Seeing that the Delibird had been poisoned, the masked man coldly glared at Axel.
His gaze, like a venomous snake or scorpion, was intimidating.
But Axel was not afraid at all, hands in his pockets as he confronted the masked man.
Unless it was an indiscriminate battle situation, currently his Mewtwo was unafraid of Masked Man.
Even if it was a wild fight, it didn't necessarily mean there was no chance.
Masked Man's proud ice armor was worthless in front of a Pheromosa bonded through trust.
"Young man, you're quite good…", The masked man's voice was like glass scraping a blackboard, hoarse and ear-piercing, causing a deeply unpleasant sensation.
"Once I finish off Raihan, I'll come deal with you."
"Delibird, use Focus Punch!"
"Caw!", Delibird let out a sharp screech, its body surging with red fighting energy.
At the same time, its figure broke through the skill restriction and didn't fall into a charging state, but directly rushed at the Duraludon on the ground.
"Didn't expect that… aside from Ice-type, I've also dabbled in Fighting-type," Looking at the completely unprepared Raihan, the masked man laughed wildly.
But just then, he saw that Raihan not only didn't look nervous, he actually emerged from the ground.
A flash of white light passed, and Duraludon was recalled into the ball by Raihan.
The next moment, the wristband on Raihan's arm emitted a dazzling multicolored glow.
The Poké Ball holding Duraludon in his hand immediately lit up brilliantly, expanding to basketball size.
Raihan grinned and, while rapidly retreating, flung the Duraludon Poké Ball.
This was a strict rule in Galar-region battles, when entering Gigantamax battle, the trainer must leave the scene.
Otherwise, any move from a Gigantamax Pokémon could kill the trainer.
The masked man stared in shock at the massive light flashing before him, eyes full of disbelief.
His mouth opened and closed repeatedly for a long time before he managed to form a sentence, "You've so casually leaked the secret of Gigantamax beyond the Galar region?"
Axel spread his hands, "What else could I do?"
"Raihan treats me well. Isn't it normal for me to give him this authority?"
Masked man: "..."
'Have I known you were such a good person, why would I even come to catch you?'
'In three years I might as well gift you a Lugia!'
Unfortunately, by now the hostile relationship between both sides was already established, too late for words.
'Maybe… should I use Pryce's account to get on Axel's good side?', The more he thought about it, the more Pryce felt this could work. After all, he was still a gym leader.
As long as he treated the junior a little better, surely he could touch Axel emotionally?
After settling his thoughts, the masked man nodded to himself and began to consider retreat.
But just then, the Gigantamax light shining in the sky completely vanished, revealing the fully Super Gigantamaxed Duraludon within.
The moment they saw the Super Gigantamax Duraludon, aside from Raihan and Champion Leon, everyone present felt their scalps go numb.
Axel finally understood exactly why Raihan was the world's number one Duraludon trainer.
This thing was huge.
The previous battle footage of Raihan and Leon had mostly been shot at Wyndon Stadium.
Perhaps to let everyone see the full scene, the special wide-angle lens completely masked Duraludon's true enormity.
Until now, Axel didn't truly understand how terrifyingly massive Duraludon's Super Gigantamax form was.
A thousand meters tall, like a giant steel-constructed building.
It was more than three times the size of Axel's own Super Gigantamax Duraludon.
Compared to Raihan's Super Gigantamax Duraludon, even the mountain they stood on looked like a tiny mound.
Delibird, mid-air, showed fear in its eyes and flapped its wings wildly trying to stop.
But powerful inertia still carried it toward Raihan's direction.
"Duraludon, Super Gigantamax Degeneration Decay!"
Endless crimson light erupted around the Super Gigantamax Duraludon, forming a massive vortex.
The moment the vortex appeared, Delibird immediately felt the energy within its body uncontrollably draining away.
This was the effect of Super Gigantamax Duraludon's signature move, draining the opponent's energy.
'In the game you call me trash, what do you call me in real life?'
'Hand over all your energy!'
Delibird was never inherently strong, it only relied on powerful skills to contend with these pseudo-legendaries.
But under the influence of Mewtwo and Super Gigantamax Degeneration Decay, its moves couldn't be used at all.
Even the already-gathered fighting energy was now rapidly draining out of its body.
BOOM!
With a loud explosion, the crimson energy slammed into Delibird's petite body.
Axel once again witnessed the terror of Gigantamax.
Originally, in front of Delibird, Raihan's Pokémon had almost no chance of victory.
But once Duraludon completed its Super Gigantamax transformation, Delibird no longer had any grounds for battle.
Of course, a big part of that was Duraludon's signature move being a perfect counter to Pokémon like Delibird, Swinub, and Beedrill, species with weak stats.
"In the future, I need to have Dragon Clan's General properly develop Gigantamax…"
After that one move, the masked man knew that with his current Pokémon, he couldn't defeat Raihan at all.
He gave Axel a deep look, then decisively turned and left.
Axel and the others had no intention of chasing.
According to Leon's judgment, this masked man was likely just an ice-type puppet, even if they caught him, it was pointless.
They couldn't exactly sell him to Ice City to be Snow King, could they?
———
At the same time the masked man left, laughter erupted from the mountainous region of the Johto region.
"Hahaha, I thought I couldn't avoid a fierce battle, but it turned out to be so easy!", Masked Man sat in his wheelchair, excitedly tapping his cane.
He had thought the secret of Gigantamax would be hidden, but hadn't expected that guy to be such a generous person.
He thought that after obtaining the secret of Gigantamax, Axel would definitely guard it like a treasure.
If that were the case, once Axel grew up, he'd quickly stand tall among the world's strongest.
But what Masked Man didn't expect was that Axel would reveal the secret just because Raihan treated him well.
"Spreading that method… is basically giving up your world number one spot."
Masked Man didn't understand, but that didn't stop him from planning to establish a good relationship with Axel.
"What reason should I use to approach that kid?"
"Academic research? Gym exchange? Or become an honorary teacher at his school?", Ideas flashed through Masked Man's mind as he nodded repeatedly.
Just as he was feeling proud, a sudden violent explosion rang out.
Masked Man furrowed his brows, but soon put on a smiling face.
"You challengers really are bold, good thing this old man has a good temper…"
"Hmph, don't pretend in front of me."
A middle-aged man in a black suit walked into Mahogany Town Gym, his gaze cold as he looked at Masked Man.
"Hand over Silver!"
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