BOOM!!!
It was the first time the two Pokémon had collided head-on with their moves without yielding even a single step.
A huge explosion erupted high in the air, accompanied by a thunderous roar that shook the sky itself.
Conkeldurr's body fell rapidly from a great height and slammed heavily into the ground. Just when everyone thought Mega Blaziken had won, Cain frowned as he looked at the cloud of smoke in the air; no one perceived the situation more clearly than he did.
Immediately afterward, Blaziken, already out of its Mega Evolution, also fell from the air and crashed into the ground.
"Conkeldurr! Blaziken! Both have lost the ability to battle!" As the referee, the judge immediately blew the whistle and waved the flag in his hand, announcing that both had been knocked out at the same time.
Cain relaxed his brow, used his psychic power to bring Blaziken to his side, and then took a healing potion and a healing spray from his pocket to give him simple treatment.
Seeing Blaziken slowly open his eyes and noticing the apology in his gaze, Cain smiled and said, "You have nothing to be ashamed of. You defeated an opponent of a higher level than yours, you did very well!"
After saying that, Cain returned Blaziken to its Poké Ball.
Although beside them were the workers from the League's special Pokémon Center, and there were even two Nurse Joys present, ever since Cain acquired the ability to heal his Pokémon himself, he had never again let the Pokémon Center treat them.
It was not because they could not heal injured Pokémon, but simply because Cain did not trust them.
The League's treatment center, just like Team Rocket's medical devices, while healing Pokémon also collected their data and stored it in the League's database.
Cain did not mind others knowing his strength, but he did not want them to know it with such precision. That was a habit he had already developed.
The others, upon seeing this, said nothing. After all, Cain was the youngest Advanced-level breeder in the Pokémon League, so there was nothing strange about him acting like this.
Alder, meanwhile, was paying more attention to the bond between Cain and Blaziken.
The exchange of looks between Cain and Blaziken just now had been absolutely sincere. After confirming the relationship between Cain and his Pokémon, Alder's gaze toward him became filled with even greater appreciation.
However, the battle continued.
The two of them were going to summon Pokémon at the same time once again!
This time there was no hesitation whatsoever. By this point in the battle, both had already completely entered the zone; although the cheers around them shook the entire stadium, they could no longer affect their judgment of the battle.
And in truth, the cries of the audience were indeed deafening, because the fight between Mega Blaziken and Conkeldurr had truly been blow against blow, flesh against flesh. From beginning to end, everything had been the purest physical contact.
That made many trainers who specialized in Fighting-type Pokémon understand what a true combat Pokémon really was: any small mistake in a detail or a movement could cause an enormous problem.
Two Poké Balls were thrown at the same time.
The temperature of the surrounding air suddenly dropped, and many of the spectators in the stands felt the hair on their bodies stand on end and goosebumps spread across their skin.
Just a moment ago, Mega Blaziken's extremely high-temperature flames had made everyone feel suffocating heat, but how much time had passed? Suddenly the temperature plummeted, and all because of the two Pokémon that had appeared on the field.
Chandelure and... Gengar.
Once again, two Pokémon with similar attributes. At this moment, Cain and Alder displayed a tacit understanding that others could hardly imagine.
When they saw which Pokémon the other had summoned, Alder and Cain looked at each other in surprise, but immediately afterward each read in the other's eyes the reason for having chosen those two.
Two Ghost-type Pokémon, and moreover the main reason why everyone was feeling that chill.
Dense ghostly energy overflowed from both Pokémon, completely enveloping the stadium.
Cain looked at that Chandelure and directly scanned its data.
Cain knew Chandelure quite well. The most special thing about them was that they unconsciously absorbed the life energy of the living beings around them, even that of their own trainer.
However, judging from Alder's expression, it was clear that he did not suffer from that problem, only it was not clear how exactly he had managed to avoid it.
In the past, Cain had also thought about capturing a Chandelure, but he never found a way to solve that inconvenience, so in the end he let it go.
A Chandelure cannot stop absorbing life energy. That is an inherent characteristic of this species, just as a person cannot stop eating staple food.
Although a person could survive without it, they would eventually become malnourished and weak; if a Chandelure did not absorb life energy, then it would no longer be a true Chandelure and would not be able to display its genuine power.
Because the several dark flames of Chandelure did not burn its own body, but rather the opponent's soul or that of any other living being; or, in other words, their life energy.
Pokémon: Chandelure (Purple)
Gender: Male
Level: 90
Types: Ghost + Fire
Ability: None
Held Item: Flame Body
Egg Moves: Heat Wave, Haze, Acid, Clear Smog
Basic Moves: Ember, Astonish, Minimize, Smog, Fire Spin, Confuse Ray, Night Shade, Will-O-Wisp, Flame Burst, Imprison, Hex, Memento, Inferno, Curse, Shadow Ball, Pain Split, Overheat
Learned Moves: Telekinesis, Spite, Snore, Trick, Laser Focus, Ally Switch
TM Moves: Calm Mind, Toxic, Taunt, Protect, Safeguard, Solar Beam, Psychic, Flamethrower, Energy Ball, Embargo, Payback, Dream Eater, Sleep Talk, Substitute, Trick Room, Confide
The ability Flame Body sometimes caused an opponent that touched it to be inflicted with the Burned status.
Once again, this was a Pokémon whose strength had reached the second threshold of the Champion level.
This was the kind of power a regional Champion should possess.
Although the minimum standard for occupying the position of Champion of a region was to possess at least one Pokémon with strength above the second barrier of the Champion level, and for all the main battle Pokémon to be above the first barrier of that level...
...the minimum standard would always be just that: the minimum. Very few people would take pride in merely meeting it.
That was also one of the main reasons why Cain's master, Drake, had resisted so strongly back then Juan's proposal that he take the position of Champion.
Because even if his own people said nothing, Drake also had pride, did he not?
"Gengar, Mega Evolve!" After seeing Chandelure's data, Cain immediately had Gengar Mega Evolve; otherwise, his side would be at a disadvantage in brute strength.
"KEKEKKE!!"
The energy of Mega Evolution enveloped Gengar, and when it appeared once again before everyone, it had already become Mega Gengar!
(End of Chapter)