"The Dynamax Anjanath is so big! Even bigger than the Legiana!"
"So oppressive..."
"It's like watching a blockbuster movie! I can never get enough!"
The audience was once again stunned by the sheer scale of Zhang's monster.
"Anjanath, Max Lightning! Defeat it with all your might!" Zhang commanded.
"Mawile, Play Rough!" Valerie countered.
"Roar!" The electric membranes on the Anjanath's body flared, and terrifying energy began to gather. A large dark cloud formed over the Mawile's head, and several huge thunderbolts, as thick as iron towers, crashed down.
The tiny Mawile looked up at the massive bolts, like a mosquito facing an electric swatter. But its expression did not change. It raised its right hand and punched out.
RUMBLE!
The moment its small fist collided with the lightning, two terrifying pink rays of light erupted, instantly crushing the thunderbolts and shattering the dark clouds. The sight of the tiny Mawile shattering the massive attack created a powerful, shocking contrast, like an ant felling an elephant.
"Play Rough!" Zhang's brow furrowed. He was reminded of Bella's Mega Swampert and its "Focus Punch Air Spiral." Normally, with Mawile's attack power, it should be impossible to block my Anjanath's attack, he thought. It seems this "Play Rough" is a special technique, far more powerful than the normal skill.
"Valerie is much stronger than expected. But my time as a trainer has been too short. If I had been training Pokémon since I was a child, like them, or for decades, like the old masters, my Pokémon would surely be able to use special techniques like this as well. This is my weakness. I must double my training to make up for it."
But even if I have this weakness, he thought, my powerful monsters can offset it with their raw power.
"This Mawile is very troublesome. In that case, I'll do something too!" Zhang's eyes narrowed, and a terrifying, murderous aura erupted from his body, rolling towards Valerie and her Mawile like a physical wave. If Bella's aura was a tsunami, and Shilong's was a great mountain, then Zhang's was a sea of killing intent, making one feel as if they were being pricked by a thousand swords, about to die at any second.
RUMBLE!
The Mawile was only slightly affected, bending for a moment before returning to normal. But Valerie, an ordinary person without her own cultivated aura, was crushed. She fell to one knee, her body trembling, unable to move.
"I can't move... Is this the aura of a champion?" she thought, a cold sweat breaking out on her skin.
The audience was stunned.
"He has an aura! That's impossible! Isn't that something only a champion-level trainer can have?"
"Awesome! No wonder Professor Oak said he would become a legend! He has mastered an aura already!"
"Roar!" The Anjanath strode forward, each step shaking the ground and creating a huge crater. It began to charge another Max Lightning. The Mawile, seeing both the approaching behemoth and the gathering thunderclouds, was torn. It finally chose to raise its hand and punch the sky again with another Play Rough.
"Stand up! Stand up!" Valerie screamed in her mind. "Mawile is still fighting! I can't let it fight alone! I am its partner!" She gritted her teeth, trying to force herself to her feet.
RUMBLE!
The lightning bolt crashed down. This time, it was even more powerful, boosted by the Electric Terrain that had been set by the previous attack. The pink rays of light from Mawile's Play Rough were shattered, and the pillar of lightning engulfed the small Pokémon. Even with its high defense after Mega Evolving, Mawile's HP was still very low, and it was seriously injured. It collapsed to one knee, black smoke rising from its body, mirroring the posture of its trainer behind it.
"Stand up!" Valerie roared, and the keystone in her hand glowed with a dazzling light. With a surge of energy, she forced herself to her feet, her legs still trembling. Is Mawile helping me? she wondered.
The power of bonds, Zhang thought, his brow furrowed. I always feel like I'm the villain, and my opponent is the protagonist who is about to make a comeback with the power of friendship.
He recalled a passage from a book: "Pokémon are special creatures that can use the power of emotions." This was why they could make miraculous comebacks in desperate situations. It was like Ash from the anime shouting "Hurry up! Stand up!" and his Pokémon would suddenly find new strength.
"Extreme emotions can bring great power. I think that's one of the reasons why the great trainers are so powerful," Zhang mused. This is another of my shortcomings. The time I've spent with my monsters has been too short. It will take at least a year or two for us to form such a deep bond. My growth has been too fast, and my foundation is somewhat inadequate. Of all his Pokémon, only his Pidgeot, who had been with him for over two years, could draw on this kind of power.
"Wooo!" A terrifying force erupted from the Mawile. It was the power of its bond, the power of emotion. It was this power that allowed it to stand up again.
"This little girl is good," Iris thought, a trace of appreciation in her eyes. The power of emotion was something that usually only champions could master.
"Mawile, stand up! Use Metal Burst!" Valerie roared.
"Anjanath, Max Guard!" Zhang commanded.
"Whoosh!" Pieces of metal appeared around the Mawile and shot towards the Anjanath like a rain of arrows. Metal Burst was similar to Counter, but instead of returning double the damage, it returned 1.5 times the damage. Empowered by the force of its bond, the attack was now terrifyingly strong. If the Anjanath was hit, it would likely be knocked out, even in its Dynamaxed state.
The Anjanath opened its mouth, and a translucent barrier rose around it. The metal fragments rained down on the Max Guard, unable to break through.
After its desperate outbreak, the Mawile collapsed, reverting to its normal form as it fell into a coma. The power of emotions was strong, but it was not invincible. It was a one-time burst, an extra blue bar, a final drop of blood.
"Mawile is unable to battle! Anjanath wins!" Iris announced. "Please recall your Pokémon within 30 seconds."
"Mawile, you worked hard," Valerie said, her voice filled with distress as she recalled her Pokémon.
"Anjanath, come back," Zhang said, also recalling his monster. "Miss Valerie, you are very powerful. I have read that only champions can master the power of emotions. I didn't expect you to be able to use it. You scared me," he said with a smile.
"How can I be so powerful?" she replied, shaking her head. "It was only because your aura was so oppressive. It was by chance that Mawile and I were able to tap into that power. In the past, we could never do it. To be honest, I should thank you. You gave us enough pressure to break through."
"You're welcome. I seem to have gotten the villain's script this time," Zhang said with a helpless, self-deprecating smile.
"You really are humorous, Zhang Tian," Valerie smiled, then looked at him with complicated eyes. "You are truly powerful, worthy of being a future legend. You give me a feeling of invincibility. Even when I tried my best, with all my tricks, I still couldn't match you."
"Alright, you two," Iris interrupted. "The small talk is over. I'm starting the countdown."
In the live chat, the discussion was heated.
"What a wonderful battle! Miss Valerie mastered the power of emotion!"
"Unfortunately, Zhang Tian is too stable and too strong."
"Even with all her calculations, she still couldn't win. The gap between them is too big."
"He's truly invincible. The better Miss Valerie performed, the more it set off Zhang Tian's terrifying power. I'm starting to believe he can become a legend."
"To be honest, I've only ever felt this kind of invincibility from Red."
"Professor Oak," the host Xiaolan asked, "how big is the gap between Miss Valerie and Zhang Tian?"
"The difference between heaven and earth," the professor replied after a moment's thought. "An insurmountable gap. That Anjanath has not yet shown its true strength. Its ability, Rage Blood, only triggers when it is seriously injured. Miss Valerie is an excellent trainer. Because of her psychic abilities, she had the tactical advantage, gaining a +1 attack boost for her Mawile while giving the Anjanath a -1 debuff. But even so, she was no match. It's not that she isn't excellent, but Zhang Tian is beyond common sense, just like Red."