"They skipped the probing phase entirely and went straight into the bombardment phase."
In the stands, Aaron scratched his head.
"I thought, given Teacher Azure's style, he'd just use a stat-boosting move right off the bat."
"If I remember correctly, his Sylveon seems to know a powerful move originating from the Life Pokémon that can drastically boost its own stats, right?"
"Yeah, that move is Geomancy."
Lucian pushed up his glasses.
Before the Masters Tournament began, he had obtained some intel from Champion Steven, who had experienced a few Legendary Pokémon battles alongside Teacher Azure.
"With the effect of a Power Herb, a Pokémon's strength can undergo a qualitative leap in a short period of time."
"If he were to use that move, with Teacher Azure's Pokémon strength, it might genuinely be possible for it to temporarily enter the realm of Legendary Pokémon—"
"However, Sylveon's Z-Move is also absolutely ridiculous. I heard that back in Unova, Teacher Azure used that move to solve a major crisis over there."
Flint suddenly chimed in.
His gaze remained fixed below, quietly waiting for the head-on clash between Sylveon and Lucario.
"I just wonder what Teacher Azure is planning."
"At the end of the day, it seems like none of his Pokémon play by conventional rules. Even a Champion would have a hard time defending against that—"
The other three nodded in full agreement.
"Anyway, let's just believe in Big Sister Cynthia."
On the battlefield.
"Luca!!!"
After Cynthia's Lucario threw its punch, its body immediately shot forward, instantly tearing through the pink mist scattered by Sylveon and charging straight at it.
"Vee—"
Sylveon's gaze began to track, barely keeping up with Lucario's speed. Just as the two were about to collide, it suddenly pushed off the ground with its feet.
Following its movement, a clump of mud that seemed to have been prepared long ago—waiting only for the opponent to approach before immediately smacking them in the face—suddenly flew forward.
"Is that—Mud-Slap?"
Gold blinked, completely not expecting Aiden to choose such a dirty playstyle.
"As expected of Teacher Azure! He dares to play these underhanded tricks even on the Masters stage. He's truly a role model for our kind!"
Beside Gold, Silver ignored this goofball.
He looked at the battlefield, where Sylveon had left a shallow mark from its step, and fell into thought.
If it were Master, this move would likely influence his decisions for several turns to come.
What could his deeper purpose be?
Before becoming a powerful trainer, he really did need to learn more from Teacher Aiden.
In reality, Aiden's idea was very simple—
"Vee—!"
Taking advantage of the moment Lucario subconsciously closed its eyes and raised an arm to block its face, Sylveon immediately followed up with a second move. Its little paws and ribbons exerted force together, digging a small hole with all its might right before Lucario's fist could arrive. Then, its body plunged directly underground, completely disappearing from sight.
"Dig?"
Cynthia raised an eyebrow, instantly realizing Aiden's plan.
Using Mud-Slap to distract Lucario while hiding underground to use that ultimate move gifted by the Life Pokémon—Geomancy?
A very thoughtful move. Was it something he had prepared back when he battled President Geeta?
However—
Don't even think about succeeding!
"Lucario, Earthquake!"
"Luca!"
The counter to Dig was something Aiden himself had already provided the answer to long ago.
Although its vision was slightly impaired, Lucario didn't need to precisely hit its opponent when using Earthquake; it just had to use the move with all its might.
The rest could be left to the resonance of the earth!
Rumble—
As Lucario stomped its feet consecutively, the ground of Wyndon Stadium soon began to shake violently.
Even the Max Guard protecting the surrounding audience swayed slightly under the effects of the Earthquake.
While in the underground state of Dig, Earthquake would deal even more terrifying damage to Sylveon. Even if it completed its stat boost, it might not be a loss.
As the undefeated Champion of Sinnoh, Cynthia had absolute confidence in all of her Pokémon.
Even if her opponent was Aiden, it was no different.
Aiden watched Lucario fiercely triggering the Earthquake, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"Now, Sylveon!"
"Vee!"
As soon as Aiden spoke, a small bulge suddenly appeared in the corner of the battlefield. In the next moment, Sylveon burst through the ground and leaped up from below.
Its body flickered with orange light spots symbolizing increased power. Although it had been caught by Lucario's Earthquake, leaving it looking a bit disheveled and dusty, the damage it took didn't affect its fighting spirit in the slightest.
Sure enough, it completed Geomancy?
Cynthia narrowed her eyes, preparing to command Lucario to attack again.
With the damage dealt by the Earthquake just now, just one more Meteor Mash would very likely knock Sylveon out completely.
That way, she could take the first point almost unscathed.
And as if anticipating Cynthia's next move, Aiden immediately and decisively spoke up—
"Sylveon, Baton Pass!"
"Vee!"
Sylveon's backward somersault occurred almost simultaneously with his voice, truly catching Cynthia off guard.
"Lucario, Meteor Mash!"
However, it was too late.
After Sylveon had boosted its stats with Geomancy, even a Bullet Punch would have trouble keeping up with its movements.
Sylveon leaped into the air. As its body fully extended, the orange light spots on its surface quickly condensed into the shape of a baton.
Immediately after, it was withdrawn by Aiden's Poké Ball.
"Mewtwo, it's up to you next!"
The next Pokémon Aiden sent out was something anyone familiar with his roster could basically guess.
His overall lineup was very balanced. His Special Attackers were none other than Mewtwo, Sylveon, and Indeedee.
Indeedee's suppressive power wasn't enough to carry the situation on its own, appearing more as a surprise factor.
Therefore, Mewtwo was practically his only choice.
And when Mewtwo emerged from the red light, taking the baton left behind by Sylveon and floating over the battlefield—
Even from a great distance, the audience could still feel a distinct oppressive aura from its blue eyes that flickered with a cold gleam.
That powerful pressure was the greatest difference between a Legendary Pokémon and ordinary creatures!
"Lucario!"
Arriving a step late, Lucario fiercely stomped off the ground, leaping into the air and swinging an all-out Meteor Mash at Mewtwo, attempting to drain as much of its stamina as possible.
However—
"Too slow!"
Mewtwo didn't make any movement, merely responding with a disdainful look.
In the next second, their positions suddenly reversed entirely.
Lucario, mid-swing, lost its target. It subconsciously turned around to kick behind it, but also struck empty air.
Mewtwo, already standing with arms crossed in a corner of the battlefield, revealed a smile, seemingly mocking its opponent's reaction.
"Was that—Teleport?"
Gold was dumbfounded.
"Could it be that Sylveon's stat-boosting move also increased its Speed at the same time?"
"Yeah—after Baton Passing the buffs from Geomancy, Mewtwo's Speed, Special Attack, and Special Defense will all be drastically raised."
Silver nodded, recalling information about Mewtwo in his mind.
That genetic experiment created by his bastard father had actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, creating a monster whose strength was no less than that of a Legendary Pokémon.
Fortunately, it eventually agreed with Master Aiden's ideals and broke free from Team Rocket's control.
Otherwise, that guy might have really gone down the wrong path with no return—
"Mewtwo is incredibly strong. Its strength absolutely doesn't lose to any Champion's ace."
"If you add the gift left behind by Sylveon, it might even be able to sweep the opponent's entire team by itself."
Silver's thoughts were also the resonance in the hearts of many elite trainers.
Even for Cynthia on the field, the pressure was equally immense.
"Mewtwo, Aura Sphere!"
"Lucario, Detect!"
Mewtwo attacked with zero windup. With a casual raise of its hand, the blue energy waves it fired tore through the air like artillery shells, heading straight for Lucario.
Driven by instinct, Lucario subconsciously executed a backflip to dodge out of the way.
Mewtwo's Aura Sphere didn't have the precise control over Aura that a true Aura user possessed; it purely used psychic power to condense and fire the energy.
But because of this, its power was absolutely explosive.
Boom—!
When the full-speed Aura Sphere crashed straight into the ground, the sudden shockwave of sound even surpassed the momentum of Lucario's Earthquake from earlier!
Amidst the flying sand and rolling stones, Lucario thought it had weathered the opponent's assault and was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.
But Mewtwo's offense was far from over.
"Take this!"
If one shot isn't enough, then take a few more!
The continuous bombardment of Aura Spheres made Lucario's scalp tingle as it was pushed into a corner of the battlefield.
There was no way to dodge!
It could only bite the bullet and counterattack with its own Aura Sphere, but facing the dense barrage of light cannons raining down like a torrential storm, it was completely powerless.
Boom rumble—!
Explosions rang out continuously, quickly drowning Cynthia's Lucario along with half the battlefield in a tidal wave of sand.
"Holy crap—Teacher Azure's Mewtwo's firepower is way too terrifying!"
"Whose mobile turret is this?"
"I feel like Big Sister Cynthia is going to get completely swept—"
"Teacher Azure, if you do this, you'll win the match but lose at life!"
A wave of wailing erupted from the Sinnoh spectator stands.
Cynthia had also furrowed her brows, seemingly thinking hard of a way to break the deadlock.
Mewtwo's Speed and combat power were already absurd, and now it had received Sylveon's Baton Pass, equivalent to completing a Geomancy boost—
The oppressive feeling was indeed too intense.
However, precisely because of this, she became even more excited.
As the dust settled, Cynthia looked at Lucario, who was lying on the ground seeing stars, and decisively pressed the button on her Poké Ball.
"Come back, Lucario."
A red light flashed. Taking advantage of the moment Cynthia was switching, Aiden also narrowed his eyes and shouted loudly: "Now, Mewtwo!"
"Mega Evolve!!!"
Teacher Azure's "loud roar" once again triggered a burst of exclamations from the audience.
"Damn, using the switch as a chance to Mega Evolve! He's not planning to give Champion Cynthia any chance at all!"
"Teacher Azure—what a pure trainer. A true battle maniac won't be swayed by emotions. I approve of this level of purity!"
"He's really... I'm crying to death!"
The appearing white light quickly engulfed both Aiden and Mewtwo simultaneously.
As their spirits synchronized to undergo Mega Evolution, Cynthia also sent out her second Pokémon—
"I choose you, Spiritomb!"
White light and red light flashed alternately.
A Mega Mewtwo Y, its body shrunken slightly but its mind clearly more heavyweight, appeared in the corner of the battlefield, coldly eyeing its opponent.
A ghost projected from a fractured Odd Keystone, its body condensed from pink mist and brimming with soul energy.
Spiritomb?
Aiden fell into thought, roughly able to guess Cynthia's plan.
Spiritomb could completely shut down Mewtwo's Psychic-type moves and Aura Sphere, maximizing the interference with his commands.
At the same time—
Even if Mewtwo could forcefully defeat it with other moves, it would constantly have to be on guard against Spiritomb's Destiny Bond.
It was indeed the best choice to specifically counter Mewtwo.
As long as the timing was grasped well, no matter what, it could force a one-for-one trade.
However, as long as he knew this, there would always be a way to deal with it!
"Mewtwo, Thunderbolt!"
"Spiritomb, Payback!"
Both sides simultaneously chose to use offensive moves. In an instant, a lightning-fast exchange of blows began.
Mewtwo was the first to point a finger at Spiritomb. After lightly snapping its fingers, crackling electricity instantly danced at its fingertips, rapidly converging into a powerful current.
Before the sound of thunder could arrive, the golden flash struck first. In the blink of an eye, it pierced through Spiritomb's spectral body, blasting it so severely that it became incredibly weak, its soul seemingly on the verge of dissipating at any moment.
And in the next second—
The Odd Keystone beneath Spiritomb suddenly vanished, crossing space in the span of a single breath from the audience to appear right behind Mewtwo.
That eerie ghostly silhouette reappeared once more, condensing the green soul energy within its body and blasting it with all its might at Mewtwo!
Bang—!
Rumble—!
The sound of thunder and the noise of bodies colliding rang out simultaneously.
Mewtwo borrowed the force of the blow to take a few steps backward, the cold glint in its eyes growing even sharper.
To it, an attack of this level was far from lethal.
However, taking a hit without striking back had never been its style.
Just as Mewtwo was about to snap its fingers again to finish off the opponent with a second Thunderbolt—
"Spiritomb, Destiny Bond!"
"Mewtwo, use Taunt!"
Aiden and Cynthia's voices overlapped. Mewtwo subconsciously halted the movement of its hand.
It abruptly noticed that ever since Spiritomb's attack ended, there had been a bizarre sensation on its back, as if its instincts were warning it of danger.
And as Cynthia's voice fell, it instantly understood.
The finger motion originally intended to snap its fingers subsequently changed into a beckoning taunt.
Even Spiritomb found it hard to remain indifferent when faced with a Taunt.
Its Destiny Bond, which had been fully charged and ready to go, was forcibly interrupted, fizzling out into nothing.
Seeing this, Aiden breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now you can use Thunderbolt."
Mewtwo didn't speak. It merely silently narrowed its eyes, transforming its deeply hidden rage into a bolt of lightning that thoroughly devoured Spiritomb's figure.
After the Thunderbolt that smashed against the Max Guard dissipated, Spiritomb's ghostly husk had already vanished, leaving only that lifeless, hard Odd Keystone behind.
"Spiritomb is unable to battle! The score is 2:0!!!"
The commentator let out an exclamation of surprise. On the big screen, two Poké Balls beneath Cynthia's portrait had already gone dark.
------------------------------------------------------
30+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)