The referee walked over to investigate. Charizard twitched slightly, then became still.
It had officially lost its ability to battle.
"Charizard is unable to battle. Heracross wins," the referee announced.
Hearing the verdict, Keita stood in disbelief. Charizard had lost that quickly? It felt surreal. Heracross had only used two offensive moves to take Charizard down.
Between one Megahorn and one Hidden Power, when had Charizard become so fragile?
Eichi smiled as he watched Keita's expression of total denial. Keita surely doesn't want to believe his Pokémon was floored in just two hits, he thought.
However, facts were facts. Heracross's Megahorn had stripped away three-quarters of Charizard's health in one go. Following up with a fully charged Hidden Power—which was super effective—was more than enough to finish it off.
Keita looked at the crowd. They were buzzing with excitement, and he felt their gazes were filled with nothing but contempt.
Specifically, the eyes of those top-ten second-year students made him extremely uncomfortable. It was as if they were saying, We never imagined you'd be this pathetic.
Down in the stands, Tetsu remarked, "That Charizard was way too weak. It went down so fast."
"It's not that the Charizard was weak, it's that Heracross is too strong," Sato corrected. "Even if my Charizard fought that Heracross, it would be a bitter struggle."
With a dark expression, Keita recalled Charizard and pulled out his second Poké Ball.
"Go, Gliscor!"
A purple figure materialized in front of Eichi.
It was Gliscor—the same one that had been one-shotted by Beedrill during the practical exam in Viridian City. As soon as it appeared, it spotted Eichi and recognized its old enemy.
Today was finally its chance for revenge. It glared fiercely at the Heracross standing before it.
Eichi found it a bit strange. Using his ace, Gliscor, this early?
He activated his Eye of the Bug Emperor. Compared to last time, Gliscor had also entered the Elite rank, sitting at roughly Level 43.
While its level was technically higher than Heracross's, Eichi doubted it would make much of a difference.
"Why is Keita using his ace so soon?" one of the top-ten second-years asked his companion. No one answered; they all found the move peculiar.
Meanwhile, in the office of Director Yanagi in the Combat Department's Building No. 2, the Vice Principal was having tea with the Director.
This time, the Vice Principal was the one brewing. They sat in silence as Director Yanagi watched him work. The Vice Principal's movements were as fluid as running water, a clear sign of someone who had immersed himself in the art of tea for decades.
After three minutes, the Vice Principal lifted the teapot and filled the small cups. As the rich, aromatic tea poured out, Director Yanagi took a deep breath.
He lifted his cup, took a sip, and closed his eyes to savor the flavor.
"Mmh, excellent tea. Not just the leaves, but your skill is remarkable, Vice Principal," Director Yanagi praised.
He then asked, "Are you aware that Keita went to challenge Eichi?"
"I am," the Vice Principal replied after a sip.
"Aren't you worried?" Director Yanagi inquired.
The Vice Principal remained expressionless. "His family spoils him too much. It's time he learned a few lessons. Otherwise, he'll never amount to anything."
Back on the field, the referee saw both sides were ready and announced, "Gliscor versus Heracross. Continue!"
"Gliscor, use Quick Attack!" Keita commanded.
Gliscor's yellow eyes locked onto Heracross. It spread its wings and lunged. Flying low in a straight line, its pincers shimmered with a metallic glint, ready for action.
It was incredibly fast, reaching Heracross in the blink of an eye.
"Heracross, Bullet Seed!"
Heracross stood its ground. It didn't move an inch, simply opening its mouth to unleash a barrage at the incoming Gliscor.
Countless black seeds formed and fired from its mouth. The sound was like a rapid-fire machine gun—rat-tat-tat! Seeing the dense wall of seeds, Gliscor swerved violently to dodge.
Keita's previous performance might have looked miserable, but that was only because he was facing Eichi.
Against anyone else, he would be a formidable opponent. As his strongest Pokémon, Gliscor had been raised quite well. Every time a seed was about to hit, it managed to bank away at the last second.
Ultimately, out of the dense barrage, only a few seeds clipped Gliscor, causing negligible damage. Having evaded the attack, Gliscor seized the moment to strike back.
The distance between them was now very small. Gliscor opened its jaws wide.
"Gliscor, Fire Fang!"
Gliscor's fangs glowed with a white light before erupting into orange-red flames.
"Heracross, Brick Break!"
Gliscor was fast and exceptionally agile. In an instant, it circled behind Heracross, jaws open and fangs ready to sink in.
However, Heracross acted as if it had eyes in the back of its head. At the very moment Gliscor lunged for the bite, Heracross spun around violently. The momentum of the turn added power to its arm as it slammed its limb into Gliscor's face.
The blow landed like a massive slap. Gliscor's face distorted upon impact, twisting its features.
Gliscor was sent flying, crashing into a large boulder on the field.
Bang!
The impact left a crater in the rock and kicked up a cloud of dust. Gliscor quickly flew back out, and the crowd saw that the right side of its face was severely swollen and bright red.
"For a second, I thought Heracross was going to get hit," Tetsu said with a lingering sense of dread. "But Heracross is just too strong. It reacted in a split second. How did it know Gliscor was behind it?"
"That takes an incredible amount of time to train," Sato said, his voice filled with admiration. "There's a specific machine in the training room just for that."
Gliscor, having been slapped in the face, began to snarl at Heracross. Its face was throbbing with pain. Keita was fuming; Eichi was proving too difficult to fight, appearing almost entirely without weaknesses.
"Gliscor, Sandstorm!"
Facing such a difficult situation, Keita stopped his head-on assault and began to take tactical measures. Gliscor's eyes glowed orange-red, and a veil of dust rose from the flat ground.
The sand rapidly spread, violently engulfing the entire arena. The air became blurred, filled with flying grit.
"Gliscor, Guillotine!"