Truthfully, Sato himself wasn't entirely sure how many Pokémon his current [Energy Amplification] could be applied to at once.
Especially after the Village of Dragons incident, his Dark Energy had undergone an immense boost, both in quantity and quality, it was now completely different.
In any case, after amplifying Zoroark, Sato didn't feel much of a burden, so he sent out Cacturne without hesitation.
Dark Energy activated once more. The golden Shiny Cacturne transformed into a majestic black-and-gold version after receiving the Energy Amplification, with all its spikes visibly lengthening…
Visually stunning!
And as expected, its power reached Low Elite Four.
Water/Rock-type Barbaracle VS Grass/Dark-type Shiny Cacturne!
Mars looked on with a grim expression. Inwardly, he wanted nothing more than to send out his fourth Elite Four Pokémon immediately! But in the end, he held back.
He understood his own limits as a Trainer. Even controlling three Pokémon at once was already pushing the boundaries of fully maximizing their potential. Adding more would only make things worse.
But in the very next moment, Mars was stunned to see Sato pulling out yet another Poké Ball!
A trace of mockery appeared on Sato's face as he flicked his wrist and tossed the Poké Ball in his hand.
A flash of red light, and Hydreigon entered the battle!
"Want to guess how many Elite Four Pokémon I actually have?
[Dark Energy: Energy Amplification]"
"HYD!" "DREI!" "GOOON!"
Three roars echoed in succession. The Dark Energy surrounding Hydreigon was absorbed completely, and just like that, another Elite Four level Pokémon was born…
It was only now that Mars suddenly realized just how monstrous the young man before him truly was.
'And to be the enemy of such a freak…' Mars felt like ten thousand Mudsdale were stampeding through his chest.
'DAMN IT!'
"Greninja, you too!"
Left with no choice, Mars finally released his fourth Pokémon.
At this point, both sides had four E4 on the field.
And the real battle… had only just begun!
"Aura Sphere! Water Shuriken! Aqua Tail! Razor Shell!"
Controlling four Pokémon at once was without a doubt a tremendous challenge for any Trainer.
Mars no longer called out individual Pokémon names. At this level, it was all about the synergy and understanding between Trainer and Pokémon.
Or, to play it safe, he simply issued commands for non-overlapping moves to avoid confusion.
Sato, on the other hand, was completely different. With Gardevoir's Telepathy active, even the most complex strategies could be conveyed in an instant. His adaptability was far superior to Mars's.
Seeing Goodra and Barbaracle charging in close while Clawitzer and Greninja unleashed heavy ranged attacks from the backline, Sato had already formulated a countermeasure in his mind, and it was transmitted instantly!
The first to act was Zoroark. With explosive speed more than twice that of Goodra's, it lunged straight at its target.
Hidden Power: Ice!
64 icy-blue orbs of energy glowed coldly as they completely surrounded Goodra, then detonated all at once!
Elsewhere, Gardevoir and Hydreigon moved nearly simultaneously.
Gardevoir blinked away, vanishing without a trace, while Hydreigon remained stationary… but all three heads began charging different types of moves!
Flash Cannon!
Flamethrower!
Dragon Pulse!
The next moment, Flash Cannon collided with Greninja's Water Shuriken!
The energy of Flash Cannon was stable, and its solid Steel-type nature gave it incredible resistance to the cutting power of Water Shuriken, it blocked it with ease.
Meanwhile, Flamethrower clashed with Clawitzer's Aura Sphere. The raging fire ignited the Aura Sphere upon contact, triggering an explosion that intercepted the attack perfectly.
To block an attack, it didn't always take a high-power move!
Finally, the Dragon Pulse released by Middy struck straight toward Goodra below, following closely after [Hidden Power: Ice], dealing a second wave of damage.
Fighting two at once, while still supporting its ally?
Hydreigon's first battle after evolution powerfully proved its title as the pseudo-legendary Darth Dragon¹[1]!
Sato couldn't help but feel an indescribable surge of excitement. The advantage of evolving while retaining consciousness had been completely revealed.
Hydreigon could practically be commanded as three Pokémon at once!
Across the field, Mars's face grew even darker. He was only a step away from shouting, "YOU'RE CHEATING!"
Yet, he hadn't seen Sato give any commands… 'Could this really be his fighting style? No verbal commands, even in an Elite Four level battle?
…But was this Hydreigon's mind too clever? Its ability to multitask so seamlessly was almost unnatural!'
Next, the slowest of the bunch, Barbaracle, had no other choice but to swing its Razor Shell and engage Cacturne in close combat.
The result was obvious… Cacturne's Water Absorb Ability made it the absolute nemesis of Pokémon like Barbaracle!
Even though Barbaracle's body was nearly twice Cacturne's size, it couldn't withstand the relentless energy-draining counterattacks from Cacturne.
From their very first clash, Sato used Hydreigon's unique nature and the advantage of Telepathy-based coordination to deliver Mars a heavy blow right out of the gate!
However, the opponent still had four Elite Four Pokémon. A small setback wasn't nearly enough to defeat him.
Mars quickly began reorganizing his lineup!
"Regroup! Acrobatics! Heal Pulse!"
After taking two powerful hits, Goodra only bore a few faint scars. It completely ignored Zoroark and ran swiftly to support Barbaracle.
At the same time, Barbaracle stopped focusing on the Cacturne that countered it so hard and turned to run toward Goodra as well.
"Goodra!" "Barbaracle!"
The two Pokémon, not far apart, quickly regrouped.
Back to back, they forcibly switched opponents!
Zoroark and Cacturne circled the field, each now facing a different target, and for a while, the battle reached a stalemate.
"Clawi!"
Another pink beam of light flashed from the back; it was a Heal Pulse from Clawitzer, aimed directly at Goodra and Barbaracle!
Meanwhile, the last remaining Greninja used Acrobatics to dart swiftly toward Hydreigon, clearly intent on engaging the massive dragon up close to pin down the biggest threat.
"Hyd!" "Drei!" "Gooon!"
Lefty, Righty, and Middy all roared in unison, each pair of eyes filled with unmistakable mockery.
' "Trying to" "hold me" "down"?'
Lefty and Righty suddenly opened their mouths wide, unleashing visible shockwaves of sound that blasted across the entire area in front of Hydreigon.
Hyper Voice ×2!
At the same time, Middy extended its neck, Dragon-type energy surging violently within its body before it let out a roaring blast toward the heavens.
Fwoo~oosh…
BOOOOOM!!!
The ultimate Dragon-type move…
Draco Meteor!
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¹. Don't judge!
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150 PS - CH
[1] Don't judge!