"And so, the winner of this battle is Champion Leon!"
As the result was announced, Wallace stared blankly at Milotic lying unconscious on the battlefield.
In the past, he had remained within the Hoenn League and believed himself to be one of the strongest Trainers in the region.
Yet afterward, he had lost to Steven.
Then to Aiden.
And now, to Leon.
The repeated string of defeats left Wallace momentarily dazed.
Was he really that weak?
He had once been strong enough to serve as a regional Champion, yet now it felt as though he couldn't defeat anyone.
After a long silence, Wallace recalled Milotic and let out a helpless sigh.
"I lost."
Seeing this, Steven immediately stood and called out to Leon from the battlefield.
"Then I'm next."
"Do you need time to let Charizard recover, or are you planning to use a different Pokémon?"
Leon smiled.
"There's no need to rest."
"I'll continue using Charizard."
"We can begin immediately."
Hearing that, Steven narrowed his eyes slightly.
It seemed this man was looking down on the Hoenn League.
Did he really intend to use a single ace Pokémon to defeat the aces of two former Champions in succession?
Interesting.
"Isn't this guy being a little too arrogant?"
"He's practically slapping the Hoenn League in the face!"
"Steven, you'd better not lose! Crush him for us!"
"People from Galar shouldn't be allowed to act this arrogantly in Hoenn!"
Leon paid no attention to the surrounding comments.
He had the strength to justify his confidence.
If he could defeat Steven just as easily, then perhaps he wouldn't even bother switching Pokémon before facing Aiden.
When Steven stepped onto the battlefield, he gently patted Wallace on the shoulder.
Wallace gave a bitter smile before returning to the spectator stands.
"I'm not his opponent."
"Steven probably won't be either."
"If we want to preserve the Hoenn League's dignity, we'll have to rely on you."
Aiden smiled at those words.
"Don't take it too seriously."
"Leon may be even stronger than Lance."
"A loss is just a loss. You can defeat him next time."
Wallace was still an exceptionally strong Trainer with a resilient mentality.
Although the defeat had frustrated him, Aiden's words quickly helped him regain his composure.
Still, it seemed that he and Steven had acted on their own only to embarrass the Hoenn League instead.
Fortunately, Hoenn still had a cheater like Aiden.
Thinking about it that way, Wallace suddenly felt that Aiden being so ridiculously powerful was actually a good thing.
At least during clashes between regions, they never had to worry about someone defeating him.
Even if Steven lost, Aiden would surely give Leon a thorough beating afterward.
With that thought, Wallace finally relaxed.
...
Steven and Leon now stood opposite one another on the battlefield.
Steven looked at Charizard.
"Are you certain you don't need to rest?"
"Even if I win like this, it wouldn't feel entirely fair."
A faint smile appeared on Leon's lips.
"There's no need to make things so complicated."
"I came to the Hoenn League to challenge Aiden."
Seeing Leon's complete lack of concern for him, Steven's temper finally flared.
"You asked for this."
"Go, Metagross!"
Steven sent out Metagross.
At the same time, the Key Stone on his wrist released a brilliant light.
The silver-white Metagross responded to its Trainer.
Mega Evolution began.
"Metagross, Mega Evolve!"
Multicolored light enveloped its body.
A moment later, Mega Metagross appeared on the battlefield.
Seeing Steven use Mega Evolution, Leon's smile widened.
"Now this is more like it."
"Charizard, let's answer his enthusiasm."
"Gigantamax!"
A strange power originating from Eternatus surged forth.
A dark aura spread across the battlefield as violet-black light surrounded Charizard.
To everyone's surprise, Leon recalled Charizard into its Poké Ball.
With the help of the Dynamax Band on his wrist, the Poké Ball expanded to an enormous size.
Leon hurled it back onto the battlefield.
A colossal Charizard, more than sixty meters tall, emerged before everyone.
Gigantamax Charizard had arrived.
Steven's expression changed drastically as he stared at the towering creature.
"What the hell is Gigantamax?"
"It can make a Pokémon grow this enormous?"
Facing Steven's shock and the astonishment of countless Trainers in the stands, Leon explained calmly,
"This is Gigantamax, a phenomenon unique to the Galar region."
"It greatly increases a Pokémon's size and allows it to use special G-Max Moves."
"However, it can only be maintained for three turns."
"Like Mega Evolution, it is a method of temporarily enhancing a Pokémon."
Only then did Steven recover from his surprise.
"Mega Metagross, use Metal Claw repeatedly!"
"Gigantamax Charizard, use G-Max Wildfire!"
This was a special move available only to Pokémon with a unique Gigantamax form.
The original three Kanto starter Pokémon, for example, all possessed their own Gigantamax forms and exclusive G-Max Moves.
Other Pokémon without a unique Gigantamax form could merely grow larger through Dynamaxing and could not access such exclusive techniques.
Mega Metagross charged toward the enormous Charizard.
All four of its claws shone with silver-white light.
But then Gigantamax Charizard opened its mouth and unleashed G-Max Wildfire.
A colossal ball of flame erupted from its jaws.
The attack covered nearly the entire battlefield, leaving Mega Metagross with no room to evade.
Seeing this, Steven immediately shouted,
"Mega Metagross, use Protect!"
A thin green barrier formed around Mega Metagross.
Protect successfully blocked Gigantamax Charizard's devastating attack.
Looking at the battlefield, Wallace, Drake, and the others all wore grave expressions.
"So this is the method used by Trainers from the Galar region?"
"With a body that enormous…"
"Aiden, are you confident you can handle it?"
Aiden remained completely calm in the face of Wallace's question.
Leon raised his arm once more.
"Gigantamax Charizard, use it again!"
The moment Mega Metagross's Protect disappeared, Gigantamax Charizard unleashed its exclusive move for a second time.
This time, with Protect no longer available, Mega Metagross had no choice but to meet it head-on.
"Mega Metagross, use Hyper Beam!"
At Steven's command, a blazing orange beam erupted forward.
It shot directly toward the enormous fireball formed by G-Max Wildfire.
The two attacks collided with overwhelming force.
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