At the entrance of Devon Corporation, the eldest son of the Stone Family had never arrived this early before. Many longtime employees found it extremely strange, and Mr. Stone's secretary even called the president to ask what was going on.
Mr. Stone was so excited when he received the call that he nearly went crazy. 'Has Steven finally decided to put some thought into the company…? Haven't his interests always been Pokémon battles and rock- no, no, archaeology?'
Wanting to find out for himself, he hurried to the company as fast as he could!
---◓---
Steven, meanwhile, had remained deep in thought. Tetsuya's level had even surpassed Wallace's. What kind of battle would he have against an opponent like this? He had spent an entire day thinking about it, carefully considering each of the six Pokémon he would use. The battle was about to begin.
Just as Tetsuya appeared, a luxury car came up from behind him and sped past with a whoosh.
The luxury car stopped in front of Steven. The first to get out were security personnel dressed in black uniforms. Surrounded by them, a silver-gray-haired man stepped out.
It was none other than Joseph Stone, president of Devon Corporation!
Although he was already in his fifties, he was still full of vigor.
"What brings you to the company today, Steven?" Mr. Stone asked.
"Mm? I just organized a Pokémon battle with a friend here."
"Oh…" Mr. Stone's heart immediately sank, but as an "open-minded parent", he still supported Steven's choice. He then asked, "May I watch the battle?"
"Of course!" Steven said. "He's here."
Tetsuya slowly walked over.
After Tetsuya and Steven's father introduced themselves to each other, they entered Devon Corporation's indoor battlefield.
The battlefield was on the rooftop terrace of the building. Once the transparent skylight opened, it felt as though the area were connected directly to the sky.
There were also various types of courts to choose from, but Steven and Tetsuya both decided on a standard field, simple and straightforward. The battle rules stipulated that neither side was allowed to switch Pokémon.
Steven and Tetsuya each stood on one side, while Steven's father watched from the audience stands.
The two nodded to each other and simultaneously gripped their Poké Balls.
Steven sent out his usual vanguard, Aggron, while Tetsuya sent out the Ditto he had prepared in advance…
---◓---
The moment it stepped onto the field, Ditto had already Transformed into Aggron. Ditto itself had gone through the most intense physical training, and with Quick Powder integrated into its body, it even surpassed Steven's Aggron in Speed.
The two actually fought to a draw!
Faced with this imitation Aggron, only for both Pokémon to end up unable to battle at the same time, even Steven found the result difficult to accept…
One could only imagine how much effort Tetsuya had put into raising his Ditto!
"Metagross!" Steven threw out his second Poké Ball.
Metagross, Hoenn's pseudo-legendary Pokémon, was formidable, but this was not Steven's strongest one. This Metagross looked no different from an "average" one -blue-, but Steven's strongest Metagross had a silver body and golden claws, making it exceptionally striking. Tetsuya had no idea just how strong this Metagross was.
Tetsuya also sent out the Pokémon he had planned to use, Mamoswine.
As soon as Mamoswine stepped onto the field, the surrounding temperature dropped sharply, followed by hail and snowflakes beginning to fall across the battlefield.
However, this hail and snow had no effect on the Steel-type Metagross.
Amid the hail, Mamoswine's figure became indistinct.
Steven looked at the Mamoswine flickering in and out of sight and thought, 'It's actually not a Poison-type. Could he have even stronger Pokémon…?'
"Bullet Punch!" Steven attacked first. Metagross quickly closed in on Mamoswine; the speed of the priority move was extremely fast!
"Icicle Crash."
Tetsuya knew perfectly well that taking double damage from an attack by Metagross was no laughing matter.
Mamoswine let out a roar, and rows of icicles rose in Metagross's path. After Bullet Punch shattered three icicles, Metagross could advance no further.
"Those icicles are definitely as hard as Eternal Ice," Steven said directly. As a well-traveled and experienced Trainer, this was naturally also an affirmation of his own Pokémon's strength.
Mamoswine's power had actually exceeded Tetsuya's expectations. It seemed that after going through "special" training with Pokémon like Delibird under Pryce, its capacities had made another step forward. This gave Tetsuya even more confidence!
"Icicle Spear."
At Tetsuya's command, Mamoswine fired five consecutive Icicle Spears. Metagross swung its Meteor Mash, advancing as it struck them down, already searching for an opportunity to attack while defending.
But as the hail and snow fell more and more heavily, Mamoswine moved through the snow until its figure could no longer be seen, despite its enormous size.
"Ehehe~ Snow Cloak Ability?" Steven chuckled. "Zen Headbutt!"
Metagross was completely unaffected by Mamoswine's Ability and headed straight toward it.
Seeing that Steven did not hesitate in the slightest, Tetsuya naturally understood Metagross's capabilities as well. After all, it also had the Psychic type, allowing its psychic power to directly locate Mamoswine.
"Rock Tomb!"
Tetsuya already had a plan in mind.
Four or five small, sharp rock formations rose from the ground and tightly trapped Metagross between them. However, this could not hold it back for long, only for a moment. The purpose was merely to slightly slow Metagross's offensive impulse.
After all, Zen Headbutt was a Psychic-type move. The fact that Metagross had not used a Steel-type move was also an opportunity for Tetsuya.
The weakened Zen Headbutt slammed into Mamoswine. Compared with a Steel-type move, the damage from this attack was much lower.
"Avalanche!"
This was precisely the moment Tetsuya had been waiting for.
A massive mass of snow crashed down from the air, and because Mamoswine had moved after its opponent, its power was doubled.
Metagross had nowhere to evade!
Rumble… Rumble…
Every last bit of it crashed onto Metagross, completely burying it beneath the snow.
This maneuver had managed to deal Metagross a certain amount of damage, but defeating it with this alone was nothing more than a pipe dream.
"Blizzard!" Tetsuya and Mamoswine were completely in sync. If they missed an opportunity this good, they would never get it back. Against an elite like Steven, the same trick would only work once.
Mamoswine roared once again!
The Blizzard howled, while the snow blanketing the field stretched out in an endless expanse of white.
It swept across the entire area struck by Avalanche, dragging Metagross into the blizzard along with it. Its power gradually revealed itself, and immediately afterward, the Blizzard formed more than a dozen of [Blizzard Cyclones] that collided with and compressed against one another. An attack of this power was extremely lethal!
Eventually, all the cyclones merged into a single [Blizzard Vortex], with Metagross spinning inside the vortex.
Tetsuya stared intently at Metagross. This wave of attacks had finally hit it where it hurt…
Steven shook his head slightly, smiled, and muttered to himself, "So you're bringing out the big moves now…"