"Ding! Tentacruel's current attributes are as follows:"
Pokémon: Tentacruel
Level: 85
Ability: Liquid Ooze
Type: Water / Poison
Potential: Gold
Bond Evolution: Not unlocked
Mega Evolution: Not unlocked
Moves: Supersonic, Screech, Water Pulse, Acid Armor, Poison Jab, Sludge Wave, Hydro Pump, Aqua Ring…
Tentacruel was a Pokémon Aiden rarely encountered.
Especially with its Ability, Liquid Ooze—once an opponent was hit by Sludge Wave, combined with this Ability, it could continuously drain the opponent's stamina. It was quite a troublesome Pokémon to deal with.
As Pidgeot and Tentacruel faced off from a distance, the next battle began.
"Tentacruel, use Aqua Ring!"
Perhaps sensing the immense pressure coming from Aiden, Wallace immediately changed his approach. Right from the start, he had Tentacruel set up a recovery move.
Streams of water began to swirl around Tentacruel, forming layers of flowing protection. The Aqua Ring acted like a barrier, slowing down Pidgeot's advance.
"Pidgeot, Air Slash!"
At Aiden's command, Pidgeot soared into the sky, letting out a sharp cry as its powerful wings beat rapidly.
In the next moment, countless blades of compressed air surged forward, riding the wind as they shot toward Tentacruel!
"Tentacruel, Sludge Wave!"
Under Wallace's command, waves of thick, purple sludge erupted outward.
Fortunately, Pidgeot's speed was exceptional. With swift movements of its wings, it dodged most of the attacks, while the few that came close were intercepted by Air Slash.
Even then, many of Pidgeot's attacks were blocked by Sludge Wave and weakened further by Aqua Ring. Only a handful actually struck Tentacruel.
"Suppress it—another Sludge Wave!"
As Tentacruel unleashed another barrage, Pidgeot responded by using Double Team, creating multiple afterimages to evade the sweeping attacks.
Unable to distinguish the real one, most of Tentacruel's attacks missed entirely.
Finally, when Tentacruel shattered the last afterimage—
Pidgeot had already closed the distance, launching a Brave Bird!
With explosive speed amplified by Double Team, flames of energy surged as it broke through the Aqua Ring's defenses!
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted on Tentacruel's body.
The pain forced Tentacruel to cry out.
"Hold on, Tentacruel! Grab it—don't let it escape!"
After closing the distance, Tentacruel extended its countless tentacles, wrapping them tightly around Pidgeot.
Even though Pidgeot had already moved away—
Neither Aiden nor Pidgeot had expected this Tentacruel's tentacles to extend dozens of meters!
With its wings bound, Pidgeot was trapped in place.
Its greatest advantage—speed—was gone.
"Now! Use Acid!"
"Pidgeot, Hyper Beam—go all out!"
In an instant, Pidgeot opened its beak, gathering a blazing orange beam of energy.
Even as it was struck by Tentacruel's corrosive acid, it still unleashed the powerful attack!
The toxic acid splashed across Pidgeot's body, dissolving parts of its feathers and inflicting poison.
But Hyper Beam's overwhelming force blasted apart Tentacruel's tentacles, freeing Pidgeot once again!
"Final attack—Twister!"
"Tentacruel, Water Pulse!"
…
When the dust finally settled—
Both Pidgeot and Tentacruel collapsed simultaneously, losing their ability to battle.
With that, Wallace was left with only one Pokémon—
Whiscash.
Facing it, Aiden sent out Aggron.
"Whiscash, Earthquake!"
"Aggron, Metal Claw!"
The two Pokémon clashed head-on, trading heavy blows.
But in the next moment—
Aggron surged forward with overwhelming force, crushing through Whiscash's defenses and knocking it down completely!
"Ding! Aggron has defeated Whiscash. Gained 8,537 experience. Level increased. Current level: Lv85!"
With Whiscash's defeat, Wallace's final Pokémon had fallen.
All six of his Pokémon had lost their ability to battle.
"Whiscash is unable to battle. Aggron wins! Since Champion Wallace has lost all six Pokémon, the winner of this Championship Challenge is—Aiden Flint!"
As the final result was announced—
Among the three Champion-level powerhouses of the Hoenn League, Wallace was now the weakest.
Of course, with the outcome decided, Wallace had nothing more to say.
Perhaps he had indeed spent too much time immersed in Pokémon Contests recently, causing his battling strength to decline.
Looking around the battlefield, Wallace realized that the title of Hoenn League Champion had now completely slipped from his grasp.
Even though he had long prepared himself for this possibility…
When reality truly arrived, there was still a lingering sense of unwillingness.
After a long silence, Wallace recalled Whiscash and turned away from the battlefield.
From this moment on, after consecutive defeats to Aiden and Steven Stone, he would shift his focus entirely toward Pokémon Contests.
Perhaps… that was for the best.
…
After the match, Wallace invited Aiden and Steven out for drinks.
That night, Wallace drank himself into a stupor, declaring that from now on, he would devote himself fully to promoting Pokémon Contests.
Seeing him like this, both Aiden and Steven felt a bit awkward.
After all… they were the ones who had shattered his confidence.
"Aiden! If you go easy on Steven tomorrow, I'm cutting ties with you!"
Hearing Wallace's drunken outburst, Aiden could only smile helplessly.
"Don't worry. No Legendaries—at most I'll use four Pokémon. Just like how I beat you."
Only after hearing that did Wallace relax.
But Steven, on the other hand, immediately grew dissatisfied.
"We haven't even fought yet. Don't get so cocky. Since you're not using Legendaries, maybe tomorrow I'll crush you and reclaim the top spot of the Hoenn League!"
Hearing Steven boast, Aiden laughed.
"We'll see tomorrow. Don't worry—I'll make sure even the Devon Corporation stops advertising their young master as the strongest Trainer in Hoenn."
The three of them looked at each other—
And burst out laughing.
At that moment, all barriers disappeared.
After all, in Pokémon battles, there would always be a winner and a loser.
So between them—
What did it really matter who won or lost?
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