Only the sandstorm weather was left to enhance Cradily's special defense...
Everyone watched tensely at the misty field, waiting for the result of Kingdra's strike.
Suddenly.
A flash of colorful light passed before Baimu's eyes, making him slightly pause, "Huh?"
The next moment.
A dazzling blue beam broke through the smoke, fiercely hitting Kingdra bound by the tentacles, with attribute energy even more majestic than the previous Water Cannon surging out madly!
Rumble——!!
The booming sound continued, with the beam's source firmly rooted underground in Cradily.
"Mirror Reflection!"
Such a common technique he couldn't possibly mistake, the colorful light just now in the fog was most likely the precursor to Mirror Reflection absorbing the energy and bouncing back doubly.
Cradily actually withstood the sniper Explosive Water Cannon from Kingdra!
Baimu considered switching to Altered-color Milotic... ah, this guy should handle it, after all, it resists Water Attribute, but Galarian Corsola likely wouldn't.
Is this the Pokémon of a Champion?
Once again, he deeply felt the gap between himself and the top tier Trainers in the world; as long as his main force didn't reach the same level as Da Wu, he could not become a true Regional Champion.
The light in the field dimmed.
The sandstorm paused, and the two colorful light barriers around Cradily dissipated.
With the end of both weather and dual walls, the last bit of strength from Kingdra was also taken away.
Counting all the damage it took—
Invisible Rock, Substitute, Sandstorm Weather, two consecutive Strong Whips, plus the last Mirror Reflection, it was already exaggeratedly severe.
Looking again at Cradily, with its rooted state its vitality remained nearly full.
Trying to take it down with just an Explosive Water Cannon, indeed, was dreaming.
Baimu reflected for a moment, realizing he had been caught up in the desperate momentum of Kingdra and Genji's final stand, underestimating Da Wu's ability.
Was that Seed of Suffering really necessary?
With Cradily rooted, it couldn't be switched via Pokeball, nor did it know any techniques to eliminate status conditions, making it easy to fall into crisis without the Seed of Suffering.
But perhaps, it's a trap?
Anyway, in the first half, the head of the Four Heavenly Kings, Genji, couldn't gain any advantage over Da Wu.
Baimu always heard Elder Qing Liu say if it weren't for Da Wu rising, Genji might have been the Champion of Hoenn, but now seeing them, there was a gap.
If Genji wasn't too weak, then Da Wu was too strong!
Having narrowly won in a three-on-three battle using attribute advantage, Baimu naturally didn't think Genji was weak.
"..."
He began simulating a battle against Cradily in his mind.
Below.
There was no intermission.
The championship title defense battle emphasized fighting continuously to the end.
Retrieving Kingdra, Genji, who had already lost three Pokémon, didn't hesitate and quickly sent out his fourth one.
"Roar!"
An intimidating roar came from below!
Baimu quickly returned to his senses and saw Genji immediately send out Salamence in the middle, thinking this was to use the Intimidating Trait to lower Cradily's physical attack?
Not worth it!
The Invisible Rock that spanned the entire field appeared again, seemingly with intelligence, actively approaching Salamence and exploding!
Boom!
Smoke billowed.
Then a breeze blew the dust away, revealing Salamence slowly flapping its wings again.
Being countered by the Rock Attribute, encountering Invisible Rock meant increased damage for it, so if Genji's purpose was just to intimidate Cradily, then this choice was quite disadvantageous.
However, Da Wu's Metagross has the Ever-Pure Body trait, making Intimidation useless on it, but using it to intimidate Cradily, which specializes in Strong Whip, was making the most of it—
"Cough!"
A familiar light cough.
Genji took out a flintlock from under his captain's coat, pulled the trigger, and entered Super Evolution.
This is...
Baimu stared at Genji's face on the big screen, remembering Elder Qing Liu telling him Genji was too old.
While battling normal Trainers was fine, competing against those young, strong Champions and Celestial Kings would mentally drain him, the main reason he often lost to Da Wu.
Seeing him smoothly battle Furong and Bonnie recently almost made Baimu forget this fact.
Who would have thought that battling Da Wu into the mid-game, he really began to "fall ill"!
So that's why he sent Salamence out early?
Baimu understood Genji's intentions, instead of waiting until his condition worsened to send Salamence, better to do it while he's still in good shape to unleash full power!
The camera zoomed to Da Wu's face.
Rooting, unlike Sandstorm, Light Wall, and Reflective Wall, lasts a very long time; he still couldn't normally switch out Cradily.
But Cradily wasn't doing nothing at all.
After enduring the intimidation, it used Self-Rebirth to heal the severe wounds from Explosive Water Cannon, drawing nutrients from the ground while rooted, a process that needed a considerable amount of time.
And just when Cradily finished recovering, Salamence also completed its Super Evolution.
A blood-stained crescent appeared once more.
In the battles against Furong and Bonnie, it had demonstrated extraordinary destructive power, far surpassing their Pokémon, and this match against Cradily was no exception.
Although Cradily could extend its tentacles, their maximum reach couldn't touch the high-flying Mega Salamence.
In contrast, Mega Salamence's Dragon Flame range far outstripped it.
An ongoing onslaught left Cradily defenseless, without the Light Wall and sandstorm's special defense boosts, to cope with such fierce firepower.
Its demeanor quickly wilted until it fainted.
Da Wu also attempted to use stomach acid to remove Mega Salamence's trait, but its evasion was too swift, and with increased distance, Cradily couldn't hit it.
The once formidable Cradily was thus easily taken down.
The compatibility between Pokémon evidently extends beyond just attribute countering, but also includes their strengths and the extreme reaches of their techniques.
Genji had already deployed his ace.
Da Wu certainly wouldn't send another Pokémon to Mega Salamence for nothing.
The Altered-color Metagross appeared again.
"Meta!"
Its roar was not as loud as Mega Salamence's, but still carried ample deterrence, mainly because of Da Wu's title as the [First Mega Evolution].
Even though it was bestowed by the media, it was acknowledged by most people who owned Super Evolutions.
Presently, the only one who can contest him for this title is surely Carlos Champion Caluni, but Caluni's ace, Mega Gardevoir, with its superpower and Fairy Attribute, was countered by Mega Metagross.
At the Champion level, even the smallest advantage can be amplified exponentially in battles.
Thus, even though Da Wu and Caluni never publicly faced off, everyone still believed Da Wu to be the first Mega Evolution.
As the source of this title, Mega Metagross's power naturally needed no explanation.
"The brilliance of the stone, transformed into bonds!"
The Champion's Super Evolution tagline could not go unnoticed by Aerial Rotom; as Da Wu's voice spread through the broadcast, all the spectators cheered excitedly.
One-sided cheers caught Baimu's attention.
No grandfather fans?
Genji the old man's rather dashing though!
He took a quick survey, his attention quickly returning to the match below.
The speed of Metagross's Super Evolution outpaced even Mega Salamence; as it spurted out scorching flames, the freshly evolved Mega Metagross immediately dodged at a flashing speed.
Just as Baimu thought yesterday.
Genji deliberately trained Salamence's Fire-Attribute techniques, not just to counter Mega Glalie, but more importantly to counter Mega Metagross.
But missing didn't mean anything.
Da Wu, battling Genji, carried a faint smile, yet never relaxed for a moment.
He dared to let Ailan's Mega Charizard attack multiple times, but didn't dare allow Mega Salamence to flame Mega Metagross.
For a time.
Mega Salamence launched a fierce fiery assault, while Mega Metagross soared through the sky, pushing its speed to the limit.
Finally.
During a pause in the torrent of flames, Da Wu seized the opportunity to command Comet Fist.
Like a comet, dragging a light blue comet tail, Mega Metagross spun and charged towards Mega Salamence, slamming its four giant arms at the forefront into Mega Salamence's back like a train engine!
The two collided straight down to the ground!
Boom!
A thunderous roar as clouds of dust billowed forth!