"Venusaur, Frenzy Plant," Sam said softly.
The ground suddenly began to shake.
Massive tree roots burst out from the earth, whipping violently toward Blastoise.
"Blastoise, retreat into your shell! Use Rapid Spin!" Gary shouted.
Gary didn't have time to think about why such enormous roots had suddenly appeared from the ground. His only choice was to order Blastoise to escape the attack range as quickly as possible.
Blastoise withdrew into its shell and began spinning rapidly.
Using the powerful force of Rapid Spin, it smashed through several roots and attempted to escape the range of Frenzy Plant.
Just as Gary and Blastoise thought they had escaped—
Sam's calm laughter reached their ears.
"How naive, Gary. It's not that easy to escape."
As Sam spoke, more and more massive roots erupted from the ground across the entire battlefield.
Blastoise had nowhere left to run.
"How is that possible?!"
Gary felt a wave of disbelief.
The power Venusaur was showing far exceeded his expectations.
Summoning Frenzy Plant across the entire battlefield… how much energy did Venusaur possess?
If Sam could hear Gary's thoughts, he would simply answer:
Yes.
Venusaur had already reached high Gym-level strength some time ago. Its power had been accumulating steadily, and it was only one step away from breaking through to Elite-level strength.
Originally, Sam had hoped this battle with Blastoise might help Venusaur break through that bottleneck.
But unfortunately—
Blastoise was slightly too weak for that.
Sam quietly abandoned that idea.
---
At this moment, Blastoise was completely surrounded by enormous roots.
There was no escape.
Under Venusaur's control, the roots lashed down relentlessly.
Among the original three Kanto starter Pokémon, Blastoise was known for having the strongest defense thanks to its massive shell.
But even the strongest defense had limits.
Taking hits without the chance to fight back could only end one way.
Blastoise had finally reached that limit.
Under the continuous bombardment of Frenzy Plant, Blastoise collapsed and lost its ability to battle.
The countless roots slowly retreated back into the ground, as if nothing had happened.
But the ruined battlefield and the unconscious Blastoise reminded everyone what had just occurred.
"You did well. Come back, Blastoise."
Gary didn't blame his partner at all.
If anyone was at fault, it was himself.
The two Pokémon had started from the same place, yet the gap between them had become so large.
He was the one who needed to reflect.
Gary took several deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.
The battle wasn't over yet.
He still had one Pokémon left.
"Please… Dodrio."
A three-headed Pokémon appeared on the battlefield.
Pokémon: Dodrio
Type: Normal / Flying
Strength: Early Gym Level
Potential: Gym Level
Sam hadn't expected Gary's final Pokémon to be Dodrio.
Dodrio was famous for its three independent heads, each representing different emotions—joy, anger, and sadness.
Each head had its own thoughts and personality.
To act properly, the three heads had to agree with each other.
But in many cases, they argued endlessly or even fought among themselves.
Handling such a Pokémon required a Trainer with exceptional control.
"Dodrio, Tri Attack!" Gary commanded immediately.
Gary knew he couldn't let Dodrio stand idle for too long.
If the three heads began arguing, the battle would quickly spiral out of control.
By giving them a clear command, he forced all three heads to act together.
Although the heads often competed with each other, they still respected Gary.
The moment the command was given, they began preparing their attack.
The left head prepared Ice Beam.
The right head prepared Flamethrower.
The center head gathered Thunderbolt.
Three different energies appeared at once.
Even more surprising—
Instead of firing separately, the three heads merged their energy into a single attack.
Tri Attack.
A rare move combining fire, ice, and electricity into one powerful strike.
---
"Venusaur, Frenzy Plant."
Sam calmly gave the same command again.
He had to admit that Dodrio's Tri Attack was impressive.
The energy control, the coordination between heads, and the final fusion—
It was almost beautiful.
But as Sam had said before—
No matter how flashy the technique was, it meant nothing against overwhelming strength.
The Tri Attack slammed into the massive roots summoned by Venusaur.
It blasted a large hole through one of the roots—
But that was all.
The attack that Dodrio had prepared so carefully had barely broken through the defense.
Its performance was already over.
"Venusaur, Vine Whip."
Two thick vines shot forward instantly.
Dodrio had no time to react.
Before the three heads could even decide which direction to dodge, the vines had already wrapped tightly around its body.
Venusaur lifted Dodrio high into the air.
The audience instantly understood what was about to happen.
"Ah!!!"
"Ah!!!"
"Ah!!!"
Dodrio was slammed repeatedly against the battlefield.
Each impact echoed loudly through the stadium.
The spectators in the stands trembled at the brutal display.
After confirming Dodrio had completely lost the ability to battle, Venusaur finally released it.
---
The referee raised his flag.
"Dodrio is unable to battle! Venusaur wins!"
"The winner is Sam!"
Thunderous applause filled the stadium.
"Thank you to Sam and Gary for bringing us such an incredible battle!" the commentator shouted excitedly.
"Although the final result matched most pre-match predictions, the battle itself was still extremely精彩."
"The semifinals have officially concluded!"
"And tomorrow—we will witness the Indigo Plateau Finals!"
"I believe both the audience here and the viewers watching from home are eagerly waiting for this final match."
"This championship battle will be very different from previous years."
"No matter who wins, these two finalists have already carved their names into the history of the Indigo Plateau Conference."
"I can confidently say this…"
"They may be the two strongest competitors the Indigo Plateau Conference has seen in many years!"
"So let us all look forward to tomorrow's final!"
---------------Author---------------
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