At the moment, Grey had been tricked by Giovanni into revealing four Pokémon.
It had not caused much damage, but it was extremely irritating.
"Gliscor, Night Slash."
Giovanni's tone was calm.
Gliscor suddenly turned around. Its twin claws burst with ominous black light as it slashed fiercely toward Mewtwo!
"Dodge, then use Ice Punch."
Mewtwo's figure suddenly blurred. In the next second, it had appeared behind Gliscor like a ghost.
Its three rounded fingers gathered bone-piercing cold, and an Ice Punch came crashing down!
Boom!
Gliscor had no time to react at all. Its back took the heavy blow head-on, and frost instantly spread across its entire body!
Quadruple weakness!
Moves like Ice Beam and Blizzard required Mewtwo to charge, while Ice Punch could be used instantly. In a situation like this, Ice Punch was definitely the best choice.
And there it was.
With one punch from Mewtwo, half of Gliscor's life was nearly gone.
That was also because Mewtwo's strength itself was higher than Gliscor's.
Barring any accidents, after a few more hits, Gliscor would also lose its ability to battle and be unable to continue.
"Gym Leader Grey's Pokémon has exceptional stats. It possesses abilities ordinary Pokémon cannot compare to. Not bad."
Giovanni clapped. It was not that his Gliscor was weak, but that Mewtwo was simply too powerful.
Even though he was being suppressed, seeing Mewtwo's strength produce such miraculous results in Grey's hands made Giovanni secretly delighted.
The stronger this Mewtwo was, the stronger the first Mewtwo must be.
And the first Mewtwo was invented and created by Team Rocket. It was an existence that should never rebel.
Yes, he would take this opportunity to see what kind of commands Grey would give next.
There was nothing wrong with learning a little from him while he had the chance.
Giovanni no longer cared about winning or losing. As long as he could take advantage of this excellent opportunity to obtain what he wanted, he had no problem handing victory to Grey.
He understood the stakes. It was only a single Gym Tournament match. So what if Grey won?
As the leader of Team Rocket, would he be lacking these resources?
Obviously not.
Maybe he could even use this opportunity, in his identity as a Gym Leader, to get a little closer to Grey.
Giovanni thought about many things.
At this moment, he had already decided what he should do in this battle.
"Gliscor, Spikes!"
That was right. Giovanni's command was Spikes!
"?"
Seeing Giovanni play dirty again, Grey genuinely could not understand him anymore.
So that was how he wanted to play?
Giovanni of the Earth, are you trying to ruin Pokémon battling?!
But it was still fine.
It was not exactly some unforgivable move.
It just gave Mewtwo the perfect chance to directly defeat Gliscor.
"Glihehe!"
Gliscor slammed heavily onto the ground, endured the pain, and injected Ground-type energy into the surface.
Countless sharp spikes burst out of the earth and spread across the battlefield!
"Mewtwo, finish it off in one shot. Use Blizzard!"
Blue light exploded in Mewtwo's eyes, and Blizzard came roaring forward like a collapsing glacier!
Extreme cold and icy dust instantly swallowed Gliscor's figure, making the world fall silent.
The raging sandstorm weather quietly faded under the absolute low temperature, leaving only the faint sound of ice crystals falling to the ground, tapping at everyone's hearts.
When the Blizzard scattered, Gliscor, now transformed into an ice sculpture, fell backward. With a thud, everyone fell silent.
Poison Heal Gliscor had not even had time to heal before Mewtwo took it down.
All that could be said was this.
Mewtwo's stats really were generous.
"Gliscor is unable to battle. Gym Leader Giovanni, please send out your next Pokémon."
"I didn't expect Gym Leader Giovanni's Gliscor to lose its ability to battle so quickly. It looks like he wanted to pave the way for the Pokémon that come after it! Mr. Guli, what do you think of Gym Leader Giovanni's tactics?"
Darknight aimed the microphone at Guli TV, wanting to hear what kind of guess this Trainer who was skilled at battling would make.
"Entry hazard tactics are also something many competitive Trainers specialize in. In the past, we've never seen Gym Leader Giovanni use this kind of tactic. Either he's been hiding it very deeply and usually doesn't encounter Trainers worth using it against, or he only recently learned it and happened to bring it out for practice."
"Personally, I lean toward Gym Leader Giovanni having hidden it very deeply. After all, at the very beginning, Hippowdon really did cause Gym Leader Grey a lot of trouble. Judging from Gym Leader Grey's reaction, it seems there also isn't a Pokémon on his team that has learned Taunt."
"That's why Gym Leader Giovanni can command so fearlessly."
Guli TV's explanation was long, and many viewers suddenly understood after hearing it.
It was true.
Grey specialized in fast offense, but against this kind of tankier Pokémon, he might not necessarily be able to break through.
Giovanni could simply use moves like Whirlwind.
Then he could slowly wear down the stamina of Grey's Pokémon.
"Mewtwo, do you still want to continue fighting?"
Grey had roughly figured it out. Giovanni wanted to drag things out against him.
At the same time, he wanted to see how Grey commanded Mewtwo so that he could copy it afterward.
Grey had directly been treated by Giovanni as free practice.
How could Grey possibly accept that?
So he directly asked Mewtwo to see what it thought.
"That works too."
Mewtwo chose to float back and stand beside Grey, acting as a bodyguard.
Seeing Grey's choice, Darknight was a little surprised and began speculating.
"Oh? I didn't expect Gym Leader Grey to withdraw Mewtwo. Is he trying to preserve its stamina to avoid having it defeated in one push by Gym Leader Giovanni?"
In a six-on-six match, it was possible to rotate opponents and trade them down.
So it was completely understandable for Grey to switch Pokémon at this time.
"Blaziken, I'll have to ask you one more time."
Grey still sent Mega Blaziken onto the field.
Stab!
The moment it touched the ground, Mega Blaziken's feet were stabbed by the hidden layer of Spikes.
At the same time, countless rocks appeared around it and bombarded it.
After taking the full set, Mega Blaziken was somewhat injured.
"Tch."
Losing health as soon as it entered the field felt pretty uncomfortable.
If his team had a Pokémon that could clear hazards, he would have cleared them first no matter what.
Meanwhile, the Pokémon Giovanni sent out was Cynthia's signature powerhouse, Garchomp.
Pokémon: Garchomp
Type: Dragon, Ground
Level: 73
Ability: Rough Skin
Moves: omitted
The Rough Skin Ability really did guard against close-range combat.
"Blaziken, pay attention to Garchomp's movements. We'll test it first with Flamethrower."
Grey had never battled Garchomp before, so he simply had Mega Blaziken probe it.
"Chawa!"
Mega Blaziken inhaled deeply. The heat wave around its body suddenly compressed into a blazing white line of fire, blasting toward Garchomp like a high-tech particle cannon!
"Garchomp, Sandstorm."
Garchomp did not dodge or avoid it. Its sharp claws fiercely shattered the ground.
A sandstorm rose into the sky, forming a violent barrier around it and forcibly meeting the Flamethrower that looked as though it could burn everything to ash!
Boom!
Sandstorm was only a weather move. It had no way to completely cancel out Flamethrower's power. After a large hole was blasted through it, it stopped resisting and allowed Flamethrower to attack Garchomp directly.
Fortunately, Garchomp had the Dragon type, which resisted Fire-type moves.
This Flamethrower did not actually deal much damage.
"Earthquake."
Garchomp stomped heavily on the ground, and the entire arena immediately shook violently!
It attacked as fast as lightning. Before Mega Blaziken could react, it was directly struck by that thunderous blow!
"Chawa..."
Mega Blaziken was not feeling too good. After this Earthquake, combined with the injuries it had taken earlier and the endless erosion from the sandstorm, its stamina was not in great shape.
"Need to switch?"
Grey took the initiative and asked.
"Chawa." Blaziken said. "No. Let me see how many Champion-level Pokémon the current me can defeat in battle!"
Mega Blaziken wanted to see, after gaining the power of Mega Evolution, exactly how many Pokémon of the same level it could take down.
Back when it had just evolved into Blaziken, it could indeed take down many Pokémon of the same level.
But right now, this was a Champion-level battle.
Every Pokémon that could reach Champion level was an outstanding specimen among its kind.
In this situation, unless one was a major Legendary, defeating opponents one after another was still extremely difficult.
"Since you insist, I guess there's nothing I can do."
Grey chuckled softly, and the power of Aura suddenly erupted!
"Are you finally bringing out your real skill? Gym Leader Grey, you truly made me wait a long time!"
Giovanni waved his hand and commanded with a powerful, ringing voice.
"Garchomp, the current Mega Blaziken is already on its last legs. Use Dragon Rush and take it down!"
"Garchomp!"
Garchomp suddenly leapt into the sky. Dragon-type energy covered its entire body like armor.
A savage giant dragon phantom appeared behind it, carrying a force that seemed capable of tearing heaven and earth apart as it dove down toward Mega Blaziken!
"This Garchomp's strength... is incredible."
"Is Cynthia here too? Any Garchomp experts around?"
"Hohoho, I am Remo from the Kalos region. This Garchomp's strength is no weaker than mine!"
"Tell us something we don't know."
"Gym Leader Giovanni is already this eager to use a finishing move? Blaziken, Detect!"
Mega Blaziken's gaze suddenly sharpened, and every trajectory of the dragon's dive was reflected in its pupils.
The instant Dragon Rush was about to hit, it suddenly twisted sideways. The scorching airflow and the dragon phantom brushed past each other!
That finishing move only tore through an afterimage. Mega Blaziken had already landed steadily several meters away, its claws scraping scorching sparks from the ground!
The instant it straightened up, Mega Blaziken had already condensed a deep blue Aura Sphere between its palms.
The energy sphere hummed as it accurately blasted toward Garchomp's back!
Bang!
"Garchomp!"
Aura Sphere exploded against the dragon scales in dazzling blue light. Garchomp's forward momentum came to an abrupt stop, and it let out a pained roar.
"Wow! Every move connects as smoothly as flowing water. Could it be that Gym Leader Grey has already reached the point of sharing one mind with his Pokémon?"
Guli TV had seen many Trainers.
But being able to maintain such a smooth battle while low on stamina had to be the result of long-term training.
It was the kind of coordination that should not be possible without decades of working together with a Pokémon.
But here was the question.
Grey seemed to only be eighteen.
And it seemed like he had received his Pokémon less than half a year ago.
Being able to reach this level with his Pokémon in such a short period meant that during this time, he must have experienced many situations where he hovered on the edge of life and death!
Thinking of this, Guli TV felt solemn respect.
Rumble!
The instant Garchomp crashed to the ground, earthquake waves spread in every direction without a single blind spot!
Seeing this, Grey gave Mega Blaziken an order in his mind, telling it to immediately condense Aura Sphere and clash head-on!
The two energies collided violently in midair, and the explosive shock wave forced both sides back at the same time!
However, Earthquake's range was larger.
Even though Aura Sphere had reduced its power, Mega Blaziken still took some damage.
"As expected of Gym Leader Giovanni. You actually thought to take advantage of your own Pokémon being injured and release Earthquake the moment it fell. On this point, I, Grey, truly admire you."
No matter how Grey thought about it, he really would not have imagined using his own body as a medium to release Earthquake.
Giovanni of the Earth truly had turned Ground-type moves into an art form.
"Likewise, Gym Leader Grey. Your Mega Blaziken is very impressive too. It has taken so many Earthquakes from Garchomp and still hasn't fallen."
Giovanni wiped the sweat from his forehead and could not help sighing that Grey really was worthy of being a Fighting-type specialist. It was like his Pokémon had its health locked, taking so many moves and still not falling.
Your Mega Blaziken isn't some tank Pokémon. It's obviously a fast, fragile attacker. Can't it just obediently fall already?
Both sides were cheating.
Now it was just a matter of seeing whose cheat was bigger.
"Blaziken, Close Combat!"
"Garchomp, Dragon Rush!"
Fighting-type flames burned around Mega Blaziken, while Garchomp was enveloped by the giant dragon phantom.
One red light and one blue-green light streaked across the battlefield like comets, carrying completely different attribute energies as they collided with a roar!
Boom!
After the shock wave rampaged through the arena, the battlefield had already been reduced to ruins, smoke filling the air.
At the center of the wreckage, Garchomp and Blaziken had both fallen. Their chests rose and fell violently, but neither could stand again and continue battling.
"Blaziken and Garchomp are both unable to battle. Both Gym Leaders, please send out your next Pokémon!"
This was the Gym Tournament, not a baby-level League Conference match. There was no mid-match break after one side had three Pokémon defeated.
In other words, they had to take down all six in one continuous battle.
This was also a required lesson for high-level Trainers.
"Gym Leader Grey, you are the second Trainer in history to make me use my full strength."
"Gym Leader Giovanni, you are also the first Trainer in history to defeat one of my Pokémon."
Both sides spoke honestly.
For Grey, this really was the first time one of his Pokémon had been defeated.
Nothing like this had happened in the past.
All he could say was that Gym Leader Giovanni was still far too strong.
With such a large difference in strength, Blaziken's defeat had been inevitable.
"Next should be your main Kanto team, right, Gym Leader Giovanni?"
The first three had all been Pokémon from the Sinnoh region.
They were also Pokémon Giovanni had trained later.
But people had to remember this.
Giovanni had been called Giovanni of the Earth since long ago.
The strength he possessed was definitely not limited to this.
"That's right. The partner I send out next is the one that signals the true beginning of this battle."
Giovanni took out a Great Ball and suddenly threw it toward the battlefield!
"I choose you..."
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