"Contestant Baimu suddenly swapped Pokémon?"
The commentator murmured in surprise, wondering why he would switch out Hydreigon when its condition seemed so good?
Many spectators felt bewildered as well.
Only Baimu's familiar fans and Xiaogang knew; the swap was merely for those Pokémon who hadn't been seen on stage yet or hadn't appeared for a long time.
It wasn't much related to tactical strategies.
"Few contestants have the privilege of being so capricious on the stage of the conference. Baimu's behavior is quite unique."
Xiaogang showed helplessness, his words prompting nods of agreement from those around him.
Having traveled through numerous regions with Ash Ketchum, and having journeyed through many landscapes himself, witnessing all sorts of situations, Baimu's performance reminded him of Tobias from the Lily Conference.
Of course, Tobias was even more exaggerated.
This guy solely relied on Darkrai to reach the end of the conference, except when he was forced to send out the second Latios against Ash Ketchum.
Much more ruthless than Baimu.
Even though the contestants' skill levels varied greatly in each conference, Tobias's feat was truly rare.
Inside the venue.
The Pokémon swap had already been completed.
"Guh-oh~"
Aggron was situated atop the stone pillar connected to the underwater, its size just right to occupy the entire circular platform.
Rain poured down, instantly soaking the armor of bright silver and dark gray.
The commentator shouted, "Aggron! Contestant Baimu has sent out this Pokémon yet again, but the environment doesn't seem particularly favorable. Is Contestant Baimu preparing some strategy?"
"..."
Leon stared blankly at the massive, mountainous Aggron, feeling an inexplicable surge of anger rising in his heart.
Rainy weather, and it's a Water Field.
Yet, he sent out Aggron, which is vulnerable to water?
He wasn't aware that he was facing Baimu's strongest ace Pokémon and in his mind, it was the Mega Evolving Mawile with Flying Ability that he couldn't possibly counter upon sight, the one that should bring utter despair.
Aggron's previous performance was indeed outstanding, but this is rainy weather and a Water Field!
Does he truly believe that whatever Pokémon he sends will surely settle the score?
So frustrating!
Leon clenched his teeth, fists tightly gripping, the fury burning intensely in his chest, unlike the sudden burst of confidence earlier. This time, anger filled his heart.
People always find a reason for their actions.
When four of his Pokémon were knocked down unable to fight against his opponent, Leon realized he couldn't rival Baimu.
Yet he didn't want to completely lose his fighting spirit and have the referee declare the match over, so subconsciously he found a suitable reason to hope for himself.
Successfully allowing the match to continue.
And under the influence of this belief, he had no other request now, only wanting to defeat Aggron head-on!
"Go, Kingdra! Show your opponent that this is your stage!"
Bang!
A flash of white light.
The entire body of Kingdra, shaped like a seahorse with a pair of dragon horns and a snout like a sniper rifle, appeared.
"Doh!"
It flew into the pool with the flashing white light, and then most of its body floated to the surface, letting out a dull roar.
Baimu's eyes flickered.
Kingdra indeed appeared, highly likely being Leon's ace Dragon-type Pokémon.
Apart from Divine Beasts and Phantom Beasts, Kingdra in a Rain Team is definitely dominant in the Special Attack area.
The excellent attribute combination of Water and Dragon, along with the Trait of being Free and Easy, allows it, even if its Special Attack race isn't particularly outstanding, to maintain quite high appearance rates.
Leon, as a Trainer specializing in Rain tactics, naturally understood the value of Kingdra.
In fact, in the data collected by Porygon II, Kingdra was also the one with the best performance and strongest power in his entire team.
Ace against Ace?
Baimu's lips curled slightly, gripping his hand to issue the command.
"Here's a greeting, Dragon's Pulse!"
"Roar!"
Aggron took a deep breath, as if it intended to compress all the surrounding oxygen into its lungs, it leaned back its head and its chest slowly puffed up.
The next instant.
It opened its steel-crushing jaws wide, using all its might to spew the accumulated indigo and azure dual-colored Dragon Flame at Kingdra!
Roar!!
A sharp shriek pierced the air.
A gigantic Flaming Giant Dragon seemed to take form almost immediately as the flame was spat out, roaring and beating its wings forward.
Wherever it passed the water rippled, and the rain seemed to evaporate into a sky full of pale white mist. It astonishingly flew past almost half the stage in an instant!
But Kingdra was not to be underestimated.
Its cheeks bulged high, facing the incoming Flaming Giant Dragon and fiercely spitting out a massive sapphire water column!
Poof—
The sapphire water column collided with the Flaming Giant Dragon!
Bang!
A huge mist exploded in mid-air, with various shades of blue light rolling within, enveloping most of the stage.
Leon's enraged expression paused for a moment.
Baimu also showed a satisfied demeanor.
This Dragon's Pulse looked almost equally powerful compared to the Dragon's Pulse from Hydreigon earlier, but the actual power wasn't that strong. Sparring with Kingdra's Water Cannon in rainy weather definitely proved something.
Adding the previous Thunder Strike used...
Obviously.
After personal guidance from Mikoli and Adam, Aggron's inherently insufficient Special Attack finally began to show initial results, not wasting its Special Attack Technique Pool like a blooming bouquet.
You certainly won't see this scene in the game, even a filled Effort Value of sixty Special Attack may not achieve much.
Not even enough to act as a mine trap.
However, in the animations, even Pokémon like Pikachu and Eevee can reign supreme, and as long as there's a will, Aggron's Special Attack can surely grow to a proper level.