The second semi-final match began as scheduled.
On the battleground, Mammon and Giovanni stood opposite each other, and the referee entered to announce the battle rules.
On the large screen, the pointer indicating who would go first began to spin. Soon, it stopped on Mammon's side.
"Oh my god! Boss Mammon vs. Mr. Giovanni, is this a battle I'm even allowed to watch?"
"Do you guys think Mr. Giovanni has a chance to win against the boss?"
"Archer, what are you even thinking? How could Mr. Giovanni possibly win?"
In the stands, Carr scoffed, mocking Archer.
Carr's impression of Giovanni wasn't particularly good. After all, when Giovanni was still in charge, he actually transferred Carr to Johto.
To put it nicely, it was to let him expand Team Rockets' territory. To put it bluntly, wasn't it just moving him away from the center of power?
What was it about Carr that was inferior to Archer and the others?
So Carr had always harbored some dissatisfaction towards Giovanni.
Furthermore, Carr always felt that Giovanni was too conservative, unlike Boss Mammon, who was flamboyant, high-profile, and arrogant. Carr absolutely loved a leader like that!
Carr, with his short stature, held up a cheering sign that read: "Boss Mammon is invincible! Go!"
Sird disdained Carr's fawning behavior, thinking Carr was too lame.
Unlike her, she brought a small megaphone directly.
"Go, Boss! You're the strongest!"
Sird shouted fanatically into her megaphone.
Carr and the others stared at Sird, dumbfounded. Damn, can you do that? Aren't you afraid of being escorted out by security?
"Sigh, this kind of match is truly what I least wanted to see."
Archer, dressed in a smart white uniform, looked at the two people on the field with a troubled expression.
One was the former boss, the other the current boss. The loyal Mr. Archer was currently having a headache, unsure who to cheer for.
"Relax, it's just an internal family squabble among the bosses, so it doesn't matter."
Proton leaned lazily in his seat, hugging his beloved Fiona, and said languidly.
He thought Archer was just looking for trouble. These top four were completely just the bosses playing among themselves, and besides... how could Boss Giovanni possibly defeat Boss Mammon?
"But this father-son match is really interesting. Do you think the boss will sweep Mr. Giovanni?"
Lance's eyes darted around, and he grinned as he asked Archer and the others.
"A sweep? It shouldn't come to that..." Athena was startled, then replied with some hesitation.
"A sweep is impossible. Mr. Giovanni's strength is still very formidable, and after all, they are father and son. The boss shouldn't use overly powerful legendary Pokémon."
Archer stated with certainty.
"Tch, Mr. Giovanni's strength is indeed good, but how can he compare to the boss? I think it will definitely be a sweep!" Carr interjected.
"Then let's bet some Contribution points for fun. I'll bet 2000, Boss 1-6 Mr. Giovanni." Lance smiled, immediately opening the betting.
"3000 Contribution points! The boss will sweep!" Carr waved his short arm, full of heroic spirit.
"I'll bet 2000, Boss will give Mr. Giovanni some face." Lt Surge grinned broadly, also joining in.
"Childish."
Beside them, Sabrina's expression was cold. She thought these colleagues were truly too idle, and Contribution points was so precious, was it meant to be used like this?
"I'll bet 2000, Boss 1-6!"
A deep voice sounded, it was Koga.
Sabrina looked at Koga in surprise. She hadn't expected the usually calm and low-key Koga to gamble.
"...Recently, Jasmine wanted a Poipole." Koga noticed Sabrina's gaze, coughed dryly, and turned his head to reply.
No choice, family reasons... On the field.
"What good luck, Dad. It really had to be you."
With a Poké Ball spinning on his fingertip, Mammon smiled broadly as he slowly spoke to Giovanni.
"This is only the second time we've had such a formal battle, isn't it?"
Mammon recalled. To be honest, excluding staged battles, he and Giovanni hadn't really had many formal battles.
Only when Mammon first embarked on his journey, after collecting all his badges, he returned to Viridian Gym and had a battle with Giovanni.
This was what Giovanni had mentioned to Charles Goodshow and the others before.
However, at that time, Mammon's main team wasn't complete, so it wasn't a full-team battle.
"Heh heh, indeed." Giovanni's lips also unconsciously curved upwards as he looked at the handsome young man opposite him, his heart filled with emotion.
"Mammon, this time, let me fully experience your power. Don't hold back."
"Oh? Dad, if you say that, you're going to lose very badly."
The curve of Mammon's lips grew wider.
"Who do you think I am?" Giovanni chuckled lightly, adjusting his expensive black suit.
"I am Giovanni, Kanto Champion Giovanni!"
"I see."
Mammon thought for a moment, then put Mismagius's Poké Ball back into his pocket.
"In that case, I'll turn up the heat for you, Dad."
Mammon took out another Poké Ball, which enlarged in his hand.
"This is the deepest love a son can show his father."
"My first Pokémon will be it!"
Mammon's lips curled up high, and he threw out his first Poké Ball with a flick of his wrist.
The Poké Ball opened in the air, white light fell to the ground, and a black shadow emerged.
"Jie jie jie~"
An evil, eerie laugh echoed, and from the black shadow, a gray-black Gengar gradually formed, grinning evilly.
Looking at this Shiny Gengar, Giovanni couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly.
"Old Man, you're not unfamiliar with this child, are you? This is the first Pokémon you gave me."
Mammon caught the rebounding Poké Ball and said with a smile.
"Jie jie~"
Shiny Gengar, of course, recognized Giovanni, its grin growing even more sinister, yet its actions were very cute and simple-minded, raising its short little hands to greet Giovanni.
Giovanni chuckled twice.
"This Gengar..." Cynthia looked at this familiar yet unfamiliar Shiny Gengar, her thoughts instantly flying back to the Alola region where she first met Mammon.
Even then, she had sensed the power of this Gengar.
But later, she hadn't seen Mammon use Shiny Gengar in battle.
"It's Gengar. Mammon really seems to be taking this battle with Uncle Giovanni seriously."
Caitlin's beautiful eyes blinked, and she couldn't help but murmur.
Even after being with Mammon for so long, she hadn't really seen Mammon use Gengar in battle.
But Caitlin knew that Mammon's Shiny Gengar was incredibly strong!
This was Mammon's starter Pokémon, after all.
On the field, Mammon raised his arm, the Key Stone on his wrist shining brightly.
"Gengar."
The Mega Evolution Stone on Gengar's body responded, and chains of Mega Evolution energy extended, connecting in mid-air.
Mega Evolution!
The light of evolution shone, and when the brilliant light dissipated, a Mega Gengar spread its arms, gazing at Giovanni with its dark, eerie eyes.
"Wow!! It's white?!"
In the audience, Ash looked at Mega Gengar in astonishment, because after Mega Evolution, Gengar's body color had completely turned snow-white, creating an extremely strong visual impact.
"This is a Shiny Gengar, isn't it?!" Misty immediately realized.
Because ordinary Gengar are purple-black, and Shiny Gengar are gray-black. The color difference isn't actually that big, so if you don't pay close attention, you might miss it.
But Mega Gengar is purple-black, and this Mega Gengar is white, which makes it very obvious, or rather, the difference is simply too great.
"It feels even more sinister."
Ash said his thoughts while taking out his pokédex.
'Beep~ Mega Gengar, Shadow Pokémon
Type: Ghost, Poison
It steals the life of all things. Even its Trainer, its master, is a target it wishes to curse. (Mega Evolution)'
Hmm, the feeling wasn't wrong, Mega Gengar is indeed very sinister.
After listening to the pokédex's introduction, Ash couldn't help but look at the pale Mega Gengar on the field.
"Nidoqueen."
After a moment of contemplation, Giovanni threw out his first Poké Ball.
Nidoqueen landed heavily in front of Giovanni. After Mega Evolution, Gengar's typing hadn't changed.
To deal with Mega Gengar's troublesome Poison typing, Giovanni directly used Nidoqueen, which also has the Poison typing.
As everyone knows, Poison-type Pokémon cannot be poisoned.
When Mammon returned to Viridian Gym for his 'graduation assessment,' Giovanni had suffered greatly from Gengar's Poison typing.
"Tsk~" Mammon clicked his tongue at this.
Seeing Nidoqueen, he roughly guessed Giovanni's intentions, but the current Mega Gengar was no longer the Gengar of the past.
"Gengar."
"Jie jie jie~!"
A strange light flashed in Mega Gengar's dark eyes. In Nidoqueen's shadow, two white, ethereal ghostly hands lit up, pressing down firmly.
Nidoqueen felt a deep chill, but didn't know why.
Mega Gengar's ability, Shadow Tag!
It traps the opponent's shadow, preventing them from escaping or being recalled.
"Then let's say hello, Gengar."
With Shadow Tag complete, Mammon flashed a wide smile.
"Shadow Ball!"
Mega Gengar grinned evilly, and a dark, shadowy ball condensed in front of it, shooting towards Nidoqueen like lightning.
"Sludge Wave." Giovanni gave the order decisively.
This was what he had planned from the beginning: to test Mega Gengar's strength.
Mega Gengar was Mammon's starter Pokémon, and Mammon used to be very fond of Gengar, so Giovanni guessed that Mega Gengar's strength must be very high.
But he still needed to test it firsthand to know the specifics.
After all, Mammon hadn't used Gengar in battle for a very long time, so Gengar's true strength was a mystery.
Nidoqueen let out a low growl, and dark purple toxic sludge surged, sweeping to meet the incoming Shadow Ball.
A Poison-type Sludge Wave!
However, the moment Sludge Wave collided with Shadow Ball, it was directly overwhelmed by the Shadow Ball!
Yes, it was directly overwhelmed; Sludge Wave couldn't stop the Shadow Ball at all.
The Shadow Ball, with undiminished momentum, directly struck Nidoqueen.
With a loud bang, amidst the surging blast wave, Nidoqueen was sent flying backward, slamming hard onto the ground, groaning in pain.
"?"
Even Giovanni frowned at this moment. What kind of power was that Shadow Ball?
"Icy Wind." Mammon's grin was very wide.
An icy blue aura lit up in front of Mega Gengar, and a cold gust of wind swept towards Nidoqueen.
It was incredibly fast!
And Nidoqueen, at this moment, hadn't even managed to get back up.
"Protect!"
Nidoqueen endured the pain and looked up, green energy lighting up in front of it, preparing to construct a Protect barrier.
But Icy Wind was too fast; it arrived before Protect could fully form, directly hitting Nidoqueen.
The icy gale hit perfectly. Amidst the scattering ice shards, an incredibly strong freezing aura frantically eroded Nidoqueen's body, causing it to write in agony.
The Ice-type Icy Wind was super effective against it!
Crack, crack, crack~
The teeth-grinding sound of freezing was incessant. In the blink of an eye, Nidoqueen was already frozen into an ice sculpture.
Under Giovanni's tightly furrowed brows, the ice crystals on Nidoqueen's body shattered with a crisp sound. Amidst the splashing ice, Nidoqueen's eyes were already spinning in circles, its body limp as it collapsed to the ground.
"Nidoqueen is unable to battle. Mega Gengar wins."
The referee announced the battle result.
The entire venue erupted in an uproar!
Mega Gengar, which hadn't moved a single step, grinned wickedly and flamboyantly.
Mammon also chuckled, his hands in his pockets.
"..."
Giovanni recalled Nidoqueen, speechless as he looked at the Poké Ball in his hand.
Two moves, just two moves—one Shadow Ball, one Icy Wind—and his ace Nidoqueen was down... Giovanni looked at the Mega Gengar opposite him, his eyes gradually narrowing. The power of this Mega Gengar... definitely couldn't be described as merely 'top Champion' level!
Damn this brat, he really did turn up the heat on him!