Bang!!
Magmortar crashed to the ground, but it did not faint immediately. It was only badly injured.
At Level 52, and with Fire Blast having offset part of the damage earlier, it had barely managed to hold on. Still, anyone could see that it was already at its limit.
"Dragon Pulse," Gary said flatly.
Garchomp opened its mouth and released a dragon-shaped wave of energy. The attack tore across the field in an instant and shot straight at Magmortar.
"Use Flamethrower, quickly!" Zoe shouted.
Magmortar forced itself up and fired a stream of flames, but it was no match at all. The Flamethrower was swallowed almost immediately by Dragon Pulse.
Boom!!
The explosion shook the battlefield, and Magmortar fell for good.
"Magmortar has lost the ability to battle! Garchomp wins!"
Zoe looked at the defeated Magmortar with an ugly expression. The match had started less than five minutes ago, and three of her Pokémon—half her team—had already been eliminated.
In the lounge above the field, Goodshow watched the match below and shook his head helplessly.
"Gary, this kid... with strength like that, what is he doing in the League Conference?"
"Cynthia asked, "Charles Goodshow, do you know Gary well?""
Goodshow nodded. "I've hosted the League Conference three times in a row. Gary participated every time, and every time he won the championship. Naturally, I came to know him a little."
Goodshow did not attend every League Conference personally. This year he was present for the Lily of the Valley Conference, and next year he would rotate to a different region. But every time Gary had appeared in a Conference Goodshow oversaw, he had ended up winning it.
"I've already handed him three championship trophies," Goodshow said with a sigh. "At this point, it feels like I'm just giving them to him by routine."
Cynthia smiled slightly. "Maybe Gary just likes Pokémon battles."
"If he really likes battling, then he shouldn't bring out Pokémon this strong," Goodshow said. "A match like this has no meaning at all. And then there's Tobias. He's just as strong, but nobody knew anything about him before this tournament."
Goodshow wanted to see more outstanding young Trainers appear in the League, but not in a way that destroyed the balance of the competition. The gap between Gary, Tobias, and the rest of the field was simply too large.
"It's my first time seeing Tobias too," Cynthia said. "Once this tournament is over, we'll get in touch with him."
As Champion of the Sinnoh League, Cynthia naturally wanted more talented Trainers in Sinnoh. Tobias was undoubtedly rare talent, and she intended to bring him into the League if possible.
"As for Gary, he's from Kanto," Goodshow said. "Sinnoh probably can't pull him over. But if he were willing to join the Sinnoh League, I guarantee he'd be offered the highest level of treatment."
Back on the battlefield, Zoe threw another Poké Ball.
"Persian, please!"
A round-bodied feline Pokémon appeared on the field.
[Lv. 47 Persian / Elite]
Gary gave it a quick look and was a little surprised.
Persian's potential was quite good. Its species strength wasn't especially high overall, but its greatest advantage was speed. Despite looking heavy, it was actually faster than Garchomp.
"Persian, use Swagger!"
"Stone Edge!"
Both commands came at the same time. Gary had been wary that Zoe might use some kind of trick, so he gave his order immediately.
Garchomp formed sharp stone blades and launched them forward.
"Meow!"
Persian used Swagger, but instead of dodging, it chose to take the hit head-on. The attack smashed into it and sent it flying backward, but Swagger successfully landed, throwing Garchomp into confusion.
Gary looked at the confused Garchomp and frowned slightly. He didn't really understand Zoe's choice. Even if Garchomp was confused, he could always recall it. And with the Pokémon she had left, there was no real way for her to take advantage of that opening.
"Persian has lost the ability to battle! Garchomp wins!"
There was no surprise there. Persian went down as soon as Stone Edge connected.
Zoe quickly recalled it and sent out her next Pokémon.
"Vespiquen, go!"
A large bee-like Pokémon flew out and hovered in the air.
[Lv. 50 Vespiquen / Elite]
Gary was slightly surprised. He had not expected Zoe's Vespiquen to be at such a high level, and its potential wasn't low either.
To be honest, Zoe's team was in an awkward position. She had several Pokémon with decent potential, but their species strength was relatively low, they had no particularly outstanding abilities, and their move pools were not broad enough. Against ordinary opponents, that might have been enough. Against Gary, it was far from enough.
"Garchomp, come back."
Gary didn't intend to leave things to chance. He withdrew Garchomp immediately.
"Leave it to you, Glaceon."
He threw another Poké Ball.
[Lv. 60 Glaceon / Champion]
Zoe was startled. She hadn't expected Gary to have a Glaceon as well. This was the final, but every Pokémon Gary had used so far was one he had never shown in the earlier rounds.
In the stands, Barry looked stunned.
"Besides Weavile, Gary also has a Glaceon? Why does he even need two Ice-types?"
Ash answered, "That Glaceon was one of Gary's Pokémon back in Kanto, but he never used it in competition before."
Barry's eyes widened. "What? A Pokémon he raised in Kanto is this strong too?"
Ash hesitated. "I don't know exactly. It shouldn't be too ridiculous..."
But even he didn't sound very confident. He had seen Gary's Pokémon train at Professor Oak's lab, and his own Pokémon had battled them more than once. Still, seeing Gary use them in the League was something else entirely.
Barry stopped talking and focused on the match again.
"Vespiquen, use Air Slash!" Zoe ordered.
Vespiquen beat its wings, and sharp wind blades flew toward Glaceon.
"Blizzard," Gary said.
Glaceon released a burst of freezing wind. The cold spread instantly across the field. Vespiquen's Air Slash lasted only a few meters before it was completely blown apart by the blizzard.
The freezing storm swept over Vespiquen directly.
In an instant, frost spread across its wings and body joints. Its movement stopped completely, and it dropped straight to the ground. Though it wasn't fully encased in ice, it had already lost the ability to move.
"Vespiquen has lost the ability to battle! Glaceon wins!"
Now Zoe had only one Pokémon left.
Honestly, the fact that she had lasted this long was already impressive. Five Pokémon had gone down in a row, and most of them had not even managed to withstand a single proper exchange. If her mentality had been any weaker, she might have broken down already.
But Zoe still didn't give up. She took out her last Poké Ball and looked at the field seriously.
"I'll fight until the very end. Medicham, I'm counting on you."
With that, she sent out her final Pokémon.