"Using Rhyperior against Gardevoir might indeed be able to restrict Gardevoir's Psychic control to a certain extent, but no matter how you look at it, actually landing an attack on Gardevoir is still extremely difficult."
Clair watched the two Pokémon on the field as she calmly analyzed the situation. She truly couldn't understand why Leon would make such a choice.
Although Gardevoir's psychic abilities were notoriously troublesome, Dragapult had previously struggled and managed to partially break free from Gardevoir's Psychic control. This proved that Gardevoir couldn't completely immobilize a Pokémon of Dragapult's caliber using psychic power alone.
Rhyperior's massive weight and bulk did mean it didn't have to fear Gardevoir's control all that much, but its movements were far too sluggish. Facing Gardevoir, it didn't really hold an advantage, did it?
"…But my cousin's strength is honestly terrifying."
Clair quickly tossed this doubt aside. In any case, she was firmly on Lucas's side.
Her gaze shifted toward Lucas, dressed in white, refined and elegant, his temperament gentle and composed. A faint sparkle flickered in her beautiful eyes—what a captivating cousin he was.
Even without relying on any Legendary Pokémon, his own main team was already this powerful, enough to astonish the entire world.
"After all, Gardevoir is one of Lucas's core Pokémon that he's raised and trained for many years," Green said with a bright smile, her tone filled with pride. "There's no way she's inferior to Leon's or Lance's main Pokémon."
As Lucas's childhood friend, Green was naturally extremely familiar with those veteran powerhouses of his.
Back when they were in the Masked Organization, why was Lucas able to act so recklessly—so much so that even his own colleagues feared him?
It was precisely because of these despair-inducing core Pokémon!
Gardevoir might look elegant and gorgeous, and within Lucas's team she often played the role of a support healer, but her actual combat strength was just as chilling!
Someone like Karen, for instance—no one knew how many times she'd been utterly schooled by this very Gardevoir.
In the end, Karen completely gave up on the idea of challenging Lucas. Every time afterward, she only dared to trade a few verbal jabs with him.
…
"Rhyperior, Rock Blast!"
Seeing Gardevoir land on the ground once more, Leon took the initiative and launched another attack.
Rhyperior raised its arms, and rocky yellow light flickered from the hollow openings in its palms. Several high-speed, spinning stones shot straight toward Gardevoir.
Rock Blast—a Rock-type move capable of striking multiple times in succession.
"Magical Leaf," Lucas said calmly with a faint smile.
Gardevoir spread her arms, and a large number of multicolored leaves instantly condensed in front of her. With a graceful swing of her arm, the leaves streaked toward Rhyperior at high speed.
"Bulldoze!"
The instant Magical Leaf appeared, Leon's eyes narrowed.
Rhyperior slammed its foot heavily into the ground, sending a massive boulder rising up to block in front of itself.
Magical Leaf and Rock Blast collided violently in midair, but the sturdy rocks were almost instantly shredded into powder by the sharp, colorful leaves.
The remaining Magical Leaves continued forward, repeatedly crashing against the giant stone shielding Rhyperior.
"Moonblast," Lucas glanced at the boulder and let the corners of his mouth curl upward slightly.
What was this kind of defense even supposed to accomplish?
"Garde~!"
Gardevoir let out a soft cry as she raised her hand toward Rhyperior. Behind her, a cold and beautiful phantom image of the moon appeared.
BOOM!
A massive pink beam tore through the air and slammed heavily into the boulder in front of Rhyperior.
The solid stone was instantly shattered by the overwhelming Moonblast!
"Fire Punch!"
Rhyperior roared, its massive claw igniting with flames as it swung straight at the incoming Moonblast.
Dodging was out of the question!
Asking Rhyperior to dodge an attack? That simply didn't exist as a possibility!
More importantly, with Rhyperior's speed, trying to evade attacks was honestly asking too much of the big guy…
Moonblast collided violently with Fire Punch, but before long, Moonblast broke through the flames and struck Rhyperior directly!
A deafening explosion rang out as Rhyperior's enormous body staggered backward several steps before finally stabilizing itself.
"So tough. Even after taking Moonblast head-on, that's all the reaction it has?"
Lucas raised an eyebrow as he looked at Rhyperior's ferocious expression.
Although Fairy-type Moonblast didn't have a type advantage against Rhyperior, its power was absolutely nothing to scoff at.
"But simply being able to take hits isn't enough, Champion Leon. You understand that, don't you?"
Lucas shook his head lightly and chuckled. Having strong defenses and massive stamina alone wasn't enough.
Gardevoir didn't even need to get close—she could take Rhyperior down with ranged attacks alone.
On the other hand, if Rhyperior couldn't close the distance, it was nothing more than a living target.
"That's not something you need to worry about," Leon replied, his brow furrowing slightly. Sure enough, if he couldn't shorten the distance, there was no way this battle could continue.
"Just a friendly reminder," Lucas shrugged.
"Gardevoir, Energy Ball."
Without any further banter, Lucas gave the command.
Ground- and Rock-type Rhyperior had excellent resistances, but it was four times weak to both Water and Grass!
If he remembered correctly, Leon's Rhyperior had the Ability Solid Rock—a very good ability that reduced super-effective damage by one quarter.
That meant Water- and Grass-type attacks dealt triple effectiveness instead of quadruple.
For a heavyweight Pokémon like Rhyperior, this was extremely useful.
But even so, it was still triple-weak to Grass!
Gardevoir clasped her hands together in front of her chest as a green Energy Ball rapidly took shape.
"Dig!" Leon shouted immediately.
Rhyperior lowered its body and began furiously digging into the battlefield. By the time Gardevoir's Energy Ball shot forward, Rhyperior had already disappeared underground.
"Trying to approach Gardevoir from below?" Lucas narrowed his eyes slightly.
Dig was actually very easy to deal with—one Earthquake could leave the digging Pokémon with lifelong psychological trauma.
But Gardevoir's slender, delicate body… just thinking about it made it obvious—how could she possibly learn Earthquake?
"Gardevoir."
Understanding Lucas's intent, Gardevoir released her invisible psychic power, sensing and observing her surroundings.
Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet cracked slightly.
Gardevoir immediately used psychic power to lift her body into the air—and at that exact moment, the massive Rhyperior burst out from underground.
"Stone Edge!"
Although failing to hit Gardevoir directly was unfortunate, Leon had already anticipated it.
Rhyperior let out a loud roar as countless sharp stone blades formed above and shot toward Gardevoir at high speed.
"Psychic!"
Deep blue light flashed in Gardevoir's eyes as tangible, multicolored psychic energy surged outward.
Psychic clashed fiercely with Stone Edge, but very quickly, Psychic began to overpower the stone blades.
Yet with another low roar from Rhyperior, the Stone Edge suddenly exploded apart.
"Energy Ball!"
"Rock Wrecker!"
Lucas and Leon gave their commands at the same time!
Gardevoir descended toward the ground, a green Energy Ball forming between her palms before she hurled it at Rhyperior at high speed.
BOOM!
The Energy Ball hit and exploded, drawing a pained roar from Rhyperior. Immediately afterward, a massive boulder shot out from Rhyperior's palm.
Rock Wrecker—the Rock-type ultimate move!
The projectile sped toward Gardevoir as Leon's eyes locked onto her.
No matter how agile Gardevoir was, dodging immediately after attacking would be extremely difficult, especially since she hadn't even landed yet!
But at the very instant Gardevoir touched down, blue light flared around her body. Psychic power controlled her movement as she slid swiftly to the side.
She narrowly avoided the Rock Wrecker by a hair's breadth!
Leon's brow furrowed deeply. This…
Why was she still able to use psychic power like that at this moment?
"WOOOOO—!!"
The entire stadium erupted in an instant. An attack that should have been a guaranteed hit had been dodged just like that!
"Teleport."
Lucas's face still held that calm, faint smile.
Gardevoir adjusted her energy, blue light flashing in her eyes as her figure vanished from the spot.
When she reappeared, she was already right in front of Rhyperior!
"Oh no!"
Leon's heart skipped a beat, and spectators like Steven and Red had the same thought simultaneously.
Rock Wrecker was incredibly powerful—arguably the strongest Rock-type move, on par with Hyper Beam, Giga Impact, and Frenzy Plant.
But using Rock Wrecker came with recoil—brief immobilization.
Leon's Rhyperior had clearly undergone special training to minimize that downtime.
But no matter how much it was reduced, there was still an opening.
And with Gardevoir closing in at this moment, the outcome was obvious!
"Hypnosis!"
Blue spoke Lucas's thought aloud.
On the battlefield—
Rhyperior glared viciously at the Gardevoir right in front of it, while Gardevoir's clear eyes slowly lit up with an eerie glow.
Ripples of invisible waves flowed into Rhyperior's eyes. Its gaze gradually lost focus, its eyelids drooping.
It fell asleep!
Rhyperior was successfully put to sleep by Hypnosis!
Leon watched as Rhyperior slowly slumped down, asleep, and shook his head helplessly.
It was over.
"Dream Eater," Lucas said with a soft laugh.
Gardevoir slowly raised her hand toward Rhyperior as a phantom shadow passed straight through its body.
Psychic-type Dream Eater!
A move that could only affect sleeping targets, dealing damage while restoring some of the user's stamina.
Rhyperior's sleeping face twisted in pain, its aura weakening significantly. It was clear its dreams were anything but pleasant.
"Rhyperior!"
Even though he knew the chances were slim, Leon still called out.
"Struggling is pointless. Gardevoir's Hypnosis is—hm?"
Lucas smiled as he spoke. If Hypnosis could be broken just by shouting, it would be far too easy to counter.
Not to mention, this was his Gardevoir using it.
So far, Lucas had never encountered a single opponent who woke up from Gardevoir's Hypnosis before losing the ability to battle.
Yet surprisingly, perhaps due to sensing Leon's bond, Rhyperior's eyelids began to twitch.
Lucas glanced at Leon in surprise. Wow—?
"Even if it wakes up, it's already too late~" Lucas said regretfully. "Moonblast!"
The cold, beautiful moon phantom appeared once more behind Gardevoir as a massive pink beam slammed into Rhyperior!
Amid a thunderous explosion, Rhyperior's pained roar rang out. Clearly, under the assault of Moonblast, the Rhyperior that was just about to wake up was forcibly awakened…
"Rhyperior!"
Leon stared anxiously at the explosion. Even with Rhyperior's tremendous stamina, it couldn't endure this kind of relentless bombardment forever. And besides—
"Energy Ball," Lucas said calmly.
Well, Rhyperior was tough, but it was better to finish it off properly.
Leon was stunned!
Gardevoir formed another Energy Ball and hurled it straight into the still-unsettled explosion.
BOOM!
Another massive blast echoed.
"Rhyperior has lost the ability to battle. Gardevoir wins."
After carefully checking Rhyperior's condition, the referee raised the flag and announced the result.
As he left the field, the referee cast a strange glance at the refined, elegant Lucas.
This guy…
He really doesn't hold back at all. Ruthless.
Leon silently recalled Rhyperior. There was nothing left to say.
And with Leon's Rhyperior being defeated so decisively, countless forum threads instantly exploded into existence.
"Place your bets, place your bets! Guess how many more Pokémon my Gardevoir wife can take down!"
"OP, I'll kill you—she's my wife!"
"I'll be honest, this Gardevoir is absurdly strong. I'm betting on one-versus-four!"
"This is seriously insane. That Rhyperior didn't even touch Gardevoir once, did it?"
"Be confident—it's not 'didn't touch,' it's 'never even came close.' Holy crap, she's strong and gorgeous!"
"Say no more, brothers—I'm already on my way to Hoenn. That's the region with the most Ralts sightings, right?"
Absolute chaos.
(End of Chapter)