At this moment, Lucario's entire body trembled violently under the crushing force of Psychic, unable to break free from those invisible shackles no matter what it did.
But Venomoth was not doing well either.
If it had been any other Pokémon, its Psychic would have already been tossing the opponent around like a rag doll.
Lucario was different.
Lucario was a Pokémon that controlled aura.
The moment Venomoth's Psychic took hold of it, Lucario immediately mobilized its own aura power to resist, which was the only reason it had not been completely restrained.
The standoff had turned into a contest of endurance.
[Both sides are insane. Whether it's Leader Grey or Leader Koga, they're both drawing out the full strength of their Pokémon.]
[This battle is so intense. Can Leader Koga actually win?]
[Grey is the undefeated Gym Leader. Koga probably won't win, right?]
[Koga: nice joke.]
Both inside and outside the arena, the tension rose higher and higher because of that deadlock.
Venomoth's psychic power was nearly exhausted, while Lucario's aura was gradually becoming unstable under the relentless psychic suppression.
Both sides were already at the end of their rope. Whoever failed first would collapse instantly…
Then, at last—
Koga moved to seize the initiative. "Air Slash!"
The moment the words left his mouth—
Venomoth beat its wings hard, and dozens of translucent blades of vacuum tore through the air, weaving together into a net as they slashed toward Lucario!
"Thunder Punch!"
Electric sparks burst from Lucario's fist, then wrapped around its arm.
Since Venomoth had released Air Slash, its Psychic had to loosen for an instant.
And in that instant, Lucario turned into a zigzagging bolt of lightning and charged forward!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As countless wind blades screamed toward it, Lucario responded by throwing punch after punch.
Its fists flashed in rapid succession. Every exploding arc of electricity and every burst of air carved the battlefield to pieces, and even the Stun Spore that had been gathering around it under Psychic was completely blown away.
When the final wind blade was shattered, Lucario's momentum did not stop. The remaining force of its punch slammed directly into Venomoth's abdomen!
Three straight times, all of them heavy blows to the stomach.
You could say every hit had landed right on the vital spot.
Venomoth's breathing grew weak, and none of the imposing momentum it had at the start remained.
Still, Lucario was not in much better shape.
There had simply been too many Air Slashes. Even with Thunder Punch, Lucario could not destroy them all, and quite a few had struck its body.
As a result, Lucario's injuries were severe as well.
Bug Buzz, Psychic, Air Slash.
Three moves on Venomoth's side, and Lucario had also been worn down into an unhealthy state.
Even so, compared to Venomoth, it was clearly still in better condition.
"Venomoth, use Psychic one more time!"
As soon as Koga gave the order, Venomoth ignored its own injuries and unleashed a surge of psychic power from its whole body!
Boom!
The invisible pressure field caused the ground within ten meters to sink by half a foot in an instant.
Lucario's knee, which had just started to rise, smashed heavily back into the broken stone!
"Stone Edge!"
Grey did not have Lucario resist the force this time. Instead, he had it go with the oppressive pressure of Psychic and make intimate contact with the ground!
Lucario understood Grey's intent immediately.
"Luca!"
With a fierce shout, it drove a punch straight into the shattered battlefield!
KRAAASH!!
In front of Lucario, countless blue stone blades infused with aura power burst out of the earth and shot toward Venomoth on the spot!
By the time Venomoth sensed the danger, it was already too late.
A thick, razor-sharp stone blade instantly pierced into Venomoth's abdomen and hurled it backward!
Bang…
That single hit was all it took.
Venomoth was badly injured and unable to battle.
"Hiss…"
Gasps of cold air rose continuously from outside the field.
Even the referee could not help inhaling sharply.
The visual impact of this battle had simply been too overwhelming.
Even the battlefield itself now looked like a ruin.
It was practically one step away from being wrecked completely.
"Venomoth is unable to battle. Leader Koga, please send out your next Pokémon."
The referee hurriedly announced the result.
Clap, clap, clap…
Applause rang out. Grey looked up, only to see that it was Koga clapping.
"Leader Grey, for the very first battle to be this spectacular… I truly feel ashamed of my own inadequacy."
Koga recalled Venomoth, while also marveling at Grey's strength.
Neither of the previous two leaders of the Fighting Dojo had been as powerful as Grey.
Koga felt that with Grey's strength, he might even have a chance to challenge Giovanni himself.
Maybe he could fight for first place.
Ever since Giovanni took the championship, the Gym challenge battles had not produced a fresh face in a very long time.
Grey's appearance had made Koga sense a new variable.
If it was Grey…
Then maybe he really could do it.
With that thought, Koga also wanted to see whether he could force out Grey's limit.
Even just a little would do!
"Next is the elite ninja of my team—Weezing!"
Koga sent out another Pokémon that Grey was so familiar with it was almost ridiculous.
A Pokémon Team Rocket used all the time—
Weezing!
"Weezing, huh…"
Grey's tone shifted a little.
That Pokémon was way too familiar.
And it was not as though he had never fought an Elite Four-level Weezing before.
As for Petrel and the others' Weezing, Grey had fought them so many times that the count was already close to ten.
And if he included all the Weezing used by the other Team Rocket grunts, it was the kind of number that could not even be counted on two hands.
Even so, Grey did not dare to be careless.
This was Koga's Weezing. It definitely had something special about it.
[Why does Leader Grey look so serious? Did he notice something strange about that Weezing?]
[Is there another possibility? Maybe Leader Grey has dealt with Weezing so many times that he feels like he already knows all of Koga's tricks.]
[Honestly, that actually sounds pretty possible.]
All kinds of speculation broke out online.
After all, Grey's expression was just too meaningful. It was practically meme material.
"Grey Looks Like He's Seen Through Everything"
"Lucario, come back first."
Grey chose to recall Lucario.
Lucario had burned through too much stamina, and it was already a fragile attacker to begin with. If Weezing got a few solid hits in, Lucario really would go down on the spot.
Against Koga, Grey chose the safer approach.
And as for his second Pokémon…
"Gallade!"
Gallade!
Gallade had the Psychic typing, which let it deal effective damage to Poison-type Pokémon.
And on top of that, Gallade also had a move that could guard against badly poisoning effects.
It was a move Grey had specifically had the little Riolu teach Gallade.
For this battle against Koga, Grey had made extensive preparations.
"So Leader Grey came prepared. However, my Weezing will not be so easy to deal with."
Koga wore a smile on his face.
Grey, meanwhile, nodded with a grave expression.
[Pokémon: Weezing]
[Type: Poison]
[Level: 66]
[Ability: Neutralizing Gas]
[Moves: Omitted]
Koga had come prepared as well.
With the Ability Neutralizing Gas alone, it could shut down the Abilities of quite a few of Grey's Pokémon…
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