The thunderous rumble echoed across the battlefield as Donphan's rolling charge shattered the Light Screen in an instant.
The next moment, Mr. Mime was struck head-on and sent flying.
"Now! Donphan, Hyper Beam!"
The moment Donphan heard Aiden Flint's command, its rolling form snapped back into shape midair.
Blazing orange energy gathered rapidly in its mouth, condensing into a violent beam.
Boom!
A brilliant orange Hyper Beam blasted forward, slamming into the airborne Mr. Mime.
The explosion roared across the arena, and Mr. Mime was blasted even farther—straight out of the battlefield.
When it hit the ground, its stamina was already at the limit. Without extraordinary willpower, it wouldn't even be able to stand.
Truth be told, Donphan had joined Aiden relatively late.
Compared to Charizard and Infernape, it wasn't as obsessed with training, so its strength naturally lagged behind.
Even now, Donphan was only level 44.
Among all of Aiden's Pokémon, it was arguably the weakest—despite being a shiny Pokémon.
"Mr. Mime, don't give up! Use Psychic!"
"Donphan, Rollout again! Break free from its psychic restraint!"
Mr. Mime poured everything it had left into its psychic power, and Donphan immediately felt its movements being restricted.
But Mr. Mime was already heavily injured—its psychic power was far from its peak.
In that state, Donphan had no intention of being suppressed.
With a powerful roar, Rollout activated once again.
Even though its speed was slightly hindered by psychic force, it still charged forward with unstoppable momentum!
Its massive tusks pierced straight into Mr. Mime's abdomen.
Under that crushing impact, Mr. Mime completely lost its ability to fight.
"Ding! Donphan has defeated Mr. Mime and gained 685 experience points. Level increased. Current level: Lv.45!"
With that, all three of Xiao Ao's Psychic-type Pokémon had fallen.
"Mr. Mime has lost the ability to battle! Donphan wins! Since all three of Xiao Ao's Pokémon have been defeated, the winner advancing to the top thirty-two is—Aiden Flint!"
As the referee's voice rang out, Aiden's portrait appeared on the giant screen, with a bold "WIN" displayed beside it.
In that instant, the entire stadium erupted into cheers.
…
"Ohhh! My fighting spirit is burning up! I really want to battle Aiden in a full team match right now! Pikachu, this time I'm definitely going to win!"
Hearing Ash's shout, Pikachu clenched its tiny fists, sparks crackling faintly.
Masamune snorted in response.
"The one who's going to beat Aiden is me!"
"No, it's me!"
"It's me!"
"It's me!"
…
On the other side, Tyson and Tetsuya also clenched their fists.
They knew Aiden better than most.
Among the Pokémon he had shown so far, only Gardevoir truly felt like one of his core partners.
The others were mostly the starter Pokémon he had obtained in the Scientist Town.
Yet in less than two months, those starters had already grown to such terrifying strength.
If that was the case, then Aiden's true main team might already include Pokémon at Champion-tier levels.
Not to mention… Rayquaza.
With someone like that in the tournament, the pressure on everyone else was unimaginable.
Still, their eyes burned with determination.
"No matter how strong he is, our growth won't stop either. Aiden Flint… this time, we won't lose so easily."
Only Paul remained silent.
He cast a deep glance at Aiden's departing figure before turning away without a word.
No one knew what he was thinking.
After defeating Xiao Ao, Aiden officially entered the top thirty-two.
The next day, the matchups for the round of thirty-two were announced.
Aiden's next opponent was Hu You—a semifinalist from last year's Hoenn League, a trainer who had narrowly missed third place and possessed formidable strength.
His ace Pokémon was Swampert.
And according to the bracket, if Masamune won his match, then in the full team battle of the round of sixteen, Aiden's next opponent would be him.
That was unexpected.
Originally, everyone thought Ash and Masamune would face each other again.
But this time, Masamune's path led straight to Aiden.
Inside the Pokémon Center, everyone studied their brackets.
If everything went smoothly, Ash and Paul would meet in the round of sixteen.
"Aiden, I'll definitely beat my opponent. When we meet in the full team battle, I'll be the one to defeat you. So don't lose before that!"
Hearing Masamune's challenge, Aiden smiled calmly.
"Alright. Then we'll meet on the battlefield."
Seeing that Masamune might get the chance to face Aiden, Ash became excited too.
"Seriously, Masamune got to him first!"
"Hahaha! Ash, I'll definitely beat Aiden!"
Ash waved his fist.
"Fine! But before that, I'll take down that arrogant Paul! And you'd better not lose to Aiden. Though honestly, I think Aiden has the bigger chance of winning!"
"Hey! What are you saying? I'm not going to lose!"
A day later, Masamune's match began.
In a three-on-three battle, after losing Girafarig and Gliscor, he ultimately won with Growlithe, advancing into the top sixteen.
After the match, he used a Fire Stone to evolve Growlithe into Arcanine, boosting his strength even further—all in preparation for a future battle against Aiden.
And soon after, it was Aiden's turn.
When he stepped onto the battlefield again and saw his opponent—a man in his thirties from Mossdeep City—Hu You, Aiden's eyes lit up with fighting intent.
"Last year's semifinalist, huh? Interesting. Let me see how strong you really are."
Hu You laughed heartily in response.
"Kid, you're strong—but you're still far from matching me."
"Next up is the Hoenn League Ever Grande Conference, the battle for advancement into the top sixteen!"
"The competitors are Aiden Flint from Littleroot Town and Hu You from Mossdeep City! Although Aiden Flint has shown overwhelming strength, his opponent is last year's semifinalist—a trainer with formidable power!"
"So who will emerge victorious today? Let's find out!"
…
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