When Titan saw Aaron's Pokémon launch their attack, mockery spread across his face.
He shouted to his own team,
"You think that's enough to stop me?"
"Attack!"
"Dugtrio, Earthquake!"
"Magneton, Discharge!"
"Skarmory, Steel Wing!"
"Bastiodon, Heavy Slam!"
"Bisharp, Metal Claw!"
Titan issued commands to all five Pokémon at once.
Aggron, meanwhile, was still locked in an intense battle with Scizor.
The moment his orders fell, his Pokémon began gathering energy to counterattack.
But before they could properly move, roots twisted across the ground like wooden dragons, wrapping around Titan's Pokémon.
Every Pokémon on the ground was affected. They had no choice but to tear away at the annoying roots first.
Alolan Dugtrio had just gathered a massive surge of yellow-brown energy and was about to drive it into the earth.
Earthquake had already activated.
Unfortunately, Sceptile's roots had bound the surrounding ground too tightly.
The move failed completely.
"Dugtrio…?"
Dugtrio's three heads froze in confusion.
Where the hell did my Earthquake go?
Did the ground just eat it?
No one answered its question.
In the next moment, roots wrapped tightly around its body and squeezed harder.
At the same time, lightning came crashing down from the sky.
Skarmory's body lit up with silver-white light as it dodged the lightning bolts at incredible speed.
Then it activated Steel Wing and shot toward Gyarados like a silver flash.
But before it could reach its target, Charizard's Dragon Roar slammed into it, carrying terrifying heat and crackling lightning.
BOOOOM!!
Scorching flames collided with Skarmory in midair, triggering a violent explosion.
Fire- and Electric-type attacks both dealt double damage to Skarmory.
However, Charizard was only elite peak-stage, while Skarmory was champion-class late-stage.
That massive level gap was still difficult to overcome.
"SKREEE!"
Inside the flames, Skarmory let out a pained cry.
Clearly, Charizard's scorching blast had hurt.
Even so, Skarmory maintained Steel Wing, broke through the heat wave, and charged straight at Charizard.
BANG!
Charizard's massive body had no time to dodge.
Skarmory's Steel Wing struck it head-on.
"ROOOAR!"
Charizard let out a pained roar as its huge body was sent flying toward the ground.
Aaron frowned and immediately shouted,
"Sceptile, catch Charizard with the roots!"
"Sceptiiiile!"
Sceptile nodded and controlled the roots, weaving them together into a large net beneath Charizard.
The net caught the falling dragon just before it hit the ground.
"ROOOAR…"
Charizard growled angrily.
Scorching blood seeped from beneath its hardened Dragon Scales.
Fortunately, Dragon Scales had reduced the damage by half.
On top of that, Charizard's Fire Dragon attribute gave it double resistance against Steel-type moves.
In the end, Charizard had only taken a quarter of the damage.
Even so, the hit had clearly hurt.
…
Bastiodon was currently tangled in countless roots.
With its massive body and pitiful base Speed stat of 30, it had no way to avoid being wrapped up.
"ROOOAR!"
Bastiodon roared furiously.
It struggled and tore apart the irritating roots, but they seemed endless.
The moment it shredded one, another wrapped around it.
Bastiodon was almost going mad from annoyance.
Its eyes burned with rage.
Picking on the slow one, huh?
At that moment, a black figure silently appeared in front of it.
Its pitch-black stingers gleamed with an eerie light, like the glow of death itself.
It was Beedrill.
The Shinigami form that had been waiting for the perfect opening.
Bzzzzzz…
While Bastiodon was busy fighting the roots, Beedrill appeared without a sound.
Its Twinneedle stingers flashed coldly as they stabbed hard into Bastiodon's iron-like head shield.
Bastiodon froze slightly when it saw Beedrill appear out of nowhere.
But after sensing that its opponent only had a gym early-stage aura boosted through Mega Evolution, its eyes immediately filled with mockery.
A tiny black bee at gym-level dared to attack it?
And it was aiming at its proudest shield?
Wasn't that just asking to embarrass itself?
Bastiodon's base Defense stat was a terrifying 168.
What could those needles possibly do?
What a joke.
It ignored Beedrill completely, treating it like a fly as it continued tearing at the roots.
CLANG! CLANG!
Beedrill's Twinneedle struck Bastiodon's steel shield.
Both stingers hit the exact same spot.
Two crisp metallic impacts rang out.
To Bastiodon, it felt like being bitten by an ant.
No pain.
No itch.
Not even a faint scratch appeared on its hardened shield.
That alone showed just how tough its defense was.
Bastiodon gave Beedrill a mocking look, as if saying,
Did you skip breakfast?
Put some strength into it.
But it failed to notice one thing.
A strange mark had appeared where Beedrill's attack landed.
It flickered with an unsettling purple glow.
…
Seeing that the battlefield had fully opened up, Aaron smiled faintly and turned his gaze toward Frog Boss.
"Frog Boss…"
"It's our turn."
"Grenin…"
Greninja stood on the grass with its arms crossed.
Its dead-fish eyes sharpened slightly as it nodded to Aaron.
It was time to strike.