At this moment, Lt. Surge was panicking even more.
Drops of cold sweat began appearing on his forehead.
"Where's the proof?!"
"Show me the proof if you can!"
He immediately interrupted Red.
"Poisoning is a status condition."
"And under normal circumstances, a Pokémon can only suffer from one major status condition at a time."
At that moment, Red borrowed a Chandelure from one of the spectators and had it use Will-O-Wisp on the weakened Pikachu.
Everyone clearly saw the ghostly flames floating around Pikachu.
But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't enter its body.
Status conditions were essentially foreign energies invading a Pokémon's body.
And right now—
Pikachu's body was already full.
"So it's actually true!"
"I didn't know you could use that method to determine whether a Pokémon had been poisoned!"
Red then took out a Pecha Berry and fed it to Pikachu.
Very quickly, Pikachu regained its energy.
Meanwhile, Lt. Surge felt as if he could barely breathe.
The suspicious, questioning, and contemptuous gazes around him were almost crushing him.
The overwhelming pressure nearly made him collapse.
But at the last moment, he gritted his teeth and shouted:
"That only proves Pikachu was poisoned!"
"How are you going to prove I was the one who poisoned it?!"
Red sighed helplessly, as though he had expected this response all along.
"If words won't convince you—"
"Then we'll talk after I take you down."
He raised a hand, stopping Cynthia, who was already eager to move.
"Leave it to me."
"I can handle a second-rate Gym Leader."
Lt. Surge took a deep breath.
"You?"
"You think you're qualified to judge me?"
As Surge's cousin, he knew quite a bit about Red.
Although Red's reputation had skyrocketed in recent months—
Most of it came from external support.
His personal strength was considered average.
His father had disappeared overseas.
Tyranitar had been taken away.
The Elite-level Ninetales was supposedly seriously injured and unable to battle.
As for the so-called Legendary Pokémon companion?
Lt. Surge didn't believe it at all.
And even if Red had borrowed a Legendary's power once—
Borrowing it temporarily and controlling it permanently were completely different things.
"Go!"
"My ace!"
With a roar, an Electabuzz charged onto the battlefield.
Level 45.
Even among Elite-level Pokémon, it was considered fairly powerful.
It was the strongest Pokémon Lt. Surge had painstakingly trained over many years.
Facing a Level 45 Electabuzz—
Under normal circumstances, Red really didn't have many options.
But there was good news.
This was indoors.
Inside a Gym.
And another piece of good news—
Before coming here, Red had casually tossed the Dynamax Energy Device into his system storage and brought it with him.
While nobody had been paying attention, Larvitar and Castform had already finished installing it.
Though ordinary people couldn't see it—
The battlefield was now saturated with purple Dynamax energy.
Red recalled Marshtomp into its Poké Ball.
Then raised the ball high.
"Go!"
"Dynamax Marshtomp!"
"Dynamax?"
The spectators were completely baffled.
Even Ash and Gary looked confused.
They had never heard of such a thing.
Only Cynthia's eyes widened the moment she heard the term.
A brilliant light shone from behind her golden bangs.
Others didn't know what Dynamax was—
But Cynthia did.
She had heard Red describe it.
She had even left the two Ancient Pokémon with him specifically so he could continue researching Dynamax.
Yet hearing about it and seeing it were two different things.
She was extremely curious about the power Red had spoken of.
Then—
Under countless shocked gazes—
The Poké Ball in Red's hand began growing.
Larger.
And larger.
And larger.
Until it was the size of a small car.
Using all his strength, Red hurled the giant Poké Ball into the air.
The oversized ball exploded open.
A Dynamax Marshtomp over 28 meters tall appeared inside the Gym.
Its exact weight was impossible to estimate.
The moment it appeared—
Its enormous mass crushed the battlefield beneath it.
The floor collapsed instantly into rubble.
"W-What... what is that thing?!"
Looking at the gigantic Marshtomp that looked like it had walked straight out of an Ultraman movie—
Lt. Surge's mentality shattered.
"What is this thing?!"
"Is that really a Pokémon?!"
He couldn't even speak properly anymore.
"This is cheating!"
He forced himself to accuse Red.
Red merely shrugged.
"Cheating?"
"Then you can choose not to fight."
"Afterward, we can go explain things to Officer Jenny."
"This is a brand-new battle system developed by Professor Oak and me."
"It'll inevitably receive League approval in the future."
Lt. Surge forced himself to calm down.
His eyes locked onto the monster-sized Marshtomp.
Stay calm!
It's still the same Marshtomp from before!
Its level hasn't changed!
It's only a little over Level 30!
My Electabuzz is nearly ten levels higher!
As long as I fight steadily, I'll win!
I still have a chance!
Besides, with a body that huge, it can't dodge attacks!
This will come down to a direct clash!
Electabuzz won't lose!
To be fair—
Though his character was terrible—
Lt. Surge's combat experience and fighting spirit were still superior to Reiji's.
"So he's not completely useless."
Red smiled.
"But what does that matter?"
"Marshtomp."
"Max Quake."
[Max Quake: Ground-type Dynamax move. Raises the user's Special Defense by one stage after use.]
Dynamax Marshtomp slammed both hands onto the ground.
A colossal slab of earth—
Nearly as large as the entire battlefield—
Erupted upward.
Carrying terrifying momentum and pressure—
It crashed toward Electabuzz.
Even though Lt. Surge had mentally prepared for the worst—
When he actually saw a stone slab the size of the battlefield hurtling toward him—
He nearly broke down.
The only thing he could do was order Electabuzz to use Protect and stall for a turn.
He refused to believe Marshtomp could maintain this form forever.
The giant slab crashed down with overwhelming speed and weight.
Electabuzz's Protect barrier rose.
But because of the special effects of Dynamax moves—
The normally invincible Protect was smashed open with a huge hole.
The remaining rocks punched through and struck Electabuzz directly.
Electabuzz suffered heavy damage.
And then—
Lt. Surge saw something horrifying.
Marshtomp's aura wasn't weakening.
It was growing stronger.
"This attack..."
"It broke through Protect..."
"And its Special Defense increased too?!"
For the first time—
Lt. Surge finally experienced the same despair Reiji had once felt.
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