While Aiden was wondering if Bruno's Machamp was legally cheating or not, Bruno himself was also in a daze, questioning his life.
What the heck?
That Pokémon called Ogerpon almost knocked Machamp out with a single swing?
Others might not have noticed, but—
With Machamp's feet almost touching the boundary line, being so close, how could he not understand his old partner of many years?
Just by looking at its four thick arms trembling slightly, he knew that taking that hit clearly didn't feel good for Machamp. It was just holding on through sheer willpower and refusing to cry out in pain.
Even when getting ganged up on in an irregular battle, Machamp had never taken such heavy damage all at once—
Bruno pulled a long face, glaring at the masked "evil spirit" across the field.
So it really was another Legendary Pokémon, huh?
And a physical attack-focused one at that.
What a great opponent!
Amidst his shock, Bruno and Machamp simultaneously erupted with an extraordinarily fierce fighting spirit, almost speaking at the same time: "Machamp, rush in and grapple it, use Fissure!"
"ROAR—!"
Violently swinging its arms to temporarily block out the pain, Machamp charged forward once again.
Aiden instantly furrowed his brows.
"Ogerpon, don't let it touch you!"
Others might not know, but how could he not?
Bruno was a Kanto native, a literal Pokémon living fossil, and one of the original Elite Four.
And in Generation 1, Machamp could actually learn Fissure.
So, a very degenerate and niche combo immediately popped into Aiden's mind.
No Guard Fissure!
Because of Machamp's No Guard ability, a fully offensive Machamp could guarantee its moves would hit the opponent, meaning Fissure—a move capable of one-shotting the target—was guaranteed to land—
Was this the power of a veteran?
Later generations not letting Machamp learn Fissure? What does that have to do with me, Bruno?
So Aiden really didn't dare to let Ogerpon tank it; he could only try to dodge.
But at the same time, Lance saw right through everything and decisively moved to support: "Dragonite, use Tailwind!"
As long as they could get a Tailwind up on the field, not only would Machamp's movement speed drastically increase, but it would indirectly ensure Ogerpon couldn't dodge the undodgeable, forcing it to face it head-on.
"Garchomp, use Stone Edge to interrupt it!"
Cynthia immediately tried to interfere with Dragonite, but Lance's side didn't react at all.
"GARRR—!"
Garchomp fiercely stomped the ground, lifted the massive boulders flying up from the earth, and hurled them with all its might at Dragonite.
However, when the rocks smashed into Dragonite, it tanked them with its back, causing its scales to scatter all over the ground.
Even after Mega Evolving, Dragonite's ability was still Multiscale, allowing it to use the loosely attached scales covering its body to absorb a portion of the damage.
So, even super effective moves weren't fatal to it.
Moreover, because Dragonite had immense vitality, as long as it used Roost or similar moves to temporarily restore its HP, those protective scales would rapidly regrow, quickly restoring its defensive capabilities.
It was an absolutely scummy yet noble ability; so far, only it and Lugia possessed it.
While tanking the Stone Edge, Dragonite rapidly flapped the wings on its head, kicking up a fierce gale.
Under the force of the wind, Dragonite and Machamp's figures became much lighter and more agile, while Garchomp and Ogerpon experienced the exact opposite.
"Tch—"
Seeing Machamp's speed violently surge as it was about to catch up to Ogerpon at the edge of the field, Aiden clicked his tongue and had to make a decision.
"Can't dodge it."
"Ogerpon, use Spiky Shield to block the attack first!"
"Pon~"
Ogerpon immediately raised its Wellspring Mask, blocking in the direction of Machamp's incoming assault.
"ROAR—!"
Machamp attempted to break all techniques with sheer force. Even facing a defensive stance, it still threw a lightning-fast punch, seemingly trying to forcibly shatter the mask in front of it.
However, right as its fist was about to make contact, it suddenly noticed the thin vines wrapped around the mask.
Though they were a bit dazzling, covered in Tera energy, the conspicuous barbs on them immediately snapped it back to reality. It instantly pulled its punch, stopping itself from driving its fist right into them.
"Go around the mask, keep attacking!"
Bruno's command followed closely behind, making Machamp shift its feet again, trying to get behind Ogerpon.
In his view, even if Aiden knew his plan, it was useless.
Defense could never be completely flawless. So, as long as they gave Machamp even a slight opening, it could use its absolute strength advantage to initiate a grapple.
And then immediately use Fissure to secure a one-hit KO.
But just then—
"Ogerpon, now!"
"Counter with Ivy Cudgel!"
Aiden also instantly counterattacked.
His thoughts differed slightly from Bruno's. He actually just wanted to whittle down Machamp's stamina as much as possible, to gain an advantage in the subsequent trades.
But since he had been seen through, he might as well fast-forward to the final step—
"PON!"
"ROAR—"
Hiding behind its mask, Ogerpon suddenly spun its body and violently swung the Ivy Cudgel forward.
Machamp, relying on the advantage of its four arms, split one pair to try and deflect the attack, while the other pair aimed at Ogerpon's body, intending to use its strength to forcibly bear-hug it, immobilizing it.
"BOOM—!"
Both sides struck almost simultaneously. The collision of their full-power moves caused a thunderous boom to ring in the audience's ears.
Having eaten a loss once, Machamp was a bit smarter this time. It didn't take the attack head-on, but instead exerted force with both hands to clamp down on the end of the cudgel.
Even though it had to expend more energy to barely control its opponent, the upside was that it wouldn't take another hit.
When it came to a pure contest of strength, Machamp had absolute confidence.
The two sides fell into a tug-of-war.
"Garchomp, use Dragon Rush to break the stalemate!"
"Don't even think about it!"
"Dragonite, rush in and use Ice Punch!"
Cynthia's side had just tried to help, but Garchomp was immediately forced back by the Mega Dragonite rushing in at extreme speed.
A Doubles match had suddenly been split into two distinctly separate Singles matches.
On Machamp and Ogerpon's side, both were mustering all their strength to determine a winner. Meanwhile, Garchomp, out of fear of Dragonite's Ice Punch, had to continuously avoid letting it get close.
They were both Pokémon with a 4x weakness to Ice. How did one of them end up being a traitor that could use Ice moves—
Looking at the smug Dragonite, the Garchomp being chased suddenly felt incredibly annoyed, and its eyes turned even redder.
"Garchomp, use Sand Tomb to trap Dragonite!"
"Dragonite, fly up and dodge!"
"Dive down and use Ice Punch for a fierce assault!"
"Garchomp, use Dig!"
For a moment, the two Dragon Pokémon went back and forth, fighting fiercely.
And while they were having their divine clash—
The wrestling match on the other side had gradually reached a conclusion.
"PON!!!"
Just as both their arms were starting to tremble from the forced exertion, Ogerpon suddenly erupted with a burst of aura.
Several vines immediately shot out from behind its green cape, propping up against the top of the Ivy Cudgel that was clamped down by Machamp's arms, and violently pushed down.
The balance was instantly broken.
Under the external force, the Ivy Cudgel smashed fiercely into Machamp's defenseless body.
"Machamp, go all out in close combat!"
Knowing there was no way to dodge it, Bruno yelled with all his might, hoping to minimize the damage.
"ROAR—!"
This time, both Pokémon's attacks landed simultaneously, but in completely different directions.
CRACK!!
First, the Ivy Cudgel smashed hard into Machamp, instantly making its eyes roll back, practically knocking it out cold.
However, the willpower forged over many years allowed it to power through. All four arms mustered their full strength to swing forward.
The attack was completely chaotic, entirely instinctual swinging of fists and elbows.
"Pon!"
Because both its hands and its full body strength were poured into the Ivy Cudgel, Ogerpon completely abandoned defense, letting Machamp's fists slam into its body.
The visceral, bone-crunching exchange made the audience involuntarily gulp.
At this point, the battle seemed to have nothing to do with strength anymore; it was entirely a test of willpower—
Right?
Actually, no.
"Ogerpon, Power Whip!"
Just as the audience held their breath and their attention was entirely focused on the battle, Aiden's voice suddenly exploded like a clap of thunder.
Ogerpon indeed only had two hands, and both were being used to swing the Ivy Cudgel.
But it was a Grass-type Pokémon; it still had Vine Whip!
With all four of Machamp's hands committed to attacking, the sudden assault naturally left it with no way to respond.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
After the sound of successive vine whips rang out, Machamp, already a candle in the wind, had the last drops of its stamina squeezed dry, and crashed to the ground.
Blue in the stands was instantly left speechless.
How did even Elite Four Bruno's ace Machamp lose to Teacher Azure?!
Even though it wasn't entirely unexpected, but—
If even two veteran Elite Four members lost, wouldn't I be completely dead meat if I faced Teacher Azure?
After pondering for a moment, Blue decisively changed his mindset.
Whatever, it's not like this grudge absolutely had to be avenged. I'll just treat it as a little bit of harsh wind and frost on my path to growth!
Teacher Azure is doing this all for my own good!
"Go Teacher Azure!"
Red: ?
Weren't you just cheering for Elite Four members Bruno and Lance a second ago?
Looking at Blue, who had suddenly done a 180-degree turn, Red blinked, unable to process it.
Machamp fainting wasn't a big deal in itself.
But the important part was—
Before Bruno could recall Machamp and send out his next Pokémon, in those few short seconds of downtime, there would only be one Dragonite left struggling on the field!
Both sides were masters, so naturally, neither would miss such an opportunity.
Aiden took a glance to confirm Ogerpon still had fighting capability, then immediately took the initiative to command: "Ogerpon, rush in and use Play Rough!"
"Dragonite, dodge it!"
With Multiscale broken, Lance didn't dare to bet on whether Dragonite could tank that move. After all, Fairy-type moves were the absolute bane of Dragon Pokémon, so he could only use its speed to temporarily evade.
However—
"Garchomp, seize the opportunity, Sand Tomb!"
Cynthia executed a flawless combo at this exact moment, making Lance's side instantly feel the pressure skyrocket.
"GAR!!!"
Garchomp, which had burrowed underground using Dig earlier to dodge attacks, suddenly poked its head out. Using its scythe-like hands, it stirred up countless grains of sand, rapidly forming a hellish vortex of sediment right beneath Dragonite.
Sand filled the sky, and countless gravel pieces were actually flung into the air under the disturbance of the rapidly spinning sand tomb, continuously scattering in all directions with no pattern.
A normal Ground-type move naturally couldn't hit an airborne Dragonite, but there was clearly a reason why Lance had been so wary of it earlier.
As long as the sand could briefly obstruct Dragonite's speed, Ogerpon would be able to seize the opening, leap up, close the already short distance, and land a lethal blow.
Lance still didn't dare to bet that Dragonite could dodge every single projectile.
So—
"Flying Elite Lance, your next line is——"
Aiden smiled, looking incredibly confident. He made a finger-gun gesture and loudly declared the verdict.
"Dragonite, Protect!" x2
Aiden's voice was actually a fraction of a second faster than Lance's.
And because of that, just as Dragonite spread its Protect barrier in mid-air, his next words followed right after.
"Ogerpon, Synthesis!"
"Pon~"
Slamming on the brakes, Ogerpon looked up, lifted its mask, and made a pose praising the sun, allowing its body to absorb as much sunlight as possible.
The wounds on its body from Machamp's attacks gradually faded away, and its previously dampened aura surged violently.
Lance furrowed his brows.
Even this step was read in advance?
With this, Machamp going down became completely meaningless.
Ogerpon's stamina was still full, and Garchomp hadn't taken any substantial damage.
They had virtually no losses while eliminating Bruno's ace—
At that moment, Lance suddenly understood something.
Why Professor Oak didn't choose him when he retired, and why he had now come out of retirement just to cross swords with Aiden?
Perhaps the answer didn't even need to be spoken aloud.
Even though Lance felt incredibly frustrated, he had to admit it.
Looking back at his younger, high-spirited self, who thought becoming Champion was only a matter of time—
There really was a noticeable gap between them and the current Aiden, and he no longer had the qualifications to inherit the "glory" Professor Oak left behind.
He once thought he was a genius, but upon meeting a true genius, he realized just how massive the gap could be.
But—
Did that brat Aiden just call me Flying Elite Lance?
Lance's expression darkened, and his fighting intent instantly exploded.
You brat, if you dare to call me that to my face, I don't even want to imagine what you call me on stream.
I must strike back with a heavy punch!
"Don't think you've already won, Aiden!"
After cursing him out with a smile, seeing Bruno throw out his second Poké Ball, Lance's expression turned serious once again.
"Go, Steelix!"
After Bruno's second Pokémon entered the field, the mountainous Mega Steelix raised its head high, looking down at the opponents below it.
"Machamp might not have a Mega form, but Steelix is a different story."
Even with his ace defeated, Bruno's face was still brimming with fighting spirit.
At the same time, he pulled out the Key Stone from his pocket, preparing to strike a cool pose and command: "Steelix, Mega——"
"Who said you could take your time!"
"Ogerpon, Arm Thrust!"
"OGERPON!!!"
"???"
Hearing Aiden's voice, Bruno watched as Ogerpon immediately started swinging its Ivy Cudgel, trotting straight toward Steelix.
His expression instantly collapsed.
Wait, bro?
Do you have absolutely zero sportsmanship?!
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