"I feel like Rosa should have no problem defeating May."
Lillie watched the match on the field.
"Rosa's strength is truly formidable."
On the field, May's Latios had already been defeated by Rosa's Tornadus, leaving her with only one last Pokémon, putting her in a desperate situation.
However, counting the Tornadus currently on the field, Rosa still had three Pokémon left, so her advantage was enormous.
May's final ace was her starter Pokémon, Swampert, which then underwent Mega Evolution.
Mega Swampert!
Compared to a regular Swampert, Mega Swampert's body was extremely strong and imposing, its bulging muscles highly impactful.
"Mega Swampert, tsk~"
Mammon couldn't help but click his tongue as he looked at May's Mega Swampert.
Its aura was fierce and powerful, and since it was strong enough to suppress Latios and become May's ace, Mega Swampert's strength was beyond doubt.
Moreover, seeing May standing with this Mega Swampert, Mammon was reminded of that incredibly classic official short anime.
Yes, after Pokémon like Aggron had worn down Rayquaza, May's Mega Swampert landed the final Ice Punch, nearly knocking Rayquaza's soul out of him.
This scene was truly stunning.
"Mega Swampert's Ability after Mega Evolution, if I remember correctly, is Swift Swim, right?"
Cynthia pondered for a moment; she had seen Mega Swampert's pokédex information.
"Yes, it's Swift Swim, which makes Mega Swampert extremely strong in the rain."
Mammon nodded; the Swift Swim Ability doubles the speed in the rain.
Therefore, Mega Swampert actually requires rain to activate, because its close-combat ability is immensely powerful.
However, its speed isn't very fast, but when the Swift Swim Ability is triggered in the rain, that speed deficiency is perfectly resolved.
In this way, Mega Swampert's direct combat power is effectively doubled.
This is because Mega Swampert's type combination is actually quite excellent; it only has one type weakness, which is Grass.
Well, even though it's a four-times weakness to Grass.
However, there is no rain on the field right now, so to activate Mega Swampert's Swift Swim, May must manually have Mega Swampert use Rain Dance itself.
But as soon as Rain Dance is used, Mega Swampert will expose an opening, and Rosa absolutely will not let this opportunity pass.
This is the difference between weather Abilities and weather moves; although both change the weather, the difference between the two is actually enormous.
For example, with Mega Swampert, the opponent can completely take advantage of the time it takes to use Rain Dance to attack it with a Grass-type move.
So, do you abandon Rain Dance or not?
If you abandon Rain Dance and dodge the attack, then given Mega Swampert's inherent speed, the battle will inevitably become quite difficult.
If you don't abandon Rain Dance, then it will result in at least a devastating blow, after all, it's a four-times super effective attack.
But if it had the Drizzle Ability, it would be different; the rain could be started anytime, anywhere, without any delay.
"Genesect!"
Seeing that May sent out Mega Swampert, Rosa decisively switched out Tornadus and sent out Genesect!
This was a Pokémon she had later redeemed using the Team Rocket App; she had enough points.
"May is done for."
In the audience, Steven shook his head and drew his conclusion upon seeing the Mythical Pokémon Genesect.
In fact, May's Mega Swampert had excellent combat power and was not afraid even of a Legendary Pokémon as an opponent.
Steven had reason to believe this, because May's own Latios couldn't defeat Mega Swampert.
But the problem was that Rosa was a formidable opponent, and the Genesect she specifically saved for last was definitely not weak.
Most importantly, Genesect can learn Grass-type moves.
Mega Swampert only has one weakness, Grass-type, but without the rain, this weakness is too fatal.
And indeed, after an intense battle, Mega Swampert failed to successfully summon the rain before collapsing.
Because every time May wanted Mega Swampert to start the rain, Rosa immediately had Genesect attack with a Grass-type Energy Ball.
May naturally had Mega Swampert dodge; otherwise, would it really try to start the rain while tanking an Energy Ball?
In that case, even if the rain was summoned, Mega Swampert would be finished.
After all, setting aside whether Mega Swampert could withstand that Energy Ball, even if it did, it would definitely be critically injured.
Rosa could immediately have Genesect follow up with another shot while Mega Swampert was staggered; whether Mega Swampert could immediately drag its heavily injured body away to dodge would be another matter entirely.
"I should have had Latios start the rain."
May recalled her incapacitated Swampert, regretting her decision internally.
She should have had Latios set up the rain for Swampert before he fainted; perhaps the situation would have been different then.
Mega Swampert ultimately had too great a need for the rain.
Furthermore, it was said that Latios's Stone existed, but unfortunately, it hadn't been found; if it had been found before the match, perhaps the outcome might have been different.
After all, Latios's strength would definitely increase dramatically after Mega Evolution.
May's pretty face looked a bit downcast; although her personality was usually cheerful and sunny, losing in this kind of competition meant that all her efforts throughout the year had gone to waste.
May was ultimately a little sad and disappointed.
There were too many "ifs" and "maybes," but ultimately, it was over.
The match between Rosa and May concluded, and Rosa successfully defeated May to advance to the 'Eight Masters,' becoming the fifth candidate.
Rosa was very happy!
With the conclusion of the match between Rosa and May, the pairing for the sixth group was about to begin.
The result of the sixth group pairing was Caitlin vs. Lance!
"The dragon master... Lance?"
Caitlin looked at the avatar of the red-haired, stern young man on the big screen, her beautiful eyes flickering slightly.
"Lance's strength is great, but his team's weaknesses are also quite obvious, Caitlin, you can win."
Mammon said to Caitlin with a smile.
Although Caitlin's talent was not on par with prodigies like Platinum, she was hardworking enough, and her talent was indeed excellent.
Therefore, Caitlin's strength has now also stepped into the top Champion level.
Furthermore, she specializes in Psychic-type; as a powerful Psychic user, her compatibility with Psychic-type Pokémon is extremely high.
Lance's strength is undeniably great, but his team has obvious flaws.
They are either weak to Fairy or weak to Ice, and Caitlin's Pokémon can completely engage in targeted combat.
Moreover, the overall strength of Caitlin's team is truly high!
"Hmm~ I won't fall here."
Caitlin held a faint, gentle smile as she gracefully stood up, her beautiful posture outlining a slender silhouette.
"I am Caitlin, after all."
Yes, as Mammon's wife, she did not want to embarrass Mammon; she wanted to prove her capability as Mammon's wife.
Therefore, she absolutely had to secure a spot in the 'Eight Masters'!
Even if the person blocking her path was the former Kanto Champion, Lance, she would definitely win!
The battle between Caitlin and Lance arrived as scheduled.
Caitlin led with Tapu Lele to activate Psychic Terrain, while Lance led with Hydreigon.
Seeing this, Caitlin, who was originally preparing to switch Pokémon, did not swap out Tapu Lele but kept her on the field to fight.
And the proud Lance was even less likely to switch Pokémon, even though Dragon-type moves are ineffective against Tapu Lele.
But aren't the Psychic-type moves that Tapu Lele excels at also ineffective against Hydreigon?
As for the issue of Hydreigon being four-times weak to Fairy, in Lance's view, that was not a major problem; it was merely a type advantage.
Too many of his main Pokémon were four-times weak to something.
It's not like he couldn't fight; Hydreigon's Dark-type moves could still be used.
And then... then Hydreigon fell to Tapu Lele's Moonblast.
Well, this was not surprising.
Lance's expression was indifferent.
Lance's second main Pokémon was the Dragon/Ground-type Garchomp.
Caitlin pondered for a moment, recalled the injured Tapu Lele, and sent out the Fairy/Psychic-type Paradox Pokemon, Scream Tail.
Although Scream Tail is not skilled at direct offense, its excellent defensive stats, HP, and Speed allowed it to become an outstanding counter-attacking Pokémon in this battle.
Ice Beam and Blizzard became Garchomp's nightmare.
In the end, Scream Tail and Garchomp successfully knocked each other out in a mutual defeat.
Lance was expressionless.
Lance's third Pokémon was the Dragon/Dark-type Paradox Pokemon, Roaring Moon.
This is an ancient species among the Paradox Pokemon whose strength is comparable to a pseudo-Legendary, and it was a new main Pokémon Lance redeemed from Team Rockets.
It is worth mentioning that Naganadel has no four-times weaknesses.
Therefore, Caitlin did not switch out Boomlywon, but instead used Boomlywon's final 'embers' to activate Trick Room.
Boomlywon was defeated by Naganadel, and Caitlin sent out Tapu Lele once again.
Under the effect of Trick Room, Naganadel's proudest asset, its Speed, was reversed.
Tapu Lele defeated Naganadel using Psychic.
Lance's expression was strained.
He then threw out his fifth Pokémon, the Dragon/Flying-type Salamence.
Furthermore, Lance immediately had Salamence undergo Mega Evolution, and Super Salamence made a grand entrance.
Caitlin recalled Tapu Lele and sent out Metagross, which also Mega Evolved.
The two pseudo-Legendaries of the Hoenn region, Mega Metagross and Super Salamence, began their fierce battle.
And the final result was that Super Salamence fell.
There was nothing Lance could do; Mega Metagross was determined to use Ice Punch right in Super Salamence's face, even if it meant taking damage.
Who told Super Salamence to be four-times weak to Ice?
And Lance's final Pokémon was, of course, his pride and soul, Dragonite!
Dragonite Terastallized into Dragon-type!
It must be said that Lance's ace Dragonite was immensely strong; even facing Caitlin's Mega Metagross, he gained an edge and defeated Mega Metagross, although he was also injured.
Afterward, Caitlin also sent out her ace, Lugia, Terastallized into Psychic, and engaged in a fierce battle with Dragonite.
Finally, Lugia successfully defeated Dragonite, and Caitlin defeated Lance to successfully advance.
Lance was expressionless.
How should one describe this battle?
Lance could only say that Caitlin was indeed an excellent Trainer, making crystal clear use of type advantages.
"As expected of Lance~"
Mammon sighed with emotion; after Lance was defeated by Giovanni back then, he said he wanted to raise new Dragons.
And now, Lance's team has indeed changed significantly, and its strength is undoubtedly higher.
Hydreigon, Garchomp, Roaring Moon, Naganadel, Salamence, Dragonite.
This team's strength is genuinely high, and it is a pure Dragon-type team.
Dodo Bird has truly changed! He is now a true Dragon-type Trainer!
But the problem remains the same: among these six Pokémon, aside from Naganadel...
They are either four-times weak to Ice or four-times weak to Fairy.
It's practically written on their faces: "Hurry up and exploit my type weakness!"