"Is this Meltan?"
When he saw the Pokémon Ethan had sent into battle, a look of surprise appeared in Samuel Silver's eyes.
At the same time, the other spectators also fixed their gaze on Meltan, and murmurs immediately began to spread throughout the venue.
Although Meltan had appeared quite some time ago and had also shown up in various major tournaments, it was still an absolutely unique Pokémon in the world, which inevitably inspired amazement in anyone who saw it.
And even more so in Ferraria City, where Steel-type Pokémon were especially revered: upon seeing Meltan, the audience's attention multiplied instantly.
"According to the rules, it's my turn to attack first," Ethan said with a faint smile. "So then, go ahead... use Magnetic Control!"
Ethan smiled slightly. He could clearly feel Meltan's eagerness to enter the Steel Secret Kingdom, so from the very beginning he decided to use a powerful move.
"Zzzt!"
After hearing Ethan's words, Meltan let out a soft buzzing sound, and its Magnet Pull ability activated abruptly.
The spectators, who had been extremely excited upon learning of the arrival of a gym evaluator and were expecting to see a balanced and intense battle,
were left completely dumbfounded by what they were witnessing.
What had they just seen?
The Steel-type Pokémon of Leader Samuel had been defeated so easily by that mysterious Pokémon called Meltan!
And not just Magneton: even the Aggron that came out afterward was completely suppressed by Meltan, unable to mount even a decent resistance.
"Aggron loses the ability to battle! Meltan is the winner!"
When the referee's voice fell, the spectators finally reacted. In an instant, the entire venue erupted in a deafening uproar, and one after another stared at Meltan in disbelief.
They had personally witnessed how strong Samuel's two Pokémon were, and yet they had been defeated with such ease... so just how terrifying must that Meltan be?!
Not only the audience: at that moment, Samuel himself was completely stunned. Remembering the words he had spoken earlier, he suddenly felt like digging a hole and hiding in it.
This defeat had been far too humiliating!
Only then did he understand why Lucas Silver always looked so helpless when talking about Ethan. Evidently, he too had suffered greatly at the hands of that Meltan.
"Could it be that this Pokémon is truly related to that legendary Pokémon spoken of in the legends...?"
At that instant, that thought crossed Samuel's mind, and his gaze toward Meltan began to shine intensely.
"Good work, Meltan."
As for Ethan, he paid no attention at all to the commotion in the audience.
He had experienced similar situations far too many times and was already accustomed to them; scenes like this were not enough to alter his expression.
Even so, he was still a bit surprised by the progress Meltan had made during that time. Evidently, after the defeat it had suffered in the Emberfall City Gym battle, Meltan had trained seriously, and now the results were more than evident.
"Zzzt!"
Meltan floated in front of Ethan and let out a couple of cheerful buzzes, clearly satisfied.
There was still one last Pokémon left. Samuel hesitated for a moment, running his hand over the row of Poké Balls on his back, until he finally stopped at the last one.
With a flash of white light, a Scyther appeared on the battlefield.
"Scyther?"
Ethan was momentarily taken aback, and then a smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
Although Ethan was not surprised that a Steel-type gym would send out Scyther, the audience present completely exploded. Clearly, no one could understand why Samuel had sent out a Pokémon that was not Steel-type; wasn't he damaging his own reputation?
"There's no problem with Leader Samuel sending out Scyther," a staff member from the Pokémon Trainers' Guild intervened at that moment. "After all, Scyther's evolved form is the Steel-type Pokémon: Scizor."
His words left everyone stunned once again.
Scyther could evolve?
A new Steel-type Pokémon, Scizor?
"What the hell?! Can Scyther really evolve into Scizor?!"
"Our Steel-type Pokémon army has a new member!"
The others finally reacted, and one after another began to shout enthusiastically.
Some people were already asking around everywhere for information about Scizor.
"Damn it, Scizor is insanely cool!"
No one knew who had obtained an image of Scizor, but it began circulating wildly among the crowd.
However, upon seeing the exchange conditions for obtaining Scizor's evolution method at the Pokémon Researchers' Guild, everyone sucked in a cold breath: that was not something an ordinary person could afford.
"Wait, now that I think about it..."
"I think I've seen a related article at the Pokémon Researchers' Guild."
At that moment, a Pokémon Researcher suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone's attention.
"Let me think... the author of that article seemed to be called... Ethan Black?"
The Pokémon Researcher slapped his forehead and spoke in surprise. But right after saying it, he froze completely.
Ethan Black?
Why did that name sound so familiar?
Wait... the challenger standing on the stage right now is also named Ethan Black!
And that Meltan... damn it!
When he finally reacted, the Pokémon Researcher opened his eyes wide and stared at Ethan.
What an absurd coincidence!
"What?"
"The evolution method for Scizor was discovered by that student who's fighting right now?"
After hearing the Pokémon Researcher's shout, the spectators showed expressions of surprise and, in unison, turned their gaze toward Ethan. Little by little, their eyes began to burn with enthusiasm.
If the very discoverer of Scizor's evolution method was standing right in front of them... wouldn't there be a chance to obtain that method directly from him?
"It seems I've caused you some trouble," Samuel said, shrugging as he saw the entire audience staring fixedly at Ethan.
Ethan also felt somewhat helpless under those burning gazes and let out a soft sigh.
"Let's set that aside for now. First, let's finish this battle."
Samuel withdrew his gaze from the audience, and his eyes, as he looked at Ethan, also began to shine with fervor.
"Alright, then let's do this."
"Meltan, use the Flying Sword."
At Ethan's command, Meltan's body began to twist. The moves Acid Armor, Harden, and Iron Defense activated at the same time, transforming it into a long sword floating in the air. A silvery flash crossed the field as it shot straight toward Scyther.
The speed was so extreme that no one managed to react in time!
Boom, boom, boom!
Scyther responded immediately. Swinging its scythes, it collided head-on with the sword that Meltan had become. The clash between the two looked, in that instant, like a close-quarters duel between two true swordsmen.
The spectators watched the battle, and especially upon seeing Meltan's peculiar fighting style, blinked several times... but they could no longer even feel surprised.
The truth was that Ethan had given them far too many surprises that day.
So many that they had already become numb to them.
(End of chapter)