Chapter 383: Oh My God! Lord Giovanni! He's Way Too Strong!
Wallace wasn't the only one there. Steven had come along with him; neither of them had much work on at the moment.
But hearing Wallace cheer so over-the-top, Steven's expression was a little strained.
Man, we're people with a certain standing. Could you show a little restraint in public? You're a master Coordinator in everyone's eyes.
But clearly, Wallace Sensei didn't see it that way.
He had enormous respect for Giovanni, and now that Giovanni was about to take on the Elite Four challenge, Wallace Sensei was naturally delighted.
He was also convinced Giovanni would definitely succeed!
In fact, far more people than Steven and Wallace were watching this Elite Four challenge.
Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, Galar, Paldea: League leadership in nearly every region was paying attention.
Kanto was the headquarters of the Pokémon League, and this time, the Kanto Elite Four might well see a change in membership.
After all, the challenger was Giovanni!
That man's father!
"All right! The challenger is ready. Now let's welcome the first member of the Kanto Elite Four!"
The announcer in sunglasses called out loudly.
"Elite Four member LORELEI!"
With the announcer's rousing cry, a woman in a sleek office-style suit walked out of the tunnel on the other side in high heels. She had a striking figure in her fitted dress, a cool, aloof face, and long red hair tied up.
She was a very charismatic woman, in every sense of the word.
As Lorelei appeared, another thunderous wave of excited cheering swept across the stadium.
Lorelei was plenty popular among the Kanto Elite Four.
Especially since, with looks that stunning, her demeanor was so cool and distant.
That kind of striking contrast was undeniably magnetic.
And Lorelei was no mere figurehead. As a member of the Kanto Elite Four, her strength was beyond doubt.
Lorelei walked slowly to her position, folded her arms, and regarded Giovanni coolly across the field.
"Elite Four Challenge, Match One! The challenger is Viridian Gym Leader Giovanni. The defender is Elite Four member Lorelei."
"This will be a full six-on-six battle. When all six of one side's Pokémon are unable to battle, that side loses."
"If the challenger loses, the challenge ends."
"If the defender loses, the challenge proceeds to the next match!"
"Begin!"
The referee stepped in to announce the rules, then swung down his flag to start the battle.
As the referee withdrew, Giovanni took out a Poké Ball, a faint smile on his lips, and looked across at Lorelei.
"Giovanni, we've known each other quite a while."
Lorelei lowered her arms. Her expression was still cool, and so was her voice.
That was just how she was. She was like that with everyone.
"But according to the rules of the Elite Four challenge, I'll give a brief introduction."
Lorelei took out her first Poké Ball and looked straight at Giovanni.
"Welcome to the Pokémon League. I am Lorelei of the Elite Four."
Lorelei pushed up her glasses.
"My specialty is the Ice type. As you know, moves that freeze the opponent are extremely powerful. Once frozen, your Pokémon won't be able to move at all."
The Poké Ball in her hand enlarged, and she threw it hard.
"Now, Giovanni, show me how you intend to handle my Ice-type Pokémon!"
The Poké Ball opened in midair. In a flash of white light, a sturdy white Dewgong landed, let out a soft cry, and readied itself.
"Heh heh heh~"
Giovanni looked at the Dewgong, chuckled softly, and shook his head.
Dewgong was one of Lorelei's signature main battlers; the other was her ace, Lapras.
But both Dewgong and Lapras were Pokémon that struggled to perform on a standard battlefield.
As the saying went, water and ice go hand in hand, and Dewgong and Lapras were proof: both were Water/Ice types.
They had one other thing in common: neither moved very well on land.
"Lorelei, today all of Kanto is going to see it." Giovanni kept one hand in his pocket and smiled faintly.
"That I, Giovanni, am the strongest man in Kanto!"
"Nidoking."
Giovanni threw his first Poké Ball.
In a flash of white light, a powerful, hulking Nidoking landed heavily in front of him, baring a savage grin at Dewgong.
This was Giovanni's main battler, Nidoking!
Giovanni was taking today's Elite Four challenge very seriously. He had to win, and win beautifully!
"Nidoking against Dewgong. Going by type alone, Uncle Giovanni is at a disadvantage."
In the stands, Platinum analyzed.
Both Ice and Water were super effective against Nidoking.
But that was only type matchups. The Pokémon's actual strength and the trainers' commands were still unknown.
"The world's strongest Elite Four... I wonder how strong they really are." Serena watched the cool, beautiful Lorelei on the field with curiosity.
Lorelei was the first of the Kanto Elite Four, which meant she was the weakest of them.
"Mr. Mammon, can your dad win?" Serena asked Mammon curiously.
The types favored Lorelei, but this was Mr. Mammon's father. Serena figured Giovanni could probably pull it off, right?
"Tch~ Serena, what you should be asking is how many main battlers Lorelei is going to need just to take down this one Nidoking."
The corners of Mammon's mouth slowly rose.
Serena: "??"
"They're all Champion-caliber, but the gaps within Champion-caliber are way, way bigger than you think."
Mammon watched the two on the field.
Among Champion-caliber trainers, the weaker ones were people like Wallace and Diantha.
The stronger ones were in the tier of Steven and Cynthia.
The very top were Leon, Giovanni, and Lance.
The gaps between Champion-caliber trainers were in fact staggering!
Take Leon. He was Champion-caliber too, but against a weaker Champion-caliber trainer, even one of his ordinary main battlers could practically sweep their entire team on its own!
That was no exaggeration. It had actually happened in the original canon, because the gap between them really was that big.
Leon had used nothing but his Rillaboom to nearly sweep Diantha, taking out four of her main battlers by brute force.
He'd practically treated Diantha like some random Youngster on the side of the road.
If Leon had been a little more ruthless and swapped Rillaboom out for his other main battlers, it would have been a flat-out shutout.
And Rillaboom was just an ordinary main battler on Leon's team.
But for other Champion-caliber trainers, an ordinary main battler on Leon's team was at the level of their ace, or even stronger.
That was the terrifying power of a top-tier Champion!
Against other Champion-caliber trainers, they were fighting from a whole other dimension.
"This Nidoking is one of Dad's frontline main battlers. You two should enjoy watching it. Someday you might end up facing him yourselves."
Mammon leaned back in his seat, settling in to enjoy the battle with keen interest.
It was obvious Giovanni was taking this Elite Four challenge seriously, which made sense. He intended to take the top spot in the Kanto League.
Naturally, he had to show the whole world the full extent of his power.
As for why Mammon was pointing this out to Serena and Platinum, it was because of the World Tournament he planned to hold.
Giovanni would definitely enter, which meant Serena and the others had a chance of running into him there, didn't they?
Meanwhile, on the field.
"Dewgong, Surf!"
Lorelei attacked first. She had never actually seen Giovanni's strength firsthand.
But she'd heard, of course. When Giovanni went to support Hoenn and Unova, the reports had said he was very strong.
Still, Lorelei was confident in herself. She might be only the first of the Kanto Elite Four, but she was Champion-caliber too!
If she went to another region, she could very well win the Champion title. She just had no interest in that kind of glory.
"Sucker Punch."
Giovanni smiled faintly.
Dewgong glowed with pale blue water light: the Water-type move Surf!
Whoosh, whoosh~!
The roar of water filled the air as a huge wave surged up beneath Dewgong and lifted it high.
But at the same moment, Nidoking charged at Dewgong with astonishing speed.
The Dark-type Sucker Punch! A Dark-type priority move!
And Nidoking's Sucker Punch was incredibly fast!
"Dewgong!" Lorelei's pupils contracted slightly.
Before Surf had even fully formed, Nidoking had already dashed around behind Dewgong. Its sharp claws gleamed with dark light as it struck hard at Dewgong.
Dewgong sensed it, but Sucker Punch was too fast!
BAM!
Sucker Punch slammed into Dewgong's back. Dewgong cried out in pain, sent flying by the blow, and crashed to the ground with a low, pained groan.
Dark-type Sucker Punch wasn't super effective against Dewgong, but Nidoking was very strong. It hurt!
Surf hadn't even finished forming; it collapsed the moment Dewgong was knocked out of the air.
"Thunder."
Giovanni's tone stayed perfectly calm.
KRAKOOM!
A massive golden bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck Dewgong hard.
With a violent blast, the Electric-type Thunder exploded across Dewgong, throwing up a cloud of dust.
Lorelei's expression darkened. This was different from Sucker Punch. Electric-type Thunder was super effective against Dewgong!
That Thunder did far more damage than Sucker Punch.
But it wasn't over yet!
"Earthquake."
"Nido~!"
Nidoking's savage face was full of a chilling, overwhelming malice. It raised its thick tail and slammed it down hard onto the battlefield.
RUMBLE!
The whole battlefield shook violently, and a tangible shockwave rolled forward.
The Ground-type move Earthquake!
Dewgong, just hit by Thunder, was in so much pain it couldn't even dodge. All it could do was watch the shockwave come.
Under Lorelei's grim, darkened gaze, the Earthquake shockwave tore through Dewgong's body.
In agony, Dewgong collapsed limply, its eyes spinning.
The entire stadium went silent!
A moment later, gasps rose all around.
"Holy crap!!!"
"For real? That's a Nidoking??"
"Three moves, and Lorelei's Dewgong is down!! Is this Gym Leader Giovanni's real strength?"
"How come my Nidoking isn't this strong?"
"Oh my God! Lord Giovanni!!"
Without a doubt, that swift, clean battle had stunned everyone.
After all, Giovanni was facing Lorelei of the Kanto Elite Four.
"Just as I thought. He really is way too strong."
Steven gazed admiringly at the powerful, ferocious Nidoking on the field.
He could tell that Lorelei's Dewgong was far from weak, and opening with Surf to feel things out had been perfectly sound.
And yet Nidoking had seized the opening with Sucker Punch and taken it out with one hard-hitting combo.
"Of course. That's Mr. Giovanni's main battler!"
Wallace lifted his chin proudly.
Steven gave Wallace a speechless look. What are you proud of? What does Mr. Giovanni have to do with you?
Backstage.
"Taking down Lorelei's Dewgong that easily... heh heh heh... That Giovanni has been hiding his true strength all this time."
Agatha's low laugh was hard to read.
"..." Bruno's eyes burned as he watched Giovanni on the screen.
He couldn't wait to have a battle between real men with Giovanni!
"It seems that even without Groudon, Giovanni has the strength to make it all the way to you, Lance."
Agatha turned to Lance.
"Lance, what do you think?"
A young man with blood-red hair stood with his arms crossed in a proud, defiant stance, his cold, haughty eyes fixed on Giovanni on the screen.
The proud Dragon Master spoke flatly.
"His strength may well be no less than mine."
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