"Go! Charizard!"
Ailan fiercely threw the Pokeball.
Bam!
In the white light, a Charizard larger than the average individual flapped its wings and slowly landed in the arena.
"Roar!"
Unlike Ash Ketchum's once "underdeveloped" Charizard, Ailan's strongest partner was definitely an outstanding figure in appearance, attracting plenty of female Charizards without doing anything in the Charizard Valley.
This made Baimu treat it with a bit of caution.
Even though a Pokémon's appearance doesn't completely equate to its combat ability, it more or less has some influence.
After all, his Aggron was the same, exceptionally large and strong, even bigger than Da Wu's two.
"Count on you."
Baimu threw the Pokeball.
Bam!
"Roar!"
The low growl was as deep as thunder, and the Aggron, shimmering with silver light, landed, causing Manon to exclaim.
"Harley, is it just my illusion or is this Aggron especially big!"
"Is it...?"
Chespin also let out an exclamation.
Normally Aggron, including its horns, only stands about 2 meters tall, but the Baimu family's Big Monster recently surpassed 2.6 meters with horns included anyway.
The height brings even more exaggerated dimensions, and with a healthy physique without any bloated or deformed parts, it could rightfully be called a small mountain.
Baimu squinted and gave the order, "Double-bladed Head Hammer!"
"Roar!"
Aggron quickly lowered its head, and a shocking momentum rapidly spread around.
Ailan frowned rapidly at the sight, ordering Charizard to fly high.
He then quickly raised the Super Bracelet on his left hand and pressed his right hand in a sword-like gesture onto the Key Stone, chanting quickly, "Respond to my heart, Evolution Key Stone! Surpass evolution... Super Evolution!"
"Roar!"
The Charizard, which had flown up high, looked down gravely at Aggron. As the Mind Chain shot out, the colorful glow of super evolution engulfed it.
For these battle-hardened veterans, momentum is more important than size, and the oppressive aura from Aggron reminded them of Zhi Mi's Blastoise and Da Wu's Metagross, both of which had caused them significant trouble.
At the same time.
Aggron had already gathered its strength.
The brownish-yellow Rock Attribute Energy formed a dazzling halo around its body, transforming it into a colossal rock. The terrifying energy quickly gathered at the bottom, erupting suddenly into a bright light, propelling the rock like a cannonball into the air!
Explosive Leap!
Like a high-speed fighter jet, it whipped up a turbulent airflow along the way, like a raging typhoon!
"Use Dragon Claw to take it!"
Ailan swung his hand and shouted. Charizard, while Aggron charged fiercely right in front of them, transformed in the last second, roaring and swinging a claw covered with dark green energy, striking fiercely forward!
Boom!!
The deafening sound of energy exploding, the blast wave turned into a massive cloud of dust covering most of the arena, causing the trainers on both sides to either shield themselves or dodge sideways.
Manon and Chespin covered their ears with stars in their eyes, unable to help but say, "So powerful! Was it this strong even without super evolution moves?"
Following Ailan for so long, she had seen plenty, but Pokémon that showed such power before super evolving were extremely rare; most only became destructive post-super evolution.
"..."
Da Wu stood by with his arms crossed and a smile, though he had never formally battled Baimu, he had faith in the latter's strength and looked forward to facing him in various grand scenes in the future.
For example, the Hoenn Champion Alliance?
Seconds later, the dust settled.
Aggron had somehow returned close to Baimu, while Mega Charizard X landed in front of its own trainer, feeling an unprecedented tingling sensation in its arms.
"Roar..."
Its breathing was somewhat heavy, the blue flames in its mouth trembled in the wind, but its steps were steady.
After Mega Evolution, Charizard's orange skin fades, replaced by a devil-like pitch black, with tips glowing with bright blue Dragon Horns, blue spines on its shoulders, jagged wings and hellfire-like blue flames, all faintly symbolizing its demonic lineage.
Ailan's expression didn't change much, always believing that his partner could withstand such an attack.
"Not bad, a Charizard maxed out on endurance?" Baimu raised his eyebrows slightly. In the plot, Mega Charizard X had once stood unflinchingly against Da Wu's Mega Metagross's Comet Fist.
Even though the Fire and Dragon attribute combination makes it still resist Steel Attribute, it was enough to prove how high its endurance was.
The earlier probing Double-bladed Head Hammer let Baimu feel this point too.
Of course.
The high endurance was likely a result of Mega Evolution; before Mega Evolution, the quadruple-restricted Double-bladed Head Hammer might have knocked this guy out cold.
Unfortunately, the speed of Mega Evolution was too quick, and facing strong opponents, Ailan's habit is to go mega without much probing, giving it an edge as a flying entity with this hefty approach.
He felt a bit of regret; had he taken down Charizard before its Mega Evolution, the scene would have been beautiful.
Though it didn't align with the plan.
"Come on."
Baimu knew what Ailan was waiting for, sharing a glance with Aggron, offering what the opponent was most eager to see, "Super Evolution!"
He wasn't one to concoct opening lines, preferring things neat and straightforward.
"Roar——"