"Alolan Ninetales, use Protect," commanded Aiden without hesitation after directing his Lucario to use Brick Break. Grusha's expression froze for a moment before he quickly regained his composure and issued his own command.
Fighting-type moves are indeed highly effective against Ice types, but Alolan Ninetales' Fairy typing neutralizes this advantage, meaning Brick Break isn't technically a super effective move against it.
However, with the Aurora Veil that significantly reduced damage being instantly destroyed, Grusha now needed to consider only minimizing his losses.
Even though Alolan Ninetales' Defense is boosted in the snowy weather, taking a direct hit would still chip a substantial amount of HP, making it a poor trade-off.
Therefore, Protect was the most conservative option available at that moment.
Even if Brick Break would rapidly break through the Protect barrier, Alolan Ninetales could use the brief moment to dodge Lucario's next attack.
But upon hearing Grusha's command, Aiden immediately displayed a subtle expression.
Under normal circumstances, his judgment was absolutely correct and even represented the optimal solution.
Unfortunately, his own Lucario was far from normal.
"Lucario!" Aiden called out.
Faced with the thick Protect barrier, Lucario showed no hesitation; it quickly sensed the barrier's weak point through its Aura and swiftly punched with its other hand.
After passing Mustard's final trial on the Armor Island and learning the ultimate technique, Unseen Fist, even a Protect that normally blocks most attacks became as fragile as paper against Lucario.
Before Alolan Ninetales could react, Lucario's other hand had already slashed down again, striking its opponent directly.
"Nine!" Alolan Ninetales cried out in pain, stepping back two paces before quickly steadying itself.
Clearly, that blow had dealt considerable damage, but it was still far from seriously injuring it.
Aiden wasn't surprised by this.
His main goal had been to break through the Aurora Veil; damaging the opponent was merely a welcome bonus.
If he didn't find a way to clear the Aurora Veil, all of his subsequent attacks would lose significant power, putting him at a severe disadvantage in a prolonged battle.
Conversely, once he broke through Alolan Ninetales' three main strategies, the rest of the battle would become much easier.
However...
The sight of Lucario effortlessly shattering the Protect barrier had not only stunned Grusha as the opponent but also left the live chat viewers utterly baffled.
[What's going on? Why did Alolan Ninetales' Protect feel like paper? Is there just a huge power difference?]
[Even with a huge power difference, the move still needs to land to break Protect; Lucario didn't even seem to be putting any effort into it...]
[Wait a minute? I feel like I've seen this move before?]
[I know this! When I trained at the Isle of Armor Dojo, I met Teacher Azure; his Lucario passed Mustard's final trial and learned the Unseen Fist technique, even Champion Leon would call it a martial junior!]
[Wait, what? I'm confused; does Teacher Azure know everything? Is he a martial artist himself, which is why he can train such a powerful Lucario?]
[Your Unseen Fist Lucario isn't even legal!]
As the chat erupted in discussion, the battle on the field quickly resumed.
"Alolan Ninetales... return."
After a brief hesitation, Grusha chose to recall Alolan Ninetales.
The Steel-type Lucario posed too great a threat to it.
With both Aurora Veil and Protect proving completely ineffective against it, moves like Meteor Mash and Steel Beam were devastatingly powerful, necessitating a switch.
Its mission, triggering the snowfall and making fine snow drift down, had already been accomplished.
After Alolan Ninetales was replaced, Altaria appeared in the sky, looking completely unrelated to Ice-type Pokémon, staring at its opponent with intelligent, small eyes.
Because of the unique phenomenon of Terastallization in Paldea, every Gym Leader also carries a Terastal Crystal and can change one Pokémon's type during a Gym Challenge.
Therefore, nearly every Gym Leader keeps at least one Pokémon that seems utterly unrelated to their specialty type.
For example, the currently on-vacation Brassius, who directly used a Terastallized Sudowoodo, making Sudowoodo's disguise become real, was quite artistic.
Or consider Iono's Tera Electric Mismagius, which, by using its Levitate ability to bypass its only weakness, created a seemingly "perfect" Pokémon immune to type advantages.
Of course, it was still quite easy to break.
These were simple applications of Terastallization, and as a fellow Gym Leader, Grusha was naturally proficient in this technique.
One of his main Pokémon was this Flying/Dragon-type, Altaria, which had gained the "strong" certification of being quadruply weak to Ice.
"Lucario, use Ice Punch!" Aiden quickly issued his command.
Although Lucario couldn't learn Fire Punch, it could still learn Ice Punch and Thunder Punch, the other two "Farmer's Punches," through hard work, effectively expanding its move coverage.
His plan was simple:
First, force Grusha to use Terastallization, then finish the opponent off with a Fighting-type move!
Grusha clearly had prepared for this; as soon as Altaria appeared, he immediately pulled out his Terastal Crystal.
The moment Lucario took its first step, Grusha reacted instantly, throwing the black sphere in his hand and shouting:
"Feel the power of Terastallization! Altaria!"
The activated Terastal Crystal emitted brilliant light, and tiny mineral fragments scattered along its trajectory, coating the ground in a blue-white layer.
When it reached above Altaria, the crystal's stored energy reached its limit and exploded violently, with countless fragments rapidly falling and adhering to Altaria's body, quickly forming a thick blue shell.
A snowflake-patterned Terastal Crown also appeared on its head.
Undoubtedly, it was Tera Ice.
Terastallization not only allowed Altaria to evade its fatal quadruple weakness but also granted it some resistance to Lucario's Ice Punch.
"Altaria, use Cotton Guard!" Grusha seemed unsatisfied with this and quickly issued another command.
Cotton Guard, in Aiden's words, was a special move only a few "cotton-type" Pokémon could learn.
By causing its fine, dense fur to grow wildly, it made opponents' attacks feel as soft and powerless as hitting cotton, greatly reducing their power.
Therefore, Pokémon using this move could drastically increase their Defense for a short time.
Besides common ones like Whimsicott, Dubwool, and Eldegoss, Pokémon like Altaria and Furfrou with abundant fur growth could also perform it.
Even Ampharos, after evolving and completely losing its fur, could still use the move through muscle memory, as if relying on self-suggestion—
As long as I believe I still have fur for defense, I can still use this move!
As Lucario rapidly closed in, its icy Ice Punch struck directly, but due to the Terastal armor, the damage inflicted was actually quite minimal.
After enduring the insignificant punch, Altaria remained in its dazed state, but the cotton-like feathers covering its body rapidly grew, quickly increasing its size.
"Tsk... this is troublesome." Aiden muttered under his breath.
Grusha was also a top-tier Superior Trainer, so his understanding of his Pokémon's moves was profound.
Once he used Cotton Guard, it effectively discouraged all physical attackers.
However...
Fortunately, his Lucario could use two different types of attacks!
"Lucario, use Nasty Plot!" Aiden quickly adjusted his strategy, slowing the pace while commanding Lucario to use a boosting move itself.
"Lucario!"
Lucario immediately understood Aiden's intention, quickly stepping back two paces, its gaze turning increasingly aggressive, and a black question mark appearing on its forehead, hinting at mischievous thoughts.
Even before evolving, it possessed the Prankster ability, making it exceptionally skilled at using Dark-type moves.
"Altaria, use Fire Blast!" Grusha's lips quickly curled into a smile as he swiftly issued his command.
Increasing the distance was also the situation he desired; as a Dragon-type Pokémon, Altaria could learn many moves of other types, and this super-effective Fire Blast could severely damage its opponent!
However...
He clearly overlooked one point.
Terastallization wasn't a technique only he knew how to use!
"Lucario, unleash your full power!" Aiden pulled out his right hand, which had been hidden in his pocket, and unhesitatingly pressed the Terastal Crystal he had been clutching in his palm.
He then threw it towards the space above Lucario.
For choosing his Pokémon's Terastallization type, Aiden always followed the "brute force yields results" philosophy.
For Lucario, the most straightforward and effective Terastallization method was to directly Terastallize its strongest type: Fighting.
The second Terastal Crystal also exploded, scattering reddish-brown fragments onto Lucario, quickly forming a fist-shaped Terastal Crown on its forehead.
Steel-type was indeed an excellent defensive typing, helping Lucario avoid many weaknesses and leaving it with only three double weaknesses.
But all three of these weaknesses were inherent to the Steel type itself.
Therefore, by simply Terastallizing as Fighting, Lucario could directly reset its weaknesses.
It also further amplified the power of its moves.
The previously highly super-effective Max Flare, which had been a major threat to Lucario, now lost most of its danger after Aiden activated Terastallization.
"Lucario, use Aura Sphere immediately!" Aiden ordered as soon as he saw Lucario crossing its arms to endure the impact of Max Flare, with only minor injuries appearing on its hands.
As a Pokémon born with the ability to sense and manipulate Aura, Lucario had its own unique understanding of Aura Sphere.
And...
Although the description of the Unseen Fist ability states: only contact moves can ignore the opponent's Protect-type moves,
Is Unseen Fist really that limited?
In actual combat, various moves can be freely adapted.
For instance, as Lucario was demonstrating now, it accumulated Aura energy, added a rotational force, and formed a swirling blue energy sphere around its fist, launching it at the opponent in a close-range manner.
Commonly known as - Rasengan!
This satisfied the requirement of close contact while still being an Aura Sphere guided by Aura that would inevitably hit its target.
Lucario, having learned this technique even before evolving from Riolu, used it with exceptional ease.
"Altaria, use..." Grusha instinctively wanted to command Altaria to use Protect to block Lucario's attack.
But he quickly remembered Lucario's earlier breakthrough of Alolan Ninetales' defense and immediately changed his command—
"Use Fly!"
Thinking on his feet, his idea was simple: use Fly's effect to temporarily evade this lethal Aura Sphere, while Fly itself would also deal considerable damage to Lucario.
However...
Facing an Aura Sphere that inevitably hits its target, unless he had predicted Aiden's use of this move beforehand, once the Aura Sphere locked onto Altaria's Aura, it was already too late.
"Lucario!"
Seeing Altaria about to take flight, Lucario stopped its advance and, using its momentum, directly hurled the Aura Sphere forward.
Faced with the rapidly approaching Aura Sphere, even as Altaria desperately tried to fly upwards, the feathers it had grown for Cotton Guard instead became a hindrance, completely obscuring its wings.
Before Altaria could fly away, the Aura Sphere struck it precisely.
Since both Pokémon had used Terastallization, Lucario's Aura Sphere's power was further amplified and was extremely super-effective against the Terastallized Ice-type Altaria.
Additionally, Lucario had already used Nasty Plot to boost itself.
With this combination of advantages and disadvantages, the damage dealt by this Aura Sphere was extremely exaggerated.
Therefore, when the Aura Sphere hit, it blew away most of Altaria's cotton-like feathers, and it quickly lost the strength to flap its wings, gently landing on the ground, its eyes swirling with circles.
"..."
Grusha remained silent for a moment before raising his hand to recall the exhausted Altaria.
Aiden had secured the first victory with almost no cost, leaving behind a Lucario that was both Terastallized and strengthened by Nasty Plot, possessing incredible combat power.
Meanwhile, his own backline had already revealed Alolan Ninetales as a weather setter, and its Terastallization had already been used.
His other Pokémon had no good way to handle the strengthened Lucario.
He essentially had no more cards left to play.
Therefore, the outcome of this battle was almost decided.
[Is this the strength of Teacher Azure's main team? Even Grusha got crushed; it seems he's been holding back with his dirty tactics all along...]
[Teacher Azure: You always say I play dirty tactics, but if I didn't use those flashy tricks, how many of you could even last three rounds?]
[Shocking! The Sunshine Gym is so "sunny," the reason behind it is heartwarming!]
[Teacher Azure is just too overpowered; if you can beat the Sunshine Gym, the other seven Gyms probably won't be a problem...]
Seeing Aiden easily dominate Grusha, the live viewers also breathed a sigh of relief.
Although they often complained about Aiden's dirty tactics, when it came to fighting against an "outsider," these fans remained very loyal.
Well, unless the opponent was a female!
"Next one, continue the battle," Aiden looked at Grusha, who was showing signs of distress, and struggled to suppress a smile on his lips.
He could roughly guess that, besides Alolan Ninetales, Grusha had no options left that could handle the strengthened Lucario.
And Alolan Ninetales itself was also weak to Lucario's Steel-type moves.
Even if it Terastallized, Lucario could still use its moves at normal power; one Iron Head could leave Alolan Ninetales with several lives missing.
Therefore, the rest of the battle would likely end in a one-sided manner.
And as Aiden anticipated, after thinking for a moment, Grusha sighed and sent out Alolan Ninetales.
It was then easily pierced by Lucario's Cannon Shot.
As for the final Pokémon, Cetitan...
Although its size was indeed massive, nearly three times taller than Lucario, giving it a tremendous aura, but...
All the flashy stuff, first eat my Aura Sphere!
What? One shot couldn't finish it?
Then two shots!
Even though Cetitan had the Slush Rush ability and could maintain agility in the snow due to its large size, it couldn't withstand Lucario's reckless, take-hits-to-deal-hits fighting style.
Finally, a series of consecutive Aura Spheres directly caused this giant creature to collapse, its eyes rolling back as it fainted.
Thus, facing the challenge from the "Strongest Gym Leader of Paldea," Grusha, Aiden achieved a perfect 3:0 victory using only his Lucario.
This battle made countless viewers suddenly realize—
[So Teacher Azure has been holding back a whole Paldean sea when he fights us???]
[Compared to this kind of tactical domination, the dirty tactics with theoretical breakthrough potential are more suitable for us beginners...]
[Teacher Azure is terrifying; I suggest we also increase the strength for Gym Leaders from other regions!]
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)