Sitting in the waiting room waiting for the battle against Roark, Zane feels relieved that his gym trainer battles mostly went as expected. The hardest part of it was having to save some tricks so that Roark wouldn't expect them.

When Zane's name was called, he entered the arena. Stepping out of the dark tunnel, he was immediately struck by the atmosphere. The arena was different from the one where he had battled the gym trainers. It was filled with bright lights that nearly blinded him before his eyes adjusted.

The stands were sparsely filled with locals and other gym challengers, creating an oppressive atmosphere. Zane could feel his heart racing as he prepared himself for the battle ahead.

The referee's voice cut through the tension, signaling the start of the match. "TRAINERS! Release your first pokemon!"

Roark follows his typical pattern, sending out his Geodude to face Zane's Smeargle.

The pair calls out their starting moves:

"SETUP!"

"Debuff!"

Geodude rubbed itself on the ground, likely using rock polish to increase its speed. Smeargle, on the other hand, flicked its tail, releasing paint towards the opponent. However, the paint transformed into powder as it fell onto Geodude, seemingly having little effect.

"Rollout!"

"Counter with an Aura Sphere!"

Roark's Pokemon begins to rapidly gather speed as it rolls towards Arty.

Arty, on the other hand, begins to charge what's quickly becoming his go-to move in his plan.

Much to Roark's surprise, however, his Geodude seizes up midroll, interrupting his attack causing it to crash into the ground instead. Taking advantage of Geodude's sudden immobility, the Smeargle runs in, using the aura sphere as a melee attack instead of a ranged option.

Slamming the move into Geodude, a large cloud of dust is kicked up from the sand floor of the arena.

As the dust settles, a still-standing Smeargle next to a knocked-out Geodude is revealed, leaving Zane to explain, "The powder from earlier was a stun spore, sketched from a Budew from the route near Sandgem Town"

Roark grimaces, clearly not expecting that type of move from Smeargle.

"I won't let you use the same trick twice!" Roark called out as he tossed his next Pokeball.

Another Onix appeared, but it was different from the one Maylene faced. This one seemed much calmer, foregoing the threat display.

Zane chooses to change Pokemon as well, swapping to Porygon.

Roark starts the battle off, "Onix set up!"

Not one to be outdone, Zane matches the order, "You too Porygon!"

In a similar manner to the Geodude, the massive rock snake rubs itself against the ground in an attempt to buff its speed.

In reply, Porygon closes its eyes in focus, as a thin pink barrier appears in front of the Digital Pokemon.

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'We need to work on that, closing its eyes during battle could become a serious weakness,' Zane thinks to himself.

"Charge it down!," Roark calls out.

Onix rushes towards Porygon at great speed thanks to its boost from rock polish.

"Stand your ground!," Zane orders

Lashing its tail around, Onix uses its momentum and weight with an iron tail.

Matching it, Porygon swings around with an iron tail of its own.

Parrying the blow, both Pokemon are knocked back. However, due to its large weight, Onix is thrown off balance.

"Now!," Zane calls out, clearly referencing some unknown plan.

Taking advantage of the opening created by Onix's mistake, Porygon floated onto the serpent's back.

Porygon begins to repeatedly slam its iron tail into Onix while atop its back.

"Shake it off Onix!"

The serpent now recovered from its imbalance begins to buck in a desperate attempt to throw the Porygon off. However, its effort bears no fruit.

"This isn't working, Slam your back onto the ground!"

Zane's eyes go wide as he processes the order. With Onix's massive weight that would surely do some serious damage.

"GET OFF IT!," Zane calls out much too late.

Onix slams into the ground with Porygon still atop its back, the impact creating a sickening thud that reverberates around the arena.

The meager audience held their breath before the referee announced, "Both Pokémon are unable to battle. Trainers, please send in your final Pokémon!"

It turned out that the recoil from the move had knocked out Onix as well.

Zane took deep breaths, calming his nerves for the final confrontation.

Zane sent out his Smeargle again, while Roark sent out his ace Cranidos.

Wanting to control the pace, Zane called out the first move. "POWDER!"

Roark smirked and replied, "The same trick won't work twice, Cranidos. Dodge it and use Leer!"

The small dinosaur skillfully dodges to the side causing the powder to fall to the ground. Immediately after, Cranidos successfully pulls off Leer, causing Arty to stagger as his defense lowers.

"Get in close and use takedown!," Roark orders the grey beast.

"Dodge and counter!".

Arty barely dodged the attack and launched an Aura Sphere as Cranidos passed by.

"Make some distance Smeagle!"

Arty runs to Roark's side of the arena desperate to make some space.

"Chase him with Pursuit!"

Cranidos sped up, catching up to Smeargle with the dark-type move.

Zane has refocused after being surprised by how Pursuit worked.

"Sand attack!" Zane calls out a small grin peeking out from his serious facade.

"Burst through it with headbutt!"

With a sweep of its tail, Smeargle launches the sand from the arena floor at the dinosaur while it continues to charge at it.

Things are looking bleak until Cranidos suddenly falls to the ground asleep.

"Now finish it!" Zane calls out, while Roark can only stare in disbelief.

Smeargle repeatedly used point-blank Aura Sphere on Cranidos, while Roark finally regained his senses and asked, "But how?"

Zane's grin grew wider as he replied, "The powder move from earlier."

Realization dawned on Roark's face, followed by confusion. "So I understand how the Sand Attack launched the powder from the arena floor at Cranidos, but I thought that was Stun Spore."

That's what I wanted you to think. Arty knows both Stun Spore and Sleep Powder."

The battle had already ended while they were having this conversation, and the referee announced, "The victor is Zane of Rustburro City!"

Roark could only shake his head and laugh, knowing he had been defeated.

"I'll have to give my father a heads up to expect you!"

Zane grimaces at the thought of a gym leader expecting his challenge.