"All of the Pokémon, will they all make an appearance?"
Selene was stunned by the question.
"Did Mammon say that?"
"Hmm, yes, he did."
"Ha~ That's getting interesting."
Selene raised an eyebrow. Mammon's Pokémon collection was indeed enough to form several teams.
But that wasn't the main point. The main point was that Mammon had at least two teams worth of Mythical and Legendary Pokémon!
This meant that if she were to battle Mammon later, he might just throw out a top-tier Legendary Pokémon.
Hiss~ That's too exciting!
From the round of 32 to 16, 16 to 8, 8 to 4, 4 to 2, and finally the championship, it was only five battles in total.
Selene looked at Mammon in the arena with great interest. What about this match?
On the field.
"Come back, Chien-Pao."
Mammon recalled the poisoned Chien-Pao. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't mind letting Geeta win a match.
However, he still had many Pokémon that needed to make an appearance, so he decided against it.
"As expected, he made a change."
Seeing this, Geeta felt a bit regretful.
But this was normal. Who would use a Pokémon that was severely poisoned and continue to fight while enduring the Poison status?
It's not like it was her only Pokémon left.
"Kartana! Get ready to battle!"
Mammon threw out his second Poké Ball.
A flash of white light, and a very small, samurai-like Pokémon floated in front of Mammon.
"Ultra Beast UB04: Blade, Kartana."
Geeta immediately recognized this small creature as a member of the Ultra Beast series.
Although Kartana was very small, Geeta dared not underestimate it in the slightest.
Not to mention that it was Mammon's Pokémon, while Kartana might be the smallest of all Ultra Beasts in size, its offensive power was the highest among all Ultra Beasts!
That's right, the highest!
According to the Ultra Beast intelligence collected in Alola, Kartana's actual personality wasn't particularly dangerous because its desire for active offense wasn't high.
However, it was also recorded that Kartana's thin and sharp body was itself the most terrifying weapon.
Someone had witnessed it easily cutting down a giant iron tower with a single slash!
Neither Buzzwole nor Pheromosa's offensive capabilities could compare to Kartana's.
This was not an exaggeration, but a hard fact.
In terms of attack power, Kartana was the strongest among all Ultra Beasts, without a doubt.
"Chesnaught!"
Geeta thought for a moment and then threw out her second Pokémon.
Chesnaught, the Grass-type starter from the Kalos Region, landed in front of Geeta, spreading its arms towards Kartana.
"Chesnaught, Grass/Fighting-type. From a type perspective, it has an advantage."
Gloria rested her chin on her fair hand.
"Champion Geeta's main purpose in using Chesnaught should be to defend and counterattack. Kartana's offensive capabilities are quite outstanding, and going head-to-head with it is definitely not a good choice."
Diantha analyzed.
"Moreover, Chesnaught has the move Spiky Shield, which can effectively deal with powerful close-combat Pokémon."
"However…"
At this point, Diantha's brows still furrowed involuntarily.
"Chesnaught doesn't have any Fire-type moves." Gloria stated incisively: "And Chesnaught is 4x weak to Flying!"
Yes, Chesnaught is a Grass-type Pokémon after all, and to deal with the Grass/Steel-type Kartana, using Fire to counter it would naturally be the best option.
Of course, Fighting also counters Kartana.
But the problem was that Chesnaught was 4x weak to Flying, and it was already known that Kartana knew Flying-type moves.
This meant that, in reality, Chesnaught had no type advantage at all.
On the field.
"Kartana, Clear Smog."
Mammon gave the first command.
The Flying-type move Clear Smog can use strong winds to blow away the opponent's Reflect, Light Screen, and other field effects.
Kartana let out a low cry, its two blade-like arms swinging heavily, and a mysterious strong wind instantly enveloped the entire battle arena.
"Bulk Up."
Geeta decisively had Chesnaught power up.
Chesnaught raised its arms in a strong pose, and a white light emanated from its body.
The Fighting-type move Bulk Up increases the user's Attack and Defense by one stage.
He didn't seize the opportunity to attack?
Mammon raised an eyebrow. It seemed Geeta was determined to play the 'turtle' strategy.
Otherwise, she could have had Chesnaught throw an Aura Sphere while Kartana was using Clear Smog.
Although Chesnaught's Special Attack wasn't high, Kartana's Special Defense was even worse.
If Aura Sphere hit, the damage would definitely be good.
But Geeta didn't do that, perhaps she felt it was meaningless, because if Chesnaught attacked with Aura Sphere, Kartana could easily dodge it.
So she was preparing for a complete defensive counterattack.
"In that case." Mammon smiled.
"Kartana, Psycho Cut!"
Kartana spread its two arm blades, swooping down and charging towards Chesnaught.
The Psychic-type Psycho Cut!
"Here it comes! Keep your eyes on it, Chesnaught!"
Geeta's expression became serious, and she shouted at Chesnaught.
Chesnaught let out a low growl, its eyes fixed on the approaching Kartana.
Kartana's speed wasn't exceptionally fast, but it certainly wasn't slow either, especially since its small size required even more focused attention.
Closer, closer!
Ten meters, eight meters, five meters... Suddenly, Kartana raised its two arm blades in front of its body, and its speed abruptly accelerated.
"Chesnaught!"
Geeta, who had been closely watching Kartana, instantly noticed its acceleration.
"Spiky Shield!"
Chesnaught instantly erected a barrier covered in spikes.
The Grass-type Spiky Shield is a Protect-like move that only a few Pokémon can learn.
Not only is it an absolute defense like Protect, but it also wounds opponents who make contact.
It can be said that this is a move that is very effective against close-combat Pokémon.
"You fell for it."
Mammon's lips curled into a slight smile as he saw this.
Kartana, now in front of Chesnaught, crossed its two arm blades and slashed out, however... the two arm blades cut through the air above Chesnaught, slashing nothing!
Kartana flew over Chesnaught. From beginning to end, its Psycho Cut was not aimed at Chesnaught; it was merely to induce Chesnaught to use Spiky Shield.
"!!!"
Geeta's pupils contracted sharply.
"Aerial Ace."
The next moment, Kartana turned back, performing a backflip and diving down.
The Flying-type Aerial Ace.
Boom!
Aerial Ace heavily struck Chesnaught's back. Chesnaught let out a painfully low growl, its entire body violently forced to the ground by Kartana.
Accompanied by a loud bang, smoke and dust billowed up.
Kartana flew up from the dust, calmly looking down.
When the dust cleared, Chesnaught was already lying weakly on the ground, its eyes spinning in circles.
A 4x super effective Aerial Ace, combined with Kartana's exaggerated Attack stat, Chesnaught simply couldn't withstand it.
"Chesnaught is unable to battle, Kartana wins."
The referee announced the battle result.
"No way? One-shot kill?"
"Holy cow, this Kartana! It's too fierce!"
"A 4x super effective Aerial Ace, that's normal, but the key was that Psycho Cut feint!"
"Exactly, that was really confident. Was he so sure she'd use Spiky Shield?"
The scene was in an uproar, and the live stream was also flooded with comments.
On the field.
Recalling the incapacitated Chesnaught, Geeta's brows furrowed slightly.
"Your intentions were too obvious, Champion Geeta."
Mammon also recalled Kartana, smiling as he spoke to Geeta.
"Yes, I realized that too."
Geeta sighed softly. Battle, after all, was also a psychological game.
Her intentions just now were indeed too obvious, almost as if she had written 'I'm going to use Spiky Shield for a defensive counterattack' on her face.
This was actually unreasonable and didn't align with her usual battle habits.
But the main reason was... looking at Mammon across from her, Geeta felt quite helpless. The psychological pressure was indeed a bit great.
But it was time to adjust properly.
Geeta let out a soft breath. She needed to calm down, otherwise she would truly lose too badly.
"And next, my third Pokémon will be this one."
Mammon looked at Geeta's composed expression and took out his third Poké Ball.
"Gouging Fire! Get ready to battle!"
Mammon threw the Poké Ball in his hand.
Accompanied by a low roar, a robust Pokémon heavily landed in front of Mammon, its fierce gaze directed at Geeta.
"This is?"
Geeta looked at this Pokémon, taken aback, and carefully observed it.
Its appearance had many similar features to the legendary Entei, but compared to Entei, it was clearly much wilder.
Platinum had an Entei, and it was one of her main Pokémon, so it was easy to compare.
The one in front of her, just in terms of size, was considerably larger than Entei.
"Gouging Fire, one of the Paradox Pokémon, Fire/Dragon-type. However, Gouging Fire is much rarer, and its strength is also higher than ordinary Paradox Pokémon."
Mammon smiled and gave a brief introduction.
The information on ordinary Paradox Pokémon was no longer a secret.
But for ones like Walking Wake and Gouging Fire, because only Mammon possessed them, the outside world still knew relatively little about them.
"I see."
Geeta pondered for a moment. The strength of Paradox Pokémon was already very high.
Not to mention this Paradox Pokémon, which was suspected to be an ancient form of Entei.
And just from its imposing presence, it was definitely not to be underestimated.
"Dragapult!"
Without much hesitation, Geeta decisively threw out her core Main force.
The Poké Ball opened in mid-air, and a ghostly dragon quietly floated in front of Geeta.
A ghost-like dragon body, an eerie inverted triangular head, and cold dragon eyes stared at Gouging Fire.
It was Dragapult, the Pseudo-Legendary from the Galar Region!
That's right, although Geeta was the Champion of the Paldea Region, her main team did not include Baxcalibur; instead, she had a Dragapult.
As a strong contender for the strongest Pseudo-Legendary in its normal form, Dragapult's strength was absolutely beyond doubt.
The value of Dragon Darts was simply too authoritative!