North of Mt. Moon, a desolate rocky area.
Due to over-development, this place had long been barren, with only rock-type Pokémon remaining among the exposed barren rocks. Other types of Pokémon had long since moved away from this land.
In a depression, a muscular man stood with a nunchaku in hand. Before him was an Onix, nearly six or seven meters long.
"Hoo..."
The big man slowly exhaled, then quickly swung his nunchaku, faster and faster, until the nunchaku created afterimages. An ordinary person daring to approach would likely have their bones shattered instantly.
The Onix in front of the big man also moved, charging forward, opening its massive maw, and biting fiercely at the big man!
"Haa!"
Without haste, the big man flicked his nunchaku, and the Poké Ball at the end of the stick burst open, revealing a Hitmonlee!
With the acceleration from the big man's nunchaku swing, Hitmonlee delivered a flying kick directly to Onix's chin.
"Crack!"
With the impact, Onix's head was directly kicked away, landing heavily twenty to thirty meters away. Its headless body twitched, then collapsed heavily to the ground, its rock body scattering into pieces.
"Clap, clap, clap..."
Just as the big man was about to recall Hitmonlee, applause rang out. The big man quickly turned and discovered a boy in a trench coat, only fifteen or sixteen years old, emerging from behind a rock.
"What a powerful Hitmonlee, what a powerful trainer."
Ace clapped, looking at his target, and smiled, "However..."
"Whoosh!"
Before Ace finished speaking, Hitmonlee's leg extended, delivering a whip kick fiercely towards Ace.
"Bang!"
Victreebel appeared beside Ace, its Vine Whip quickly wrapping around Hitmonlee's leg, directly blocking the kick.
"It seems you know me. But I'm very curious, what exactly do you people want to do?"
"Whoosh!"
Bruno had no intention of communicating with Ace. From the moment they met, he attacked ruthlessly. He swung his nunchaku, and a Hitmonchan charged out, launching a Fire Punch at Victreebel's Vine Whip.
"Boom!"
Ace reacted even faster. With a flick of a Poké Ball, a Chansey rushed out, delivering an identical Fire Punch that collided fiercely with Hitmonchan's.
A tremendous force surged, and Hitmonchan's expression slightly changed. Then its body retreated rapidly like a meteor, dragging five or six meters of marks on the ground before slowly stopping.
On the other side, Hitmonlee began to exert force, trying to pull Victreebel towards itself, while Victreebel coldly stared at Hitmonlee, suddenly spraying a sweet Acid onto Hitmonlee's leg.
Victreebel would rather sacrifice this large section of its Vine Whip than let Hitmonlee get away.
After all, its Vine Whip could slowly grow back; it doubted Hitmonlee's leg could do the same!
"Boom!"
Hitmonlee threw a punch; its arm, through training, could also extend like its leg.
Victreebel took a punch but glared coldly at Hitmonlee. The Acid quickly landed on both the Vine Whip and Hitmonlee's leg. The Vine Whip was corroded and broke, and Hitmonlee's flesh was corroded and split open, bloody and mangled.
The pained Hitmonlee retracted its leg. Hitmonchan quickly rushed out, freezing the leg with an Ice Punch, then directly tearing off the ice shell.
Although it took off a large chunk of flesh, it also removed the Acid, preventing continuous damage to Hitmonlee.
"Solar Beam!"
After dealing with Hitmonlee's injuries, Victreebel had already absorbed enough sunlight. A Solar Beam fiercely blasted towards the almost immobile Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan!
Seeing this, Hitmonchan immediately grabbed Hitmonlee and threw it away, then crossed its arms in front of itself, taking Victreebel's Solar Beam head-on.
"Bang!"
Hitmonlee landed and was quickly recalled by Bruno. With its leg injured, it would only be a hindrance in the upcoming battle.
"Machamp!"
Hitmonchan, having withstood the Solar Beam, was nearing its limit. Seeing this, Chansey threw a punch at Hitmonchan, but Bruno immediately sent out his Machamp to intercept.
The two Pokémon collided. Chansey's strength far surpassed Machamp's, but Machamp had the advantage of four arms. Even in a trade of blows, it would leave one or two scratches on Chansey while taking its attacks head-on.
"Is that all?"
Ace recalled Victreebel, and Bruno also recalled Hitmonchan. As Ace had Chansey use Soft-Boiled to restore its HP, the scales of victory were tilting towards Ace.
"Superpower!"
"Egg Bomb!"
Machamp's muscles swelled. Just as it was about to charge at Chansey, Chansey gathered an energy egg in its hands, instantly transforming into an Egg Bomb fanatic. With Chansey's terrifying power, the energy eggs shot towards Machamp like cannonballs.
Machamp's pupils constricted, and it narrowly dodged the Egg Bomb.
"Boom!"
A violent explosion occurred, and the strong air current caused Machamp to stumble, revealing a momentary opening.
Ace smiled; victory was decided!
"Whoosh!"
Another energy egg was thrown, striking Machamp with lightning speed!
"Heh heh."
A strange laugh came, and a Gengar emerged from Machamp's shadow, intercepting the Egg Bomb. It opened its mouth wide and directly swallowed the energy egg.
"Thud."
A muffled sound echoed within Gengar's body, but as a Ghost-type, the damage from a Normal-type Egg Bomb was practically negligible to it.
"Agatha..."
Upon seeing Gengar, Ace instantly knew who had arrived.
He scanned the surroundings and quickly spotted Agatha, holding a cane, to his left.
And not just Agatha; another Elite Four member, Lorelei, also appeared to Ace's right.
"I suspected that little girl had issues for a long time, but I didn't expect her to lure you out," Agatha said with a chilling tone. "You truly are a big fish."
"However, your strength is quite good. Would you like to join us?" Lorelei pushed up her glasses and smiled faintly at Ace. "You are qualified to join us."
"...I don't need your interference. If I lose, I want to lose fairly."
Bruno was somewhat annoyed. He felt used, and that feeling was very unpleasant.
Agatha glanced at Bruno. If this stubborn brute weren't so strong, she would have kicked him out long ago.
Stubborn, unyielding, a battle maniac, and all muscle.
As for Ace, from the moment Agatha appeared, he knew Green was in trouble.
After all, his opponent was an old schemer who had lived for a long time. So even if Green found Bruno, she was clearly set up by Agatha afterward.
Using Green to lure out the person behind her – clearly, Ace had taken the bait.
Ace had no complaints about this.
At worst, it was a one-on-three situation. Besides, he also had trump cards!