Two handsome young trainers stood on opposite sides of the battlefield. Kirlia, her small face blushing, was held in Lorze's arms, while on the other side—Steven Stone threw an Ultra Ball with an incredibly elegant backhand gesture.
"Go—Metagross!"
"Metag!"
With a raspy, electronic cry, the silver Shiny Metagross stepped heavily onto the field, facing off against the levitating Mewtwo!
Bound to its front right leg was a Metagrossite!
"Go, Big Sister! You can do it!"
Hearing Kirlia cheering for her, Mewtwo smiled, turned her head slightly, and waved.
"Sir Lorze, I can feel that your partner is exceptionally powerful, so you won't mind if I send out my ace right away, will you?"
Lorze curled his lip. Steven, you've already sent out Metagross; it would be a bit awkward if I asked you to take it back now, wouldn't it?
Steven narrowed his eyes. He had never seen Lorze's Pokémon before and didn't know its typing.
Psychic-types have an absolute blind spot against Dark-types. In that case...
"Metagross—Meteor Mash!"
Despite appearing incredibly heavy, Metagross's body was exceptionally agile. Its claws, planted on the ground, suddenly pushed off, using the recoil to catapult itself toward Mewtwo. Its hardened metallic fist came swinging, wrapped in a fierce gale!
Truly worthy of Steven's Metagross—the power and the movement were executed in one smooth motion!
But Lorze did not speak, because powerful psychics can often command Pokémon directly through their inner voices. He needed to train this ability himself.
"Big Sister Mewtwo, you can dodge it, right?"
"A piece of cake!"
Mewtwo used her psychic power to lightly shift her body. The heavy fist whistled past her, barely missing!
However, Steven's lips curled upward: "Bullet Punch!"
Metagross, having missed its Meteor Mash, was not affected by inertia as expected. Instead, it made a bizarre, sharp-angled turn, meeting Mewtwo's face with incredible speed!
Clang!
"Metag..."
Mewtwo calmly opened a Protect barrier, letting Metagross's hard fist smash against it!
Steven was also very surprised. He didn't expect this Pokémon to react even to his most prideful Bullet Punch!
And from the start of the battle until now, the opposing trainer hadn't uttered a single command. Looking at his expression, it was clear he was focused intently on the match. Could he be... a Psychic!?
What an incredible talent. Regardless of win or loss, he had to bring this man into his alliance!
But don't underestimate the Hoenn Champion... how will you handle the next move!?
"Now's the chance—Grab it, Zen Headbutt!"
The moment the barrier vanished, the thick metallic arm grabbed Mewtwo's slender arm, concentrating the power of thought into its metallic forehead!
Mewtwo immediately mobilized the power within her body to respond, but Lorze sensed something was wrong.
This feeling... is it Psystrike?
"Big Sister Mewtwo! Don't use that move! Use Dark Pulse!"
Mewtwo was somewhat dissatisfied upon hearing Lorze's command. This was her strongest strike—why change the move?
But her opponent wouldn't give her time to think; a decision had to be made immediately. Mewtwo instinctively followed Lorze's instruction, releasing a powerful dark-purple spiral wave from her body, pouring it all directly into Metagross's face!
"Metag!? Mmn-metag..."
Dark Pulse—It's super effective! At such close range, Metagross absorbed almost all the energy of the Dark Pulse, painfully letting go of Mewtwo's arms.
Points of psychic light almost condensed on its forehead, but the Zen Headbutt... was not executed!
Steven frowned. Was it flinched by the secondary effect of Dark Pulse!?
"The effect seems quite good? Lorze, what happened?"
"Because Dark-types are super effective against Metagross's Psychic-typing, while both Steel and Psychic resist Psychic-type moves. If you used Psystrike, it would be quadruple-resisted. Plus, Psystrike deals physical damage, and Metagross happens to have very high physical defense..."
But Mewtwo listened with her head in the clouds, already dizzy from Lorze's explanation.
She didn't know these things. She had always relied on instinct to fight. Could it be... everything he said was true?
Lorze also secretly broke a sweat. Wild Pokémon mostly fight according to their instincts, using whatever is convenient. If type matchups aren't considered at all, even a Legendary can lose to a powerful ordinary Pokémon.
Mewtwo could also sense that the opponent before her was no ordinary foe. If she didn't pay attention... would something really go wrong?
"Lorze, are you sure we can win?"
"We can! But only because you are strong enough, Big Sister. I couldn't win with just myself."
Mewtwo turned her face away, blushing. The upward curl of her lips was still carefully captured by Lorze.
Tsundere Big Sisters are also very cute~
"You take command. Tell me what to do next."
"Alright. Next... Earth Power!"
Using Dark Pulse earlier was actually a gamble for a flinch. Although that Zen Headbutt probably wouldn't have hurt Mewtwo much, Lorze still didn't want her to take too much damage.
If there was a choice, Earth Power definitely had higher damage!
Take it out while it's flinching!
Mewtwo extended her palm, her expression turning fierce as she twisted it violently, extracting stone pillars from the battlefield and hurling them toward Metagross!
"Pull yourself together, Protect!"
Metagross, who had its eyes closed in pain, suddenly recovered upon hearing Steven's command. Its survival instinct made it open the hardest barrier it had ever produced in its life!
But the stone pillars of Earth Power smashed into the barrier one after another, actually using pure violence to cause spider-web cracks on the Protect, which then shattered like glass!
"Metag!?"
Steven's expression became solemn. To have such explosive power alongside such nimble speed...
This Pokémon must be a "glass cannon" with high speed and high attack!
"Retreat! Agility!"
"Keep going with Earth Power!"
As Metagross retreated at high speed, hard stone pillars burst out of the ground, but it nimbly avoided them all!
Firstly, Metagross's movements were irregular. Secondly, it used Agility during its movement to continuously increase its speed. These subtle changes in rhythm allowed it to survive the Earth Power!
Those stone pillars shot upward uncontrollably, violently impacting the ceiling and shaking down layers of earth and stone!
The staff on the floor above felt a violent movement beneath their seats. The teacups on their tables rattled and shook incessantly.
Could it be... an earthquake!?
But the vibration stopped shortly after. They thought about it and assumed the Young Master was probably training downstairs.
There had never been such a violent vibration before. To think that in just a few days, the Young Master's Metagross had become this strong!?
Despite already possessing the strength of Hoenn's finest, he still had such room for improvement. Truly worthy of that man...