Seeing Luna so excited, Grusha felt a headache coming on. He could easily tell what was going through her mind—she knew Gary had an Articuno and wanted to see how it battled.
"Is that alright?" Gary asked.
He paid no attention to Luna. Whether the battle happened at all still depended on Grusha's decision.
Gary wasn't familiar with the Gym battle rules in the Paldea region. All he knew was that Grusha had a habit of looking down on weak Trainers.
"No problem. As the Gym Leader, I have no right to refuse a challenge. Come with me."
Grusha agreed to battle Gary. He released a huge Cetitan and rode it up the mountain with Luna.
Gary followed behind on Articuno, and before long, they reached the summit.
The Gyms in the Paldea region were unlike those in other regions. Their battlefields weren't built inside the Gym buildings, but out in the open, and Gym battles here were free for the public to watch.
In the games, Glaseado Gym worked the same way. Its battlefield sat at the peak of Glaseado Mountain. To challenge the Gym, a Trainer first had to pass Grusha's Gym Test, "Snow Slope Run," which required reaching the finish line within a set time limit. Only Trainers who passed were allowed to battle Grusha. In the anime, however, things played out quite differently.
"Oh! Am I seeing things? Is that Articuno?"
"It really is Articuno! And Gym Leader Grusha is with him too!"
"Oh my god, that boy actually has an Articuno...!"
Glaseado Mountain was a paradise for winter sports enthusiasts. Part of the mountain had been developed into ski slopes for visitors, while the summit remained open to everyone.
Noticing how many people were staring, Gary recalled Articuno into its Poké Ball and followed Grusha toward the public battlefield at the top of the mountain.
The onlookers gathered to watch as well. Besides skiing, spectators sometimes had the chance to catch a Gym battle up on Glaseado Mountain. For those taking a break from the slopes, getting to watch a high-level battle was a welcome bonus.
After all, Grusha was known as the strongest Gym Leader in the entire Paldea region.
"Brother, the referee's here!"
Luna ran over to the small cabin beside the battlefield and called the referee out.
Although the battlefield was outdoors, there was still a Gym building nearby—otherwise the Gym Leader would have had nowhere to live. In fact, Gary thought building the battlefield outside was the right call. If it were built inside the Gym, the walls would be at constant risk of destruction during battles. Building it outdoors was far more practical.
The referee was a man in a thick winter coat. Standing in the officiating area, he asked, "Challenger, what's your name?"
Normally, challengers registered at the Gym first. This time, though, Grusha had brought Gary over himself, so the referee didn't even know his name.
"Gary."
The referee nodded and immediately announced, "The Gym battle between challenger Gary and Glaseado Gym Leader Grusha will now begin. Each side may use four Pokémon. In addition, only the challenger may substitute Pokémon during the match. Now, Gym Leader Grusha, please send out your first Pokémon."
[Ding! Missions issued:
Obtain the Glaseado Gym Badge. Reward: Intermediate Rare Candy ×8, Ice Beam permanent move learner, Top-grade Never-Melt Ice ×1!Use Paldea region Pokémon to obtain the Glaseado Gym Badge. Reward: Intermediate Rare Candy ×8, Ice-type permanent move learner of your choice, random Pokémon item ×1, permanent Ice-type Tera Shard ×1 (used on a Pokémon, permanently changes its Tera Type to Ice).]
Gary was mildly surprised. The missions for challenging Paldea's Gyms really were a bit different. The reward included a permanent Ice-type Tera Shard, which could permanently change a Pokémon's Tera Type—a genuinely useful item.
Grusha didn't rush to send out his Pokémon. Instead, he gave Gary a reminder. "Gary, in Paldea, Terastallization is allowed in Pokémon battles. You already know that, right?"
At present, the Paldea League was actively promoting Terastallization. Every Gym Leader carried a Tera Orb, and challengers were permitted to Terastallize during official matches.
"I know."
Gary was well aware of it, and if the chance came up, he intended to use Terastallization in this battle as well.
"Then let's begin... Frosmoth, go." Grusha casually tossed out a Poké Ball.
A pure white Frosmoth appeared. It looked very much like a fully grown silkworm moth, and every time it flapped its wings, shimmering ice crystal scales drifted through the air. Its Ability was clearly Ice Scales.
[Lv. 47 Frosmoth / Gym]
As expected of the strongest Gym Leader, Frosmoth's level had nearly reached the upper limit of a Gym-tier Pokémon.
Even so, this Gym battle was destined to end quickly.
"Annihilape, I'm counting on you." Gary threw out a Poké Ball.
Annihilape appeared with a furious roar.
[Lv. 62 Annihilape / Champion]
Before coming to Paldea, Gary had specifically transferred Annihilape over to handle the Gym challenge. There was no other choice—among his Paldea Pokémon, Annihilape was the only one capable of standing up to Grusha.
Great Tusk was also a Paldea Pokémon, but it was only level 50, which would have made the fight against Grusha considerably harder.
"Ah, it's Annihilape..." Luna said, clearly disappointed when she saw Gary's choice.
"The battle begins!" the referee announced.
"Rage Fist!" Gary ordered.
Annihilape's rage surged as it threw a punch, and a massive shadowy fist formed from ghostly energy shot forward at high speed.
"Frosmoth, use Ice Beam." Grusha chose to meet the attack head-on and countered immediately.
A sphere of Ice-type energy formed in front of Frosmoth before narrowing into a light-blue beam and shooting out. But the instant it made contact with the shadowy fist, it was completely overpowered.
Bang!!
The shadowy fist slammed into Frosmoth, sending it flying more than ten meters. It crashed over the safety railing and landed hard in the snow, unable to get back up.
"Frosmoth is unable to battle! Annihilape wins!"
"What?!"
Hearing the referee's announcement, Luna finally snapped back to her senses. She couldn't believe her brother's Frosmoth had been taken down in a single punch.
The spectators around the battlefield were just as shocked. They had all seen Grusha's Gym battles before, but this was the first time they'd witnessed anything like this.
"Oh my god, one punch. This Annihilape's level has to be incredibly high."
"That's terrifying. I remember Grusha's Frosmoth being able to take a beating. Just how strong is this Annihilape? Could it really be on par with the Elite Four?"
"That young Trainer is seriously terrifying..."