Chapter 389: Congratulations to the New Kanto Champion: Giovanni!
The whole stadium was stunned!
It was just too outrageous. A Mega Beedrill had crushed a Dragonite effortlessly, without breaking a sweat.
And not just any Dragonite: Kanto Champion Lance's Dragonite!
"Bro, what?"
"Is that really a Beedrill? Beedrill can be this strong?"
"Bug Catchers rejoice!!"
"So THIS is what my Beedrill is capable of! I've seen the light!"
"Oh, okay, so that's how we're playing it? I'm going out to catch a Weedle right now."
Without a doubt, everyone in the stadium and everyone watching the livestream was stunned.
A Beedrill beating a Dragonite that decisively was simply too much of a visual shock.
"This..."
Caitlin had told them Giovanni's Beedrill was different, but seeing it with their own eyes still left Platinum and Serena stunned.
"That Beedrill is way too strong~!"
In the end, all Platinum could do was say it with heartfelt awe.
"Yep. But let me just say: don't try this at home." Mammon shrugged.
Come to think of it, once today's Champion Challenge was over, Giovanni's Mega Beedrill and its dominant showing would probably set off a Beedrill craze.
Dragonite was strong, but Dragonite was rare.
Beedrill, though? In Kanto, you could catch one in basically any forest.
But was Beedrill the strong one? No. Giovanni's Beedrill was.
On the field.
"Champion Lance, what do you think?" Giovanni asked with a smile.
Lance said nothing. He studied Mega Beedrill for a moment, then threw his fifth Pokémon.
"Aerodactyl!"
With a roar, the fossil Pokémon from ancient times spread its wings and soared.
Aerodactyl!
"Oh? Aerodactyl? Then your last must be your ace Dragonite. I thought you'd use that Legendary you summoned, Champion Lance."
Giovanni raised an eyebrow. He knew perfectly well that Lance had obtained that great Legendary bird.
Giovanni hadn't attended the summoning ritual on Sooryu Island, but he'd heard all about it.
"That doesn't count as my Pokémon."
Lance replied flatly.
The answer didn't surprise Giovanni in the least. Lance's faith in dragons was absolute, and his personality was as proud as a dragon's.
He did have control over that Legendary, but it was control borrowed from an outside power.
Lance didn't consider it his Pokémon, so of course he wouldn't use it against Giovanni in a Champion Challenge.
That would be completely unfair.
"Heh heh heh~" Giovanni laughed low.
Foolish. But truly admirable.
That was Giovanni's private verdict on Lance. Honestly, he had never liked Lance.
As far as Giovanni was concerned, Lance was a rabid dog, sick and extreme.
But meeting him now in a different role gave Giovanni a very different impression. This guy...
The battle continued.
Lance's Aerodactyl was powerful, extremely fast, and vicious.
But Mega Beedrill was faster!
Mega Evolution had greatly boosted Mega Beedrill's Speed and Attack. Its body was still fragile,
but you had to be able to hit it first, didn't you?
Using its superior speed, Mega Beedrill quickly landed a Brick Break on Aerodactyl, then hounded it relentlessly with Pursuit until it defeated Aerodactyl as well.
"Aerodactyl is unable to battle! Mega Beedrill wins!"
At the referee's announcement, the whole stadium erupted in excitement.
With Aerodactyl down, Lance had only one Pokémon left.
He'd been driven to the brink!
Mega Beedrill, having taken two in a row, hovered quietly in front of Giovanni, its four lance-stingers slightly raised, its calm, cold eyes fixed on Lance.
Lorelei, Agatha, Steven, Rose, and so many more.
Every one of them was watching this moment!
The eyes of the world were on it, no exaggeration.
All of them desperately wanted to know: could the Dragon Master Lance defeat this off-the-charts Beedrill?
Could he win?!
Pressure, pounding hearts, exhilaration!
Lance looked at Giovanni and Mega Beedrill across from him, and the corners of his mouth slowly, involuntarily spread.
How long had it been?
Lance couldn't even count anymore. Since reaching the top in Kanto, how long had it been since he'd been pushed to his limit like this?
His heart was pounding, and his breathing grew heavy.
An opponent like this! A battle like this! THIS is what I wanted!!
How could a trainer standing at the summit not love a fight? How could he not crave a battle worth staking everything on?
And now, he was standing at the edge of the cliff.
The adrenaline-fueled thrill was gradually twisting Lance's face out of his control.
"Heh heh~ Heh heh heh ha ha ha ha~"
The next moment, Lance threw back his head and laughed, his blood-red hair flying, his wild laughter echoing.
"DRAGONITE!!"
He threw his last Poké Ball.
In a flash of white light, a Dragonite with a deep, heavy presence and a dark, brooding expression landed hard in front of Lance.
This was Lance's starter, his greatest pillar of strength, undefeated across the Kanto region!
Giovanni narrowed his eyes slightly, sizing up this Dragonite.
"Giovanni!"
Lance's grin stretched so wide it looked almost savage.
"Come on! Let me see whether your bug can beat my dragon!"
"As you wish." Giovanni's lips curved upward.
Fight!
There was nothing more to say.
"Poison Jab!"
"Extreme Speed!"
Mega Beedrill's twin stingers lit up with dark-purple poison as it beat its wings and shot toward Dragonite.
But Lance's ace Dragonite was faster!
White light flashed behind it, and the cold, brooding Dragonite burst forward in an instant: the priority move Extreme Speed.
In what was practically the blink of an eye, Dragonite was right in front of Mega Beedrill.
But Mega Beedrill's reflexes were blindingly fast, and it thrust out Poison Jab.
BAM!
With a dull thud, Mega Beedrill and Dragonite crossed past each other.
The next second, both Pokémon wheeled around and collided again, violently.
"So fast!"
It was impossible to follow. Absolutely impossible to follow.
Platinum's eyes were locked on the two figures in midair. Both were way too fast.
"Dragonite's a little faster, but..."
Serena's eyes were blazing as she tried her hardest to catch every detail of the exchange, but both Pokémon were just too fast.
Mega Beedrill relied on its own blistering speed, while Dragonite was riding Extreme Speed and moving even faster than Mega Beedrill.
It was unbelievable!
Normally, there was no way to keep a priority move like Extreme Speed going continuously in a battle shifting this rapidly.
This wasn't a single straight-line dash. It was turning back again and again, circling, colliding!
But this Dragonite was doing it, proof that it was astonishingly strong too!
"But Beedrill hits harder." Mammon narrowed his eyes slightly, finishing the thought Serena wasn't sure of.
That's right. Dragonite was faster thanks to Extreme Speed, but every collision went Mega Beedrill's way.
Admittedly, Extreme Speed was very powerful for a priority move, exactly as strong as Poison Jab.
But Mega Beedrill was physically stronger than Dragonite to begin with, and Poison Jab was its same-type move, further boosted by Adaptability.
Dragonite had neither of those. So...
BAM!
After another high-speed collision, Dragonite grunted, and its body finally came to a stop, panting hard. It was starting to falter.
But Mega Beedrill had already wheeled around and was coming at it at full speed.
Lance's expression was grim. Once you lost a head-on exchange, turning the battle around became truly difficult.
But Lance still wasn't giving up.
"Heat Wave!"
Dragonite swept its wings hard, unleashing a raging wave of fire and wind.
But Mega Beedrill cut through it like a sword, tearing an opening with Poison Jab and coming on at full speed.
BAM!
Mega Beedrill's Poison Jab hit Dragonite hard.
Dragonite's whole body was sent flying. Seeing it, Lance's fans in the crowd let out heartbroken wails.
There was no doubt: even Lance's ace Dragonite was no match for Giovanni's Mega Beedrill.
Still Lance didn't give up, but it made no difference. Even when he found an opening to claw back some momentum, he couldn't turn the battle around.
BOOM!
With Mega Beedrill's final X-Scissor, Dragonite crashed heavily to the ground, completely drained.
Mega Beedrill hovered above Dragonite, looking down at it.
Lance looked at his fainted Dragonite in silence.
Silence!
The entire venue fell silent in an instant.
"Dragonite is unable to battle! Mega Beedrill wins!"
"Lance has lost all six of his Pokémon, so the winner of this Champion Challenge is... Giovanni!"
In the end, it was the referee who came to his senses first, stepping in to announce the result in a voice he couldn't keep from trembling.
"We have a winner!!"
The next moment, the announcer's wildly excited voice boomed across the stadium through the microphone.
"After a fierce, grueling battle, Giovanni has won every match, defeating Elite Four members Lorelei, Bruno, and Agatha in a row, and finally defeating the Dragon Master Lance!"
"With his overwhelming power, he has proven to everyone that he is now the strongest man in all of Kanto!"
"Let's give a thunderous round of applause and congratulate the new Kanto Champion: GIOVANNI!!!"
"WOOOO~!!!"
The Indigo Stadium erupted in a roaring tidal wave of cheers.
And on the official livestream, the bullet comments flooded the screen.
"Beedrill took out THREE!! OMG!!"
"Way too strong, Gym Leader Giovanni! Beat Champion Lance with only five Pokémon. Insane!"
"Sob... Champion Lance went down..."
"If he'd just found a Dragonite Mega Stone, Champion Lance never would've lost here, dammit!"
"Oh, give it a rest. Even if he'd gotten past Mega Beedrill, guess what Giovanni's last Pokémon was?"
Without a doubt, everyone in Kanto and in the other regions watching the Champion Challenge was completely unable to calm down.
Kanto, the strongest region, had a new Champion!
"Gym Leader Giovanni! That's Gym Leader Giovanni for you!!"
Wallace was beyond excited. He joined the fans, chanting Giovanni's name.
That was the Gym Leader Giovanni he supported, beating Lance so coolly and becoming Kanto's Champion!
Kanto's Champion! Without a doubt, the most prestigious Champion title in the world.
"Heh heh heh~ Well done."
Giovanni praised Mega Beedrill with a faint smile as it flew back, then looked around at the crowd.
Every one of them was watching him, shouting his name.
This feeling of having all eyes on him... wasn't half bad?
Giovanni gave a low laugh and walked slowly across the field toward Lance.
Lance had recalled Dragonite and was staring at its Poké Ball in his hand for a long while, lost in thought.
Then he raised his head and looked at Giovanni, who had come to stand in front of him.
"Congratulations, Giovanni."
Lance offered his hand first. A loss was a loss. Giovanni was stronger than him now.
Lance was proud and arrogant, but he was no sore loser. After all, Giovanni had beaten him without even using Groudon.
"Lance, you won't even call me 'Champion.'"
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