"That Alakazam is so strong!"
"Exactly. They are both at the Ace Rank, but its strength far exceeds that of an ordinary Ace Rank Pokémon."
In the Sinnoh contestant area, the two trainers who had already been eliminated could not help but be shocked by Alakazam's performance.
"The rest is up to you. You must win!"
Recalling Beautifly, Otomo no longer had many complex thoughts; he simply wanted to defeat Alakazam!
"Alakazam, Calm Mind!"
"Go, Blaziken! Flame Charge!"
Seeing Alakazam using Calm Mind to buff itself again, Otomo ordered Blaziken to attack immediately. The Speed Boost ability activated, and combined with Flame Charge, Blaziken's speed rose by two levels. In a flash of fire, it charged forward. Intense flames surged as a Fire Blast swept toward Alakazam.
"Ally Switch, Stored Power!"
Amidst the approaching heatwave, psychic energy surged. Alakazam vanished, and Blaziken appeared in its place.
"Jump into the air, then use Fire Spin!"
Otomo, having prepared for this, issued his command instantly. Relying on its superb jumping ability, Blaziken easily dodged the impact of the Fire Blast. Unleashing Fire Spin, Blaziken controlled the vortex of fire to launch another attack. Stored Power turned into a shockwave that pierced straight through the flames, but Blaziken dodged just in time.
Upon landing steadily, Blaziken charged again. With a streak of fire, its speed had now reached its peak. Blazing flames wrapped around its fists, ready to strike. A Psychic wave manifested as a giant python, lunging at Blaziken.
"Aerial Ace!"
Only when the Psychic was about to hit did Otomo issue the order. Accelerating again, Blaziken vanished as if teleporting. When it reappeared, it was behind Alakazam. It swung its fist, and roaring flames erupted as if to swallow Alakazam whole.
In the next second, a massive amount of psychic energy poured out. Confusion has a base power of only 50, but the power changes based on the amount of energy the user releases. Under Alakazam's execution, the flames from Blaziken's Fire Punch were instantly annihilated. Then, the psychic energy acted like chains, tightly binding Blaziken before it could dodge.
"Blaziken, break out with Brave Bird!"
At Otomo's shout, Flying-type energy condensed. Blaziken forcibly broke free from the restraints of Confusion and attacked Alakazam once more. But in the next instant, a shimmering sphere of multicolored energy shot out, striking Blaziken from the flank and interrupting Brave Bird.
"Oh no! Fire Blast!"
Otomo's voice sounded anxious, but he was still a step slower than Alakazam. Using Teleport, Alakazam appeared above Blaziken. As the flames rose, a Psychic trio slammed into Blaziken, knocking it down and smashing a large crater into the battlefield.
"Stored Power!"
With its power now boosted to 180, Stored Power was unleashed again. The storm-like offensive gave Blaziken no room to breathe. No matter what orders Otomo gave, Blaziken could not withstand Alakazam's onslaught to launch a counterattack. A final Psychic was delivered, and Blaziken was finally defeated.
With this, Gu Yuan achieved the feat of a 3-0 sweep. Even if Hariyama had been weakened earlier and Alakazam held a type advantage, completing a sweep in an Ace Rank battle was still incredibly impressive!
As Otomo left the field, the final member of the Sinnoh League—their captain, Kawahara—slowly walked onto the battlefield. Without waiting for the referee's signal, Kawahara released his first Pokémon.
"Go, Luxray!"
A white light flashed as he sent out his first partner.
"Alakazam, Stored Power!"
This time, Gu Yuan did not have Alakazam use Calm Mind; he ordered an immediate attack.
"Luxray, Thunder!"
Electricity fell from the sky, but it couldn't stop the Stored Power with its 180 base power. Fortunately, before the Thunder hit, Luxray had nimbly dodged. Alakazam used Teleport to appear behind Luxray, followed by another Stored Power. The previous battles had already heavily exhausted Alakazam. Now, Gu Yuan could only gamble and try to have Alakazam take Luxray down with it.
"Luxray, Hyper Beam!"
An orange-yellow beam condensed. The Rivalry ability took effect, boosting the power of Hyper Beam to 187.5, making it slightly stronger than Stored Power.
"Luxray, Thunder!"
After the attacks neutralized each other, Kawahara tried to take the initiative. He had no intention of dodging to drain Alakazam's energy. By now, the Sinnoh League's defeat was a foregone conclusion. The only thing to be thankful for was that their record would look much better than the Hoenn League's. In this final battle, Kawahara wanted to do his best to see how large the gap between himself and Gu Yuan truly was.
Kawahara's decision perfectly suited Gu Yuan's plan. Ally Switch was used again, and Luxray suddenly found itself facing its own Thunder. While Luxray used its own move to cancel the lightning, Alakazam's Stored Power fired again, only to be blocked by Hyper Beam. By relying on Ally Switch, Alakazam kept the initiative firmly in its hands.
The battle continued as electricity and psychic energy clashed repeatedly. However, due to physical limits and excessive psychic drainage, Alakazam eventually fell into a disadvantage.
"Go, Alakazam! Use one last Stored Power!"
"Luxray, Hyper Beam!"
As the commands rang out, the attacks collided once more. This time, Luxray's Hyper Beam clearly held the upper hand, crushing the Stored Power. Before the remaining power of the beam could hit, Gu Yuan recalled Alakazam to its Poké Ball and released his second Pokémon, Ditto.
"Onix, Earthquake!"
"Jump to dodge!"
Ditto quickly transformed into an Onix and slammed its tail heavily against the battlefield. A shockwave spread, and numerous cracks appeared on the ground, but Luxray jumped just in time to avoid the impact. Simultaneously, Ditto vanished.
"Luxray, use Discharge!"
Realizing something was wrong, Kawahara immediately issued an order, but he was still a step too late. The moment Ditto, transformed as Alakazam, appeared behind Luxray, it transformed back into a massive Onix and whipped its tail into Luxray. Rock Tomb followed, burying Luxray under stone. Finally, Earthquake was triggered; Luxray had no chance to dodge and was hit directly, being cleanly defeated by Ditto.