"Hiss~! Two moves, one-shot?"
"What a cool Mega Gengar!"
"No way, although Gengar's Special Attack is indeed powerful, knocking it out in two moves is too exaggerated, right? That's Champion Giovanni's Nidoqueen."
"I bet Champion Giovanni is under immense pressure right now!"
"you think?"
The audience at the venue and those watching the live broadcast around the world were all visibly shocked and discussing animatedly.
After all, Nidoqueen being knocked out in two moves was simply astounding.
"What a powerful Mega Gengar!"
Gloria clicked her tongue cutely.
"I heard this is Mammon's starter Pokémon, so it's not surprising that its strength is so terrifying." Raihan clicked his tongue in wonder.
"With such powerful Special Attack, the suppression must also be terrifying, and..." Leon looked serious.
"Mega Gengar's Ability is Shadow Tag. Under Shadow Tag, Giovanni's Pokémon can't even switch out normally."
Yes, in fact, in Leon's view, the most terrifying aspect of Mega Gengar was actually its Shadow Tag Ability!
Under Shadow Tag, Pokémon cannot be recalled normally, although moves like U-turn can still take effect.
But such moves require hitting the opponent; if they miss, they still won't take effect.
Unless it's a pivoting move like Swagger that doesn't need to hit the opponent, but clearly none of Giovanni's main Pokémon can learn that.
Gengar had absolute strength suppression on the field, and the inability to switch Pokémon normally made the pressure truly immense.
On the field.
"Nidoking!" Giovanni thought for a moment, then decisively threw out his second Poké Ball.
Nidoking, a deep purple, monstrous creature larger than Nidoqueen, landed heavily on the ground.
"Shadow Sneak." Mammon launched the first attack.
A dark, shadowy sphere condensed in front of Mega Gengar, shooting toward Nidoking like lightning.
"Sucker Punch!"
A black glow flashed in Nidoking's eyes, and its massive body rushed towards Mega Gengar at an unsuitably high speed.
The Dark-type priority move, Sucker Punch!
Boosted by Sucker Punch, Nidoking's speed was astonishing, and it quickly dashed in front of Mega Gengar.
Its sharp claws were wreathed in black light, swinging fiercely at Mega Gengar.
"Dodge."
Mammon only offered a light, breezy command to dodge.
Mega Gengar laughed maliciously, 'Jie jie,' and its pale, ghost-like body instantly floated backward.
It perfectly avoided Nidoking's Sucker Punch, a display of unspoken understanding as if they had practiced countless times.
"Evasion ability, speed... was this specifically trained?" Giovanni narrowed his eyes slightly.
Mega Gengar's agility was quite high, and it was clearly prepared for Sucker Punch.
After dodging Sucker Punch, Mega Gengar let out a mocking 'Jie jie' laugh at Nidoking, its upturned mouth nearly reaching the back of its head, appearing extremely wicked.
However, Giovanni's Nidoking had an excellent mentality.
"Earth Power!"
Nidoking roared, and a yellowish-brown light shone beneath Mega Gengar.
But Mega Gengar was faster!
"Shadow Sneak."
A dark, shadowy sphere instantly tore through the air, hitting Nidoking squarely in the chest.
Boom! The Shadow Sneak exploded. Amidst the fierce blast, Nidoking roared in pain, its entire body sent flying by the attack.
"Psychic."
The next second, Nidoking, which had yet to land, halted mid-air.
Blue light shone in Mega Gengar's dark eyes; the Psychic power of Psychic controlled Nidoking, making it float.
Under the influence of the Psychic power, Nidoking's form seemed to be twisting violently, and all that could be heard was its painful roar.
With another crash, the Psychic attack burst open.
Nidoking crashed to the ground like a kite with a broken string, its head tilted, completely knocked out.
"Nidoking is unable to battle. Mega Gengar wins."
The referee announced the result of the battle.
The entire venue erupted in gasps; just like Nidoqueen, Nidoking was also knocked out in two moves!
"Lao Deng, how's it going? Feeling the pressure facing my Mega Gengar?"
Mammon asked Giovanni, smiling.
"Jie jie~" Mega Gengar laughed gleefully, 'Jie jie.'
"What kind of situation hasn't your old man seen?"
Giovanni recalled Nidoking, looking at Mammon and Mega Gengar, who seemed cut from the same mold and were now running their mouths. He didn't really want to bother responding.
"Furthermore, your Mega Gengar is indeed very strong, but what if it faces Gigantamax?"
Boom! The Gigantamax Rhyperior, flashing red light all over, landed heavily on the battle arena, roaring with its head raised.
A black vortex spun in the sky, and three red clouds rotated above the head of the Gigantamax Rhyperior, which was a full forty meters tall. Its imposing might was astonishing.
"That's more like it!"
In the audience, Wallace looked excited and exhilarated.
"Just use Gigantamax to counter it directly! Even if his Mega Gengar is strong, it won't matter!"
As everyone knows, Gigantamax is a very aggressive and powerful means of enhancement.
Your speed is fast and your attack is strong, making you difficult to deal with in a direct fight?
Gigantamax makes all beings equal! If you don't Gigantamax, you get hit!
Because the range of Max Moves is simply too large, and Protect cannot completely guard against them, as Max Moves inherently penetrate Protect.
Moreover, after Gigantamaxing, a Pokémon's HP doubles, preventing it from being two-hit KO'd by the opponent—it is the perfect way to deal with high-attack, high-speed glass cannon Pokémon.
The best way to counter Gigantamax is to Gigantamax yourself.
But Gengar has already Mega Evolved; it cannot Gigantamax.
Unless Mammon switches out Mega Gengar and brings in another Pokémon to Gigantamax.
"Yes, Giovanni's choice is correct. Mega Gengar is too strong." Steven nodded in strong agreement.
Judging from the situation with Nidoking and Nidoqueen, this Mega Gengar is indeed too strong, and Giovanni's main Pokémon are not well-suited to handle it.
"Tsk~" Mammon clicked his tongue lightly. He wasn't too surprised, and he had long thought about how to deal with Gigantamax.
"Max Quake!" Seeing this, Giovanni raised an eyebrow, didn't hesitate, and immediately launched an attack.
The Gigantamax Rhyperior roared angrily. The earth began to tremble and churn violently, and yellowish-brown ground energy surged, sending intense tremors toward Mega Gengar.
Max Quake, converted from Earthquake!
"Phantom Force." Mammon chuckled.
Mega Gengar grinned wickedly, and a shadowy gap appeared beside it. Its body strangely shifted into the Shadow Dimension.
Max Quake stormed forward, but Mega Gengar was already gone from its spot.
Rumble! Max Quake erupted fiercely, the wild ground power shaking everything, yet... it was useless.
Giovanni's pupils contracted slightly.
"He actually used the hidden phase of Phantom Force to dodge a Max Move? This..." In the audience, Leon was stunned.
He was practically a genius!
"Although it's not as easy to use as Giratina's Shadow Sneak, Phantom Force is indeed a very practical move."
Mammon casually brushed off the dust that had been blown onto him by the Max Quake explosion, smiling as he slowly spoke to Giovanni.
"Don't you agree, Dad?"
Giovanni narrowed his eyes, then couldn't help but shake his head and smile wryly.
The shadowy opening from Phantom Force appeared behind the Gigantamax Rhyperior. A pale, ghostly hand wreathed in spectral light stabbed toward Rhyperior's back.
However, the damage was not high, as Phantom Force is a Physical Attack.
Rhyperior's Physical Defense was already astonishingly high, let alone with its HP doubled after Gigantamaxing.
But Mammon hadn't planned to use Phantom Force offensively; its main purpose was to use the effect of Phantom Force hiding in the Shadow Dimension to dodge Max Moves.
Giovanni didn't give up immediately; he once again had Gigantamax Rhyperior use Max Rockfall.
Yet, it was still useless. Phantom Force perfectly evaded the attack before it landed.
Giovanni's Gigantamax was wasted just like that.
And once Rhyperior's Gigantamax ended, Mega Gengar immediately launched a Shadow Sneak, sending Rhyperior tumbling backward onto the ground, followed by a finishing Icy Wind.
Rhyperior immediately fell into an infant-like sleep.
Mega Gengar had already achieved a three-KO streak and was starting a massacre.
"So strong~!"
Seeing Mammon's Mega Gengar defeat Rhyperior again, May's eyes sparkled with little stars.
This is too fierce!
The key is that Mega Gengar has already achieved a three-KO streak, yet it hasn't taken a single scratch!
Yes, up until now, none of Giovanni's Pokémon have managed to touch Mega Gengar even once!
"This can't continue. Giovanni needs to use Beedrill or Groudon."
Steven said in a low voice. If Giovanni didn't exert maximum effort now, he wouldn't be able to later.
"As expected, the regular main Pokémon are no match."
Giovanni recalled Rhyperior, looked at the Poké Ball in his hand for a long time, and then smiled freely.
After all, it was Mammon's starter Pokémon; having this level of power was certainly not unexpected.
"In that case, how about this?"
"Beedrill!" Giovanni stopped making useless attempts and directly threw out the core powerhouse of his team.
Beedrill, carrying two long stingers and flapping its insect wings, appeared in front of Giovanni.
"Beedrill! Mega Evolve!" Giovanni raised his Key Stone.
The light of Mega Evolution flashed and vanished. In the blink of an eye, Mega Beedrill, wielding four long spears, appeared before Giovanni.
"Finally getting serious." Mammon's lips curved upward.
"But even your Beedrill, Lao Deng, is no match for my Gengar."
"That's not necessarily true, Mammon." Giovanni adjusted his tie, his calm and composed aura highly prominent.
He smiled faintly: "My Beedrill is completely different from Nidoking and the others."
"Is that so? But what moves does Beedrill have that can hit Gengar?" Mammon shrugged.
It wasn't that he looked down on Giovanni's Mega Beedrill; Mega Beedrill's battle record was verifiable and extremely impressive.
However, that was useless.
Because Mega Beedrill genuinely lacked good moves to hit Mega Gengar. Its STAB Bug-type and Poison-type moves were all 'not very effective' against Mega Gengar.
And it wasn't just 'not very effective'—it was extremely ineffective!
Mega Gengar has a quadruple resistance to both Bug and Poison types, and is immune to Normal type.
As for Mega Beedrill, its move pool is inherently shallow. Without STAB moves it can use, it can only attack with low-power Dark-type moves like Pursuit and Thief.
Therefore, the inherent advantage in this battle lay with Mega Gengar!