With Inteleon defeated, Leon had only one Pokémon remaining in what had originally been a three-on-three battle.
Obviously, his final Pokémon would be his ace—
Charizard.
And it would undoubtedly Gigantamax.
Meanwhile, the powerful Trainers of the Hoenn League watching from the stands finally relaxed after seeing Aiden thoroughly overwhelm Leon with Rayquaza.
At the very least, with Legendary Pokémon on his side, Aiden would never be defeated by Leon.
That was enough.
The Champion of the Galar League was weaker than the Champion of the Hoenn League.
That was simply a fact.
Leon recalled Inteleon and slowly exhaled.
He had originally believed that no matter how strong Aiden was, he would still be slightly weaker than himself.
Who could have expected Aiden to send out a Legendary Pokémon like Rayquaza?
This battle was completely unbalanced.
Feeling both helpless and frustrated, Leon finally sent out his very first partner.
A flash of white light appeared.
Charizard emerged from the Poké Ball.
Ding! Charizard's current attributes are as follows:
Pokémon: Charizard
Level: 91
Ability: Blaze
Type: Fire, Flying
Potential: Red
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Unlockable
Gigantamax: Gigantamax Charizard
Moves: Flame Charge, Fire Blast, Blast Burn, Burn Up, Heat Wave, Fire Fang, Slash, Flamethrower, G-Max Wildfire, Dragon Breath, Dragon Claw...
The moment Aiden saw Leon's Charizard, his expression turned serious for the first time.
Its Red potential was easy enough to understand.
This was the strongest Charizard in the world.
Such potential was hardly surprising.
But what was going on with its level?
Level 91.
It had surpassed the Master tier and entered the Grandmaster tier.
And this was before receiving any enhancement from Gigantamax.
That alone demonstrated just how terrifying Leon's Charizard was, both in strength and potential.
Even among Aiden's own main Pokémon, only a handful had managed to break through to the Grandmaster tier.
Perhaps the leap from the Master tier to the Grandmaster tier represented a fundamental transformation for ordinary Pokémon.
Even the three Legendary Birds, known as the strongest among secondary Legendary Pokémon, were only Level 90.
In other words, Leon's Charizard possessed the power to defeat virtually any secondary Legendary Pokémon.
"Interesting."
Aiden looked at Leon.
"Your Charizard really is incredibly strong."
Receiving Aiden's praise, Leon finally revealed a bitter smile.
"That's right."
"No matter what kind of opponent we face, Charizard and I will never fear them or run away."
"Isn't that right, Charizard?"
Hearing its Trainer's words, Charizard threw back its head and roared.
Its eyes locked onto Black Rayquaza, burning with almost fanatical fighting spirit.
A primary Legendary Pokémon?
It had never fought one before.
"Charizard, Gigantamax!"
The Dynamax Band on Leon's wrist released a violet-black glow.
Gigantamax began.
Aiden did not currently possess any item capable of triggering this transformation, so he was naturally curious about how much power it could provide.
Leon recalled Charizard into its Poké Ball.
The Dynamax Band caused the ball to expand to an enormous size.
Then Leon hurled it forward with all his strength.
A colossal Charizard, its body wreathed in blazing flames, emerged before Aiden and Rayquaza.
Now, at least in terms of size, the difference between Gigantamax Charizard and Black Rayquaza was no longer so dramatic.
Ding! Gigantamax Charizard's current attributes are as follows:
Pokémon: Gigantamax Charizard
Status: Gigantamaxed
Level: 98
Ability: Blaze
Type: Fire, Flying
Potential: Rainbow
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Unlockable
Gigantamax: Gigantamax Charizard
Moves: G-Max Wildfire, Flamethrower, Fire Spin, Flare Blitz, Blast Burn, Breaking Swipe, Air Slash, Dragon Dance, Earthquake, Fire Pledge, Focus Blast, Protect, Sunny Day...
Seeing Charizard suddenly jump from Level 91 to Level 98, Aiden frowned.
Wasn't the enhancement brought by Gigantamax a little too terrifying?
Mega Evolution increased a Pokémon's level by five.
Bond Evolution increased it by six.
Gigantamax increased it by seven.
Then again, it made sense.
Gigantamax could only last for three turns.
Mega Evolution and Bond Evolution, by comparison, could remain active until the end of the battle.
They were sustainable transformations.
No wonder Leon's Charizard had been able to defeat Alain's Mega Charizard through sheer strength.
After being enhanced, even its potential had reached the Rainbow tier.
"Gigantamax Charizard, use G-Max Wildfire!"
At Leon's command, Charizard roared.
Flames powerful enough to burn everything in their path erupted from its mouth and surged toward Rayquaza.
Facing the combined power of Leon and Charizard, Aiden immediately responded.
"Rayquaza, use Dragon Pulse!"
Rayquaza gathered a terrifying mass of Dragon-type energy.
A brilliant blue beam shot forward and collided head-on with G-Max Wildfire.
For a moment, the entire arena became strangely silent.
It was as though the sound and force of the collision had been sealed away by an invisible barrier.
Everyone stared toward the center of the battlefield.
A terrifying amount of energy was rapidly spilling outward.
At that moment, Aiden moved.
He had already sensed the destructive force contained within the clash.
If it exploded freely, the entire Hoenn League headquarters might be reduced to rubble.
A violet glow appeared in Aiden's eyes.
A tremendous wave of psychic power instantly enveloped the entire battlefield, isolating the energy released by Rayquaza and Gigantamax Charizard.
Rumble!
A colossal explosion followed.
Without Aiden's psychic barrier, the shockwave alone would have sent everyone flying—
Or even torn them apart.
Only after a long while did the smoke finally disperse.
Several wounds had appeared across Gigantamax Charizard's body.
Even so, it remained full of energy and roared defiantly at Rayquaza.
Rayquaza had also been caught in the explosion.
However, the immense defenses it had developed over countless years made the impact almost meaningless.
In terms of level, Gigantamax Charizard might already have reached the threshold of a primary Legendary Pokémon.
But in true combat strength, there was still a gap between them.
Even so, Leon's Charizard fully deserved its title—
The strongest Charizard in the world.
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