"What the hell is that?!"
Lance stared at Ace, who was floating in mid-air surrounded by turbulent winds. He felt his worldview shatter.
The person in front of him was no longer a human; he was a terrifying Pokémon!
"Haa!"
Ace lunged forward, his single arm raised. Countless Dragon-type energies converged around him, forming a whirlwind that shot toward the sky in less than three seconds. A large portion of the Pokémon army was instantly sucked in.
The remaining Pokémon quickly retreated, hoping to avoid the terrifying vortex.
In the center of the whirlwind, Ace felt a sense of clarity as he personally wielded a skill.
When teaching a Pokémon a move, Ace was always instructing from a third-person perspective. Now, by using the skill himself, Ace could easily understand the feeling of using it and gain some unknown experience.
"This is a rare experience. I'll make the most of it!"
The whirlwind dissipated. Before Lance and the others could even catch their breath, Ace raised his arm again, unleashing a Dragon Pulse that swept across the air.
The Dragon Pulse was incredibly fast. Before the Dragonites could react, the attack slammed into them, blasting them away. They rained down on the ground like stones, knocked out of the fight.
"Attack together!"
With Lance's enraged roar, a large number of Pokémon that were still able to fight all charged toward Ace.
A barrage of attacks flew rapidly toward Ace. The symbol on the back of his hand glowed, and the next moment, Ace vanished from his spot. When he reappeared, he was above the Aerodactyls.
Ace gathered energy in his palms. If someone could lift his trench coat, they would see countless dragon scales on his inner scale armor standing on end—a sign of a Dragon-type Pokémon preparing to use Outrage.
But Ace didn't need to charge at the Aerodactyls. Instead, he used the symbol to directly converge the energy of Outrage into a massive energy projectile.
"Boom!"
The energy projectile shot out and exploded violently in the middle of the Aerodactyl flock.
In an instant, the Aerodactyls all fell, defeated.
A powerful gust of wind swept over. The three of them—Lance, Agatha, and Lorelei—shielded their faces with their arms, and the Aerodactyl beneath their feet recoiled.
The next moment, Lance felt his arm being grabbed. With a sudden burst of power, Ace yanked Lance out and threw him with great force, sending him crashing into a pile of fainted Pokémon.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Lance struggled to his feet, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked around in horror, realizing that his Pokémon army had been completely wiped out!
"Half an hour? No, it was done in ten minutes."
Ace slowly descended to the ground, holding the unconscious Agatha and Lorelei in his hands. His icy gaze fell upon Lance.
"You monster..."
Lance couldn't help but roar, but he saw Ace toss Agatha and Lorelei aside. The turbulence that surrounded Ace gradually faded away.
"Phew... The side effects are really strong. Forget half an hour; if I had gone over fifteen minutes, it probably would have caused irreversible damage."
Ace sighed, forcefully suppressing the violent emotions rising within him. This was the lingering effect of borrowing Rayquaza's power. If he couldn't control it, Ace could become a monster who knew nothing but slaughter in the future.
"I'll give you a chance."
Ace looked at Lance, saying coldly, "Defeat me, and you'll have a chance to leave with them. But if you lose, you'll all stay here."
As soon as Ace finished speaking, Lance threw out two Poké Balls. A Dragonite and a Gyarados swiftly attacked Ace from the left and right.
"Boom! Boom!"
Without seeing any action from Ace, Blastoise and Crobat appeared beside him, blocking the attacks from Dragonite and Gyarados.
"Hydro Pump!"
Dragonite and Gyarados both opened their mouths, and two Hydro Pumps shot toward Ace.
Blastoise blocked in front of Ace, its two cannons aimed at the attacks. It fired its own Hydro Pump, clashing with the two incoming attacks.
The four Hydro Pumps collided, creating a massive splash. Blastoise, fighting two against one, was being slowly pushed back, but it was clear that its strength was not inferior to Lance's Pokémon!
"Toxic Wings!"
With Ace's furious cry, Crobat crossed its wings, its venom rapidly gathering. With a sudden flap, a toxic projectile flew toward Gyarados.
"Smack!"
The venom hit Gyarados, which immediately cried out in pain. Its Hydro Pump attack stopped, and Blastoise seized the opportunity, retaliating with its own Hydro Pump, blasting Gyarados away.
When Gyarados landed, it felt a weakness throughout its body. The poison was eating away at it, making it impossible to get up again.
"Whoosh!"
An Aerodactyl tried to rush in to help Lance, but Ace's Aerodactyl blocked its path.
Although they were the same species, Ace's Aerodactyl, with its frequent hunting, was far wilder than Lance's.
With a menacing grin, Ace's Aerodactyl pounced on its counterpart without hesitation. In an instant, torn flesh and blood splattered as the battle between the former rulers of the sky raged on in a bloody manner.
"Cough, cough."
Lance coughed violently twice, blood gushing from his mouth. Caught off guard by Ace's sudden attack, Lance's internal organs were already badly damaged.
If he hadn't landed on a pile of fainted Pokémon, he would have likely been unable to get up at all if he'd hit the ground directly.
But Ace felt no mercy for him.
This person was trying to kill him!
If he didn't have the Green Orb as a trump card, it would have been him lying on the ground today!
So Ace didn't care if his opponent was a future Elite Four member or an important plot character. Since the enemy had come to his doorstep, there was no room for compromise between them!
"Dragonair!"
Lance was about to send out another Pokémon, but it was too late. In that brief moment, Crobat swooped down, its mouth open, and bit hard into Lance's neck.
The toxic venom was injected into Lance's neck, quickly traveling through his bloodstream toward his heart.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Lance gasped violently, spitting out large clots of dark blood.
His breathing grew weaker. The poison attacked his heart and then spread throughout his body, turning him black. The light in his eyes gradually faded.
As Crobat flew away from Lance's neck, Lance knelt helplessly, then fell face-first onto the ground.
Lance, who would have been recruited by the League to become one of its Elite Four, met his end tonight.