When Aiden saw that Leon's first Pokémon was Cinderace, the final Fire-type evolution of one of Galar's three starter Pokémon, he nodded inwardly.
One of Leon's six main Pokémon had already reached Level 89—the absolute peak of the Master tier.
Leon truly deserved his title as the strongest Trainer in the world.
Even so, against Aiden, the odds of victory still leaned heavily in Aiden's favor.
This was also the first time Aiden had personally witnessed Gigantamax.
Only thirty-three species of Pokémon possessed unique Gigantamax forms.
After Gigantamaxing, those thirty-three Pokémon gained access to exclusive G-Max Moves, just like Charizard.
Other Pokémon could still Dynamax and grow enormous, but without a unique Gigantamax form, they could not use exclusive G-Max Moves.
In terms of combat power, they naturally could not compare to the thirty-three Pokémon chosen by Eternatus.
That was precisely why Aiden's system panel had added a separate Gigantamax category.
"Cinderace, huh?"
"Interesting."
"Then I'll leave this to you."
Just as Aiden was about to throw his Poké Ball, the system's notification suddenly rang inside his mind.
Ding! The host is currently participating in a friendly battle against Leon. The following choices have been issued:
Option One: Defeat Leon with an overwhelming advantage. Show the former strongest Trainer in the world that there is always someone stronger and restore the Hoenn League's reputation.
Reward: One random Creation Plate.
Option Two: Fight Leon with all your strength without using any Legendary Pokémon.
Reward: Leon's favorability and one random secondary Legendary Pokémon.
Option Three: Surrender and lose to Leon.
Reward: One random Pokémon.
Aiden did not hesitate for even a second.
He chose the first option.
After all, the Master Ball in his hand contained none other than one of his ace Pokémon—
Rayquaza.
And it was not the first Rayquaza Aiden had obtained.
It was the Black Rayquaza from the movie timeline, the one powerful enough to fight six opponents at once.
A thunderous dragon roar echoed across the arena.
A colossal figure appeared above the battlefield.
To participate in the battle, Black Rayquaza deliberately reduced its size until its body was only a little over ten meters long.
The moment Rayquaza appeared, Leon and Cinderace both changed expressions.
Leon had never expected Aiden to send out a Legendary Pokémon against him.
"Rayquaza..."
"And it's even a Shiny Rayquaza."
"A Legendary Pokémon like this is actually willing to follow a human Trainer?"
The sight reminded Leon of Eternatus back in Galar.
He had always been deeply interested in that skeletal, poisonous dragon as well.
"Cinderace, our opponent is extremely powerful."
"Use Blast Burn!"
With a base power of 150, Blast Burn was one of the strongest Fire-type moves in existence.
Cinderace roared as it unleashed a devastating inferno.
Black Rayquaza narrowed its golden eyes.
"Rayquaza, use Hyper Beam!"
The flames collided with the blazing yellow beam.
A terrifying shockwave erupted across the battlefield.
But how could the might of a Legendary Pokémon be resisted by an ordinary Pokémon, even one at the peak of the Master tier?
Hyper Beam tore through Blast Burn and struck Cinderace head-on.
Even so, a Pokémon that had reached Cinderace's level possessed enough strength to battle an ordinary secondary Legendary Pokémon—
And perhaps even defeat one.
That was why, despite taking Rayquaza's attack directly, Cinderace did not collapse immediately.
Its body was covered in wounds, yet it gritted its teeth and refused to yield.
That was the strength of a Pokémon at the peak of the Master tier.
"Impressive willpower."
"But it won't change anything."
"Rayquaza, use Dragon Pulse!"
Cinderace had been badly injured and could no longer move freely.
It had no chance of evading Rayquaza's attack.
Dragon Pulse struck with a deafening explosion.
Cinderace cried out in pain.
When it finally crashed to the ground, it had completely lost the ability to battle.
Seeing his first Pokémon defeated, Leon sighed and recalled it.
He had originally assumed Aiden would use one of his ordinary main Pokémon.
Who could have expected Rayquaza?
Even Leon did not dare claim that any Pokémon in his possession could defeat a primary Legendary Pokémon.
The pressure was enormous.
Still, when he thought about it, Aiden's decision made sense.
Leon had defeated both Wallace and Steven in succession.
That could already be interpreted as a challenge to the Hoenn League's dignity.
Aiden was now fighting to restore the region's reputation and vent that frustration.
Steven and Wallace might be powerful, but they were only Hoenn's Vice Champions.
Even though they had once held the title of Champion, the current Champion was Aiden.
As long as Leon lost to Aiden, it would still prove that the Galar League was inferior to the Hoenn League.
"Then next..."
"I'm counting on you, Inteleon!"
Leon's second Pokémon was another fully evolved Galar starter.
He really did possess the aura of a protagonist.
Not only did he own all three Galar starter Pokémon, but he also had Charizard from Kanto and a pseudo-Legendary like Dragapult.
It was completely ridiculous.
In the original story, Leon had even possessed Eternatus for a time.
What a cheater.
Leon: "You're the one with an actual system, and you're calling me a cheater?"
Ding! Inteleon's current attributes are as follows:
Pokémon: Inteleon
Level: 89
Ability: Sniper
Type: Water
Potential: Gold
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Locked
Gigantamax: Gigantamax Inteleon
Moves: Water Pulse, Rain Dance, Soak, Liquidation, U-turn, Acrobatics, Hydro Pump, Vacuum Wave, Whirlpool, Water Pledge, Hyper Beam...
When Inteleon entered the battlefield, Aiden immediately issued another command.
"Rayquaza, use Hurricane!"
Flying-type energy rapidly gathered across the arena.
A terrifying storm formed over the entire battlefield and swallowed Inteleon before it could react.
Inteleon did not even have the chance to use a move.
It could only watch helplessly as the violent winds tore at its body.
Its stamina was gradually exhausted.
At last, it lost the ability to battle and fell heavily to the ground.
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