Rhydon, still bristling from Poliwhirl’s earlier taunt, lifted one heavy foot and slammed it down. The ground bucked, and jagged stone pillars speared upward beneath Poliwhirl, snapping into a tight ring like a crude prison that tried to crush it from all sides.

Poliwhirl caught the tremor instantly and sprang away with Waterfall, bouncing cleanly onto the top of a nearby pillar. When the last of the rocks stopped shifting, it rolled its fists once, steadying its breath.

“Rhydon, Thunder Punch!” Blaine called. He’d used Rock Tomb for one reason—to choke off the arena and cut down Poliwhirl’s mobility.

He wasn’t mistaken. Poliwhirl’s hops were ridiculous. Give it open ground, and Rhydon would never catch it.

Electricity crackled over Rhydon’s fist as it switched hands, but the movement looked stiff now—less clean than before.

Poliwhirl kept vaulting from pillar to pillar with Waterfall until it found the angle Rhydon couldn’t see. Then it drove in hard. The pillar it launched from snapped under the force of its legs.

“…No way.” Blaine’s eyes widened. So that was it. The burst wasn’t coming from its arms at all—it was all in those legs.

Rhydon lurched as the ambush landed behind it. Its posture wavered for a split second, like something had been siphoned out of it, and it tried to twist around and swing. Poliwhirl was already gone, springing away with Waterfall before the counter could connect.

“Can’t hit it. Rhydon’s too slow on the turn.” Blaine tracked Poliwhirl’s retreat—and caught the tight rise and fall of its chest. It was breathing hard.

“Rhydon, Rock Blast!”

Blaine changed the rhythm completely. Rhydon stomped, shook loose chunks of rock, scooped them up, and started firing them like cannon shots.

Poliwhirl had no choice but to weave through the barrage. It was the reverse of earlier—now it was the one being forced into constant evasion—but Rock Blast didn’t just threaten a direct hit. The shots shattered pillars too, and the exploding gravel kept clipping and boxing Poliwhirl in.

Poliwhirl finally got tagged and crashed to the ground, gulping air. Before it could push itself up, another volley screamed in.

It dragged itself behind a pillar for cover—only for the next blast to pulverize the entire column. Stones rained down, and one heavy chunk caught Poliwhirl squarely, knocking it out cold.

Even as its vision dimmed, Poliwhirl tried to roll away from the falling debris. Its body just wouldn’t respond anymore. It had been hanging on by sheer stubbornness for a while now.

It had downed a Pokéblock, barely tanked a punch, then spent the rest of the fight getting chased by Rock Blast. By the end, it couldn’t even use Waterfall properly. It only wanted one breath behind a pillar—and Rhydon never gave it that.

“Come back, Poliwhirl. You’ve been at your limit for a while.” Reiji had seen it coming. If Poliwhirl hadn’t insisted on fighting, he would’ve stopped it himself, and that thought sat heavy as the return beam swallowed it.

At least now he understood the ceiling. Poliwhirl’s all-out burst had only bought it one arm’s worth of pressure against an Elite Four-tier Rhydon. The gap between quasi–Elite Four tier and Elite Four tier wasn’t something you “played around” with.

And Champion tier… how big was that jump, really?

“Alright. Rhyhorn—your turn.” Reiji only had one Pokémon left, and at this point, it almost didn’t matter which one he sent.

Blaine’s Rhydon was panting too, but that meant nothing. Elite Four-tier stamina was a different species of problem. Reiji had learned that on Fairchild Island—he’d watched an Elite Four-tier Pidgeot chase a Pokémon hunter for days without sleeping, as if it could run for days without rest..

He didn’t expect his team to beat Blaine’s Rhydon. Even if they all jumped it together, they wouldn’t have beaten a Rhydon that was “only” breathing hard. The Pokémon hunter had already proven that.

Reiji had chosen Rhyhorn for a reason. Rhyhorn’s dad was an Elite Four-tier boss—also a Rhydon—and Rhyhorn had taken enough beatings on that deserted island that the pressure didn’t hit quite as hard anymore. Compared to the other three kids, it at least had that going for it.

Hanhan burst out, saw the grass, and immediately wanted to sprint around like it owned the place. Two steps later, it noticed the collapsed pillars and the rubble scattered across the field, and its enthusiasm died mid-stride.

“Rhyhorn, huh… your unevolved form.” Blaine didn’t bother hiding his reluctance. “You still want to keep going?”

Rhydon thumped its chest with a snort, making it clear it wasn’t done—especially not against a smaller version of itself.

Hanhan stared, then quietly backed up and hid behind Reiji’s legs.

“Hanhan, this is the third battle.” Reiji kept his voice low. “Gyarados lost. Poliwhirl lost. It’s on you now.”

Hanhan whipped its head side to side so hard its horn nearly blurred, as if yelling, No, absolutely not.

In its eyes, that brutal giant looked way too much like its dad. Same glare. Same violence. If Poliwhirl couldn’t win, then Hanhan charging in would just be volunteering to get flattened.

“Hanhan,” Reiji said, leaning down, “think about your father. Do you really want to go home all plump and happy… and get your butt smacked again? If you don’t get stronger here, he’s definitely smacking your butt.”

Hanhan froze. Its eyes went wide.

Bad memories surfaced instantly—tail grabbed, lifted clean off the ground, and the familiar humiliation that followed.

Hanhan’s front feet started scraping at the dirt. It wasn’t brave, but it wasn’t backing down either. It didn’t want that again.

If it got strong enough… maybe one day it could smack Dad’s butt back when he was asleep.

With a rough roar, Hanhan charged.

Blaine’s Rhydon didn’t take it seriously at first. It had watched the little one hesitate and hide, and Rhydon despised cowardice.

It roared back and reached out, grabbing Hanhan’s horn to stop the rush—then immediately got forced backward, boots scraping as Hanhan kept pushing.

Rhydon’s expression tightened. It wasn’t that Hanhan was suddenly some monster—it was that Rhydon had weakened. One arm was still hurting from earlier, and the moment it tried to brace properly, pain shot through it.

Hanhan growled, dug in, and flipped Rhydon onto its back.

“Rhyhorn, Ice Fang!” Reiji snapped.

Hanhan lunged, jaws wide. Frost surged over its teeth, lengthening them with a jagged rim of ice as it bit down.

“Rhydon, Ice Punch!” Blaine shot back, forcing the counter from the ground.

Hanhan’s Ice Fang clamped straight onto Rhydon’s Ice Punch.

Ice cracked and crawled outward from the collision. Hanhan’s entire mouth got sealed in frost, while Rhydon’s arm locked up under a thick sheath of ice.

Both Pokémon roared and tore themselves free, staggering back a couple of steps.

Hanhan casually chewed twice. The ice around its mouth shattered into chunks, and it swallowed them like crunchy candy, looking almost pleased with the cold bite.

Rhydon answered by slamming its frozen arm into a pillar. The impact shattered the ice casing, scattering shards across the field.

“Again—Ice Fang!” Reiji shouted.

“Fire Punch! Knock it away!” Blaine barked.

They crashed together again.

Rhydon was simply more usable in a brawl—long arms, solid footing, and better angles. Hanhan rushed in, and Rhydon’s fist snapped into its face, knocking the bite off-line.

One punch landed too clean. It smashed through the ice—and knocked out a tooth.

A real tooth. One of Hanhan’s rock-cracking teeth hit the ground and bounced.

Hanhan stared at it for half a second.

Then it exploded.

Light burst from its body—evolution light.

“Now?!” Reiji didn’t waste time. He yanked a Hard Stone and Soft Sand from his bag—both Advanced-tier items he’d prepared in advance—and sprinted in as the glow intensified.

He shoved both toward Hanhan’s mouth. With one tooth missing, the Hard Stone immediately rolled right back out.

“Hanhan—bite down and eat it!” Reiji snapped, scooping it up again and forcing it in.

Hanhan swallowed, and the evolution light flared brighter. Its posture shifted, rising from all fours into a taller, heavier silhouette inside the glow.

When the light finally peeled away, Hanhan had evolved into Rhydon—bigger than Blaine’s, broader in the chest, and clearly stronger than it had any right to be.

“Evolving… in the middle of the fight,” Blaine muttered as he stepped closer, staring up at it.

Reiji reached out and patted the new Rhydon’s belly. It was like knocking on a boulder.

Hanhan didn’t care about the congratulations. It immediately reached up with its new hands to check its teeth—then spotted the missing gap and looked like it might genuinely cry.

Blaine’s Rhydon roared back, unimpressed, like it wanted to say, It’s one tooth. Get over it.

“Rhydon, return.” Blaine didn’t let it go any further. His Rhydon had taken real damage and fought for too long already; if they kept going, the result got messy fast.

“Gym Leader Blaine,” Reiji said, “does that mean you’re conceding?”

“Yeah. Sure. The badge is yours.” Blaine flicked his wrist and tossed it over.

Reiji caught the Volcano Badge. A red flame emblem was carved into the metal—fire-themed and bold, exactly Blaine’s style.

“I got it. The Volcano Badge.” Reiji grinned, refusing to accept the “sure” as anything but a clean win.

If that old man hadn’t pulled out an Elite Four-tier Rhydon for a Gym battle, Reiji would’ve ended this ages ago. And if Hanhan hadn’t evolved on the spot, he would’ve been the one walking away empty-handed.

“Everyone, come out. Hanhan evolved.” Reiji released Gyarados and Poliwhirl; both were awake again.

Poliwhirl had only taken light damage. The real problem was exhaustion—it had simply run out and blacked out.

Gyarados, on the other hand, had been knocked unconscious outright. Its tail still needed treatment too, so the Pokémon Center was non-negotiable.

Pelipper swooped down from the roof. It had watched the entire Gym battle, and the way Blaine’s Rhydon nearly swept the whole team had left it visibly rattled.

Kingler hadn’t seen the fight, but hearing that even Poliwhirl had gone down told it everything. In Kingler’s mind, Poliwhirl was the toughest one in the group.

Scyther looked disappointed it hadn’t gotten a turn. It loved a strong opponent—but after hearing Poliwhirl lost, it glanced at Blaine’s retreating back and went quiet, newly cautious.

Shelmet blinked up at the newly evolved Rhydon and realized it was now the shortest one here. Then it remembered the little chick was still around and about the same height, and it relaxed again.

Zapdos sat in Reiji’s arms, completely lost, but it flapped its wings anyway like it was celebrating with everyone else.

Hanhan checked its teeth again, found the missing one again, and slumped dramatically.

“Rhydon, eat well and it’ll grow back,” Reiji said, patting its shoulder. “Besides, look how dark that tooth is—probably a cavity. You’re better off getting a new one.”

Rhyhorn squinted at the fallen tooth and actually noticed the dark stain. Rhyhorn finally accepted it and quit sulking..

Reiji picked the tooth up and pocketed it. Maybe he’d turn it into a necklace later—a souvenir of the day, and Hanhan’s personal black mark.

The “cavity” line was a lie, though. It wasn’t rot. Reiji just hadn’t cleaned it properly, and it was still caked with dirt.

“Alright, back you go.” Reiji recalled everyone. “Poliwhirl, Gyarados, and Rhydon all need the Pokémon Center. We’ll meet up again when it’s hot spring time.”

After letting them settle down, he kept only Pelipper out, rode down the mountain, and handed Poliwhirl, Gyarados, and Rhydon over to Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center.

Then he sat quietly in the waiting area—and, on the sly, pulled up Rhydon’s status panel.

[Rhydon]

[Type: Ground + Rock]

[Gender: Male]

[Potential: 74.33%]

[Level: 43.18%]

[Ability: Rock Head/38.15%][Hidden Ability: Reckless/37.17%]

Ground-type Moves: (Earthquake/6.22%) (Drill Run/1.99%) (Bulldoze/20.17%) (High Horsepower/27.28%) (Dig/23.73%) (Stomping Tantrum/23.99%)

Rock-type Moves: (Sandstorm/5.54%) (Rock Blast/4.91%) (Stone Edge/5.91%) (Rock Slide/13.21%) (Smack Down/14.37%) (Rock Polish/35.26%)

Normal-type Moves: (Rock Climb/36.27%) (Tackle/41.21%) (Tail Whip/20.88%) (Skull Bash/27.31%) (Double-Edge/39.14%) (Horn Attack/40.53%) (Scary Face/7.14%) (Stomp/6.37%) (Horn Drill/7.17%) (Take Down/8.21%)

Fire-type Moves: (Fire Punch/4.31%) (Fire Fang/32.91%) (Sunny Day/3.63%)

Electric-type Moves: (Thunder Punch/3.26%) (Thunder Fang/30.45%)

Ice-type Moves: (Ice Punch/3.82%) (Ice Fang/28.94%)

Water-type Moves: (Rain Dance/3.34%) (Surf/3.53%)

Other Moves: (Crunch/38.82%) (Poison Jab/5.45%) (Shadow Claw/4.94%) (Iron Tail/3.11%) (Counter/26.22%) (Rest/42.81%).

[End of chapter]

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep