due to the side effects of Giga Impact, Stound was left paralyzed, unable to dodge Abomasnow''s furious Wood Hammer.


    At thest possible moment, Cherenmanded Stound to use Endure, allowing it to barely withstand Abomasnow''s attack.


    "Stound, use Reversal!"


    As soon as Stound recovered from its paralysis, Cheren gave a decisive order.


    Reversal is a move that bes stronger the lower the user''s remaining HP. With only a sliver of health left from Endure, Stound''s Reversal was at its most powerful.


    "Stound!!!"


    With itsst ounce of strength, Stound charged straight into the nearby Abomasnow. The massive Abomasnow was knocked back quite a distance.


    However, Abomasnow managed to hold its ground, while Stound, exhausted from the effort, copsed onto the field.


    Seeing the motionless Stound on the ground, Yuga remarked with a hint of regret, "It was just a little bit short. Alright, send out your next Pokémon."


    Cheren nodded and recalled Stound.


    In fact, he had noticed that Yuga''s Abomasnow had been holding back. Its attack frequency had been too low, and there were several moments where it could have struck Stound but instead chose to defend passively. It hadn''t even activated its Ability.


    Even so, Stound hadn''t managed to defeat Abomasnow in the end.


    Reflecting on this, Cheren realized how much room for improvement he still had. He suddenly felt grateful to the League for assigning him here, giving him the chance to interact with top-tier Trainers.


    Unless he directly sought out the Elite Four or the Champion, opportunities to engage with such high-level Trainers were rare.


    The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, eagerly anticipating his internship at the Verdanturf Gym. Cheren''s second Pokémon appeared on the battlefield—it was an Unfezant.


    This time, Cheren no longer focused on winning or losing, but rather on learning something from his battle with Yuga.


    ...


    [ Unfezant ]


    Attributes: Normal, Flying


    Ability: Super Luck


    Gender: Male


    Potential: Green


    Level: 66


    Moves: Gust, Quick Attack, Air Cutter, Roost, Air sh, Feather Dance, Swagger, Tailwind, Sky Attack, Double Team, Echoed Voice, Steel Wing, Uproar, Sucker Punch, Giga Impact, Aerial Ace, Return.


    ...


    Unfezant''s level was slightly higher than Stound''s. Once it entered the battlefield, it let out a loud cry, spreading its wings and circling high in the sky.


    Luckily, the Verdanturf Gym''s battlefield was outdoors. If they were indoors, Yuga suspected Unfezant might break right through the ceiling.


    Yuga decided not to continue using Abomasnow and instead chose Decidueye.


    Abomasnow wasn''t suited for mobility, and facing an extremely agile Flying-type Pokémon would turn it into little more than a punching bag.


    Besides, the energy Abomasnow stored in its body had been mostly depleted during its battle with Stound.


    Yuga''s Decidueye had recently returned from training with Master Ge. Compared to when it first learned archery, Decidueye had now found its own path.


    When ites to flying, Decidueye couldn''tpete with Unfezant. Even though Decidueye is a bird Pokémon with wings, enabling it to fly, it remains a Grass/Ghost-type, not a Flying-type. This means that in terms of understanding and controlling Flying-type energy, it was inherently inferior to Flying-types.


    For this reason, Yuga never forced Decidueye to pursue flying techniques like Vivillon.


    The moment Decidueye entered the battlefield, it swung its wings, sending a flurry of thin, sharp Leaf des forward. The emerald des floated in front of it, then shot towards the sky-bound Unfezant like arrows under its precise control.


    As a Ghost-type, Decidueye''s Spirit Shackle wouldn''t affect the Normal-type Unfezant. However, this didn''t hinder its extraordinary archery skills, as Decidueye no longer needed to rely solely on Spirit Shackle to showcase its expertise.


    Thanks to its Long Reach ability, Decidueye couldunch Leaf des—typically a close-range move—as a long-range attack. Though the immobilization effect of Spirit Shackle was absent, the power and uracy were just as formidable.


    There was no denying that the Long Reach ability had made Decidueye''s archery even more lethal.


    The leaf des, sharp as arrows, flew with lightning speed. Unfezant frantically dodged, but as soon as it evaded one volley, another quickly followed.


    The rapid rain of arrows from Decidueye left Unfezant with no chance to get close. Each time it tried, the next barrage of leaf arrows forced it to retreat. Though it attempted some long-range attacks, Unfezant''s ranged moves were all special attacks, and it couldn''t unleash their full power.


    This is precisely why Yuga didn''t force Decidueye to learn advanced flying techniques—because with its mastery of archery, it could easily control its enemies even without expert flying skills.


    In truth, Decidueye''s level was lower than Abomasnow''s, and it reached the pseudo-Elite level muchter than Abomasnow. However, its ever-growing proficiency in archery had granted it the ability to stand on equal footing with Abomasnow.


    Noticing that Unfezant was struggling more and more, Yuga reminded Cheren, "You''d better think of something quickly, or Unfezant''s stamina will give out first!"


    Watching his Unfezant flustered and scrambling in the air to avoid the Leaf des, Cheren never expected that one day his Pokémon would be targeted for flying too high. After a few seconds of thought, he shouted to Unfezant:


    "Unfezant, Double Team!"


    Unfezant''s use of Double Team was far superior to Stound''s. While Stound could only produce a dozen or so shadow clones, Unfezant created dozens, filling the sky with copies.


    These identical Unfezant clones formed ring after ring, circling above Decidueye in a dizzying disy.


    Decidueye''s arrow barrage could only cover a small area and wasn''t capable ofrge-scale attacks. With the real Unfezant hidden among the clones, Decidueye couldn''t distinguish the true target. Even if some of the Leaf des managed to hit a few clones, new ones quickly reced them.


    And that wasn''t the end. Cheren issued the nextmand.


    "Unfezant, use Echoed Voice and Uproar!"


    With thismand, the entire gym was filled with Unfezant''s piercing cries.


    "Co-coo... coo-coo-coo... coo-coo-coo-coo..."


    Echoed Voice and Uproar blended together, creating maximum interference for Decidueye. Instinctively, Decidueye used its wings to cover its ears.


    Although Normal-type moves like Echoed Voice and Uproar couldn''t directly harm Decidueye, a Ghost-type, the apanying noise undeniably disrupted its hearing—after all, Decidueye wasn''t deaf!


    Decidueye''s archery relied heavily on both its sight and hearing. Now, with Double Team, Echoed Voice, and Uproar all disrupting it, its focus waspletely shattered.


    Seeing this, Yuga couldn''t help but genuinely praise, "Smart! Well done!"


    However, Yuga''spliment didn''t reach Cheren''s ears, as Unfezant''s screeching was far too loud!


    As long as Unfezant continued to confuse Decidueye with Double Team, Echoed Voice, and Uproar, asionally sneaking in attacks with Air sh or Air Cutter, it was likely they could eventually wear down Decidueye.


    But it seemed Cheren wasn''t thinking this way. He wasn''t seeking ultimate victory—what he wanted was to grow from the battle!


    Thus, under hismand, Unfezant prepared its Flying-type ultimate move: Sky Attack, aiming for a one-hit knockout on Decidueye.


    Sky Attack required time to charge before it could be executed. With Decidueye distracted by all the interference, Unfezant had plenty of time to charge up.


    Flying-type moves are strong against Decidueye. Combined with Unfezant''s Super Luck ability, and the already high critical hit rate of Sky Attack, if the attacknded, the defensively frail Decidueye would be "doomed to fall!"


    Dozens of Unfezant clones all simultaneously initiated Sky Attack, swarming toward Decidueye from the sky!


    But could things really go as smoothly as Cheren nned?pl