"Teacher! This is against the rules!"
Watt cried out in a panic from the sidelines.
While a Gym Leader is permitted to adjust their roster based on a challenger's perceived strength, that preparation is supposed to happen before the match begins.
Changing your lineup in the middle of a battle? That was unheard of.
If a formal complaint reached the League, at best, the Leader would face a severe reprimand; at worst, the Gym could be shut down for "rectification".
The League had always been strict with Gyms—those who held such significant authority. One small slip-up could bring a Pokémon Inspector sniffing around, and any deviation from protocol could lead to a forced closure.
"It's fine, it's fine!"
Wattson waved his hand dismissively with his characteristic lightheartedness.
He then turned to Kashiwagi and asked,
"You don't mind, do you, Kashiwagi? I imagine you'd prefer to test yourself against even stronger Pokémon, right?"
"...Of course. Use whichever you like."
Kashiwagi had no reason to refuse.
"Hahahaha! Excellent! Simply excellent!" Wattson laughed, swapping his two remaining standard Poké Balls for Ultra Balls taken from the wall compartment.
Only two left, huh...
Kashiwagi felt a mix of disappointment and relief.
Ordinarily, he'd be thrilled to take on four fresh opponents, but he could feel Mega Aggron reaching his limit. The "stability" of the evolution was starting to flicker.
We can probably handle one more before he forces a revert.
Kashiwagi locked eyes with Mega Aggron. Through their mental link, they gauged their shared exhaustion and reached a silent understanding.
After all, they had only been practicing Mega Evolution for less than half a month. To be able to maintain the form in a real battle—and crush two opponents in a row—was already an incredible feat.
He used to dream of staying in Mega form for an entire match, just like in the video games. But real-world application was a different beast entirely.
It wasn't nearly as stable.
Kashiwagi finally understood why world-class Trainers in the anime often held back their Mega-capable Pokémon until the end.
It wasn't just for dramatic flair; the energy "consumption" was massive, and the duration was frustratingly short.
Suddenly, the Trick Room dimension flickered and shattered into fragments.
Kashiwagi sighed.
It was a general rule of thumb: the larger the area a move covered, the shorter its duration. Trick Room was the textbook example.
Had Wattson not been a man of undeniable integrity, Kashiwagi might have suspected the old man of stalling for time until the room collapsed.
But Wattson wasn't the type to care about "winning" at all costs. Years ago, when Ash's Pikachu had accidentally wiped his entire team, the old man had simply laughed it off, thinking he was just getting too old and should retire.
He had even refused Ash's request for a rematch, deeming the boy worthy of the badge regardless of the fluke.
"Heh heh heh—"
Wattson returned to his side of the field, gripping two Ultra Balls, a confident smirk back on his face.
"Kashiwagi! I must admit, your Pokémon are truly impressive! But it won't be so easy to win from here on out! Behold my greatest partner!"
He shouted as he hurled the first Ultra Ball.
"Go! Manectric!"
Flash!
A brilliant white light burst forth, accompanied by a long, predatory howl.
"Ma-nec-tric—!!"
Manectric appeared, its body a sleek mix of blue and yellow fur, resembling a Pokemon of the myth.
The moment it landed, static electricity hissed across its body, and silver sparks danced visibly through its mane.
Static ability, huh...? Kashiwagi analyzed.
"Stone Edge!"
"G-R-O-N!!"
Mega Aggron let out a muffled roar, steam venting from his maw. Jagged stones swirled around him in two rotating rings before launching like a barrage of artillery shells toward Manectric!
Whiz-whiz-whiz!
The stones rained down, creating a zone of total suppression.
"Use Quick Attack to dodge!"
At Wattson's command, Manectric lunged forward. Its powerful frame moved with blinding speed, weaving through the gaps in the falling stones.
A streak of white light trailed behind it, moving so fast that afterimages began to blur the battlefield.
Furthermore, with every step, the yellow fur on Manectric's hind legs crackled with electricity. It was as if it were riding the lightning itself.
Kashiwagi knew this trick; Manectric was using electrical currents to stimulate its muscles, vastly increasing its explosive speed.
This was Manectric's signature combat style. In terms of pure burst speed, it wasn't a hair slower than the previous Electrode.
This was clearly Wattson's "Ace"—likely the same Electrike he met years ago in Old Mauville, the one that had evolved and completely dominated Ash's Torkoal during their rematch.
The fifth Gym Leader is bringing out his Ace already? Talk about "no chill"!
In a matter of seconds, Manectric had closed the distance.
Instead of a direct pounce, it dug its claws into the earth, pivoting sharply to circle around Mega Aggron's flank.
Its silhouette began to flicker violently, as if multiple entities were manifesting at once.
"Double Team!" Wattson barked.
"Sand Tomb!" Kashiwagi countered.
Manectric is circling like a blue bolt of lightning!
Mega Aggron's gaze darkened. As he let out a low, vibrating growl, a massive torrent of brownish sand erupted from the gaps in his steel plates.
Like a localized sandstorm, the Sand Tomb swept across the battlefield with overwhelming force!
Fwoosh!
The countless afterimages Manectric had just created were instantly shredded by the surging vortex of grit.
The sheer impact of the wind and sand forced the real Manectric to be blown backward, tumbling through the air.
"Ma-nec!"
"Excellent prediction!"
After his initial shock, Wattson couldn't help but shout in admiration.
He hadn't expected Kashiwagi to read their tactics so perfectly.
By intentionally delaying the command by a fraction of a second, Kashiwagi had waited for the Double Team clones to manifest before wiping them all out in one fell swoop.
If Aggron had struck too early, the real Manectric would likely have found an opening to counter.
Kashiwagi pressed the advantage immediately.
"High Horsepower!"
"G-R-O-N!!"
Mega Aggron lunged toward Manectric, his massive frame achieving a gravity-defying leap.
Enveloped in spiraling orange-red energy, he looked like a blazing meteor falling from the heavens!
Wattson barked a desperate order: "Protect!"
Manectric, rolling to its feet, let out a sharp howl.
A shimmering blue shield composed of hexagonal honeycombs flared into existence just as Mega Aggron slammed into it with a thunderous CRASH!
SHATTER!
The shield shuddered violently before disintegrating like glass, exploding into a cloud of sparkling dust.
Mega Aggron tore through the residual light and collided head-on with the Manectric behind it.
THUD!
The sound of the impact was heavy and dull.
But to Kashiwagi's surprise, Manectric dropped its center of gravity. Its teeth were bared and clenched as it used its head and shoulders to stubbornly resist the crushing weight of Mega Aggron's Ground-type energy.
"MA-NEC-TRIC!!"
"Hahaha! My Manectric won't go down that easily!"
Seeing the identical looks of shock on both Kashiwagi and Mega Aggron, Wattson let out a boisterous laugh.
"Leap over him! Use Thunder!"
"Ma-nec!"
Manectric suddenly sprang upward, its paws kicking off Mega Aggron's central horn.
Using the behemoth as a springboard, it flipped into the air with incredible grace.
Aggron's claws swiped at empty air, and even his heavy tail lashed upward too late to snag the agile electric wolf.
By the time Mega Aggron turned around, Manectric had already landed and crouched low, its body vibrating with power.
"HOWL!!"
CRACK-BOOM!
A blinding bolt of lightning erupted from Manectric's lightning-rod tail.
The bolt tore through the air, surging upward before arcing back down in a jagged path, relentlessly striking the Mega Aggron standing mere feet away!
Kashiwagi's eyes narrowed. "Metal Burst!"
"A-G-G-R-O-N!!"
Mega Aggron's armor took on a chaotic, iridescent metallic sheen.
He didn't flinch, didn't dodge; he simply stood his ground and absorbed the lightning's wrath.
Despite the searing pain and the numbing bite of paralysis, he opened his maw.
A sphere of brilliant white energy rapidly formed, acting like a black hole that sucked in every stray spark of electricity dancing across his plates.
The energy ball grew larger and more unstable by the second.
Then—
KABOOM!
The sphere erupted into a massive pillar of searing white light.
Bolts of electricity arced wildly from the beam, a clear sign that the raw power behind this counter-attack was fueled directly by Manectric's own Thunder!
"Get out of there!"
Manectric was already trying to dodge before Wattson even finished his sentence.
However, Mega Aggron stepped back with his right leg to brace himself and pivoted his neck.
The straight beam became a sweeping scythe of light, catching the leaping Manectric mid-air!
BOOM!!
A towering pillar of fire and dust erupted as a sequence of explosions followed the beam's path across the arena.
The sheer destructive force left no doubt about the power of the move.
Manectric was hurled through the smoke, howling as it slammed heavily into the gym wall.
"Stay with me!"
Amazingly, it still didn't faint. Its four paws trembled as it forced itself to stand, staring down Mega Aggron with fierce, unwavering eyes.
"Ma-nec..."
"Tch... talk about tanky", Kashiwagi muttered, genuinely impressed.
This Manectric's absurd durability had been famous since its battle with Ash's Torkoal, and it seemed to have only gotten tougher since then.
"Stone Edge!"
"G-R-O-N!!"
Mega Aggron roared, and three concentric rings of jagged stones materialized around him.
He launched them with a flick, sending a localized rockslide screaming toward Manectric.
The sheer volume and speed of the "rain of stones" were enough to make anyone's heart skip a beat.
Suddenly, Wattson screamed, "Roar!"
"MA-NEC-TRIC—!!"
Enveloped in a crimson aura, Manectric let out a deafening, visceral howl.
A visible shockwave of translucent sound ripped through the air, creating a sonic boom that shattered most of the incoming stones.
The shockwave continued forward, hitting Mega Aggron like a physical wall of pressure.
"Gron...?"
Mega Aggron let out a low, confused rumble, struggling against the unseen force.
His massive body was suddenly lifted off the ground, turning into a streak of red light that was forcefully sucked back into the Poké Ball at Kashiwagi's waist.
Immediately, another Poké Ball on his belt clicked open, and a white light streaked onto the field.
Roar has forced a switch!
"Pa-pory!"
Porygon materialized on the field looking completely bewildered.
As it landed, a faint orange-red aura flickered around its body—a sign that its stats had been boosted by the forced switch.
Wattson let out a hearty laugh at the sight of Kashiwagi's raised eyebrow.
"How about that! Shocked, aren't you? This is the perfect chance! Manectric, use Charge!"
"Ma-nec!"
Electric sparks danced across Manectric's fur as its fighting spirit and power surged at a visible rate.
"Trick Room!"
Kashiwagi's command followed instantly.
Shaking off its confusion, Porygon's eyes glowed with a brilliant blue light.
Waves of deep and pale blue energy rose from the edges of the battlefield, weaving together to construct that strange, rectangular dimension.
Kashiwagi was indeed surprised. Not by the switch, but by the fact that Manectric's Roar had been powerful enough to shatter Mega Aggron's Stone Edge.
Even if it wasn't a Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) move for the wolf, those jagged pillars shouldn't have been that easy to crumble.
Was that even a Roar? It felt more like a Hyper Voice! Kashiwagi thought.
Of course, he knew that in the anime, status moves often had a much higher "visual impact" than in the games.
He himself used Disable as a hard-crowd-control skill all the time, so he couldn't really complain about Wattson using a shout to pulverize a rockslide.
It reminded him of other anime moments—like Sinnoh Gym Leader Byron having his Steelix use Screech to physically shatter Ash's Monferno's Flame Wheel.
In this world, sound was a physical force.
"Pa-pory!"
With a light chirp, Porygon completed the construction of the Trick Room.
This move usually had a slow startup, but Kashiwagi had timed it perfectly.
The last time, he had used the window where Electrode was bouncing; this time, he used the opening created by Manectric's Charge.
However, while Manectric was charging its electricity, the move also boosted its Special Defense—not exactly great news for a Special Attacker like Porygon.
Wattson, a veteran of countless battles, moved the moment he saw the Trick Room settle.
He caught the slight lag in Porygon's movements after casting such a complex move.
"Thunder!"
"MA-NEC-TRIC!"
Manectric gave a high-pitched howl.
CRACK-BOOM!!
Fueled by the Charge, the lightning was far more colossal than before. It took the shape of a jagged, white-hot dragon in mid-air, coiling and twisting before diving straight for Porygon.
The air screamed with the sound of continuous, deafening explosions.
Even though it had been pressured by Mega Aggron, Manectric was still the Ace of a Gym Leader.
Now, facing a Porygon that it theoretically outmatched in experience, its high level and battle-hardened reaction time shone through.
"Dodge it! Conversion 2!"
Kashiwagi's voice was nearly drowned out by the roaring thunder.
Fortunately, Porygon didn't need to hear him to know it had to move. It glided away just as the lightning dragon lunged.
There was a key difference between a Pokémon's Electric-type move and natural lightning—the Pokémon's version was slightly slower.
Because Porygon had "inherited" a speed boost from being roared in while Manectric was active, it managed to slip past the initial strike.
But that was only the first wave.
The lightning dragon slammed into the ground and shattered like a falling star, scattering into hundreds of bright yellow "thunder snakes" that lashed out in every direction.
Simultaneously, the vibrating earth threw up a hail of jagged stones, raining down on the retreating Porygon.
"P-pory...!"
Unable to dodge the sheer volume of debris, Porygon took several hits from the flying rocks, chirping in pain.
But it gritted its digital teeth, activating Conversion 2 just before the electric snakes could coil around it. Its blue parts shifted to a muddy, brownish-tan.
The Ground type took hold.
The electricity hissed and died as it touched Porygon's skin, leaving it completely unharmed.
"Pory!"
Porygon came to a halt. It looked exhausted, but its eyes were sharper than ever.
This was its first official Gym battle—there was no way it was going down without a fight! It had to take down at least one opponent!
Wattson, on the other hand, let out a small sigh of disappointment.
He had hoped to take Porygon out in one aggressive burst to show Kashiwagi the tenacity of a veteran's Pokémon.
He hadn't expected the "digital" Pokémon to have such a stubborn will of its own.
"Ma-nec..."
Manectric lowered its head, panting heavily. Its stamina wasn't infinite; it was just incredibly good at pretending it was.