After seeing the effect of Max Quake, Lt. Surge's mentality finally started to crack.
Unable to hold back, he shouted:
"Can you have some shame?!"
"Using a battle style this cheap—so what if you win?"
"Does that prove you're actually strong?"
Looking at the furious Lt. Surge, Red shook his head.
"Talking takes time too, you know."
The moment he finished speaking, Marshtomp slammed its hands into the ground again.
That gigantic stone slab reappeared.
"Again?!"
Red narrowed his eyes.
"Why would I stop using a move that works?"
Seeing another Max Quake crashing down, Lt. Surge didn't even have the energy to curse anymore.
Instead, he desperately searched for a way to turn things around.
To be fair, although his character was terrible, his command ability was genuinely good.
Faced with the incoming stone plate, he barely managed to come up with an idea.
"Electabuzz!"
"Use Brick Break on the ground!"
Electabuzz immediately understood.
Its fists hammered relentlessly at the battlefield.
Although it couldn't use Dig, it forcibly excavated a pit nearly two meters deep with Brick Break alone.
Nothing compared to a real tunnel—
But enough to hide inside.
I'm a genius!
Just as Lt. Surge was congratulating himself, both Ash and Red froze for a moment.
Then Red sighed and shook his head.
Rather than mocking him, he looked at Lt. Surge with pity.
"You're a Gym Leader, yet you've forgotten that Pokémon underground take double damage from Earthquake?"
"Max Quake isn't literally Earthquake."
"But a stone slab this size smashing into the ground is every bit as devastating as a small-scale earthquake."
"Battlefield inspiration is important."
"But not every flash of inspiration is actually useful."
The moment those words landed, Lt. Surge's face turned pale.
As an Electric-type specialist, he'd completely forgotten that tiny detail.
And that tiny detail sealed both his and Electabuzz's defeat.
Max Quake slammed into the battlefield again.
The impact was so violent that trainers throughout the Gym could clearly feel the tremor.
Electabuzz let out a painful scream underground.
But the cry was immediately drowned out by the explosion of earth and stone.
As the dust gradually settled, everyone stared toward the battlefield.
"Did Electabuzz get knocked out?"
"With an attack like that, it's definitely possible."
Listening to the chatter around him, Lt. Surge felt as though the sky had fallen.
Just when he was about to despair—
A hand suddenly emerged from the rubble.
"Electabuzz!"
Lt. Surge was overjoyed.
He never expected Electabuzz to survive.
But while he was celebrating, Red calmly issued another command.
"Marshtomp."
"One last Max Geyser."
The joy on Lt. Surge's face instantly vanished.
The higher he'd risen, the harder he fell.
[Max Geyser: Water-type Max Move. Changes the weather to rain after use.]
Marshtomp opened its mouth.
A terrifying mass of water energy began gathering before it.
Its power wasn't inferior to Castform's strongest attacks in the slightest.
Looking at the gigantic stream of water that resembled Godzilla's atomic breath, Lt. Surge closed his eyes in despair.
The attack erupted.
The colossal torrent surged forward like a tsunami.
Electabuzz was smashed once more.
Rain began falling from the sky.
When the raging flood finally receded, Electabuzz somehow struggled back to its feet.
Despite taking three consecutive Max Moves, it still retained a tiny amount of stamina.
Dynamax was powerful—
But it didn't directly multiply move power.
Three attacks still weren't enough to instantly defeat an opponent ten levels higher than Marshtomp.
At the same time, after three Max Moves, Marshtomp's Dynamax energy was completely exhausted.
Its gigantic body began shrinking.
Smaller.
Smaller.
Until it returned to its normal size.
And because Marshtomp's physique far surpassed Castform's, it wasn't even panting.
Instead, it looked like it had merely finished warming up.
Marshtomp stared calmly at Electabuzz.
Then—
Under Electabuzz's horrified gaze—
It charged forward.
Its speed through the muddy battlefield was astonishing.
In an instant, it appeared before Electabuzz.
The fist the size of a sandbag—
And the icy chill surrounding it—
Made Electabuzz feel defeat approaching.
Marshtomp threw a punch.
BOOM!
Electabuzz was blasted directly into the ruins and finally lost the ability to battle.
"He lost! The boss actually lost!"
The hooligans from Vermilion Gym stared blankly.
It felt as though their entire world had collapsed.
Meanwhile, the rookie trainers who had suffered under Lt. Surge's bullying erupted into cheers.
"He won!"
"Gym Leader Red actually won!"
"Master, you're the strongest!"
Neither Ash nor Gary understood what Dynamax was.
But they understood one thing:
Red had won again.
And this time, he had completely crushed another Gym Leader.
Marshtomp casually shook its hands.
While the audience roared with excitement, it maintained the same indifferent expression as always.
Then—
It clasped its hands behind its back and slowly walked off the battlefield.
For some reason, watching Marshtomp leave with such a calm expression made everyone think of a single phrase:
The loneliness of a true master.
[Ding! Marshtomp has leveled up: 33 → 34.]
Looking at Marshtomp's stoic face, Red couldn't help smiling inwardly.
You obviously enjoy showing off.
Yet you always pretend you don't care about winning or losing.
Still, he didn't expose it.
When it came to harmless little hobbies, Red was very open-minded.
He rubbed Marshtomp's soft head.
"Well done."
"You're not far from evolving now."
The moment it heard the word evolution, even the usually composed Marshtomp visibly perked up.
At the same time, Red glanced toward Larvitar.
"Larvitar should be close too."
He pushed those thoughts aside and looked at Lt. Surge.
The Gym Leader sat slumped on the ground.
His face was pale and filled with despair.
Step by step, Red walked over.
Then he stopped before him and spoke coldly:
"Now then."
"Do you have anything else to say?"
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