"Seen through, huh?"
Cynthia shook her head helplessly, smiling as she recalled the dissipating Spiritomb into its Poké Ball.
It couldn't be helped.
Destiny Bond was indeed highly effective against tricky opponents, capable of forcefully trading one life for another. But once the opponent saw through the thought process, the threat would instantly weaken considerably.
The simplest and most effective way to break this move was to use Taunt to forcibly interrupt Spiritomb's casting.
Without Destiny Bond, Spiritomb's threat to Mewtwo was practically reduced to zero—
And now, the same problem was on the table again.
How was she supposed to deal with a Mewtwo that had already completed its stat boosts and Mega Evolution?
During her pre-match preparation, her attention had been entirely focused on Sylveon. She hadn't anticipated the strategy of using Baton Pass to pass on Geomancy at all.
Simple, efficient, and impossible to guard against.
Aiden really did pull out the most frustrating tactics in the biggest moments.
"Hmph!"
As if seeing through her dilemma, the still-active Mega Mewtwo Y raised its right hand, pointing three fingers directly at her, seemingly using body language to urge her to continue this battle that had only just begun.
After thinking for a moment, Cynthia took out another Poké Ball.
"It's up to you next, Togekiss!"
"Toge???"
A flash of red light passed, and a completely bewildered Togekiss appeared at low altitude.
Facing Mega Mewtwo Y, which was glaring at it fiercely, it felt an intangible psychic power touch its body like a liquid, causing it a sense of discomfort.
This guy was here with ill intentions!
"Togekiss, Thunder Wave!"
"Mewtwo, Taunt!"
In the instant both sides spoke at the same time, Cynthia's idea was once again predicted by Aiden.
Togekiss had just flapped its wings, attempting to use the static electricity generated by the friction of its feathers to gather a Thunder Wave, locking onto the opponent to hinder its speed and movements.
However, the moment a tiny spark of electricity appeared in front of it, Mewtwo gestured with a little hook of its finger, directly interrupting Togekiss's casting.
The consecutive use of Taunt once again sealed off Cynthia's strategic intentions.
As expected…
Cynthia was already feeling a bit helpless.
Once Aiden gained an advantage, he knew exactly how to make no mistakes and consolidate the victory step by step.
As long as Mega Mewtwo Y was unaffected by status moves, relying on its speed and terrifying psychic intensity, it would absolutely never be at a disadvantage in a head-on clash against any Pokémon.
At this point, Aiden's commands were very simple.
He wanted to kill any possibility of interfering with his victory; he wouldn't let go of even the slightest fraction of a chance.
After being Taunted, the Togekiss she sent out intending to weaken Mewtwo's speed immediately lost its utility and was forced into a head-on confrontation with Mewtwo.
And in the realm of head-on firefights that Mewtwo excelled at—
Even if her own Garchomp stepped in, it would likely be hard-pressed to take it down directly.
For now, she could only try her best to drain Mewtwo's stamina.
Cynthia shook her head, making her most helpless compromise.
"Mewtwo, use Thunderbolt!"
"Togekiss, Shadow Ball!"
Another powerful electric current fired from Mewtwo's hand, shooting straight towards Togekiss at the speed of light, far surpassing the limits of reaction.
Togekiss was also prepared to take the hit with its body, silently condensing a profound, unfathomable pitch-black energy ball, locking onto Mewtwo synchronously as the lightning struck.
Boom—!!!
When the electric light touched its body, the powerful energy erupted directly into a blazing white light, producing a violent shockwave that even caused the Max Guard to react.
Almost in that exact instant, Togekiss immediately lost consciousness, plummeting straight down from the sky, eyes rolled back as it fainted dead away.
And the Shadow Ball it left behind at the very end was also, just as it was about to hit Mega Mewtwo Y, directly cleaved apart by a single hand chop from Mewtwo.
Although it also erupted with a burst of energy, compared to the Thunderbolt Mewtwo unleashed, it seemed to amount to nothing.
"Mewtwo's suppressive power is way too terrifying—"
Watching Mewtwo single-handedly defeat three of Cynthia's main Pokémon, Flint subconsciously gulped.
At this moment, he was already dumbfounded, his gaze even turning sluggish.
Before the battle started, they had indeed wondered if Teacher Azure would go all out and directly strike down their Big Sister Cynthia, taking her place to move forward.
But—
No one could have imagined such a one-sided situation before the match!
"Big Sister Cynthia is way too passive right now. Three main Pokémon haven't even been able to take down Mewtwo. Is she really going to get completely swept by it?"
Aaron scratched his head in distress.
He couldn't think of any way for Big Sister Cynthia to make a comeback.
"Even if Mewtwo's stamina might have been mostly spent in the battles just now, trading one for three is absolutely a massive win without any loss!"
"No, the situation might be even more serious than you think—"
Lucian, who had been silent the whole time, sighed.
He looked at Mega Mewtwo Y, which was looking down at the entire field with disdain.
The moment it confirmed Togekiss had lost its ability to battle, a few white light spots immediately appeared on its body's surface.
It might indeed be difficult for the live audience to observe, but as a psychic, he was all too familiar with this move. Even through the air, he seemed to feel that powerful psychic force operating at high speed.
"That Mewtwo should be using Recover to rapidly restore its stamina."
"So if time continues to drag on, the situation will actually become even more disadvantageous for Big Sister Cynthia."
"Ah???"
Flint and Aaron were completely dumbfounded.
Even Volkner subconsciously narrowed his eyes, looking down at Aiden's Mewtwo, which had its eyes closed in concentration.
Indeed, its movements looked very much like it was taking the opportunity to recover stamina.
"It's already this strong in combat, and it even knows Recover? Isn't that just pure cheating—"
Flint was speechless for a moment, but then remembered that Aiden had once said Mewtwo's strength was no weaker than a Legendary Pokémon's, and he quickly let it go.
'Damn it, there's no helping it when you lose to a Legendary guy!'
'And this Legendary guy actually has brains, capable of designing targeted tactics for his already absurdly powerful Legendary Pokémon!'
"Big Sister Cynthia is in danger—"
Finally, only Aaron's somewhat despairing words remained.
Teacher Azure is really something too. Wouldn't it be better to go a little easy at a time like this?
But then again, going easy at this point would actually be disrespectful to the opponent.
Sigh, good thing we aren't the one up there!
"That's five! Five of Cynthia's Pokémon have fallen one after another!"
"Aiden's Mewtwo is still standing firm on the field. Could it really achieve an unprecedented 6-0 sweep on the Masters stage???"
In the commentator's booth, the announcer's tone went through three stages in a short period of time.
And his shifting attitude was, to some extent, a reflection of the audience's psychological activity.
When Mewtwo came in via Baton Pass and instantly killed its opponent, he was undoubtedly shocked.
But as it continuously slaughtered multiple opponents thereafter, rapidly widening the score gap, because everything happened so fast, the announcer instead became a bit numb.
As for now—
When the score reached a terrifying gap of 5:0, the announcer and the audience were of one mind.
It couldn't really be about to produce a crushing 6:0 score, could it!
A wonderful, all-out clash of gods was certainly exciting, but this kind of history-making performance also made people incredibly thrilled.
The only one who couldn't smile was probably Champion Cynthia, who was facing Aiden directly.
After Togekiss, the Milotic and Roserade she sent out successively were both quickly dealt with by Mewtwo.
Now, although Mewtwo was showing signs of fatigue, she was almost certain she had lost the possibility of defeating Aiden.
Even with her ace, Garchomp, still remaining, the difficulty of snatching victory from Aiden's hands and reverse-sweeping 6 Pokémon was imaginable.
However—
"It seems that on the path of a trainer, you truly have much more talent than I do."
Cynthia didn't look angry at all. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and revealed a meaningful smile at Aiden.
"If the position of the Sinnoh Champion were handed over to you, I'd probably be very relieved?"
Aiden: ???
Aiden's originally somewhat smug expression immediately froze, and the look he gave Cynthia gained a few shades of resentment.
How about you go fight President Geeta first?
Why did both of them want to push him out to be Champion? Was the Champion of the Pokémon world really so despised by everyone?
And—
Could you please respect my wishes!
Do I look like I want to be Champion!
"If you can win against me, I'll agree to your request."
Aiden deliberately put on a stern face and uttered a meaningful line.
"If you want it, come and take it yourself!"
"Hehe—"
Cynthia was amused by his words.
At the same time, she noticed that he seemed to be somewhat averse to becoming Champion, just like her.
So she didn't bring up the topic again. Instead, she silently took out her last Poké Ball, displaying it before Aiden's eyes.
"Next up is the final battle."
"Garchomp and I will use our all-out final strike to put an end to this Masters Tournament journey."
"And then— I will continue to cheer for you from the stage."
Aiden nodded, his eyes clearly becoming much more serious.
"Same on my end."
"Let's use this final move to put a period to this battle!"
"Go, Garchomp!"
Cynthia's imposing voice fell, and a red light appeared on the field. Garchomp's sturdy figure leaped out from the red light.
"Gaaar—!!!"
Wielding its scythe-like arm blades, Garchomp let out an earth-shattering roar, pointing both claws at Mega Mewtwo Y floating in the air, as if inviting it to a duel.
"Garchomp, Mega Evolve!"
Cynthia took out a specially made pink lipstick embedded with a Mega Stone. As her words fell, the evolutionary brilliance that had previously disappeared shone once again on the field.
Aiden and Mewtwo simultaneously crossed their arms, quietly waiting for Garchomp to complete its Mega Evolution, to end this one-sided match with an all-out ultimate move.
White light quickly appeared, and just as quickly vanished.
When the light completely dispersed, Mega Garchomp—its dual scythes even more unbridled and its aura becoming even more powerful—appeared before the audience's eyes.
"Is Champion Cynthia's ace finally making its move?"
"Isn't it a bit late to send it out now—"
"Well, it's not a big problem. No matter what, it feels like Teacher Azure will just sweep the opponent."
"Do your best, big sister using Mega Garchomp!"
The audience started cheering at the right moment, and soon the entire stadium echoed with wave after wave of applause.
Under the rendering of the atmosphere, Aiden and Cynthia simultaneously gripped the Mega Stones in their hands, smiling as they gazed at each other for a few seconds.
In the smiles within their eyes, there seemed to be mixed some sort of higher-level emotion.
Perhaps, it was love?
Aiden wasn't too sure, but since the atmosphere had already reached this point—
To love her meant to go all out and win this battle, earning the chance to confess first!!!
"Mewtwo!"
Aiden slowly raised his hand, looking at Mewtwo with an incomparably serious expression.
Mewtwo still had its arms crossed. Floating in the air, it merely glanced down at Aiden behind it, and then let out a helpless sigh.
"I understand."
"Garchomp, use an all-out Outrage!"
"Mewtwo, Psystrike!"
"Gaaar—!!!"
The moment Cynthia spoke, Mega Garchomp's eyes immediately turned a bloodthirsty crimson, its gaze locking dead onto the guy in the air who dared to look down on it.
Its dual scythes rubbed together, emitting a sharp metallic screech. In an instant, it exploded forward like a jet, rapidly leaping into the air and slamming at full speed into Mewtwo, who was coldly watching it.
At this point, it had completely abandoned defense, instead channeling all the strength in its body into this suicidal charge.
Even the pair of scythes in its hands gradually turned crimson as they sliced through the air and intensely rubbed against it, adding a few more degrees to its astonishing momentum.
And facing its incoming charge, Mewtwo this time didn't use its high mobility and Teleport to dodge like in previous battles. Instead, it took the initiative to meet it head-on.
Mega Mewtwo Y's petite body similarly erupted with a powerful energy field. The originally formless psychic power, under the compression of its mental force field, actually gradually formed into streaks of blue-white light spots. Under its control, they rapidly gathered and condensed, until they merged above its head—
Transforming into a highly suspended spear of psychic power.
It would use this strike to present victory to Aiden!
Mewtwo narrowed its eyes. As Garchomp charged in, it pressed down its raised arm, controlling the offensive formed by "Psystrike" to smash downwards.
Boom!!!
Neither side held back. Under the all-out clash, they directly collided on the field, producing a blinding white light like a supernova explosion.
For a moment, the audience was so shaken by this light that they couldn't open their eyes at all. They could only rely on their hearing to feel the violent rumbling sounds constantly coming from below.
Crack—
Even the multiple layers of Max Guard were instantly blasted with cracks by this overwhelming force, eventually turning into countless energy fragments that drifted back down onto the field.
The intense and shocking scene lasted for a full half a minute.
It wasn't until the light finally dissipated that most of the audience immediately opened their eyes, wanting to confirm the current situation on the field.
Within the fading white light, Mewtwo and Garchomp had long since exited their Mega forms. They lay collapsed on the field, both simultaneously unconscious and unable to battle.
Bzzt—!
The trembling Rotom Referee immediately raised its flag and blew its whistle.
"Since all of Cynthia's Pokémon have lost their ability to battle, the match is over!"
"The winner is Aiden, with a total score of 6:1!"
On the big screen, Cynthia's last Poké Ball turned dim, and along with it, her portrait gradually became transparent.
Finally, the half of the screen belonging to Cynthia turned completely white, entirely overtaken by Aiden's side.
On Aiden's portrait, a large "Win" icon appeared, symbolizing that the victor of this battle had emerged.
"Oooooh!!!"
"Teacher Azure is way too strong! Could he really win the championship in his first Masters Tournament?"
"Champion Cynthia's expression doesn't look right. Teacher Azure's family status might be in big trouble in the future—"
The audience was in an uproar once again, offering endless applause to both sides who had contributed such a wonderful match.
And the two, whose names were being constantly chanted, had already automatically blocked out all the outside noise.
"The battle is over, so—"
"Now it's time to fulfill the promise we made back then, and move on to the unfinished next step."
Looking at Cynthia, who was smiling as she watched him, Aiden spoke up with a smile as well.
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