Day three, the second round of the knockout stage officially began.
Since their goal was already set in stone, Aiden didn't watch the less important matches as seriously, quickly glossing over most of the morning.
During this time, Master Mustard and Honey's battle remained completely one-sided, securing a victory at the speed of light.
Aiden could basically name all the other contestants who advanced to the Top 16; they were all highly capable elites.
As for Caitlin and Shauntal, they naturally eased through their match as well.
Caitlin even made a finger-gun gesture at the camera before leaving the stage. Who it was meant for went without saying.
"Look, she's provoking you, Cynthia!"
Aiden's deadpan snark quickly drew a helpless smile from Cynthia.
"I'll just take it as that."
"It's our turn next anyway. After watching two days of everyone going all out, it's about time we showed our own flair."
Saying that, Cynthia took the lead in standing up from the sofa.
Aiden nodded, his expression turning slightly more serious.
Watching matches was mostly pretty relaxing, but compared to actually taking the field, it really lacked a certain something.
Compared to being a spectator, he probably preferred being the "protagonist" who grabbed everyone's attention.
So, he'd start with this match!
By the time they entered the competitor tunnel, Caitlin and Shauntal hadn't left yet. They were standing by the door, seemingly quietly reviewing their previous match.
"Cynthia, do your best! I'll be waiting for you in the next round!"
Noticing Cynthia and Aiden, Caitlin quickly turned her head and gave a cool thumbs-up.
However, when her eyes met Aiden's, her expression instantly soured.
If Cynthia wasn't staring right at her, Aiden felt she probably would have made a funny face at him.
"If you lose to someone else before I get to beat you, I'm going to be mad!"
At Caitlin's words, which sounded a bit bratty but were essentially a blessing, Cynthia just smiled faintly and waved at her.
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow's match. Let me see how much you've grown~"
"So cool—"
Only after Cynthia and Aiden left did Caitlin's partner, Shauntal, finally utter her praise.
"But, why am I using 'cool' to describe a girl?"
"Because Cynthia has always been very handsome!"
Caitlin nodded in understanding.
Her gaze remained fixed on Cynthia and Aiden, who were about to exit the tunnel and enter the arena.
After a moment of thought, Caitlin finally sighed and muttered under her breath, "Aiden, you better do your best too—"
"If you drag Cynthia down, don't blame me for talking trash about you for the rest of your life!"
"Did you just say something?"
Shauntal suddenly asked.
"N-nothing!"
"Anyway, let's hurry back to the lounge and get ready to watch their match!"
Even though Caitlin was a young lady with average physical strength, when she reached out, Shauntal felt like her shoulder was being pinned by a Machamp—she couldn't move an inch.
So, Shauntal, who originally wanted to press the issue, had no choice but to be pushed back to their lounge by her "good" teammate.
Right on cue, the four competitors on the field had taken their positions, throwing their Poké Balls at the referee's whistle.
The Luxury Ball in Aiden's hand shot out a red flash first, followed by the appearance of a Pokémon made entirely of leaves and wooden tablets—it didn't even look like a living creature.
"Another brand-new Pokémon?"
Shauntal subconsciously gasped.
"And it looks just like yesterday's Ting-Lu. It's a powerful opponent with that same special aura!"
"Tch, that guy is pulling out new tricks again."
Caitlin clicked her tongue in agreement.
"According to Professor Oak, there should be four of these Pokémon in total, right?"
The Treasures of Ruin... How come I never heard Aiden had these kinds of Pokémon before? If only I had gotten this intel earlier!
Despite her calm and breezy exterior, Caitlin's inner thoughts were actually twisting into a snarl.
This bastard Aiden, he isn't going to pull out another unseen Pokémon next round, is he? How are we supposed to counter that?!
Beside her, Shauntal suddenly blanked out for a second before realizing something.
"Caitlin, so you also——"
"No! I didn't watch a single word of Aiden's video yesterday!"
Caitlin's hair instantly stood on end as she blushed and repeatedly denied it.
"Then how did you know—?"
"Because I saw the notification this morning! I didn't even click on it!"
Shauntal felt that Caitlin's explanation was incredibly weak.
It even gave off a weirdly cute "the lady doth protest too much" vibe.
She didn't really understand why Caitlin wouldn't just openly admit it. After all, gathering intel on your opponents was perfectly normal.
But then again, she was her teammate.
Shauntal was also well aware of Caitlin's strange competitive streak, especially when it involved "Cynthia."
At times like this, it was definitely better to just stay silent.
Shauntal silently nodded, brushing the topic off with her silence.
Once all four Pokémon on the field were revealed, the dynamics of the match instantly became clear.
On Aiden and Cynthia's side, besides the unknown Pokémon registered as "Wo-Chien," their other Pokémon was none other than the Sinnoh Champion's prided ace: Garchomp.
As for their opponents—
Good news: The opponents guessed right.
That pair of Fighting-type specialists had probably also watched the video and knew Aiden likely wouldn't play by the rules.
So they boldly chose a Blaziken + Scrafty combo, focusing entirely on an aggressive offensive strategy.
They probably planned to ignore Cynthia's side entirely and focus all their efforts on Aiden's Legendary Pokémon.
Against such tough opponents, winning or losing didn't matter anymore. Just knocking out even one Legendary Pokémon would be a victory!
They could even brag about it for the rest of their lives, saying they were experts who once took down a Legendary Pokémon head-on!
It was a good plan, and they definitely found the right matchup.
After all, one look at Wo-Chien told you it had the Dark-type, and it radiated a bizarre, visible aura just like Ting-Lu.
Under normal circumstances, they might have actually achieved their "God-Slaying" feat.
Unfortunately, they didn't seem to have calculated that Cynthia would directly send out Garchomp.
The two fighters' expressions instantly twisted in agony, giving a clear glimpse into their current state of mind.
If they didn't prepare for Garchomp's fierce assaults, things were going to go very wrong, right?
They couldn't just ignore it!
Even though it had taken Scrafty's Intimidate upon entering the field, that Garchomp still looked incredibly aggressive.
In fact, it might have even been enraged by Scrafty's provocative behavior. It looked so violently volatile that it could snap and punch their Pokémon at any second.
However, if they had to keep an eye on both sides, they would inevitably become overly cautious and end up losing ugly.
So, the brothers exchanged a glance and immediately made a decision—screw it, let's just focus on Teacher Azure's side first!
"Scrafty, use High Jump Kick!"
"Blaziken, use Close Combat!"
"Target is Wo-Chien!" x2
After their perfectly synchronized commands landed, the Pokémon on the field, which had been in a standoff, finally made their move.
First was the agile Blaziken. Its footwork wasn't exactly light, but it made up for it with massive strides, leaping high and landing directly behind Wo-Chien.
It instantly formed a pincer attack with Scrafty, seemingly planning to strike from two completely opposite directions.
They were well aware of Teacher Azure's defensive playstyle, but Protect wasn't an omnidirectional, blind-spot-free shield. This way, Wo-Chien would be forced to take at least one hit!
As long as it was a Dark-type, taking their blood-pumping combo move would definitely leave it heavily injured and flat on the ground!
On this point alone, the two Fighting-type specialists were brimming with confidence.
Even though they felt inexplicably weak while making eye contact with Wo-Chien, it had to be their imagination!
Once they launched their attack, everything would be fine!
The two fighters' "brute force" playstyle actually made Aiden raise an eyebrow.
Sometimes, compared to overthinking and losing the board, this short, fast, and simple path really could yield good results.
But obviously, now wasn't the time for that—
Aiden shook his head helplessly and immediately pulled out the pitch-black sphere in his hand.
"Weaknesses aren't impossible to overcome."
"It's just that occasionally, you need a little bit of help, right?"
Aiden's voice was calm, but it easily reached the ears of the two opponents.
And when they saw the Tera Orb in his hand, their expressions instantly collapsed—Crap, we forgot Teacher Azure was from Paldea!
They had completely forgotten about Terastallization!
Aiden casually tossed the Tera Orb. It streaked past the motionless Wo-Chien right before Blaziken and Scrafty's attacks could land, bursting open right above it.
Soon, Wo-Chien's body was covered in a suit of armor formed from crystallized Tera shards, and a skull-shaped Tera crown grew on its head.
Although his opponents shouldn't have known Wo-Chien's data, just to be safe, Aiden chose to use the power of Terastallization.
The reason was simple—Wo-Chien's Grass/Dark typing had way too many weaknesses!
If he didn't find a way to mitigate them, even though its "Tablets of Ruin" ability lowered the Physical Attack of all Pokémon on the field, there was still a slight chance of things going south if it tanked a hit directly.
Therefore, he had to rely on Terastallization to eliminate its weaknesses as much as possible.
And Tera Poison was the typing Aiden believed suited Wo-Chien best.
After all, under normal circumstances, no one would be crazy enough to use Psychic or Ground-type moves against it—
It basically guaranteed at least one successful defensive pivot, which was crucial.
Once the Tera armor was attached, Aiden couldn't even be bothered to command it. He just let the two Fighting Pokémon go all out and punch away at Wo-Chien.
The Tablets of Ruin ability inherently indirectly boosted its defense, and Tera Poison made the moves that should have been super effective against it completely ticklish.
Hiss— wait that didn't hurt!
Once the opponents' offensive turn ended, Aiden narrowed his eyes and suddenly said, "Wo-Chien, use Stun Spore!"
At point-blank range, no matter how fast Blaziken was, it was hard to react in time to the bizarre dust that Wo-Chien suddenly sprayed.
As it accidentally inhaled the powder, Blaziken's originally agile footwork immediately became clumsy, and weak bolts of electricity occasionally sparked and crackled across its body.
After falling into paralysis, it was basically half-crippled.
As for the Scrafty on the other side—
Aiden confidently pointed a finger at it, passing his judgment.
"Garchomp, Mega Evolve!"
Cynthia's voice, brimming with aura, followed right after.
Only when she also revealed the Key Stone on her wrist did their two opponents feel a deep, profound despair.
Facing two small fries like them, these two experts actually directly pulled out their ultimate trump cards—
For a moment, they didn't even know whether to be happy or sad.
But anyway, the match was probably already out of reach.
The glow of evolution shone across the field, swiftly engulfing Garchomp entirely.
As the light gradually dissipated, Garchomp's brand-new form—flying in the air and looking completely different from what everyone imagined—made its dazzling debut!
"Is this—Garchomp's Mega Evolution?"
Shauntal frowned, subconsciously looking at Caitlin.
In her impression, Mega Garchomp was supposed to look a bit clumsier and packed with aggressive features.
It didn't quite match her memory?
Of course, Caitlin couldn't answer her question either, because—"I, I don't know either!"
Caitlin rubbed her eyes, and after confirming she wasn't seeing things, she also felt a little unsure.
After all, she felt like Cynthia's Garchomp had undergone a noticeable change in its very aura.
Could it really still be called a land shark?
Moreover, rather than Physical Attack, it seemed like it would be better at Special Attack?
Caitlin felt her intuition was usually pretty accurate; at least, the answers her Psychic powers gave her were rarely wrong.
Sure enough, Cynthia soon gave her next command: "Garchomp, use Draco Meteor!"
When he sent out Wo-Chien, Aiden had naturally anticipated that its ability might screw over his teammate, significantly dropping Garchomp's combat power.
In reality, there was a very good reason Garchomp looked visibly upset right from the start.
As its teammate, it obviously knew from their previous practice sessions exactly what Wo-Chien's ability did. It was absolutely disgusting for any Physical attacker.
Its strength was already being suppressed, and the opponents just had to provoke it right at the start.
If it could tolerate that, would it even be a Garchomp?
But the problem was, it couldn't find a satisfying way to vent its pent-up anger.
Because that bastard Aiden apparently got his hands on some "good stuff" in Kalos that could awaken an even more powerful draconic force within it.
Even though the price was temporarily losing its prided Ground typing, and it couldn't awaken to learn "that move"—the most important move for a Dragon Pokémon—
Why did it feel like it actually lost out by Mega Evolving?
But whatever, it would just take all its frustration out on the opponents!
"ROOOOOAR——!"
With multiple grievances intertwined, Garchomp immediately let out an earth-shaking roar.
Amidst its roar, a massive meteorite formed from concentrated energy rapidly descended from the sky, accurately striking the Scrafty that was desperately trying to flee.
You're the one who just provoked me, aren't you!
Don't think I don't know. You look like you know how to dance. So even if you didn't use that move right to my face, you still deserve to die!
You've already courted death!
BOOM——!
The massive meteorite left a deep crater in the ground. The shockwave continuously battered the barriers around the field, faintly producing what sounded like a dragon's roar.
As for the Scrafty that took this Draco Meteor head-on?
It was now lying at the bottom of the crater, completely motionless.
RIP.jpg
------------------------------------------------------
30+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)