With Aiden and Alain both sending out their second Pokémon—each of them possessing the Contrary Ability—the battle between Serperior and Malamar officially began!
Leaf Storm surged forward while Malamar responded with Payback.
Countless green leaves gathered into a violent tornado.
Serperior whipped its tail, sending the storm sweeping across the entire battlefield!
Malamar had intended to close the distance and engage in close combat, but Leaf Storm completely blocked its path.
It was swallowed by the raging vortex.
Countless leaves, each as sharp as a blade, spun around Malamar and carved wounds across its body.
More importantly, because Serperior possessed Contrary, the Special Attack reduction that should have followed Leaf Storm was reversed.
Instead—
Its Special Attack rose by two stages!
Under these circumstances, Malamar's Topsy-Turvy was effectively sealed off as well.
After all, Serperior had just gained a two-stage Special Attack boost.
If Malamar tried reversing those stat changes while its own Contrary Ability was active, the result would only work against it.
Against Aiden's Serperior, Malamar was being completely countered!
Seeing this, Alain immediately shouted,
"Malamar, use Psybeam!"
"Serperior, use Dragon Tail!"
Malamar fired Psybeam toward Serperior.
But Serperior relied on its exceptional evasive ability to slip past the attack and rapidly close the distance.
Dragon-type energy gathered around its thick tail.
Boom!
Dragon Tail slammed directly into Malamar!
The tremendous impact interrupted Psybeam and sent Malamar flying backward.
"Again! Leaf Storm!"
Before Malamar could recover, countless green leaves surrounded it once more.
The razor-sharp leaves sliced relentlessly across its body.
Even Malamar, whose physique gave it fairly strong resistance to physical punishment, could not withstand such a continuous assault.
Wounds appeared all over its body.
Blood began to flow.
Malamar was already struggling to remain conscious.
When Leaf Storm finally dispersed, Malamar fell from the air.
It had completely lost the ability to battle.
Ding! Serperior defeated Malamar.
Experience gained: 13,700.
Level increased. Current Level: Lv. 89!
The referee immediately raised his flag.
After losing another Pokémon, Alain gritted his teeth.
He had chosen to participate in the World Championships even without Ash being involved this time.
Stopping here was certainly not what he wanted.
But now that he had encountered Aiden, no matter how confident Alain was in his own strength, even he could not claim to have much hope of defeating him.
To put it plainly—
The moment Alain drew Aiden as his opponent, his road through the World Championships had effectively reached its end.
Alain recalled Malamar and threw out his next Poké Ball.
"I'm counting on you, Bisharp!"
White light flashed.
A sharp and imposing Bisharp appeared on the battlefield!
Unfortunately, Bisharp had never traveled to the Paldea region and had therefore not completed its true final evolution.
Otherwise, as Kingambit, its strength would undoubtedly have been even greater!
Ding! Bisharp's current attributes are as follows:
Pokémon: Bisharp
Level: 84
Ability: Defiant
Type: Dark / Steel
Potential: Gold
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Locked
Gigantamax: None
Moves: Fury Cutter, Metal Claw, Metal Burst, Torment, Assurance, Metal Sound, Slash, Night Slash, Iron Defense, Swords Dance, Guillotine, Retaliate...
Seeing Alain send out Bisharp, Aiden switched Pokémon again.
He recalled Serperior and took out another Poké Ball.
"Feraligatr, you're up!"
That was right.
Against Alain, Aiden had deliberately chosen to use several of his starter Pokémon.
And when Alain eventually brought out his Charizard, Aiden intended to answer with his own Charizard.
"Bisharp, use Fury Cutter!"
At Alain's command, Bisharp immediately sprang into action.
With agile steps, it rushed toward Feraligatr.
"Feraligatr, counter with Hydro Pump!"
Feraligatr roared.
Its enormous jaws opened wide.
A massive column of water erupted outward!
The impact was so powerful that it stopped Bisharp's charge head-on.
Under the overwhelming pressure of the water, Bisharp was actually forced backward!
Alain's expression changed.
Realizing that Bisharp was not Feraligatr's opponent, he immediately made a substitution.
"Come back, Bisharp!"
Seeing Alain prepare to switch Pokémon, Aiden raised an eyebrow.
"Then who's next?"
"Go, Tyranitar!"
Alain's fourth Pokémon was one of the pseudo-Legendaries—
Tyranitar!
The moment Tyranitar appeared, a sandstorm immediately swept across the battlefield, obscuring everyone's vision.
Ding! Tyranitar's current attributes are as follows:
Pokémon: Tyranitar
Level: 86
Ability: Sand Stream
Type: Rock / Dark
Potential: Gold
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Mega Tyranitar
Gigantamax: None
Moves: Fire Fang, Ice Fang, Thunder Fang, Crunch, Dark Pulse, Stone Edge, Thrash, Screech, Sandstorm, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact...
This Tyranitar was clearly stronger than the Pokémon Alain had revealed earlier.
Still, Aiden remembered that in the original story, both this Tyranitar and Alain's Metagross had been taken down by Pikachu.
All he could say was—
Ash's Pikachu truly knew when to become an actor.
"Feraligatr, keep battling!"
"Use Surf!"
"Tyranitar, use Hyper Beam!"
A massive wave rose across the battlefield and surged forward.
Standing firmly on the ground, Tyranitar gathered tremendous energy inside its mouth.
Boom!
Hyper Beam erupted and slammed directly into Surf!
For a moment, the violent energy seemed capable of tearing through the incoming wave.
But ultimately—
It fell just short.
Surf continued forward with most of its momentum intact and crashed directly into Tyranitar!
For a Ground-type Pokémon, taking a Water-type attack head-on naturally caused tremendous damage.
Even if that Pokémon was a pseudo-Legendary...
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