On Drake's side, two giant dragons exuding powerful auras raised their heads and roared. Their blood-red wings and battle axes under the spotlights shook people's hearts. The sky-soaring ruler of Dragons and the battle dragon born for war—Salamence and Haxorus—were powerful symbols among Dragon-type Pokémon.
"Ooooooh—!"
The moment these two Dragon-type Pokémon appeared, cheers like a tsunami erupted from the stands. Even with faces flushed red, countless people stretched their necks and shouted fanatically. One could see just how deeply the power of the two generals Drake sent out had taken root in people's hearts.
But this frenzied atmosphere instantly fell into silence after Lucas sent out his Pokémon.
Flapping bright orange-golden flaming wings, sparks scattering with every beat, as if a fire god bird surpassing all things. That sacred posture was undoubtedly the bird Pokémon said in legend to fly from the southern lands together with spring—the Legendary Pokémon, Moltres!
Although its legend originated in Kanto and Johto, Moltres's tale actually had some spread around the world. Not to mention last year's incident near Shamouti Island in the Orange Archipelago, when the world's climate suddenly changed dramatically. That had brought Moltres and the other two legendary birds into the sight of people from other regions.
After a moment of silence, Moltres's appearance instantly ignited the atmosphere in the stands. The excitement that had already been stirred by Drake's Pokémon now reached its peak. Overwhelming cheers rang out.
The only one whose mood was not so great was probably Victini alone. Its legend was too obscure; everyone simply treated it as a rare cute-type Pokémon. The number of people and Pokémon cheering for it was pitifully few.
This left Victini, which had been expecting all eyes on it when it appeared, looking stunned.
"Bi-mi-mi!" (This isn't what I imagined!)
Victini's fighting spirit visibly deflated.
But Lucas's next words reignited it. "If you win the battle, you'll be the one in the spotlight."
In an instant, Victini's fighting spirit burned fiercely. That's right! It was the Victory Star. Winning was only natural!
"Winning the battle? That depends on whether my old partners agree!"
Drake's aged yet resolute voice rang out.
Honestly, he didn't dislike such a sharp young man. The other's edge was like waves on the sea—it could temper him and make him even stronger!
However, the only pity was that Lucas hadn't sent out his Dragonite. Because of some experiences in his youth, Drake had an extraordinary attachment to Dragonite and really wanted to see, from a Dragon expert's perspective, how Lucas had raised his. What a shame.
"Battle— Begin!"
The commentator's voice came from above. Drake, reacting instantly, waved his hand and chose to strike first.
"You two, Dragon Pulse—target that smaller Pokémon with everything you've got!"
Compared to the somewhat familiar Moltres, Drake chose to test Victini's capabilities first.
"No Intimidate effect… so Overconfidence ability, huh?"
After making the judgment, Lucas calmly issued instructions: "Sunny Day, Psychic."
Salamence and Haxorus raised their ferocious dragon heads. The terrifying combined colorful flames gushing out seemed capable of sweeping away everything. Whether in power, accuracy, or release speed, they were undoubtedly Elite Four level—or even stronger.
Drake had never worried that his Pokémon's attacks might miss the smaller Victini.
Facing the oncoming Dragon Pulses, Moltres—which had no intention of meeting them head-on—flapped its wings expressionlessly. Energy gathered before its open beak, forming a burning fiery light bullet that shot straight into the sky!
Strong light poured down!
"Lucas chooses to activate Sunny Day—the most advantageous weather for Fire-type Pokémon! So what will Victini, now facing the ferocious Dragon Pulses alone, do!?"
The commentator, who had nearly been hit by the light bullet, continued passionately.
All eyes simultaneously fell on Victini, which was about to come into contact with the dual Dragon Pulses. Victini's eyes glowed with a crystalline blue light. Invisible energy waves spread out. Psychic power turned into invisible tentacles that met the Dragon Pulses.
Before the dragon-shaped roaring colorful energy flames, an invisible wall blocked their path. The opponent's power didn't seem strong enough to tear them apart directly, but the psychic force forming the wall was almost continuously supporting the stability of the Psychic barrier.
After a brief stalemate, the Dragon Pulses—lacking follow-up power—let out an unwilling cry and dissipated into the air.
Even Drake hadn't expected Victini to deal with the Dragon Pulses by simply outlasting them. With that level of psychic power, it was most likely a Psychic-type Pokémon. There were clearly other ways to dodge. Wasting psychic energy like this really wasn't a wise move.
Even though he felt a little disappointed, Drake's commands didn't relax in the slightest.
Under a secret signal only he and his Pokémon understood, Salamence and Haxorus—which hadn't been standing idle—pounced toward their respective opponents. Salamence flapped its blood-red wings, wrapped in surging airflow, and charged straight at Moltres. Haxorus, meanwhile, charged like a runaway war tank. Every step of its feet shook the entire platform.
The axe blades on Haxorus, which looked even sharper under the strong lights, rushed toward Victini, which had just finished its Psychic. There was no intention of holding back.
"Dragon Claw, Night Slash!"
Drake's voice sounded from behind. The two Dragon-type Pokémon unhesitatingly released their moves. A forceful "Dragon Claw" to drag Moltres into aerial combat, and a "Night Slash" that, in Drake's judgment, had a high chance of being super effective against Victini.
The opponent's experience was truly quite seasoned.
While sighing in admiration, Lucas instantly conveyed his verbal commands.
"Moltres, Heat Wave to intercept! Victini, Flame Burst!"
Salamence's green energy giant claw tore through the air, aiming for Moltres's vital points. Moltres refused to back down. Under Sunny Day's boost, even hotter gusts mixed with sparks blew from behind it. Even Salamence couldn't approach Moltres in this state for the time being. It really felt the usually ineffective Fire-type moves fiercely scorching its dragon scales.
Just as Salamence used Dragon Claw to tear open a gap in the Heat Wave and planned to temporarily retreat, a change suddenly occurred below.
Blood-red energy wrapped around Haxorus's axe blades as it swung horizontally at Victini. The somewhat flustered Victini, upon receiving Lucas's command, instantly burst with intense firelight. Its entire body was enveloped in a spherical flame that burned fiercely.
Haxorus's attack landed on the suddenly expanded fireball. Instead of dissipating, it exploded like highly sensitive explosive, turning into fist-sized fireballs that burst outward.
Haxorus itself was fine. With its hard scales and quick reaction, it swept Victini away with its tail while also blocking several fireballs. But Salamence was not so lucky. Forced to a lower flight altitude by the Heat Wave, it was also within the range of Flame Burst. In the gap after tearing through the Heat Wave and preparing to retreat, several splashing fireballs directly hit the abdominal shell it had during its Shelgon stage.
Even though the shell's defense was extremely strong, the intense burning pain made Salamence grimace.
"Good luck? Or was it deliberately aimed there? Looks like he has quite a lot of trust in his Pokémon's power."
Drake narrowed his eyes, feeling his own fighting spirit growing hotter.
"Unexpected Flame Burst! In the first round of exchanges, it seems Lucas has the advantage!"
The commentator's voice rang out as scheduled. Many people in the stands suddenly sat up straight. Elite Four Drake actually took a loss!?
Even though they knew it didn't really count as anything, some audience members' hearts still tightened.
"Fire Blast, Psychic."
This time, Lucas took the initiative to attack.
"Skreee!!" Moltres lowered its flight altitude to come beside Victini. It raised its head and let out a high cry. Crimson firelight lit up on its burning wings. Endless flames gathered and erupted as a huge fireball!
Boom!
The distorted air trembled slightly. The fireball exploded mid-flight, swelling as if meeting the wind, turning into a massive "大"-shaped flame that engulfed both Salamence and Haxorus. Whether in power, momentum, or size, it perfectly matched Moltres's identity.
Drake had just ordered Salamence to fly up and dodge while Haxorus used the weakness of Fire Blast's unchangeable direction to evade from the side.
But the moment Victini's eyes glowed blue again, he immediately abandoned his plan. Not good—it's a combination move!
"Salamence, return! Wide-area destruction! Haxorus, Earthquake! Build defense!"
At the critical moment, Drake immediately gave up on dodging and had Salamence and Haxorus jointly resist this clearly extraordinary Fire Blast.
Facts proved his choice was correct. The Fire Blast, now enveloped by Victini's Psychic, was no longer clumsy but gained extremely flexible turning ability. Seeing Salamence no longer flying upward, it immediately stopped adjusting its angle and charged straight at it and Haxorus.
Forcibly controlling Moltres's Fire Blast with psychic energy… just how much psychic energy did the opponent have?
Drake was somewhat baffled by Lucas's extravagant fighting style. Was he not afraid that the Pokémon called Victini would run out of psychic power and directly fall unable to battle?
Even trainers specialized in Psychic-types wouldn't give such reckless commands. They would choose more clever methods to control the opponent's Pokémon.
Even if Moltres's Fire Blast was powerful, and Victini's Psychic was controlling it without any flame leakage to reduce power, Moltres's strength was ultimately only on par with theirs. Without a huge gap in power, wanting to break through two Pokémon's full defense was simply wishful thinking.
Haxorus stomped the ground. Powerful vibrations cracked the platform—designed to withstand most Pokémon battles—raising huge rocks in front of it. Meanwhile, Salamence's tail, under converging Dragon-type energy, turned into a scaled green long whip that swept away the parts of Fire Blast the rocks couldn't block!
"It's our turn to counterattack! Haxorus, Scale Shot! Salamence, Dragon Rush!"
The moment Fire Blast dissipated, Drake issued new commands again.
Salamence roared in response, a brilliant light shining at the tip of its head. Vast Dragon-type energy spread like a torrent, covering its entire body. Wrapped in astonishing ferocity, Salamence charged at Moltres once more!
Below, Haxorus stepped forward. Countless energy dragon scales shot toward Victini like arrows, leaving it no chance to support Moltres.
Lucas didn't even blink. "Victini, protect yourself. Moltres, Sky Attack."
When it came to physical collisions, Moltres had never been timid. After all, it had once endured Dragonite's fierce attacks for a long time before losing the ability to battle. In terms of durability, toughness, and physical strength, the current Moltres was only stronger than before.
With ample stamina as backing, choosing to go all-out in close combat would only make Drake and Salamence suffer.
Sky-blue airflow surged around Moltres's body, forming a wildly flamboyant divine bird of light and flame. Moltres folded its wings and began charging power in mid-air. Fierce energy turbulence stirred within the airflow enveloping it.
At that moment, Salamence had already dived over, like a meteor chasing from the sky, and slammed fiercely into Moltres!
A strong shockwave mixed with blinding flash exploded. Many audience members who didn't close their eyes in time let out startled cries.
But when the flash faded, an absurd scene left them wide-eyed. Although its position had shifted, Moltres had clearly withstood the full force of Salamence's dive and completed the charge for Sky Attack!
Terrifying energy light waves overflowed from Moltres's body. Salamence immediately felt the force coming from ahead rapidly increasing!
A flash of unyielding ferocity shone in its eyes. Salamence roared and began an intense mid-air collision with Moltres.
Below, Victini's entire body burned with endless flames, like a miniature sun, completely incinerating the scales Haxorus had fired. Having just been slapped by its tail, the usually pampered Victini was in pain. Its gaze toward Haxorus now carried some anger as it turned into a fiery meteor and flew straight at it!
"Come on! Haxorus, Dragon Claw!"
Haxorus raised its dragon head. Both claws and axe blades wrapped in green flowing light as it charged directly toward Victini.
At that moment, however, Lucas issued a move name they had never heard before.
"Victini, V-create!"
…