In the center of the arena.
The first challenger, a young man with a haughty expression, had already taken his stand.
A confident smirk played at the corners of his mouth, as if the arena was already in the palm of his hand.
With a flick of his wrist, a burst of red light exploded, and a Charizard clad in crimson scales, with wings spanning nearly two meters, appeared before everyone with a roar.
Flames swirled around its body, and every breath it took carried a scorching heatwave; it was clearly a Superior-level Pokémon that had undergone rigorous training.
Its fierce aura was like an invisible weight, instantly enveloping the entire field.
The young Trainer's gaze was like a knife, piercing straight at Ariel, his voice filled with contempt:
"Kid, stop hiding. Hurry up and release your Weavile. I want to see how many moves that Ice-type and Dark-type fellow can last against my Charizard."
As he spoke, he had already claimed victory in advance. The Fire-type attribute of Charizard undoubtedly held a natural suppression over Weavile.
In his view, this was simply a duel with no suspense.
In the audience, Marius's face was tense, his brow furrowed with worry.
He murmured in a low voice:
"It's over. The very first opponent brought out a Pokémon that counters Brother Ariel. This is going to be difficult."
The surrounding discussions also rose and fell, mostly pessimistic about Ariel's chances.
Hearing this, Ariel merely shook his head nonchalantly, his face showing no ripples of emotion.
He looked up at the young man, his voice steady but carrying an unquestionable power:
"First of all, with the level of your Charizard, I'm afraid it won't last three moves against my Weavile."
His words caused the young man's eyes to narrow, and a few sneers came from the audience.
Then, Ariel changed the subject, his tone carrying a hint of playfulness:
"Secondly, who said I was going to use Weavile?"
Before his voice had even faded, he tossed the Poké Ball in his hand into the air.
A red light, even more majestic than before, soared into the sky. Accompanied by a deafening roar, the entire arena seemed to tremble.
The next moment, a massive creature, accompanied by the special effect of splashing water, appeared abruptly on the stage!
It was a Gyarados over ten meters long, its body as thick as a python, covered in dark blue hard scales!
Every one of its scales shimmered with a cold luster, reflecting deep shadows under the lights.
Its blood-red eyes were currently emitting a wild and ferocious light. In its wide-open maw, jagged teeth interlocked, as if they could easily tear anything apart!
Just by coiling there, it radiated a suffocating sense of pressure.
That primitive, savage aura originating from ancient times instantly swept through the venue, making everyone's breath hitch.
The originally arrogant Charizard instantly looked much smaller in front of this giant Gyarados.
The stark contrast in size caused the fierce aura it took pride in to vanish completely; at this moment, it looked more like a slightly pitiful little bug shrouded in a massive shadow.
Its flames even seemed to dim a bit, and it even unconsciously took half a step back, a flash of instinctive fear crossing its eyes.
For a moment, the area around the arena was pin-drop silent. Then, an explosion of exclamations broke out like a tide.
"My God! Is... is that a Gyarados?!"
"There's actually a Gyarados this big! This size is even more exaggerated than in the data photos!"
"No wonder he dared to challenge the arena; it turns out he was hiding such a trump card!"
"This aura... it's simply terrifying!"
Everyone was shocked. They had originally thought Ariel was just a young man who didn't know the heights of the heavens, but now it seemed his confidence was not without reason.
Owning such a powerful Gyarados was indeed enough for him to hold his ground in the arena.
However, amidst this shock, a hint of hard-to-detect doubt was mixed in.
How did such a young Trainer capture and train such a ferocious Pokémon?
One must know that Gyarados are naturally vicious and difficult for ordinary Trainers to tame. There are even news reports every year of young Trainers being turned upon by Gyarados in their pursuit of power.
For Ariel to be able to conquer such a Gyarados at his age was truly inconceivable.
Ariel ignored the clamor below the stage. He looked calmly at the Gyarados and issued an order:
"Gyarados, use Hydro Pump!"
Gyarados's blood-red eyes merely swept over Ariel nonchalantly, and then, it did not act according to the instruction.
It only gave a low hiss, its massive body arching slightly, and like a bolt of deep blue lightning, it charged straight towards the Charizard!
"Roar!"
The violent collision, carrying incredible momentum, instantly closed the distance with the Charizard.
The Charizard's Trainer's face changed drastically as he hurriedly shouted:
"Charizard! Quick, dodge it, use Fire Blast!"
However, Gyarados's speed was beyond imagination.
Before Charizard could fully unleash its flames, it was violently struck by that massive body.
With a dull, heavy thud, Charizard was sent flying back, slamming heavily into the rock wall at the edge of the arena, sending dust flying.
"Gyarados!"
Ariel's brow furrowed slightly. Though he felt helpless, he had long anticipated this.
After all, he was this Gyarados's genuine enemy.
If it weren't for the fact that Gyarados had been given a period of 'education of love' by Krookodile, Malamar, and the others...
Otherwise, the moment he released Gyarados, it probably would have swallowed Ariel in one bite.
At this moment, Gyarados's fighting style was bold and unconstrained.
Its wild nature dictated that it preferred to solve problems in the most direct and primitive way.
In the audience, the people who had just been awed by Gyarados's power began to whisper among themselves again.
"He actually can't command his own Gyarados?"
"This... what's going on? The Pokémon isn't listening?"
"A Pokémon of this level not following orders—isn't that just a ticking time bomb?"
The young Trainer recovered from his initial shock, a sinister grin appearing on his face.