At 3:00 PM, the final officially began.
Because it was the final, the organizers had postponed the match to 3:00 PM so that the contestants could be awarded commemorative trophies and attend the closing ceremony afterward.
At this moment, Gary and Tyson were already standing in their respective trainer boxes.
"After so many days of competition, it's finally the final match. Following this battle, the champion of the Ever Grande Conference will be decided. Now, let's see what the field will be for the first half!"
On the big screen, the cursor flashed and spun around the field wheel, finally stopping on the leaf symbol.
Grass Field!
The battlefield immediately began to shift, and grassy terrain rose from below.
"You two, are you ready?" the referee asked.
"Yes."
"You can start at any time."
Gary and Tyson both held Poké Balls in their hands.
After confirming that both trainers were ready, the referee announced, "The next match is between Gary and Tyson. When one side loses three Pokémon, the match will enter the halftime break. In addition, both sides can replace Pokémon at the Pokémon Center during the break. Now, please release your Pokémon at the same time."
"Go, Salamence!"
"Hariyama, it's up to you!"
Salamence appeared with a roar.
[LV49 Hariyama – Gym]
"The Pokémon sent out by Tyson is Hariyama, which is at a type disadvantage against Salamence. It's not an ideal start," the announcer said.
"Roar!"
Salamence activated its Intimidate ability, lowering the opponent's Attack.
"Hurricane!" Gary ordered first.
Even if Tyson were given the chance to attack first, his Hariyama could not reach Salamence.
Salamence flapped its wings. A hurricane gradually whipped up, sending the green grass dancing wildly through the air. Blades of grass were split in two by the wind blades from time to time.
Hariyama had no chance to dodge and could only use its sturdy body to endure the hurricane. Once the attack passed, Hariyama could only support itself with its palms on the ground, breathing heavily. If not for its high stamina, it might have been knocked out in one hit.
"Fire Blast!" Gary ordered.
Salamence spat a ball of fire at Hariyama, the flaming kanji for "big" shooting forward.
"Return."
Seeing this, Tyson took out his Poké Ball and recalled Hariyama.
Boom!
The Fire Blast landed on the field, instantly scorching a patch of it black.
Gary was not surprised that Tyson had withdrawn the Pokémon. Hariyama had already taken the hurricane and had little stamina left; recalling it to rest would not restore much anyway.
"Altaria, go!" Tyson sent out his second Pokémon.
[LV48 Altaria – Quasi-Elite]
The Dragon-type Altaria.
"Return!"
Gary immediately recalled Salamence.
Salamence had only been sent out to Intimidate the opponent, so there was no need to force it to keep fighting.
"Gardevoir, you'll finish the first half." Gary threw his Poké Ball.
[LV60 Gardevoir – Elite]
"Gary sent out Gardevoir, which has a type advantage over Altaria. What will Tyson do?" the announcer said.
"Altaria, return." Tyson immediately recalled Altaria.
Tyson had watched all of Gary's matches and knew the strength of this Gardevoir very well. His Altaria was definitely no match.
"Metagross, you're up." Tyson threw his Poké Ball.
[LV55 Metagross – Elite]
Metagross appeared with a heavy thud.
Metagross possessed both Psychic and Steel types. Not only did it resist Gardevoir's moves, but it also had high resistance to Psychic and Fairy attacks. The level difference between the two sides was only five levels.
"Gardevoir, Psychic!" Gary didn't switch Pokémon, attacking directly.
Gardevoir's eyes radiated blue light as a strong wave of psychic power surged forward.
"We'll use Psychic too!" Tyson immediately countered.
Metagross also used Psychic.
Bang!
A muffled impact echoed in the air, and Metagross's heavy body suddenly flew backward and crashed onto the field.
Metagross winced in pain. Although the damage from Psychic itself was not overwhelming, the impact from the fall was still considerable.
The heavier the Pokémon, the greater the damage it suffered from a fall.
"I can't beat it… Is the gap so big?" Tyson thought, surprised.
Although Tyson could not see the Pokémon's exact level, he could roughly judge Gardevoir's strength from watching previous matches. He had not expected such a large gap between his Metagross and Gardevoir.
The gap between the two sides was actually not that large, but Metagross was a physical attacker, while Gardevoir was holding a top-grade Twisted Spoon that increased the power of Psychic moves by 50%. Metagross was naturally at a disadvantage.
"Gravity!" Gary ordered.
Gardevoir set up Gravity, directly weighing Metagross down and preventing it from levitating.
"Metagross, use Meteor Mash!" Tyson attacked head-on. The iron arm on Metagross burst with light as transparent silver energy covered its whole body, and it rushed forward like a comet.
"Dodge, then use Mystical Fire," Gary ordered.
Gardevoir watched the charging Metagross and vanished on the spot.
Tyson frowned. He knew very well that Gardevoir could use Teleport, but he had no way to stop it.
Gardevoir appeared behind Metagross, drew a circle with one hand, and a ring of flame formed, spraying red fire outward.
"Light Screen!"
Metagross smashed its Meteor Mash into the ground to force a stop, turned quickly, and condensed a transparent Light Screen in front of itself. The barrier blocked the Mystical Fire and cut the damage in half.
Seeing Tyson's response, Gary could tell that Tyson had no way to restrict Teleport, meaning he intended to wear down Gardevoir's mental energy through attrition.
The idea was feasible, and Metagross could indeed force Gardevoir to spend mental energy, but exhausting Gardevoir completely was naturally impossible.
"Gardevoir, Double Team, then use Mystical Fire," Gary ordered.
Gardevoir split into more than twenty copies that covered half the field. Then every Gardevoir used Mystical Fire at the same time, instantly illuminating the field with flames.
Even with a brain comparable to a supercomputer, it was impossible to distinguish the real Gardevoir. Metagross could only fire Psychic toward the flame it thought was most likely to be real.
The flame struck by Psychic showed no sign of resistance—it was clearly the wrong target. The remaining flames instantly engulfed Metagross.