Actually, Wallace wasn't the only one there in person. Steven had come with him too, and the two of them happened to not have much work lately.
But hearing Wallace cheer so outrageously, even Steven's face twitched a little.
Bro, at least you've got a little identity. Can't you show some restraint out in public? You're supposed to be a master-class Coordinator in people's eyes, after all.
But clearly, Wallac didn't know that.
He respected Giovanni a great deal, and now that Giovanni was about to begin an Elite Four challenge, Wallace was naturally very happy.
Besides, he also believed Giovanni would definitely succeed in the challenge!
In fact, far more people than just Steven and Wallace were paying attention to this Elite Four challenge.
The League upper echelons of the Sinnoh Region, Unova, Kalos, Alola, Galar, and Paldea were all watching.
The Kanto Region was the Pokémon League headquarters, and this time, the Indigo League Elite Four might very well see a personnel change.
After all, the challenger was Giovanni!
That man. Their dad!
"All right! The challenger is ready, so now let's welcome the first member of the Kanto Elite Four!"
The shades-wearing emcee announced loudly.
"Lorelei!"
As the emcee's passionate shout rang out, a woman in a blouse-like office uniform stepped out from the passage on the other side, her heels clicking softly as she walked. Her ample figure was fully displayed by the fitted dress, and she had a cool, indifferent face with long red hair tied back.
She was an extremely charming woman, in every sense of the word.
As Lorelei appeared, the whole venue once again erupted into roaring, thunderous cheers.
Lorelei's popularity among the Kanto Elite Four was no joke.
Especially with a figure this perfectly sexy and a beautiful, cool face, while her vibe was so cold and detached.
Yeah, that strong contrast was definitely very attractive.
Not to mention Lorelei wasn't just a pretty face. As one of the Kanto Elite Four, her strength was undeniable.
Lorelei slowly walked to her position, arms folded, and looked faintly at Giovanni across from her.
"Elite Four challenge, first match! The challenger is Viridian Gym Leader Giovanni, and the defending side is Elite Four member Lorelei."
"The battle rules are a full-team 6-on-6 battle. When either side's six Pokémon all lose the ability to fight, that side is considered defeated."
"If the challenger loses, the challenge ends."
"If the defending side loses, they move on to the next challenge!"
"Battle start!"
The referee entered to announce the rules, then waved the small flag to declare the battle underway.
The referee stepped out, and Giovanni took out a Poké Ball. A faint smile hung on his lips as he looked at Lorelei opposite him.
"Giovanni, you and I have known each other for a long time."
Lorelei lowered her arm, her expression still as cool as ever, and her voice was just as calm.
But that was just how she was with everyone.
"Still, since these are the rules of the Elite Four challenge, I'll start with a simple self-introduction."
Lorelei took out her first Poké Ball and looked straight at Giovanni.
"Welcome to the Pokémon League. I'm Lorelei of the Elite Four."
Lorelei adjusted her glasses.
"The attribute I specialize in is Ice. You know that, right? Moves that freeze the opponent are powerful. Once you're frozen, your Pokémon can't move at all."
The Poké Ball in Lorelei's hand enlarged, and she hurled it with force.
"So, Giovanni, let's see how you handle my Ice-type Pokémon!"
The Poké Ball opened in midair, and a flash of white light landed on the field. A strong white Dewgong let out a soft cry and stood ready.
"Hehe~"
Looking at the Dewgong, Giovanni couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.
Dewgong was one of Lorelei's more iconic main roster Pokémon, and her other ace was Lapras.
However, whether it was Dewgong or Lapras, both were Pokémon that didn't perform all that well in a proper field battle.
As the saying goes, water and ice go hand in hand. Dewgong and Lapras were exactly like that, since both were Water/Ice-type Pokémon.
But they also shared another trait: on land, both of them weren't very mobile.
"Lorelei, today the entire Kanto will be watching." Giovanni still had his hands in his pockets, smiling faintly.
"I, Giovanni, am Kanto's strongest man!"
"Nidoking."
Giovanni threw out his first Poké Ball.
A flash of white light burst forth, and a powerful, broad-shouldered Nidoking landed heavily in front of Giovanni, baring a ferocious grin as it stared down Dewgong.
It was Giovanni's main-roster Nidoking!
For today's Elite Four challenge, Giovanni was taking this very seriously. He had to win in style!
"Nidoking versus Dewgong... just from the type matchup, Uncle Giovanni is at a disadvantage."
On the audience side, Dawn analyzed.
After all, both Ice-type and Water-type moves were effective against Nidoking.
But that was only the type matchup. The Pokémon's own strength and their battle skill were still unknown.
"The strongest Elite Four member in the world... I wonder just how strong she really is."
Serena looked curiously at the cool, beautiful Lorelei on the field.
Lorelei was the first member of the Kanto Elite Four, which also meant she was the weakest of the Kanto Elite Four.
"Mr. Damian, can Uncle Giovanni win?" Serena asked Damian curiously.
Even though Giovanni had the type advantage, as Mr. Damian's dad, Serena felt Giovanni should still be able to take this, right?
"Tsk~ Serena, you should be asking how many main-roster talents Lorelei needs to deal with this Nidoking."
Damian's lips curled upward.
Serena: "??"
"Even among Champion-tier trainers, the gap is far bigger than you imagine."
Damian looked at the two on the field.
Among Champion-tier trainers, the weaker ones were like Wallace and Diantha.
The stronger ones were like Steven and Cynthia.
And the very top were like Leon, Giovanni, and Lance.
In reality, the gap between Champion-tier trainers was shockingly huge!
Take Leon, for example. Even though he was also Champion-tier, when he fought weaker Champion-tier trainers, even with just an ordinary main-roster Pokémon, he could almost sweep them.
That wasn't exaggeration. It had actually happened in the original story, because the gap was just that big.
Leon nearly swept Diantha with only a single Rillaboom, and he forced her down with four of her main-roster Pokémon.
It was basically like he was bullying some random Youngster off the street.
If Leon had been a little more ruthless, recalled Rillaboom, and sent out another main-roster Pokémon, he could have sealed it with a clean sweep.
And Rillaboom was only an ordinary main-roster Pokémon on Leon's team.
But for other Champion-tier trainers, Leon's ordinary main-roster Pokémon were basically on the level of their ace main-roster Pokémon, or even stronger.
That was the terror of a top-tier Champion!
When they fought other Champion-tier trainers, it was a complete dimensional stomp.
"This Nidoking is Dad's frontline main-roster Pokémon. You two can enjoy this properly, since you might face Dad yourselves someday."
Damian leaned back in his seat, preparing to watch this battle with genuine interest.
It was obvious Giovanni took this Elite Four challenge very seriously. Then again, he was planning to stand at the top of the Indigo League.
Of course he had to show his full strength to the world.
As for why he was reminding Serena and Dawn like this, it was naturally because of the World Championship that would be held in the future.
Giovanni would definitely participate too, so Serena and the others might run into him at the World Championship, right?
And on the field right now—
"Dewgong, Surf!"
Lorelei took the initiative.
As for Giovanni's strength, Lorelei had never actually seen it firsthand.
But she had of course heard reports that Giovanni was very strong when he went to reinforce Hoenn and the Unova Region.
Still, Lorelei was very confident in herself. Even if she was only the first member of the Kanto Elite Four, she was still Champion-tier!
If she went to other regions, she could absolutely contend for a Champion title too. She just didn't really care about that kind of honor.
"Sucker Punch."
Giovanni smiled faintly.
A pale blue water glow lit up Dewgong's body. It was Surf!
Splash, splash~!
The sound of water waves rang nonstop as a huge surge rose from beneath Dewgong, lifting it upward.
At the same time, Nidoking charged toward Dewgong at an astonishing speed.
Dark-type Sucker Punch! Dark-type First Strike!
And Nidoking's Sucker Punch was shockingly fast!
"Dewgong!" Lorelei's pupils contracted.
Before Surf had fully taken shape, Nidoking had already rushed to Dewgong's position. Its sharp claws gleamed with black light as they viciously stabbed toward Dewgong.
Dewgong had already noticed, but Sucker Punch was too fast!
Bang!
Sucker Punch slammed hard into Dewgong's back. Dewgong let out a pained cry as its entire body was sent flying by the blow, crashing to the ground and whimpering in pain.
Dark-type Sucker Punch didn't resist Dewgong, but Nidoking's power was strong. It hurt too much!
Surf hadn't even finished forming before it collapsed with Dewgong's knockback.
"Thunder."
Giovanni's tone remained calm.
Boom!
A massive bolt of golden lightning fell from the sky and smashed down on Dewgong.
With a violent explosion, Electric-type Thunder detonated on Dewgong, sending dust billowing into the air.
Lorelei's expression darkened a little. This was different from Sucker Punch. Electric-type Thunder was super effective against Dewgong!
The damage from that Thunder was far heavier than Sucker Punch.
But it wasn't over yet!
"Earthquake."
"Nidoking~!"
Nidoking's ferocious face carried a terrifying, overwhelming malice. Its thick tail rose behind it, then slammed hard into the battle arena.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The entire battle arena trembled violently as a tangible Earthquake shockwave surged forward.
Ground-type Earthquake.
Dewgong had just been hit by Thunder, and the intense pain from it left it unable to even dodge. It could only watch helplessly as the Earthquake shockwave came crashing in.
Under Lorelei's ugly, grim expression, the Earthquake shockwave swept through Dewgong's body.
In searing pain, Dewgong collapsed weakly and spiraled into fainted eyes.
The whole venue fell silent!
A moment later, waves of sharp gasps broke out one after another.
"What the hell!!!"
"Seriously? That's Nidoking??"
"Three moves, and he beat Lorelei's Dewgong!! Is this Gym Leader Giovanni's strength?"
"Why isn't my Nidoking this strong?"
"Oh my God! Lord Giovanni!!"
Without question, this swift and clean battle stunned everyone.
After all, Giovanni was fighting Lorelei of the Kanto Elite Four.
"Just as expected. He's really too strong."
Steven looked at the fierce, powerful Nidoking on the field and praised it.
He could actually tell that Lorelei's Dewgong was definitely not weak, and opening with Surf to test the waters was fine.
But even so, Nidoking seized the opening with Sucker Punch and took it down with a straight-up brutal assault.
"Of course. This is Mr. Giovanni's main roster Pokémon!"
Wallace lifted his head proudly.
Steven gave Wallace a speechless look. What are you proud of? What does Mr. Giovanni have to do with you?
Backstage at that moment.
"So easily defeating Lorelei's Dewgong, heh heh heh... Giovanni, this guy really has kept his cards hidden all along."
Agatha's deep laugh was impossible to read.
"..." Bruno stared at Giovanni's silhouette on the screen, his eyes blazing with heat.
He already couldn't wait to have a real man-to-man battle with Giovanni!
"Looks like even if Giovanni doesn't use Groudon, with his strength, he can probably still reach Lance in the end."
Agatha looked toward Lance.
"Lance, what do you think?"
Arms folded, the red-haired young man with an arrogant bearing only watched the screen. His cold, proud eyes were locked tightly on Giovanni in the screen.
Proud Lance said faintly.
"His strength... is probably not below mine."
~~
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