"Electivire, ThunderPunch!" Paul opened with an immediate offensive. Electivire's fists wrapped in golden lightning, and it stomped forward toward Dusknoir. The ground beneath Electivire trembled slightly, its massive body erupting with speed disproportionate to its size, instantly closing the distance.
"Dusknoir, dodge, then Shadow Punch." Brandon's voice was calm and steady as usual, as if he didn't take Electivire's attack seriously.
Dusknoir's body instantly became illusory the moment Electivire's fists landed. The ThunderPunch pierced through the shadow and struck air. A second later, Dusknoir's enormous fist, condensed with dark energy, solidly struck Electivire's abdomen.
But Electivire, relying on its excellent reaction speed, unleashed a second ThunderPunch on the counter.
Both attacks landed. Electivire was knocked back several steps by the Shadow Punch, but didn't suffer too much damage. Dusknoir was also hit by the ThunderPunch. In terms of offensive power, Electivire was slightly stronger, but in terms of defensive power, Dusknoir far surpassed Electivire. Overall, Electivire still came out slightly worse.
"Electivire, Thunderbolt!" Paul frowned, realizing that close combat wouldn't give him the advantage, and immediately changed strategy. Yellow electrical currents surged wildly from Electivire's body, transforming into streaks of lightning that struck Dusknoir. The entire battle arena was illuminated by lightning, and the air was filled with a burning charge.
"Dusknoir, Protect." A pale blue shield condensed in front of Dusknoir. The Thunderbolt struck it, causing ripples, yet was unable to break through the defense. When the lightning dissipated, Dusknoir showed no signs of damage.
Brandon nodded slightly, making a preliminary assessment of the challenger's command ability. Decisive attacks, quick reactions, indeed a gifted Trainer. Unfortunately, relying solely on these qualities was far from enough.
"Dusknoir, Trick Room."
Brandon finally began to reveal his fangs.
A gloomy light flickered in Dusknoir's single eye, and a strange energy diffused from within its body. Paul's expression darkened, and he instantly ordered, "Stop it! Thunder!"
Electivire clenched its fists, suddenly slamming them into the ground. Its two hard, tail-like appendages plunged into the earth, and violent lightning surged from its body. Under the materialized lightning, the entire arena began to crack. Shattered rocks and debris surged toward Dusknoir along with the energy of the strike.
Dusknoir neither dodged nor evaded, enduring the attack head-on. Terrifying lightning flashed across its body, and the rocks struck it, inflicting considerable damage.
However, the energy released from its body spread across the arena. At that moment, space seemed to distort. Visible ripples appeared in the air. The originally vast arena gave off an indescribable sense of unease.
"This is bad." Ash's expression changed in the stands. He had witnessed the power of Trick Room before. Creating a special field within a space, during which slower Pokémon would attack before faster ones.
Even he had suffered from it. If it weren't for Gardevoir's relatively unique ability to directly shatter the Trick Room, that battle would have been genuinely difficult to win.
Right now, Trick Room was simply a disaster for a speed-based Pokémon like Electivire.
"Electivire, quick finish, Wild Charge!" Paul, clearly aware of the danger, immediately ordered the launch of his strongest offensive.
Electivire's entire body erupted with a violent surge of electricity, transforming into a golden lightning bolt, hurtling toward Dusknoir. If this attack landed, even Dusknoir's defenses might not be able to withstand it.
"Dusknoir, Shadow Punch." Brandon commanded calmly.
Under the effect of Trick Room, although Dusknoir wasn't fast, it could now strike first. Its massive fist surged with dark energy, and the moment Electivire charged, it precisely struck Electivire's body. Its figure vanished again, and a second later, it reappeared behind Electivire, its pitch-black fist fiercely striking the beast's back.
The dark power exploded, and Electivire was sent flying backward, tumbling several times on the ground before finally coming to a stop.
This scene made Paul's expression turn ugly. In a normal situation, even if Wild Charge's opening rush was dodged, Electivire could still counterattack with its excellent speed and reaction ability. But now, under Trick Room, Electivire's overwhelming speed had become a liability.
Two consecutive attacks had already inflicted considerable damage, and with Trick Room still active, continuing like this was a losing play.
"Electivire, return." Paul quickly took out a Poké Ball and recalled Electivire, simultaneously pulling another Poké Ball from his belt. He wasn't the kind of Trainer who would fight to the death in a disadvantageous situation.
As long as Trick Room remained, Electivire was a living target. Rather than letting his ace get worn down for nothing, it was better to recall it and preserve its strength. The other reason for the swift recall was that he feared Brandon would use Mean Look. If that happened, Electivire would be completely trapped and wasted.
"Torterra!" A flash of light, and a gigantic tortoise covered in earth and greenery appeared on the field.
On the battlefield, a thick, heavy shell sprouted from its back, its limbs strong and sturdy like pillars, its entire body exuding a stable, mountain-like aura. Torterra, a High Elite Four Pokémon. Although both Electivire and Torterra were Paul's Pokémon, Torterra's strength was a notch higher.
Back then, Electivire hadn't yet reached Elite Four level, but Torterra was already there. Although Electivire's talent was terrifying, as Paul's Pokémon, Torterra's talent wasn't something to be taken lightly either. Currently, Torterra remained the strongest Pokémon in Paul's possession.
"Torterra, Earthquake!" Paul initiated the attack first. Torterra raised its front leg and stomped heavily on the ground.
The entire battle arena shook violently, cracks spreading from beneath Torterra's feet in all directions. The seismic wave, carrying destructive power, surged toward Dusknoir.
"Dusknoir, hover." Brandon said calmly.
Dusknoir's body floated upward, hanging just above the ground. The seismic wave passed beneath it without causing any damage whatsoever.
"As expected." Paul didn't even think twice. How could a powerful Trainer of this caliber, with so many years of experience, not have a defense against Ground-type moves?
"Torterra, Razor Leaf!"
"Dusknoir, Ice Punch!"
The two commands were issued almost simultaneously. Torterra raised its head and fired dozens of sharp leaves, while Dusknoir's right fist condensed with ice, directly closing in on Torterra. The Ice Punch landed firmly on Torterra's exoskeleton.
The Ice-type attack, a four-times-effective hit against the dual-type Grass/Ground Torterra, drew out a low roar. Its shell instantly frosted over, its limbs stiffening considerably. Even though its level was higher than Dusknoir's, the quadruple weakness was still brutal. Torterra, at full power, was nearly knocked down by a single Ice Punch.
But the Razor Leaf also struck Dusknoir, tearing several gashes across its body, causing its movements to suddenly falter.
"Now, Torterra, Giga Drain!" Seizing Dusknoir's momentary pause, Paul immediately counterattacked.
A bluish-green light erupted from the small tree on Torterra's back, several energy beams shooting toward Dusknoir and hitting their mark.
Dusknoir let out a wrenching scream of pain, its energy being ripped out from within, continuously flowing into Torterra's body. This attack not only inflicted considerable damage but also restored more than half of Torterra's previously lost stamina.
"Well done!" Paul clenched his fist. Torterra's stamina was back to near-full strength. "Now, Torterra, Frenzy Plant!"
Only with abundant stamina could he unleash the ultimate move, Frenzy Plant. This move would decide the round.
A green light burst forth from the cracks in the ground, and several thick, arm-sized vines suddenly erupted from beneath Dusknoir's feet. The hardened vines, moving at lightning speed, wrapped tightly around Dusknoir's body, squeezing it fiercely in mid-air.
No matter how much Dusknoir struggled, even when punching the vines with its fists, the iron-hard shells remained unmoved, instead tightening further with each struggle. The raging Grass-type energy continuously eroded Dusknoir's body.
A glint of admiration flashed in Brandon's eyes. He knew that he had lost this first battle.
Dusknoir let out one last mournful wail. The light in its single eye rapidly dimmed, its massive body slumped limply, and the hardened vines slammed it violently onto the ground, creating a crater in the already shattered floor.
"Dusknoir has lost its fighting ability. Torterra wins!" After the referee determined Dusknoir's condition, he waved the flag and declared the round over.
The first battle went to Paul, and he had taken it first. Something no one had expected, including Ash. Although Brandon hadn't shown his true strength, Paul being able to take down one of Brandon's Pokémon first was an extremely rare occurrence. If Brandon's next Pokémon was also of this caliber, then Paul might actually win.
"Well done, young man." Brandon praised Paul, then recalled Dusknoir. "Well done, Dusknoir." Although Dusknoir was defeated, it had also severely weakened two of Paul's Pokémon. Electivire had about half its stamina left, and as for Torterra, even though Giga Drain had restored some stamina, the quadruple-effective Ice Punch wasn't something Giga Drain could fully undo. Although Brandon had already lost one Pokémon, it was still uncertain who would prevail.
"Next, how will you deal with this?" Brandon said, taking out a Poké Ball and throwing it out.
A flash of light, and a Pokémon made entirely of ice appeared on the field. It had an ordinary prism-like appearance, radiating bone-chilling cold. Like a pillar of ice.
"Regice." Brandon spoke each word clearly.
Paul's expression became extremely serious, but at the same time, his eyes held a hint of excitement. Regice. This was undoubtedly one of Brandon's main Pokémon, even one of his trump cards. To encounter it on only the second round showed that Brandon was already paying close attention to him, which, for a Trainer, was the best possible sign of respect.
Of course, this was also a challenge that was almost impossible to overcome. This Regice was not just a simple Legendary Pokémon. The aura it emitted was completely different from Dusknoir's. Its power level absolutely overwhelmed the previous Ghost-type, existing on an entirely different plane. Legendary Pokémon, on top of their own level, wanting to surpass. This would surely be another extremely difficult battle.
Taking a deep breath, Paul immediately recalled Torterra. Ice-type Pokémon had a quadruple advantage over Torterra, and the opponent was a Legendary Pokémon. Even at his most confident, Paul would never allow Torterra to remain on the field. And Paul's personality wasn't reckless at all. Facing a powerful Pokémon, he was nothing but cautious.
"Magmortar, battle stance!" A flash of light, and a crimson, cannon-armed Pokémon appeared on the field. Facing an Ice-type Pokémon, even a Legendary Regice, Paul still chose the conventional type advantage to counter it.
Even a Legendary Pokémon couldn't violate the principle of type effectiveness. Furthermore, Magmortar was also one of the strongest on Paul's roster besides Electivire and Torterra. However, Ash still couldn't help but shake his head at this.
"What's wrong, Ash? Is there a problem with Paul sending out Magmortar?" Seeing Ash shake his head, Brock couldn't help but ask curiously. From his perspective, sending Magmortar to replace Torterra was absolutely the right call.
"The type advantage isn't actually the problem. It's just, the gap in power between the two is really too big. Type advantage alone can't compensate for a gap this wide." Ash could only roughly guess Regice's power level, but in reality, Regice's strength was far greater than Paul had anticipated. The situation Paul was facing now was more serious than he imagined.
"The power gap is too great? Is that Regice at Champion level?" Misty blinked and speculated.
"Champion, High."
Misty, Brock, and Serena: !!!
Champion High. This was a world of difference from Champion Beginner. Even Magmortar, which had only been Low Elie Four level at the Indigo Conference and now only reached Elite Four Peak, how was it supposed to fight a Champion High Legendary? No wonder Ash said the gap was too great. This was genuinely bad.
"Ash, how many chances do you think Paul has of winning?" Serena asked curiously.
"Uh, 30/70," Ash replied after a moment of thought.
"30/70? Is it really that high?" This answer was beyond what Brock expected. He felt Paul didn't even have a 10% chance of winning, and yet Ash's assessment was this generous?
"You misunderstood. I meant Regice takes Paul down in 7, Paul takes down 3. Out of 10 scenarios."
Misty and the others: ...