Gary had a headache. The Pokémon he had on hand were all too high-leveled. Sending one out himself would basically be bullying. Although he had a Cetitan, Gary didn't know Penny's true strength. What if he ended up losing?
At that moment, Penny took out a Poké Ball from her Eevee-themed bag.
Gary knew that Penny was a Trainer who loved Eevee. In the games, all of her Pokémon were Eevee's evolutions. Since she was carrying an Eevee-style bag, he figured the Pokémon she used in the anime world were probably also Eevee evolutions.
Left with no choice, Gary took out a red-and-white ball. Judging by the battle he'd just watched, he felt that Gholdengo's level was about right, and it shouldn't lose.
Seeing that both sides had taken out their Poké Balls, Dendra immediately announced, "Terastallization is prohibited. Please release your Pokémon at the same time."
The moment the words fell, Gary and Penny threw out their Poké Balls simultaneously.
In two flashes of light—
[LV25 Sylveon ♀ / Elite]
The Pokémon Penny sent out was a Sylveon, which was already the ceiling among this group of students.
[LV30 Gholdengo / Champion]
"What kind of Pokémon is that?!"
All the students were stunned when they saw Gholdengo.
Because Gholdengo was so difficult to evolve, most ordinary people might never see one in their entire lifetime.
Penny immediately took out a Pokédex, but this Pokédex was completely different from Gary's. There was a Rotom logo on the back of it.
"A Rotom Pokédex!"
Gary was surprised. The Rotom Pokédex had appeared in the seventh generation, so how did the Paldea region already have one?
If the Paldea region had developed it, they should have announced it long ago. It wasn't especially advanced technology, so there'd be no reason to keep it hidden. After all, Professor Futaba had even given Gary a Crystal Bead, so surely the Paldea League wouldn't be so stingy the next time they met.
Rotom Pokédex: "Gholdengo, the Coin Entity Pokémon. Its body is said to be made up of 1,000 coins. It enjoys being around people and can quickly get along with anyone."
Penny looked at the data the Pokédex provided and frowned. The information it broadcast was only the basics—the Pokémon's typing and moves were displayed on the Pokédex screen in the form of tables.
Seeing that Gholdengo was part Steel-type, which countered her Sylveon, she knew it would be difficult to deal with.
"Sylveon? This student can actually raise a Sylveon—that's no small feat." As a teacher, Dendra knew very well how difficult it was to evolve a Sylveon. Ordinary students couldn't afford to raise a Pokémon like that.
Dendra didn't dwell on it and announced, "The battle begins!"
"Sylveon, use Disarming Voice," Penny attacked first.
Sylveon opened her mouth and released a charming sound wave that spread outward. Gholdengo had no way to avoid it and simply took the move head-on, but Disarming Voice dealt no damage to it at all.
"What?!"
Penny was shocked to see that Gholdengo was completely unharmed.
"My turn to counterattack. Gholdengo, use Astonish," Gary ordered.
Gholdengo faced Sylveon, who tensed up warily. In the next second, Gholdengo's head separated from its body and flew rapidly toward Sylveon, letting out a sharp cry.
"Woo-chi!"
Sylveon was startled.
Not only Sylveon, but Penny and the surrounding students were all shocked. It was the first time they'd ever seen a Pokémon's head come off.
This was simply an aspect of Gholdengo's natural ability—its body could disassemble and turn into gold coins.
Astonish landed, and Gary pressed on. "Shadow Ball."
Gholdengo's body could still move even without its head. A Shadow Ball condensed in its palm and was hurled forward, while its head dissolved into gold coins and reformed back on its body, clearing the way for the attack.
Watching this scene, Penny found it fascinating, but quickly ordered, "Sylveon, use Light Screen."
Sylveon immediately used Light Screen to forcibly block the Shadow Ball.
"Thunder Punch," Gary ordered.
Gholdengo immediately rushed toward Sylveon.
"Sylveon, use Shadow Ball!" Penny ordered hurriedly.
Sylveon had been under constant attack. If she didn't take this seriously, she'd be defeated.
Sylveon condensed a Shadow Ball in front of her mouth and fired it. The Shadow Ball surged forward, but Gholdengo made no attempt to dodge. When the Shadow Ball was only a few dozen centimeters away, Gholdengo's midsection scattered into coins, and the Shadow Ball passed straight through.
"What?!"
"Woo-chi!"
Both Penny and Sylveon were stunned. It was the first time they'd seen a Pokémon evade an attack like that.
"Ghol-den!"
Gholdengo closed in on Sylveon and swung a fist crackling with golden Sparks.
Sylveon immediately used her ribbons to wrap around Gholdengo's arm, but the moment the ribbons made contact, they passed right through it.
Sylveon was left confused, but there was no time to think. A flash of lightning appeared as Thunder Punch came crashing down onto her head.
Crack!!!
Sylveon took the full force of the Thunder Punch and was knocked flying. She rolled three times across the ground before coming to a stop, her eyes spinning in circles.
"Sylveon is unable to battle. Gholdengo wins."
After announcing the result, Dendra continued, "You two, take your Pokémon to the treatment room. This afternoon, each of you will write a post-battle essay of no less than 500 words. You must record your reflections after the match and analyze your command errors. You may also discuss it with each other."
Gary felt a chill go through him when he heard this. He hadn't dealt with a demand like that in years. He never expected to be asked to write an essay at his age.
"Yes, Teacher," Penny said, nodding.
"Why aren't you responding to me?" Dendra looked at Gary with displeasure, thinking this male student was completely disobedient, and clearly annoyed by it.
"Teacher, are you sure I'm a student of this school?" Gary dropped the act and said it directly.
"What did you say? You're not a student here?"
"What?!"
Both Dendra and Penny were stunned.
Penny wondered why she didn't recognize Gary. He was so handsome that she surely would have known of him already. She'd assumed he was a transfer student.
However, Dendra clearly didn't take Gary's words at face value. She said angrily, "Don't think you can get out of writing the essay just because you have some skill. As your teacher, I can see through your little tricks at a glance."
Gary: Σ(°Д°)!
Did I not make this clear enough?
"Teacher, I really don't go to school here. I just came to visit the campus," Gary said.
"If you came here just to visit, then why did you battle my student?" Dendra said.
Gary: "This... this!"