Lu Zhengjie still couldn't quite make up his mind. But watching Lucario on the field still desperately dodging Mega Charizard's flame-wreathed fists, he finally steadied himself and shouted to Lucario:
"Lucario!"
Hearing this, Lucario's body trembled. He quickly parried Mega Charizard X's attack, then used Aura Sphere to force him back before turning to nod at Lu Zhengjie.
From the moment Lu Zhengjie called his name, he'd already understood what Lu Zhengjie meant. And he felt the same way—rather than sitting around waiting to lose, better to try.
Seeing Lucario nod, Lu Zhengjie finally made his decision.
After this, if they lost, they'd be eliminated. If they won, they wouldn't recover in time for the next match and would still be eliminated. But this time—he wanted to win. He didn't want to lose.
Take the gamble—they might win. Don't gamble—they definitely wouldn't win.
Seeing his opponent's movements, Jace immediately commanded Charizard to attack Lucario.
Though he didn't know what they were planning or what scheme they had, though he knew nothing—as an opponent, he just needed to prevent them from doing what they wanted to do. Only then could he do what he wanted to do.
"Lucario!"
"RIOL!"
At that moment, both human and Pokémon's eyes simultaneously glowed blue, staring intently at Charizard who was already charging toward them.
Lu Zhengjie closed his eyes tightly and raised his right fist to his heart. Lucario pointed one hand skyward—Aura Sphere slowly formed at his fingertip, growing larger and larger.
"Aura, within my heart!"
The voice wasn't very loud, but with the sound and the spreading power of aura, the Aura Sphere in Lucario's hand flew directly toward Charizard.
After being boosted by Lu Zhengjie's aura, the current "Aura Sphere" could more accurately be called an "Aura Ball."
The blue sphere on the field now was easily large enough to fit three Charizards inside with room to spare.
"Quickly activate the second layer of protection!"
"Yes sir!"
The staff at the field's edge tensed up after seeing this scene and hurriedly activated the second protective layer.
Soon, a transparent membrane passed through the field. Not only did it form a semicircular barrier over the entire battle arena, it also protected the ground from energy aftershocks without disturbing anything on the field.
"Charizard!"
His opponent's movements were too fast. Jace had no time to react at all. He could only watch helplessly as Charizard was struck by the Aura Sphere.
"BOOM!"
After the violent explosion, the field fell into complete silence.
Slowly, once the dust settled, everyone discovered that Charizard had already reverted from his Mega form. With swirly eyes, he'd collapsed to the ground, having lost the ability to battle.
And Lucario, who'd launched that strike, was half-kneeling on the ground, seemingly unable to even lift his head to see the effect of his attack.
"Mega Charizard is down!"
The commentator roared hoarsely from the booth. The audience below erupted as well, but none of this affected the two on the field.
Jace fell silent for a moment, then took out Charizard's Poké Ball and recalled him.
"Sorry—this time I was careless."
Holding Charizard's Poké Ball, Jace apologized to the unconscious Charizard inside, then looked with cold eyes at the half-kneeling Lucario and the now-powerless Lu Zhengjie.
Though even if Jace had been serious, the outcome would have been the same with this opponent's tactic—being careless was still being careless. This was something Jace couldn't hide from himself.
The moment Charizard was recalled into his Poké Ball, Lucario could no longer hold on either. His body swayed and he collapsed.
At the same time, Lu Zhengjie also slumped to the ground, all his strength seemingly drained.
"Mega Charizard has lost the ability to battle! Lucario has lost the ability to battle! The victor of this match is Jace Rowan!"
The referee's judgment came belatedly. As a referee, he'd basically failed in his duty.
But anyone who saw a Aura Sphere that huge explode right in front of them would be just as stunned as he was.
And so, the final results were in. Because Jace still had Arcanine who hadn't lost the ability to battle, Jace advanced and Lu Zhengjie was eliminated.
After nodding to each other, both headed off the field simultaneously. Though Jace was very displeased with his opponent, he still had basic respect for an opponent who worked hard to turn things around in an unwinnable match.
Of course, if he hadn't been the target of said turnaround, he might have respected him even more.
After Jace's match finished—after the round of five to three ended—there would be a period of rest.
The rest period was long enough for contestants' Pokémon to recover to normal condition.
However, after sensing that surge of aura power, Auron's expression had grown somewhat grave.
Right now he was still in the medical room waiting for Jace to arrive. He'd already messaged Jace saying he was at Medical Room 3.
He needed to wait for Jace—wait for Jace to tell him about the situation. Auron was starting to regret not watching the match.
Soon, Jace had already arrived. But Auron didn't rush to ask questions. He waited until Jace had handed his Poké Ball to Chansey before speaking:
"Just now—what was the situation on the field?"
Jace plopped down next to Auron, unceremoniously pulled a sweet tea from Auron's backpack, took a sip, then spoke:
"Aura. Yeah, should be—after all, it's pretty much like yours. And it was boosting Lucario, so it should be aura power."
"And then?"
Auron nodded. He'd sensed from the start that this was aura power. He'd even felt something familiar within that aura.
"Hm? There is no 'and then.' He just suddenly used aura to boost Lucario's Aura Sphere, then forcibly traded it for my Charizard." Jace froze, speaking with obvious displeasure.
Anyone would look unhappy after having victory in hand only to be reversed by an opponent's sudden counterattack.
Moreover, Jace really had been careless.
On the way here, Jace had reviewed the match. A simple Dragon Breath would have disrupted his opponent's plan—so why had he chosen to charge in with Fire Punch?
Auron nodded. What Jace said was basically the same as saying nothing. In the end, he still needed to find clues himself—figure out why he'd felt something familiar in that aura.
After connecting it to the aura's user, Auron already had some leads, but still couldn't quite confirm it.
With no other choice, Auron pulled out his phone and made a call.
The phone connected quickly.
"Hello? What's up?"
"Hello? Dad, do you have an illegitimate son out there? About my age?"