Moreover, Double Iron Bash, being Melmetal's exclusive move and a move of the same type, already possessed extremely high power by itself.
On the other hand, Melmetal took advantage of its enormous weight to launch its fists, and, in addition, added the force generated by the rotation of its mercury body, thereby bringing the power of the move Double Iron Bash to its maximum.
And lastly, Melmetal's ability could not go unmentioned. Although after evolving its ability had changed from Magnet Pull to Iron Fist, that made the power of its punching moves become even more terrifying.
With all those conditions added together, Melmetal directly crushed Hitmonchan with its steel fists.
"Elite level!"
"Your Pokémon is Elite level!"
After his brief stupor, Elite Connor was the first to react.
At that moment, the way he looked at Ethan changed completely.
Even if he only had one Pokémon that had reached the Elite level, the meaning of that was completely different!
That proved that Ethan had truly entered the Elite level.
After all, in some weaker Leagues, having a single Elite-level Pokémon was already enough to occupy the position of one of the Elites.
"But what the hell is going on?!"
Outside the field, Stefan was getting closer and closer to collapse.
He had already despaired when Darkrai was defeated by Sandslash. But now it turned out that Sandslash was not even the strongest; the true hidden boss was an Elite-level Pokémon.
If Ethan had sent this Pokémon out in his battle against Darkrai, he would most likely have lost in an even more humiliating way!
"An Elite? Ha, ha, ha!"
"Wonderful, wonderful. An Elite and also a Pokémon Professor. No wonder he came to us seeking protection. If I were one of the leaders of the Federal League, I also wouldn't be willing to let such a genius escape."
Even the ambassador of the Daleron League spoke sincerely.
But once he finished saying that, he suddenly began looking around with some tension.
If the Federal League truly decided to detain Ethan, with the few people they had there, they really would not be able to stop them.
Should they call for reinforcements?
Although, even if they called for them now, it would surely already be too late.
...
While all sides plotted their own thoughts, the battle on the field continued developing.
The two Pokémon directly adopted the simplest and most brutal form of close combat, and the roars did not stop sounding.
But upon noticing that it could not prevail in a frontal clash, Hitmonchan began relying on its extensive battle experience to fight in a mobile and evasive way.
"Melmetal, Electromagnetic Cannon!"
Seeing that, Ethan gave the order.
Immediately afterward, Melmetal closed one hand and condensed several metal spheres.
This time, Melmetal had not created that metal using the move Substitute, but had generated it completely out of nothing.
In ancient times, Melmetal had been worshiped precisely for its power to generate iron; that was one of the special abilities exclusive to the Mythical Pokémon: Melmetal!
Once the metal spheres had formed, an electric current appeared in one of Melmetal's hands.
In an instant, thanks to its ability to generate magnetism from electricity, a magnetic field enveloped its arm.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
In the next moment, Melmetal hurled those electrified metal balls with its strength.
Under the propulsion of the magnetic field, those balls transformed into true electromagnetic cannons that tore through the air toward Hitmonchan.
Thanks to the principle of the electromagnetic cannon and Melmetal's terrifying throwing strength, the speed of those charged metal balls rose to the extreme.
In the distance, Hitmonchan's gaze sharpened, and it began moving quickly to dodge them.
But the speed of the electromagnetic cannon was too high. Although Hitmonchan managed to narrowly dodge a few of them, it still ended up being hit.
Boom, boom, boom!
And immediately, more and more electromagnetic projectiles rushed toward it, completely enveloping it!
Boom!
With a shock that shook the entire field, Hitmonchan's figure was directly embedded into the protective barrier.
"Hitmonchan!" Elite Connor shouted tensely.
But this time, Hitmonchan could no longer respond to him. Its body collapsed, falling weakly to the ground.
Facing Melmetal's continuous barrage of electromagnetic cannons, Hitmonchan was defeated in a single blow!
Total annihilation!
Up to that point in the battle, Hitmonchan had been completely annihilated!
That Pokémon which had reached the Elite level, facing Melmetal, that Elite-level Mythical Pokémon, still ended up defeated!
"Hitmonchan has... has lost the ability to battle."
Even the referee stammered as he spoke.
He had narrated the Pokémon League so many times that he no longer remembered how many, but it was truly the first time he had seen an Elite-level Trainer be defeated by a challenger.
By itself, the exhibition battle against an Elite-level Trainer was meant as an occasion to show the power of these Trainers.
And in all previous editions, the Elite-level Trainers had fulfilled that role perfectly.
But no one would have imagined that today Elite Connor would end up falling into a trap, being crushed by the tournament champion.
Before the battle, who would have dared even imagine something like that!
"Elite Connor... has lost!"
When the referee's voice echoed, the entire stadium erupted into an uproar.
Although they had already begun to sense it, when it truly happened, it was still almost impossible to believe.
"Congratulations on your victory."
Elite Connor let out a sigh and approached Ethan on his own initiative.
"Thank you for your teachings, Elite Connor."
Ethan replied with a faint smile. Although he had won now, he also knew that this did not mean he was stronger than Connor.
Although that Hitmonchan was also one of the opponent's main Pokémon and had reached the Elite level, Elite-level Trainers usually possessed several main Pokémon at that level. In a great League like the Federal League, an Elite had to have, at minimum, six main Pokémon at the Elite level.
Right now, among Ethan's Pokémon, only Melmetal was at that level; the others still had a small gap to overcome before reaching the Elite level.
In his current state, he could barely face some main Pokémon of ordinary Elite-level Trainers. If he ran into a truly strong Elite, he would have no chance of victory, much less if the opponent also had an even more powerful ace.
Even so, at only twenty-one years old, having reached the Elite level and also defeated one of an Elite's main Pokémon was enough for Ethan's name to spread throughout the world.
...
"It has appeared, the Legendary Pokémon Melmetal!"
At that moment, in the conference room of the Silver family of the Daleron League, the head of the Silver family was watching the image of Melmetal on the screen with a very serious expression, his fingers interlocked in front of his face.
Just from Melmetal's appearance, one could see that it had a very close relationship with Meltan.
Now, after Melmetal had successfully used the famous Electromagnetic Cannon with which Meltan had become known, they vaguely confirmed a hypothesis.
Melmetal was, without a doubt, Meltan's evolved form!
Which meant that, if they could capture more Meltan, through a certain method they could obtain a Legendary Pokémon.
A Legendary!
Judging by the way Melmetal had forcefully crushed Hitmonchan, an Elite-level Pokémon, Melmetal's current strength already far surpassed that of an ordinary Elite-level Pokémon!
(End of chapter)