Using two powerful Pokémon as sacrifices just to set the stage for Scizor to enter the battle.
Chao's intention to run a Baton Pass team was all too obvious. But knowing that, and still letting him pull it off, was Li Xiang's fault.
Dragapult's persistence in taking two hits just to get Baton Pass off was also astonishing.
Although it was already known that a Pokémon's strength is never limited to just level, moves, and training, seeing this unusual scene with one's own eyes was still surprising.
If this weren't just a practice match, the scene before them might have been even more shocking.
Two Pokémon, for the sake of final victory, willingly passed down advantageous stat boosts to the next.
The moment Scizor landed, the Agility and Dragon Dance boosts from Baton Pass instantly transferred to its body. The light of the stat increases shone like the rising sun at the horizon.
In the rainy night, it was dazzling!
Stats skyrocketed!
Li Xiang's sense of danger surged within him!
"Blaze Kick!"
"Roooo!"
Wind howled!
Lucario's form twisted, as if teleporting in front of Scizor. The cold rain couldn't extinguish the blazing flame on its foot!
Knee raised, body twisted, hips turned—
A roundhouse kick!
A smooth, fluid motion!
Bang!
The high-temperature flame exploded outward, like a shockwave rippling in all directions!
The scattered rain was completely blasted away!
Although the rain weakened the power of Fire-type moves, against Scizor, which was four times weak to Fire, this Blaze Kick was undoubtedly powerful enough!
Taking it out in one hit wasn't impossible. Scizor's physical defense, while decent, wasn't anything special.
However, when the explosion's smoke rose, Lucario retreated with a serious expression, apparently having failed to take down its opponent.
"Ruu…....!"
It let out a low growl.
Li Xiang instantly understood what it meant.
Scizor had actually met Blaze Kick head-on with Bullet Punch!
Its reaction was so fast!
He frowned slightly. He hadn't expected this situation.
Just like when Lucario had aimed Blaze Kick at Scizor's vulnerable waist, similar to against Primarina.
Both times, the opponent had blocked with particularly tough body parts, greatly reducing the force. The would-have-been lethal attack's power had considerably weakened.
Moreover, Scizor had also countered with Bullet Punch. As a result, Lucario's Blaze Kick had only managed to crack Scizor's left pincer.
Whether it could even temporarily put that left pincer out of commission was doubtful. After all, Scizor didn't need to open and close its pincers for many moves; simply slamming them down was enough.
Had it intentionally protected its vital points before even coming out of its Poké Ball?
For Primarina, the most important parts were its face and throat. For Scizor, it was the core waist that supported its entire armored body.
Knowing it would be hit the moment it landed, it had prepared in advance.
As expected.
Not one of the six team captains was an easy opponent. With reaction speed that impressive, it was no wonder Lucario had chosen to create some distance.
If it got too close, even with Aura vision, if its body couldn't keep up, it would just have to watch itself get hit.
A little distance gave it room to react.
Not to mention having to watch out for Scizor's Counter and Reversal.
After so many battles, Lucario had long realized that sufficient damage didn't necessarily mean immediately taking down these tough opponents.
It had to be wary of their "dying" counterattacks.
On the battlefield, only a second had passed from Lucario's attack to its retreat, but Li Xiang's mind was racing, thinking of the most reliable way to take down Chao's ace.
Suddenly, a faint buzzing sound emerged from the scattered rain.
"Here it comes! Aura Sphere!"
Li Xiang stepped back.
Lucario reacted a step ahead, activating its Aura vision. At this point, it no longer cared about energy consumption.
An energy ball, completely blue with a spiral galaxy swirling inside, rapidly enlarged in its palm!
Swish!
A sound of something cutting through the air!
From within the nearby smoke, an unidentified object left afterimages, punching a clean, circular hole through the smoke!
The air screamed!
It showed how fast that object's burst speed was. In Li Xiang's eyes, he only saw a single point of silver light suddenly go from small to large.
The heavy sound of impact echoed the next moment!
Bang!
The smoke exploded!
It was Scizor's Bullet Punch, striking the Aura Sphere in Lucario's hand, causing the explosion!
Lucario gritted its teeth. Scizor's burst speed was insanely fast.
In every other aspect, it was actually inferior to Lucario, and their reaction speeds were about even. But relying on that burst power, it could do many things before Lucario could even act.
This was inseparable from Agility and Dragon Dance.
It couldn't help but recall Jiang Shangrong's Scizor, which also had high burst power and high reaction speed. Its base movement speed wasn't fast, yet it could still keep Lucario pinned down.
It was so frustrating!
Inside the smoke, Li Xiang vaguely saw Scizor, its body steaming hot, using the force of the explosion and the high-speed vibrations of its wings to temporarily lift off the ground and retreat.
Stiffness?
His eyes lit up slightly. The power of that Bullet Punch was undeniable, even though Steel-type moves only did half damage to Lucario.
It was still formidable.
This was the result of multiple stat boosts and special abilities working together for Scizor.
But correspondingly, this burst would cause this uniquely structured Pokémon's body temperature to rise dramatically.
It had to use the high-speed vibrations of its wings to regulate its temperature.
And the rain's more important role was to cool its body down after moving. The reduced power of Fire-type moves was just a side benefit.
His senior sister had used similar tactics countless times.
But Chao's Scizor had a noticeably longer recovery time than hers... no, it was that his senior sister's Scizor had an incredibly short interval.
Li Xiang realized this.
"Ruuuu!"
Inside the smoke, Lucario charged out. With Aura vision, it saw even more clearly than Li Xiang and knew that Scizor's left pincer was now useless!
With Scizor currently in a brief state of stiffness, if not now, then when!?
Without hesitation, Blaze Kick again!
If it landed this time, Scizor would either be knocked out or lose half its health!
However, a sudden gust of wind sent Lucario flying!
The source of the wind was the thin wings on Scizor's back. Green air currents became visible as they exploded through the air!
Judging by its form, it was likely the Bug-type move, Silver Wind.
Its body couldn't move, but its wings could?
And the transition between moves was so fast!
It seemed Chao had long recognized the flaw in Scizor's burst and prepared a countermeasure.
But Li Xiang wasn't panicked. The effects of Magnet Rise hadn't worn off yet. It couldn't blow Lucario too far.
Sure enough, Lucario was only blown back four or five meters before stabilizing itself and charging at Scizor again!
The distance was close this time.
Let's see you block it now! What, you think you have Aura vision too?
Blaze Kick!
Its leg, like a torch, whipped towards Scizor's left side!
That half-broken pincer, let's see how you block it!
Bang!
Blaze Kick landed!
The scorching heat instantly expanded, engulfing Scizor in flames!
Got him—
Huh!?
Lucario's expression changed. It had definitely kicked its opponent!
Then, a terrifying energy wave suddenly spread outward! Unlike the gust from Silver Wind, this was a pure energy shockwave!
Bang!
Lucario flew back at an even more fierce speed!
Li Xiang's pupils sharply contracted!
Inside the smoke, several red-hot chains flew out from Scizor's body. Evolutionary starlight ignited from inside its left pincer's mouth, connecting to the chains shooting from behind!
"Mega Evolution!"
A low voice sounded.
Brilliant, resplendent light illuminated every corner!
Scizor's body underwent an astonishing transformation in an extremely short time!
"Don't let it succeed! Aura Sphere!"
Li Xiang shouted.
He never would have thought that Chao was a successor!
Time was too short for him to wonder where Chao had gotten a Mega Stone, or why he had waited until now to use it.
Scizor had little stamina left. If they hit the right spot, they could take it out before the evolution finished!
Lucario also knew the situation was grim. It was no stranger to Mega Evolution. On Mist Island, Mo Ye had used Mega Gyarados to battle it all the time.
It knew well, no matter how short the time needed for Mega Evolution, it still took time!
During that window, it could potentially take down Scizor first!
"Roooo!"
Lucario forcibly controlled its body and fired a high-speed spinning, blue sphere towards Scizor, whose body was covered in blue light!
In the crisis, Lucario had pushed the Aura Sphere to its limit, both in rotation speed and flight speed.
But even so, Scizor seemed to have predicted it, swinging its newly transformed heavy pincer!
Bang!
The Aura Sphere exploded violently, turning into choking smoke!
The transformation was complete! The smoke quickly dissipated.
Revealing the completely crimson, Gundam-like Mega Scizor!
A black iron cross mask was set on its forehead. Its pincers were lined with teeth. Its legs were straight as spears. The mechanical wings behind it flapped, creating layer after layer of ripples beneath it.
A terrifying killing intent and uncontrollable energy echoed across the battlefield!
Incredibly cool, and incredibly terrifying!
Li Xiang's expression instantly turned grim.
Scizor had exploded from adversity, sending Lucario flying twice in a row and completing its Mega Evolution at the critical moment!
But through this, Li Xiang also saw clearly Lucario's flaw when facing opponents of the "same tier."
—A lower body issue.
It was too light. Shockwaves could easily blow it away. This was quite deadly for a close-combat specialist.
They'd have to work more on Magnet Rise.
Li Xiang knew the best solution was to use electromagnetic force. And currently, the best way to deal with this Mega Scizor was to be faster than it.
Hit it faster! Finish off its remaining stamina!
Lucario understood this too, so it adopted the starting stance of Beng Quan, planting its feet firmly on the ground and exhaling.
It pushed its Aura vision to its limit.
Bring it on!
Lucario stopped attacking proactively and waited for Mega Scizor to come to it.
Using stillness to counter movement!
Across from it, Mega Scizor's eyes gleamed coldly. The wings behind it flapped wildly, and its spike-like toes touched the ground!
Bang!
The ground shattered!
Mega Scizor turned into a twisted, crimson blur, kicking up wind, releasing smoke, breaking through air resistance!
In an instant, it was before Lucario, swinging its heavy pincers!
A silver light shone!
Lucario's gaze sharpened. It did nothing unnecessary, merely thrusting its own silver-glowing fist forward.
Faster, stronger, more powerful!
Bullet Punch vs Bullet Punch!
Space twisted and exploded!
And then—
The crimson blur suddenly grazed past Lucario's body, spinning at high speed like a top and crashing into the wall at the edge of the battlefield.
The purple energy barrier flashed.
Lucario remained in its punching pose, its expression dazed.
Others couldn't see it, but with its Aura vision, Lucario had seen it. The moment Mega Scizor, its body steaming white, had swung its Bullet Punch, its expression had briefly faltered as the energy inside it surged.
It lost control of its momentum, turned into a rolling tumbleweed, and passed right by Lucario.
Lucario turned its head.
It watched Mega Scizor faint, its expression returning to normal.
It suddenly understood.
This guy hadn't been able to control the surging power after Mega Evolution yet.
Meaning, it had self-destructed?
Lucario twitched its mouth.