"Finish it—use Thunderbolt."
At that moment, Ethan's voice rang out once again.
A powerful current of electricity engulfed Bisharp completely.
When the sparks faded, Bisharp's body fell stiffly to the ground, smoke rising from its armor—it had lost the ability to continue fighting.
"This..."
"Lucas lost... and it was even a battle between Steel-types!"
Seeing Bisharp collapse, Marcus Foster opened his mouth in surprise.
"Ethan, your Meltan has the ability Magnet Pull, right?"
Lucas Silver took a deep breath, returned Bisharp to its Poké Ball, and looked over at Ethan.
"Yes, you're right."
Ethan nodded without surprise. Of course, Lucas hadn't noticed that, in addition to that ability, Meltan could also levitate by controlling magnetic fields.
"A Meltan with Magnet Pull..."
Lucas's eyes gleamed with interest. After hesitating for a moment, he threw another Poké Ball.
His ace Pokémon, Metagross, appeared in midair, facing Meltan head-on.
"Meltan, Magnetic Control!"
Ethan focused his gaze, commanding Meltan to release its full magnetic power.
Instantly, Metagross felt its body grow heavier; a strong magnetic force was pulling it downward, as if trying to drag it out of the sky.
"Metagross, use Psychic!"
Confronted with Meltan's magnetic power, Metagross stabilized itself and released a tangible wave of psychic energy.
"Meltan, use Thunderbolt!"
Meltan quickly switched tactics, building up an intense current of electricity that burst through the air.
Boom!
The two forces—psychic power and electricity—collided violently in midair.
After a short struggle, Metagross's psychic energy overwhelmed the lightning, striking Meltan directly and sending it flying.
If it weren't for the advantage granted by its Magnet Pull ability, Meltan's actual level still wouldn't match Lucas's ace Pokémon.
"Return, Meltan."
"Your turn—come out, Slowking."
After defeating the Dark-type Pokémon, Ethan's Slowking could finally join the battle.
"I knew you'd bring out Slowking."
"Metagross, use Confusion!"
"Slowking, we'll use Confusion too!"
Both trainers smiled at each other and gave their commands simultaneously.
The two Pokémon were surrounded by a blue aura; their psychic waves collided and intertwined in the air.
By the looks of it, both forces were almost perfectly balanced, neither side able to overpower the other for the moment.
"Just as I thought... in pure psychic strength, my Metagross is not weaker than your Slowking."
Seeing the equilibrium between them, Lucas let out a sigh of relief. He could sense that Slowking was using its full mental power.
"Yes, your Metagross isn't weaker in psychic power... but my Slowking's a little bit of a cheater," Ethan thought to himself with a sly smile. Slowking's true strength wasn't just its mental power—it was that the Shellder on its head could also fight on its own.
So, when Ethan commanded it to go all out, the Shellder began to glow with a blue light, and its psychic energy merged with Slowking's. The combined power instantly crushed Metagross's.
Boom!
Metagross's energy shattered, its body trembling violently as it plummeted from the air.
"Metagross!"
Seeing the pain on his Pokémon's face, Lucas quickly ran toward it.
"It seems to have suffered mental damage."
"Slowking, use Heal Pulse."
Ethan, noticing the same thing, ordered his Pokémon to heal its opponent.
Slowking raised its hands, focused its energy, and released a ray of light that entered Metagross's body, soothing its pain.
"Phew... thanks."
Lucas sighed in relief.
Even so, he couldn't help feeling regretful.
He had wanted Metagross to fight using only its psychic power, to prove it wasn't weaker than Slowking... But he hadn't expected the result to be so disastrous. Not only had he lost, but Metagross had also suffered severe mental backlash.
It was an overwhelming defeat, to say the least.
And what made it worse was that Metagross was his starter Pokémon—raised since before its evolution, backed by all the resources of the Devon Corporation. Yet it had lost on its own battlefield—psychic power—to a Slowking.
"I guess spending money doesn't beat cheating."
Ethan shook his head. No matter how many resources you poured into Metagross, it couldn't win against a Slowking that was essentially fighting two-on-one. It was just too unfair!
"Eh... I can't win, I can't win."
"I thought I could put up a fight with that guy..."
"Well..."
"Next time, then."
After returning Metagross to its Poké Ball, Lucas took out another one, but after thinking it over, he sighed and put it away again.
"That guy?"
Ethan looked intrigued. If Lucas said that, it meant the Pokémon inside that ball wasn't weaker than Metagross.
"Just bad luck, that's all—my Pokémon happened to be countered by yours."
Ethan slowly shook his head, though his eyes lingered on Lucas's Poké Ball.
Steel-type Pokémon were fundamental pillars in sandstorm teams, and among them were many powerful ones: Metagross, Lucario, Excadrill, Ferrothorn... all key pieces in that kind of strategy.
"Ethan, your Meltan's magnetic control is too overpowered. Could you teach me that training method?"
After accepting his defeat, Lucas relaxed. A loss was a loss—no point in getting upset over it.
"You want the training method for magnetic control?"
Ethan glanced sideways at him. The magnetic levitation ability was one of Meltan's secret techniques; it wasn't something he could casually reveal.
Besides, even if he explained it, mastering it would be nearly impossible since it depended on Meltan's unique body structure.
"Of course I want to learn it. I'm serious."
"If you teach me the training method, you can pick anything you want from the Devon Corporation's warehouses!"
Hearing that, Ethan couldn't help but feel a bit tempted.
(End of Chapter)