All this time, Gardevoir's Level has basically been neck and neck with Charizard's.
But in terms of actual combat power, Charizard has always been a cut above Gardevoir—first with the power of Sacred Fire, and later after converting Sacred Fire into its own exclusive power, the Celestial Flame.
After obtaining the Celestial Flame, Charizard's ability to fight above its Level skyrocketed; even at Champion Level, it still has ample capacity to battle across Levels.
Gardevoir, on the other hand, apart from Mewtwo's exclusive Skill Psystrike and her broad range of Moves, doesn't really have any other means to fight above her Level.
A wide movepool is indeed a dimensionality reduction strike against opponents of the same Level, but if the opponent's overall strength is a tier higher than Gardevoir's, then no matter how wide your movepool is, you don't gain much of an edge.
After all, while having a wide movepool, Gardevoir also has a fatal flaw: she doesn't have any Move she's especially mastered to perfection.
The only Ultimate Move she can use as her trump card is Mewtwo's Psystrike.
So in terms of overall combat ability, Gardevoir falls short of Charizard, especially after Charizard awakened the Celestial Flame.
However, Gardevoir is not the type to just stand there and watch other Pokemon slowly leave her in the dust. Besides her gentle and graceful side, she's also the big sister of the team!
So she took a different path. By using Psystrike—that strange Move that converts Special Attack into Physical Attack—she grasped the power of combining Special Attack and Physical Attack into one, namely Essence Power!
Normally, a Gardevoir's Physical Attack might be low, but Ash's Gardevoir is different. Back when she was still a Ralts, she could already fight up close with Thunder Punch, and after growing into a Gardevoir she developed a physical side strong enough to smash flying bricks.
So when those two powers combine, you get an effect where 1+1 is greater than 2.
This is also Gardevoir's capital for fighting above her Level.
"Regirock, Lock-On." Brandon once again had Regirock use Lock-On. Without locking on, trying to land a direct hit on Gardevoir is still a bit too difficult.
An invisible force surged out from Regirock's body, about to lock onto Gardevoir.
At that moment, Gardevoir suddenly vanished without a trace, and Lock-On consequently lost its target for judgment.
"We're not going to get hit by the same Move twice that easily! Gardevoir, Hydro Pump!" Ash barked coldly.
The next second, Gardevoir appeared above Regirock. Her deep black arm stretched out in front, a dense Water Type power condensed before her and formed a massive water sphere.
"Boom—!!"
The Hydro Pump poured out from in front of Gardevoir—and this was no ordinary Hydro Pump, but one infused with Essence Power!
Within the torrent one could faintly see a dim glow flickering—that was proof of Spiritual Power and physical force perfectly fused. Its might far surpassed the Champion Junior Level standard!
Regirock had just finished releasing Lock-On and had no time to make any defensive move before the Hydro Pump slammed squarely into its head!
"Krrrk—krrrk—!"
The water flow scoured its rocky body with a piercing grinding sound. Regirock's massive body was forced down onto one knee by this terrifying power, and the ground around it cracked and collapsed outward with it at the center.
Those rocky plates already covered in fissures began to flake off under the continuous impact of the Hydro Pump. Chunks of stone peeled away, revealing the even more fragile rock layers beneath.
"Regirock!" For the first time, there was a trace of anxiety in Brandon's voice.
Ash choosing to evade Lock-On was something he hadn't expected. Lock-On is an intangible Skill, activated along with the user's will; ordinary Pokemon simply cannot dodge it. But Gardevoir is a Psychic-type Pokemon—she can sense the incoming intent, which allowed her to dodge.
And Lock-On failing also caused Regirock to waste an entire turn. For this turn, Brandon had already prepared to endure the opponent's attack, but he hadn't prepared for the Lock-On to fail.
So the moment Lock-On lost its target, he blanked out, resulting in Regirock being directly struck by the opponent's Hydro Pump!
"It can even use Hydro Pump… what a freak…" Brandon muttered under his breath.
Hydro Pump is the kind of Skill that basically only Pokemon highly proficient in the Water Type can learn. In other words, aside from Water Attribute Pokemon, it's very difficult for Pokemon of other attributes to master it.
A Gardevoir, a Pokemon that shouldn't even be able to learn ordinary Water Type Skills, was now using Hydro Pump—if that's not a freak, what is?
"Sha-naa—"
Gardevoir gracefully withdrew her hands, and the impact of the Hydro Pump finally subsided.
Regirock was still on one knee, its entire body left in a sorry state by the Hydro Pump. The once sharp and defined rocky body was now pitted and uneven, with several spots even showing penetrating fractures.
Yet it still had not fallen.
A legendary Pokemon's willpower and Physical Strength are far tougher than those of ordinary Pokemon. If a normal Pokemon had taken this many attribute-countering Moves, it would probably have gone down long ago.
Right now Regirock still had roughly one-third of its Physical Strength remaining—its tenacity was simply unbelievable.
And that's with Gardevoir having Essence Power. If it had been pure Special Attack, Regirock's Physical Strength would likely still be above half. Legendary Pokemon really are this terrifying!
But Brandon clearly had no intention of sitting and waiting for death.
"Regirock, Rock Slide!" Brandon's voice returned to calm once more. As a seasoned Trainer, it's fine to feel panic, but you must suppress it. Otherwise, the moment your panic continues, the battle is already over for you.