"Okay, Primeape, it's time to test it."
"Primeape!"
After a half-hour rest following a full meal, it was time to prepare for Primeape's evolution.
"Gary, how are you going to spar?" Ash asked. During the morning Pokémon training, Gary told Ash's Pidgeotto not to train and to spar with Primeape in the afternoon.
"Just watch carefully," Gary said to Ash's Pidgeotto without further explanation. "Pidgeotto, you just use Quick Attack to attack Primeape later."
"Pidgeotto?"
Pidgeotto nodded suspiciously. Although it didn't know what Gary was planning, simply attacking Primeape seemed straightforward enough.
Then, Gary took out an egg-shaped stone about the same size as an evolution stone from his backpack. The surface was as smooth as jade and looked like a very good stone.
"Gary, what is this?" Ash asked curiously.
"This is an Eviolite."
"Eviolite...?"
"This is an item. If you let a Pokémon that can still evolve carry it, the defense of this Pokémon will be greatly improved," Gary explained.
"Oh! There's such a thing," Ash was surprised.
"Ash, this is a normal item. It is used to assist the Trainer in training Pokémon. In unregulated competitions, Pokémon are allowed to carry items," Brock explained on the side.
Brock didn't care about this kind of thing before, but after getting along with Gary, he found that Ash's knowledge of Pokémon was still at a Rookie level, and he didn't even know about Pokémon items.
Brock and Misty felt a little embarrassed for Ash at this moment.
Especially when they thought that Ash wanted to compete with Gary whenever he had nothing to do, and now they saw Gary in person, they felt that the gap between Ash and Gary was not normal.
"Is that so, but Gary, what do you use Eviolite for?" Ash asked, puzzled.
"You'll know in a minute," Gary was a little annoyed. Ash was like a three-year-old now. When he encountered something he didn't understand, he would ask why. It was so annoying.
After carrying Eviolite on Primeape, Gary ordered: "Pidgeotto, use Feather Dance on Ash's Pidgeotto."
"Pidgeotto!"
Gary's Pidgeotto flew to Ash's Pidgeotto, and the Dual Wingbeat waved. Countless pure white feathers made of energy surrounded Pidgeotto, and the feathers danced in the air.
"What is this?" Ash said in confusion.
"Ash, Feather Dance is a skill that can greatly reduce the rival's attack power," Gary introduced.
Ash and the others were very confused and didn't know why Gary did this. Ash knew that even if he asked, Gary would not tell him, so he could only continue to watch.
After using Feather Dance on Ash's Pidgeotto three times, he continued to use Feather Dance on Primeape.
The physical attack was reduced to the lowest, and the battle could begin.
Gary ordered Ash's Pidgeotto: "Pidgeotto, use Quick Attack to attack Primeape. Primeape, you can only use Rage to counterattack."
"Pidgeotto!"
Ash's Pidgeotto nodded, flapped its Dual Wingbeat, and immediately rushed towards Primeape.
Primeape knew that it was accumulating anger and did not dodge, allowing Pidgeotto to hit it. Although Pidgeotto's physical attack was reduced, it could still hurt Primeape. Primeape's anger was slowly increasing.
"Primeape!"
After Pidgeotto attacked for the fifth time, Primeape could not help it.
He was surrounded by a gloomy ghostly aura.
Primeape used Rage Fist, and a huge Shadow Punch flew out and hit Pidgeotto hard, but Shadow Punch did not hurt Pidgeotto, instead hitting the tree behind it.
The tree broke instantly where it was hit.
"What a terrible fist, why is Pidgeotto fine?" Ash was shocked by the destructive power of the Rage Fist and was also confused as to why Pidgeotto was fine.
"That Rage Fist seems to be a Ghost-type skill, and Normal-type Pokémon are immune to Ghost-type skills," Brock analyzed.
"It turns out that Ghost-type skills are useless against Normal-type Pokémon."
This was the first time Ash knew about this.
He had challenged the Saffron Gym before, but it took three challenges before he succeeded.
He originally planned to capture Ghost-type Pokémon but was told that the nearby Ghost-type Pokémon had been captured by the Saffron Gym, so he gave up.
Ash and his group even saw Gengar's comedy performance at the Saffron Gym.
"What is Gary doing? The Rage Fist obviously can't hurt Pidgeotto, so why does he keep using it?" Misty asked puzzledly.
"Is it possible that he is training the Rage Fist skill?" Ash guessed.
"Then there is no need to let Pidgeotto attack Primeape," Brock said. Ash and the others couldn't understand what Gary was doing. It didn't look like a sparring match, and it didn't look like a skill training match.
"Miss Sabrina, do you know what Gary is doing?" Misty had to ask Sabrina, but she obviously asked the wrong person.
"I don't know what Gary is doing either. Just watch carefully," Sabrina said.
Everyone just watched as Primeape kept using the Rage Fist. When he used the Rage Fist for the 12th time, Primeape's eyes were covered with bloodshot. Although he knew it was a test, every time he was attacked by Pidgeotto, Primeape's anger would rise.
"It seems that he has reached the limit of Rage. There are still 5 more times to go," Gary kept counting how many times Primeape used the Rage Fist.
"Primeape!"
Primeape roared, and stone blades appeared around his body, rushing towards the sky.
"Pidgeotto!"
Pidgeotto was shocked. Didn't they agree to use the Rage Fist? Why did he suddenly change his moves?
Fortunately, Pidgeotto ran fast. If it was hit by Stone Edge, it would definitely be seriously injured.
"Sabrina, let your Alakazam use Disable on Primeape," Gary ordered immediately.
"Alakazam!"
Alakazam, who was watching the battle, immediately used Disable on Primeape and used Primeape's Stone Edge to Imprison.
"Primeape!"
Primeape's eyes were red, and he was obviously furious. Seeing Alakazam appear in front of him, he rushed over without saying a word, and a layer of white energy lingered in his right fist.
However, Primeape's body was instantly bound by Confusion.
"Gary, what's wrong with Primeape? Do you want to continue?" Sabrina asked.
"It doesn't matter, let go of Primeape, dodge Primeape's attacks, and try to let Primeape use the Rage Fist," Gary said.
"Okay, then let Alakazam be Primeape's rival. Alakazam, unlock Confusion."
After saying that, Alakazam unlocked Confusion immediately and rushed towards Alakazam with Primeape Rage, but Alakazam disappeared from the spot and dodged with Teleport.