On the big screen, the score froze at 1:0.
By the time Gastrodon, isolated in a corner of the field by Rock Tomb, and Darmanitan snapped out of their daze, they realized the outcome on the other side had already been decided.
And true to his word, Master Mustard stuck to his previous promise. After recalling Urshifu, he decisively raised his hand, signaling his forfeiture.
"Honey, this era really does belong to the young folks!"
Master Mustard patted his head and sighed with a smile toward Honey, who was walking toward him.
Even though he lost the match, he looked incredibly happy—even happier than Aiden on the winning side.
Seeing this, Honey couldn't help but reveal a doting smile, replying, "Yeah—"
"With this, you should be able to rest easy, my dear."
"Haha, what is there for me to worry about!"
Looking at Aiden, who was high-fiving Cynthia across the way, Mustard's narrowed eyes held a hint of satisfaction.
"Whether it's him or little Leon, they both have the potential to become the 'kings' of this era. Just knowing that is enough."
"This trip was completely worth it!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah—"
Honey shook her head helplessly, then suddenly raised an eyebrow and teased, "Since the match is completely over, you should accompany me for a proper shopping trip in Lumiose City, right?"
"Of course, after tomorrow's finals."
Master Mustard didn't reply, just nodded.
His gaze quickly shifted to behind Aiden, where a sliver of white could vaguely be seen in the shadows at the deepest part of the competitor tunnel.
Old man Oak—
Mustard narrowed his eyes again, his smile turning playful.
The young people of this era might just exceed your imagination!
What Urshifu and I couldn't achieve back in the day, let Little Aiden and Little Luca do it for me!
"Phew, I feel like we were a hair's breadth away from losing."
After walking into the competitor tunnel, Aiden, who had kept a straight face the whole time, finally let out a breath and whispered to Cynthia.
"A hair's breadth away from losing means what exactly?"
Cynthia teased.
"About this much?"
Aiden held up his fingers, making a "Pinch" gesture.
"But seriously, it really was incredibly dangerous just now."
Taking off the weights allowed Lucario's speed to temporarily break through its limits, but it gave almost zero boost to its raw power. And in the earlier stages of the fight, it was obvious that Lucario was slightly lacking in raw power compared to the Urshifu.
So, if he had gone for the most stable win condition, Aiden absolutely wouldn't have let Lucario rush in and trade blows with the Urshifu head-on. He would have definitely played the speed game and slowly chipped away at the opponent.
However—
The atmosphere was already at that point; if he didn't accept the challenge, it would have been way too uncool!
Aiden had to admit that sometimes his blood did get to his head, leading him to make less rational choices.
But the result wasn't bad, right?
The last time it fought an Urshifu master, it entirely relied on Lucario's on-the-spot epiphany of a "desperate strike" to forcefully tank the opponent's punch. But after so much training, Lucario could now freely control its power output. Even if it concentrated all its strength into a single explosive point, it could forcefully retain its consciousness and stay rational.
This was probably one of the reasons why the normally cautious Lucario dared to trade blows with the Urshifu master head-on.
"I suddenly understand why people say being too humble just makes you look like a douche."
Seeing Aiden's gesture, Cynthia playfully poked his cheek.
"There aren't many people who can get Master Mustard's acknowledgment. Besides you, it should only be that Leon guy."
"Besides, if you wanted to fight head-on, wouldn't it have been better to just have Lucario Mega Evolve right then?"
Aiden claimed he had gone all out, but up until the end of the match, Lucario hadn't even used the Mega Evolution the rules allowed.
If you factored that in—even that Urshifu's raw power probably wouldn't be enough to suppress a Mega Lucario.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Actually, Chien-Pao might have been the real MVP of this match~"
Aiden laughed it off with a "haha" and didn't explain further.
He naturally hadn't forgotten about Mega Evolution. As for why he ultimately chose Chien-Pao, which looked like it did absolutely nothing... there was naturally a reason.
Just looking at Urshifu's physique, you could tell it was a completely broken, unkillable tank. If Lucario hadn't used Chien-Pao as a dedicated weapon to unleash the Ruin aura, who knows who would have actually won that trade?
And this was the highest-tier information asymmetry he had designed for this match!
Who could have guessed that the Treasures of Ruin could actually revert to their original forms and be used purely as support items in battle?
Urshifu, fully focused on the battle, had unknowingly grown accustomed to the shifting auras around it, falling right into his trap.
This was a disposable trap designed specifically for Master Mustard. He wouldn't bear to use it against ordinary opponents!
Chien-Pao: I'm literally mindfucked right now, my dudes!
Aiden and Cynthia chatted as they walked, soon reaching the end of the tunnel.
At the corner, they ran into two familiar figures again.
Although in his researcher attire, Professor Oak was still wearing his signature white lab coat, accompanied by the stern-faced Granny Agatha.
The four pairs of eyes met. Professor Oak, usually amiable and approachable, didn't say a word this time. He just gave them a light nod and walked toward the arena with Agatha.
"Tsk tsk—Looks like Professor Oak is finally getting serious!"
Looking at their gradually retreating backs, Aiden broke into a schadenfreude smile.
"I hope Steven and Wallace will be okay. Personally, I can't think of any way for them to win—"
"But even if they lose, it's fine. Aren't we here as the gatekeepers to defend the last shred of dignity for the young generation!"
"Besides, we can use this match to see what kind of dirty tricks these two seniors have prepared!"
"So let's hurry back and watch the match, Cynthia~"
Saying that, Aiden very naturally reached out and held Cynthia's wrist.
By the time they returned to the lounge, the contestants on both sides were already in position.
Not just Professor Oak and Agatha, even Steven and Wallace had equally grave expressions today.
It couldn't be helped. Facing Battle Legend-tier seniors, if they showed even a hint of timidity, they would lose the mental game right off the bat.
You call yourselves Champions?
Think about it, how many years have Professor Oak and Master Mustard been Champions?
Even Granny Agatha, who had no real desire to fight for the Champion title, shouldn't be underestimated.
Back when Professor Oak first retired and the other three Kanto Elite Four hadn't fully matured, she could have easily taken the Champion throne. She only held back because of her internal conflict over taking Oak's spot.
Just looking at the deadpan expressions of both sides before the match started, Aiden already had a premonition—
This match was going to be incredibly violent!
And it truly was.
After the whistle blew, four Pokémon appeared in succession.
Steven's Metagross, Wallace's Politoed, Granny Agatha's Gengar, and—
Professor Oak's Dragonite!
"So they've finally brought out their aces—"
Aiden subconsciously licked his lips, looking up at the incredibly sharp-eyed Dragonite hovering in the air, whose build was much burlier than a standard Dragonite.
Professor Oak's era was too long ago, so the actionable intel Aiden could get wasn't much. However, he still knew a bit about his three most commonly used aces: Dragonite, Kangaskhan, and Charizard.
These three Pokémon, with their incredibly aggressive playstyles, had claimed countless accolades during Samuel Oak's trainer days, and even now, they were still in their absolute prime.
As the four Pokémon took the field, under the influence of Politoed's Drizzle ability, a light rain soon began to fall over the arena.
Honestly, Aiden felt that Steven and Wallace's side actually had the advantage—
Metagross's bulk was insane, and Dragonite would have a hard time breaking through it. Plus, its offensive power after Mega Evolving was nothing to scoff at.
Politoed was naturally a weather specialist; he probably had Perish Song tucked away as a trump card to control the field at a crucial moment.
The problem was—if they wanted to use Perish Song, Granny Agatha was clearly the more experienced player!
Using it rashly might actually backfire on them.
Right off the bat, both sides simultaneously commanded Mega Evolutions.
Seizing the moment before Granny Agatha's Gengar could swap to its Hidden Ability, Wallace decisively recalled Politoed and sent out a Swampert that hadn't seen any playtime prior.
Their strategy was obvious at a glance.
Although it was a bit slow to enter the field, its Mega Evolution speed was a beat slower than the other two Pokémon. But at least it could leech off the Rain from the get-go.
By utilizing the massive speed boost from Mega Evolution's Swift Swim ability, moving first wasn't entirely impossible.
However—
Regarding its appearance, Professor Oak and Granny Agatha didn't seem surprised at all.
Just as the evolution glow faded, the purple blob transformed into a mobile artillery piece. Mega Gengar immediately spat out its tongue.
A shadow cast by its body on the ground suddenly bounced outward, spreading at a terrifying speed to engulf the entire arena.
The opponents' shadows were instantly swallowed up, forcing them to be rooted to the ground.
Right after that—
"Gengar, Shadow Ball!"
Granny Agatha's hoarse but imposing voice echoed across the stadium.
As for the target of this Shadow Ball, it was naturally the Swampert, which was still covered in the glow of its own evolution.
Swampert had a weakness, but this weakness was incredibly lethal.
With the combat power of Granny Agatha's "veteran Ghost King," if the move landed, there was a high chance of one-shotting the opponent on the spot!
"Metagross, rush over and use Protect to block it!"
Steven instantly realized this, so he didn't hesitate to counter.
Metagross wasn't too afraid of the move anyway. As long as they could give Swampert a chance to make a move, having Metagross pin down Gengar would at least keep Dragonite in check.
The situation wasn't completely hopeless.
The idea was simple, but Professor Oak obviously wasn't going to give them any chances.
"Dragonite, Roar!"
With Steven and Wallace's attention entirely focused on Genghar, absolutely no one expected him to suddenly use this move.
Unbeknownst to them, Dragonite had somehow flown right up to Metagross. Just as it put up a Protect barrier to block the Shadow Ball, it suddenly let out a furious roar!
Metagross did indeed help its teammate tank the hit, but the price was—
It was violently blown right out of the arena by Dragonite's wild sound-based attack, directly forcing Steven to recall it.
"..."
Looking at the Poké Ball tightly clutched in his hands, Steven was completely numb.
So that's how it is.
Targeting Swampert with an attack from the very beginning was just a feint; their real target was me all along!
I walked right into that trap—
With his ace Metagross forced out, he had no choice but to send out his second Pokémon.
Steel/Flying-type, entirely covered in steel feathers—Skarmory!
Seeing this, Aiden shook his head.
Logically speaking, Steven's true second ace should have been that Metagross.
But its weaknesses were way too glaring. If it dared to show its face, it would absolutely be heavily targeted by Dragonite.
Not only would it fail to break the current deadlock, it would just tip the already unbalanced scales completely to the other side.
So, was Skarmory really a good choice right now?
Skarmory was indeed hard enough, and its already few weaknesses were diluted by the Rain. Neither Dragonite nor Genghar could easily dispose of it.
But it couldn't help Swampert share any of the pressure!
"Sigh—they really strayed too far from the optimal path."
Aiden made his prediction in advance.
If it had been Swampert and Metagross, those two bros, they might have actually had a fighting chance.
But now, with Professor Oak just using a tiny trick, the situation had completely collapsed.
Swampert had to defend against Mega Genghar's lethal Shadow Balls suddenly flying in on one side, while constantly getting harassed by Dragonite on the other—
What a pure deadbeat husband Skarmory is!
Aiden heavily suspected that Skarmory's entire game plan was just mimicking Professor Oak's earlier play: using Defog or Roar to knock Gengar out of the way, forcefully giving Metagross an opening.
And he guessed exactly right!
"Skarmory, use Defog!"
When he heard Steven give the command, Aiden finally let out a relieved chuckle.
These were moves the seniors had literally just used. Did they really think these two highly tactical seniors wouldn't have a counter prepared?
Relying on Dragonite's terrifying burst power, it instantly pulled off a godspeed bait-and-switch, not only triggering Skarmory's Static ability but also closing the distance to point-blank range.
As for Genghar and Swampert—leaving them to a 1v1, the consequences were naturally predictable.
Under the relentless assault, Mega Swampert didn't even get a chance to show off its terrifying "one-punching a Snorlax" power before Gengar exploited an opening left by its failed Protect, nailing it with a curving Shadow Ball and sending it back to its ball to rest.
As for Politoed, who entered next, it posed even less of a threat. Under consecutive Shadow Balls, it had absolutely zero defensive capabilities.
By the end, Steven was completely in despair.
No matter how tanky his Skarmory and Metagross were, they couldn't immunize themselves against "mental attacks"!
The moment Gengar started singing Perish Song, victory had already slipped far away from him and Wallace.
Even at the very end, the two seniors refused to let up, pulling off a flawless rapid-swap right before Perish Song's countdown ended.
The final match score froze at 4:0.
The team of two Hoenn Champions was effortlessly swept by Professor Oak and Granny Agatha in the semi-finals.
"..."
Watching the whole thing, Aiden couldn't help but sigh.
Sure enough, old ginger is always the spiciest!
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