Same beginning, different ending.
Garchomp's training these past days hadn't been wasted.
RAAAAH!
Mega Garchomp roared, expressing his triumph over past defeat.
Now he had proven himself!
The surge of confidence made Mega Garchomp increasingly bold. To put it bluntly, he was getting a bit cocky.
In the auditorium, the audience's voices erupted with extreme violence.
"Holy crap! John actually took the lead and won the first battle!"
"I feel like I've seen this scene before! When John battled Elite Four Damon Drake, he also won the first match. This moment is just like that moment!"
"Using rocks to hide both Draco Meteor and Garchomp himself, so ingenious! John's tactical concepts are amazing!"
"Coach, I want to learn this technique!"
"Get lost, I don't even know how to do that!"
Winning first while Garchomp remained undamaged reminded countless viewers of John's battle against Damon back then.
Could it be... could it be that John was about to create a miracle today?
Magnus stared at Mega Garchomp, stunned for a moment, then glanced at John and immediately smiled. "Seems we can't underestimate rookies."
As he spoke, Magnus retrieved Dragonite's Pokeball and threw out another.
The Pokeball opened mid-air, and brilliant snow and ice immediately began falling from the sky, making the entire battlefield seem wrapped in winter.
An elegant and beautiful Pokemon stood before Magnus, drawing envious gazes from countless spectators.
It was Ninetales, specifically, Alolan Ninetales.
Unlike ordinary Ninetales, Alolan Ninetales was Ice-type and Fairy-type. In terms of appearance, it had been upgraded several levels.
A rare and powerful Pokemon.
John didn't care about its rarity, he could have captured Alolan Ninetales in the Alola region during his playthrough. What concerned him was its typing.
Ice-type plus Fairy-type... the natural enemies of Dragon-types, right?
Without hesitation, before the battle even began, John directly retrieved his uninjured Mega Garchomp.
Then he released another Pokeball.
A mass of blood-red and white fur landed on the battlefield, revealing another fox-like Pokemon.
But the moment this fox appeared, the entire stadium, audience and all, was stunned silent.
"What a beautiful Pokemon!"
"No, it's handsome!"
"What kind of Pokemon is this? Why haven't I seen it before?"
The audience buzzed with discussion.
Even Magnus, the champion himself, frowned. "Unknown Pokemon."
"Is this also a Pokemon from that secret realm?" In the Elite Four VIP room, Victor and Riley looked at Damian.
"Yes." Damian nodded without taking his eyes off it. He was somewhat surprised John had sent out this Pokemon. After all, this champion-level Pokemon had only been captured two months ago.
The stronger the Pokemon, the harder it was to tame.
The Pokemon John had sent was naturally his Hisuian Zoroark.
For countering Ice plus Fairy-type Alolan Ninetales, there were four effective types: Poison, Rock, Steel, and Fire.
Coincidentally, none of John's main Pokemon possessed any of these four types.
However, the problem wasn't too serious, if there was no type advantage, he'd just have to win through raw power.
Three of his main Pokemon hadn't faced serious opponents yet, so it was better to take them one at a time. After all, even in battle against Magnus, John felt the process might be similar to his victory over Damian.
One Pokemon defeats one Pokemon. The battle rules were four-out-of-six, meaning only four Pokemon would ultimately appear.
Don't ask John why he possessed such confidence.
Did he think his two months of intense training were because he felt he couldn't win the championship?
No, those two months of training were simply to make his victory rate reach 100%. After all, battles that could be won 99% of the time weren't entirely safe.
Both sides had completed their Pokemon switches, but Magnus didn't immediately launch an attack. His unfurrowed brows showed he was in an extremely analytical mood.
Power wasn't frightening, the unknown was!
He would rather face legendary Pokemon like Entei or Moltres than encounter a Pokemon he'd never seen or heard of on the battlefield.
Without knowing its typing... how could he strategize?
John smiled slightly. Since the previous round's loser wasn't taking initiative, then he, the winner, would attack first.
"Zoroark, Dark Pulse!" John commanded.
Zoroark's white mane fluttered in the wind as he gracefully extended a finger into the air.
Behind him, countless black orbs the size of footballs appeared, unleashing numerous black rays that locked onto Ninetales individually.
John glanced up at the snow and ice falling from the sky. He'd thought Ninetales possessed the Snow Warning ability, but apparently it was Snow Cloak.
Did Magnus's Ninetales carry items that could automatically trigger weather upon entry like his own Gyarados, or had this Ninetales naturally developed the ability to affect weather patterns?
Alolan Ninetales, being Ice and Fairy-type, had few type resistances, only Bug-type, Ice-type, and Dark-type.
Enter one pure Dark-type Zoroark.
Magnus had his own theories and keenly sensed something was wrong.
"Is this... Zoroark?"
Magnus quickly dismissed this seemingly ridiculous idea.
Focused and alert, he'd also heard John's name for this unknown Pokemon.
Countless Dark Pulse shots fired into the snow curtain, seeming to disappear like stones into the sea. Aside from some ice crystals splashing initially, there was no visible effect.
"Hmm, according to the law of luck conservation, I have reason to suspect that the shiny luck that should have belonged to me was taken by John."
Zoroark? Shiny Zoroark?
"Could it be a shiny Zoroark? But something doesn't feel quite right..."
Ninetales stepped back slightly, his ice-like body quickly becoming hidden within the snow.
"Ninetales, use Snow Cloak!" Magnus issued a conservative command.