Solar Beam fired the moment the order came.
The beam tore across the field and slammed straight into Swampert. Swampert had no choice but to throw up Protect. The blast gouged a bright mark across the barrier, but Protect held. Swampert itself came out untouched.
The instant the beam faded, Swampert tried to counter. It lowered its body, ready to drive Earthquake into the ground—then its feet left the ice.
Ejiro's expression changed. "Damn it. Confusion. That Ninetales has a strong hold! Swampert, use Knock Off on yourself!"
"Laaag!"
Dark-type energy gathered over Swampert's broad palm. It slapped itself hard, breaking the Confusion hold in an instant. Its body dropped out of the air and crashed back onto the ice.
"Ninetales, Energy Ball!"
Ninetales opened its mouth, forming a deep green sphere in front of its muzzle before firing it straight at Swampert.
Its Grass-type moves had all come from Venusaur back at the lakeside cabin. Energy Ball was the one it had practiced the most.
"Again?" Ejiro was starting to feel numb. This was supposed to be a Fire-type Pokémon. Why did it keep throwing Grass moves at him? "Swampert, Dig!"
Swampert smashed through the ice and dropped into the water below, leaving a wide hole behind. Energy Ball missed, but the ice was transparent. Ninetales could still see exactly where Swampert had gone.
Ninetales did not know Earthquake, but it did know Flamethrower. It swept fire across the ice, melting the field for the second time, then lifted itself with telekinesis and began forming another Energy Ball above the pool.
"Swampert, Rock Tomb!"
Swampert slammed its powerful arms into the bottom of the pool and roared. Countless rocks came crashing down from above, raining toward Ninetales in midair.
Ninetales still launched Energy Ball before the rocks could reach it. At the same time, it caught the falling stones with telekinetic force—but that kind of control had a limit. It was already close to the breaking point.
The rocks slipped.
Ninetales released its hold and let them crash into the pool, then relied on its telekinetic sense to weave through the falling debris.
"Swampert, Smack Down!"
Swampert grabbed one of the rocks from the bottom of the pool and hurled it upward.
Now Ninetales had rocks falling from above and stones shooting up from below. It could not fly out of the battlefield either. Leaving the field would count as avoiding the battle, and that meant an automatic loss.
"Raaah!"
Ninetales dodged for as long as it could, but sooner or later, something had to land. One of Swampert's thrown rocks smashed into it, and Smack Down knocked it out of the air. Ninetales crashed into the bottom of the pool.
Swampert tried to move in and finish it, but Ejiro stopped it.
Ninetales was already unconscious.
It had pushed its telekinesis too far. It had been tracking the rocks, keeping itself airborne, and dodging at the same time. By the end, it had nothing left to squeeze out.
If that had been Lokoko, none of this would have mattered. Its telekinetic strength was on a completely different level.
"Come back, Ninetales."
Reiji recalled Ninetales, and the referee called another three-minute break while the field was replaced.
The score was even now. Both sides had lost one Pokémon, and both Trainers had two left. Reiji still had Ludicolo, which was a nightmare matchup for Swampert.
Ejiro was strange. He came from an Electric-type club, yet his first two Pokémon had not been Electric types at all.
As for Ninetales, it was done for the tournament. Overusing telekinesis like that meant it would need Calm Mind to recover properly. For a while, even trying to use that power again would give it splitting headaches.
That stung a little. Ninetales was the first of Reiji's Pokémon to be forced out of the rest of the competition.
Still, he had chosen not to switch it out for Ludicolo for a reason.
He had two Fire-types, and plenty of his Pokémon could use Fire-type moves. Ludicolo was different. It was the only one of its kind on his roster.
Anyone with eyes could see the trade. Sacrifice the less critical piece and keep Ludicolo fresh for the battles still ahead.
The three minutes passed quickly. Reiji left Cissy and returned to the platform. Ejiro sent out his panting Swampert again, while Reiji threw Ludicolo's Poké Ball.
This fight no longer had much suspense.
There was no real fight left. Ludicolo had used Rest before being recalled, and that time off the field had done its job. The poison was gone, its HP had recovered, and it was awake again. Compared to Swampert, it looked almost fresh.
On top of that, the harsh sunlight was still up. Solar Beam might as well have been free. Ludicolo fired one after another, and Swampert had no move that could threaten it properly. One clean Solar Beam was enough to knock Swampert out cold.
"Swampert is unable to battle! Ejiro, please recall Swampert and send out your third Pokémon!"
"Ejiro's in trouble," Bunta muttered, staring at his second brother. Was this really how it ended?
Ejiro, come on. Nobody expected you to win, but you haven't even forced out his main team. How long are you planning to hide it? It's time to show your last card.
"Come back, Swampert."
Ejiro recalled Swampert and murmured a few words of encouragement to it. Then he took out his final Poké Ball and threw it onto the field.
"Vire!"
Electivire burst out and immediately pounded its chest, wild with excitement. A violent electric pressure erupted from its body, threads of current snapping through the air around it.
Sparks snapped through the air. The charge was so strong that people nearby felt their skin prickle, and their hair began to lift. Thunder rolled through the arena as if a storm had broken indoors.
"So it is Electivire," Reiji muttered, letting out the faintest breath. "For a second, I thought this guy wasn't going to use an Electric type."
At least this was familiar territory. The longer Ejiro had gone without showing an Electric-type Pokémon, the more Reiji had suspected he was hiding something worse.
"It's Electivire!" the commentator shouted. "One of the strongest Electric-type Pokémon! Countless comebacks, countless battles won from behind, countless fights overturned against bad matchups—Electivire's record speaks for itself! How will Reiji turn this around?"
Reiji almost wanted to complain about the hype, but the annoying part was that the commentator was not exactly wrong.
Leaving legendary Pokémon aside, Electivire had enough output to supply every building in a large city for a full year. That alone said plenty.
"Ludicolo, come back. No need to take this fight."
Reiji recalled Ludicolo at once. Letting it fight Electivire would risk leaving it too badly injured for the rest of the tournament, which defeated the whole point of saving it earlier.
"Kekeke."
From inside Reiji's shadow, Gengar gave a low warning. This Electivire was not normal. It was already brushing against Elite Four tier, probably close to breaking through. Otherwise, its electricity would not be this violent.
"Got it."
After Slowking translated, Reiji let out a quiet sigh. Against something this wild, there was only one answer.
"Go, Rhydon!"
"Raaah!"
The moment Rhydon appeared, it felt the tension in the air and roared back at Electivire, venting its own irritation. Its pressure did not lose out at all. If anything, it forced Electivire to calm down and study its opponent properly.
In official records, Electivire stood at 1.8 metres, while Rhydon stood at 1.9 metres. Electivire was not supposed to be taller.
This Electivire had absorbed too much electricity, though. Its body had grown past the usual size and stood a little over 1.9 metres.
But Rhydon carried the genes of Fairchild Island. It was over two metres tall. To it, this oversized Electivire still looked like a little brother.
"There it is! Electivire against Rhydon! Ace against ace! This is the kind of battle people remember, and it's happening right here in the group stage!"
The commentator's voice climbed higher, feeding the crowd and driving the heat in the ice field arena even higher. Ratings were rising, and the commentator sounded almost as fired up as the Trainers.
"Electivire, Ice Punch!"
Ejiro knew Electric-type moves were useless here. Fine. Then they would settle this with fists. The thought made his blood run hot, and he tugged his collar open.
"Rhydon, back to the edge and put on Rock Armor. We'll use Fire Punch."
Rhydon glanced down and realized the ground under it was still ice. With no better option, it retreated to the edge of the field. Heat spread from its body, melting the ground beneath it and pulling the material into a layer of black Rock Armor.
It was not satisfied with that much rock, so it dug a huge chunk out from beyond the battlefield and hurled it at the charging Electivire.
Electivire smashed the incoming boulder apart with one Ice Punch. The throw clearly annoyed it. Rhydon had just thrown a rock at its face.
Rhydon watched the broken stones scatter across the ice, then charged.
It wore heavy black Rock Armor now, each step shaking the ground beneath it. Flames wrapped around its fist as it rushed straight at Electivire.
Fire Punch and Ice Punch collided.
The explosion threw both Pokémon backward. They crashed into the Trainer platforms hard enough to crack them.
Reiji had Umbreon's protection, so the blast did not reach him. The referee and Ejiro also had their Pokémon shielding them.
The audience was not so lucky.
The shockwave swept across the stands. Hats flew, drinks burst open, bags and snacks went everywhere, and half the crowd had to grab onto something just to stay upright.
The giant screen flickered black for a moment, then came back on.
After the lessons from the Indigo Plateau Conference, it looked like the organizers had finally learned to reinforce the arena equipment.
The Trainer platforms had not been so lucky. Once the cracks spread, both platforms broke apart and collapsed.
Reiji's side fell. Ejiro's side fell too.
Ejiro jumped down the moment his platform started shaking, avoiding the collapse.
Rhydon pushed itself out of the concrete rubble. The thick Rock Armor was still there, but it was full of holes. Even so, the explosion had not punched all the way through it.
Reiji looked more closely and realized why.
Rhydon had thickened the armor before the clash. It had been wearing the equivalent of three layers, which explained why every step had shaken the ground. The thing had been absurdly heavy.
Once it stood up, Rhydon melted the broken concrete around the platform and pulled on a fresh layer of black Rock Armor.
This time, its steps no longer shook the ground. It must have reduced the weight. After that last burst and the three-layer armor, it probably did not have the stamina to carry something that heavy again.
Even being able to put on another layer at all was already impressive.
Electivire had it worse.
Rhydon finished preparing and roared into the dust cloud. The force of its voice blew the smoke open, revealing Electivire on the ground.
Rhydon saw Electivire lying there. Electivire saw Rhydon looking at it, gritted its teeth, and forced itself back up.
Its body showed no obvious burns. There was not even much blackening.
"Protect?" Reiji narrowed his eyes.
He had come from Kinnow Island. Of course he understood what had happened. These people must have studied the explosion principle too, and using Protect to soften the blast was an obvious answer.
Even so, Electivire looked like it had taken the heavier hit. Its back had no cushion when it crashed into the platform, and it had brought the whole thing down with it.
There was another reason too.
Rhydon's burst had been all-out. Electivire had needed to hold enough stamina back for Protect. Without energy to maintain it, there was no way it could have blocked that explosion.
The ice field had now been destroyed for the third time.
This time, the explosion had evaporated all the ice. Not even water was left behind.
Rhydon jumped down into the empty bottom of the pool and crooked a finger at Electivire.
The challenge was obvious.
Come on, if you dare.
Electivire had never been the type to scare easily. Its career had never included the word surrender. It jumped down after Rhydon.
Reiji and Ejiro moved around the collapsed platforms and stood at the edge of the pool to continue giving orders.
"Electivire, Giga Impact!"
"Rhydon, we'll use Giga Impact too!"
Giga Impact was a Normal-type physical move with 150 power.
This was the last exchange. The deciding blow.
Whoever stayed standing won.
Electivire's right arm hung at its side. That last punch had clearly left it unusable for the moment.
Then blinding electricity erupted from its body. Thunder cracked around it as it charged toward Rhydon, using the current to stimulate its muscles and force out more speed.
Rhydon slammed its fists together and watched Electivire with open approval.
It had accepted this opponent.
Rhydon slammed its fists together, watching Electivire with clear approval. Then it stomped down, orange aura flaring around its body. The steel floor buckled under its foot, and Rhydon launched itself forward with everything it had.
"Damn it," Ejiro said.
The burst from Rhydon was clearly stronger than the lightning around Electivire. It was too late to stop the collision now.
Reiji's eyes narrowed. That was High Horsepower mixed in. No wonder the steel floor buckled.
He did not get time to think any further.
The two Pokémon met in the center of the pool, and a blinding flash exploded outward.
The shockwave blasted up from the bottom and threw Reiji, Ejiro, and the referee off their feet.
All three nearly slammed into the wall. Their Pokémon protected them in time, or the impact might have left them with internal injuries.
Before any of them could steady themselves, the entire battlefield began shaking violently. The crowd lurched in every direction as if the stadium had been hit by an earthquake.
The tremor spread all the way to the other three arenas. Even in the main venue of Pummelo Stadium, everyone stopped what they were doing—including the Trainers in the middle of their own battles.
There was one kind of person the shaking could not scare off.
The camera crew.
One cameraman was already rushing toward the smoking crater with his camera on his shoulder, desperate to broadcast the result first.
Who had won?
The people in the arena and the viewers in front of their televisions all held their breath. No one wanted to miss the answer. No one wanted even their own voice to get in the way.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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