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Anyone could see the intense tension between the two individuals on the field.
"It seems you're very confident, but…"
Lance curled his lips into a cold sneer, a strong murderous aura emanating from him as he stared intently at Giovanni and Nidoking.
"Even if my Mega Gyarados is afflicted by Toxic, defeating you before that happens will be enough!"
"Gyarados, Water Tail!"
The first round of Toxic's corrosive effect had passed, and Mega Gyarados roared furiously, its massive tail, accompanied by a wave of water, swung heavily towards Nidoking.
This was an enraged strike, its power even greater than the previous two Water Tail attacks.
Evidently, Mega Gyarados was also aware of its condition; at this moment, it was giving its all.
"Protect."
Giovanni remained calm. Nidoking's direct combat power was absolutely no match for Mega Gyarados.
Moreover, Giovanni knew that Lance was experienced in battle; if Lance wasn't unfamiliar with his fighting style, he wouldn't have fallen for it so easily.
But having just suffered a loss from Toxic, it would be even harder to trick Lance again.
A green Protect barrier materialized in front of Nidoking, a barrier that could almost block any move.
Bang!!
The powerful Water Tail slammed heavily against the Protect barrier. The thin surface of the barrier rippled, seemingly on the verge of collapsing.
The sturdy Protect perfectly blocked the Water Tail!
Lance's expression was stern, his gaze as sharp as a blade.
He knew that Giovanni was stalling for time. Toxic's continuous effect required time, and the longer it lasted, the more intense the corrosive damage would become.
Until Mega Gyarados completely lost its ability to battle.
"Coward! Protect, how many times can you Protect?" Lance said coldly.
Protect cannot be used consecutively. If used repeatedly, the success rate of Protect will become lower and lower, making failure very likely.
"Waterfall!"
Mega Gyarados roared. As soon as the Protect barrier dissipated, a huge pillar of water rose high from beneath Nidoking's feet, lifting Nidoking into the air.
Nidoking maintained its balance and looked down to see Mega Gyarados, enveloped in water, winding its way rapidly up the water pillar like a long dragon, quickly approaching it.
A Water-type Waterfall!
"Thunder!"
Intense lightning flashed around Nidoking, and a bolt of Thunder shot directly at Mega Gyarados.
Boom!
The Thunder hit perfectly, yet Mega Gyarados merely paused for a moment before enduring the Thunder's impact and continuing to approach Nidoking.
Bang!
The lightning-crackling Waterfall slammed heavily into Nidoking.
Nidoking roared in pain, its strong body sent flying by Mega Gyarados's powerful impact.
The damage from this strike was not low.
Just as Mega Gyarados, having knocked Nidoking away, was about to pursue, its body stiffened again, and a terrifying deep purple Toxic light flared around Mega Gyarados.
Toxic's second corrosive effect had arrived!
This time, the poison's onset was even more violent than the first, yet the Mega Gyarados Lance had trained indeed possessed remarkable resilience.
It was only affected for a moment by the intense pain from Toxic's corrosion, then it roared with a ferocious expression, seemingly 'venting' its pain through this wild roar.
"Water Tail!"
Mega Gyarados's face was extremely ferocious and terrifying. It gave Nidoking no chance to recover, charging at Nidoking again.
This wild offensive put Nidoking under extreme pressure.
"Nidoking won't be able to hold on like this."
Serena's eyes were fixed on the battle on the field as she made her judgment.
This Mega Gyarados was simply too strong; its combat power was astonishing.
Nidoking's strength was fully demonstrated in its battles against Lorelei and the others, yet even such a powerful Nidoking was being so heavily suppressed by this Mega Gyarados's offense that it could barely breathe.
This was evident.
Lance, the dragon messenger, had always been hailed as the strongest Champion of the Kanto League, and his strength was indeed formidable.
"Hmm, but Mammon can stall for time. Battles aren't just about pure combat power."
Platinum nodded, and she naturally sided with Giovanni psychologically.
After all… Giovanni was Mammon's father, and the future grandfather of her child.
The battle on the field continued. Giovanni calmly directed Nidoking to dodge and defend, but Mega Gyarados's furious offense was too dominant.
"Nidoking is unable to battle. Mega Gyarados wins."
The referee announced the battle result.
That's right, Nidoking ultimately fell to Mega Gyarados's Water Tail.
"Did you see that, Giovanni? If you only resort to petty tricks, you can't defeat my dragon!"
Lance looked at Giovanni, his tone cold and arrogant.
"Champion Lance, this is a full battle. There's no need to be so impatient. Our battle isn't over yet."
Giovanni unhurriedly recalled Nidoking, replying with a faint smile.
Although Nidoking lost, Giovanni didn't see any problem with it, and he felt that Nidoking had done very well.
In a full battle, a small loss was nothing, and besides, the current situation was completely within expectations.
"Only the one who wins in the end is the victor, right?"
Giovanni threw out his second Poké Ball, and Nidoqueen landed in front of him.
"You fellow."
Lance's sword-like brows furrowed slightly. He disliked Giovanni's tone and attitude, which suggested everything was under control.
Lance pondered for a moment and recalled Mega Gyarados.
Mega Gyarados's condition was actually not very good, especially during the recent battle with Nidoking, where Toxic's corrosion had already progressed to the fourth stage.
Recalling Mega Gyarados could at least temporarily reset the Toxic corrosion; otherwise, the fifth stage of corrosion would be very intense.
"Since you're so confident, then come and try its power!"
Lance coolly threw out his second Poké Ball.
"Dragonite!"
A flash of white light, and a plump, orange-bodied dragon, flapping its two small wings, landed heavily in front of Lance.
"Wo~!"
Upon seeing this Pokémon appear, a fervent cheer erupted throughout the entire venue.
Because this Pokémon was none other than Kanto region's pseudo-legendary, Dragonite!
And Dragonite was Lance's signature Pokémon!
"Dragonite, huh…"
Giovanni slightly narrowed his eyes, examining this Dragonite with its profound aura.
"No, is he letting Dragonite appear so quickly?"
In the audience, Platinum looked at this pseudo-legendary Pokémon from the Kanto region with great surprise.
She was a bit confused!
This was a full battle. The first one used Mega Evolution, and the second one was Dragonite?
No, is this how Champion Lance fights full battles? Revealing all his trump cards from the start, aiming to crush the opponent in a short amount of time?
But Mammon was no ordinary opponent. Doing this would easily put himself at a disadvantage.
Does Champion Lance really know how to fight a full battle?
"Don't be so surprised, this isn't Lance's ace Dragonite."
Mammon, however, lightly clicked his tongue and replied to Platinum.
"Huh?"
Platinum and Serena were startled by his words.
"This Dragonite is strong, but it's definitely not Lance's ace," Mammon said with great certainty.
"It's said that when Lance became the Champion of the Kanto League, his Champion team consisted of Dragonair, Dragonair, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Charizard, and Dragonite."
Caitlin spoke thoughtfully.
"So, Champion Lance evolved those two Dragonair, then," Serena understood.
"Probably not," Mammon shook his head.
"Lance likely deliberately didn't evolve his Dragonair. As for this Dragonite, do you know? The most famous Dratini habitat in the Kanto region, the Dragon's Den, belongs to the Lance family."
Mammon said with a smile.
That's right, it was the Dragon's Den in Blackthorn City, known as the 'Dragon's Hometown,' the most famous Dratini habitat in the Kanto region.
And Lance, he would never be short of Dragonite!
Moreover, Lance had an extraordinary fondness for Dragonite, so it was not at all surprising for him to have multiple Dragonite on his team.
For example, in 'HeartGold and SoulSilver,' Champion Lance's team included three Dragonite.
Lance was an extremely exaggerated fan of the 'fatty' (Dragonite). For Lance, Dragonite was his pride, his soul!
"I wonder if this is Dragonite Unit 2 or Unit 3."
Mammon looked at the Dragonite on the field with interest, but what was certain was that even if it wasn't his ace Dragonite, Lance's Dragonite was undoubtedly strong.
Dragonite's base stats were already high, and this was Lance's Dragonite, after all.
After all, in this world, probably no one understood Dragonite better than Lance.
The battle continued. Lance's fighting style was extremely fierce; after all, he believed in the power of dragons, and offense was the best defense.
Therefore, Lance highly advocated offense.
Giovanni, on the other hand, was steady and mature, but his steadiness also contained ferocity.
Dragonite, under Lance's command, began to attack wildly. However, this Dragonite's suppressive power was actually inferior to that of Mega Gyarados.
Giovanni had Nidoqueen defend and counterattack, and he found an opportunity to hit Dragonite with an Ice Beam.
It should be noted that while Dragonite was powerful, its Dragon/Flying type combination made it quadruple weak to Ice!
This was Dragonite's biggest fatal flaw.
Although this Ice Beam didn't fully hit because Dragonite reacted in time, it still dealt significant damage to Dragonite.
This also made Lance rein himself in a bit, starting to become slightly more cautious.
But after a final fierce exchange, Giovanni intentionally created an opening, allowing Dragonite to get close with Dragon Rush, and Nidoqueen landed an Ice Punch.
Nidoqueen was severely injured, and Dragonite lost its ability to battle!
Giovanni temporarily regained a point, but this was still just the beginning.
Lance then brought out the Mega Gyarados, which was afflicted with Toxic, and defeated Nidoqueen.
Giovanni's next Pokémon was Dugtrio, while Lance switched to Charizard.
Charizard lost, Dugtrio won.
Lance then sent out Mega Gyarados again, achieving a one-for-one trade with Dugtrio.
The intensity of the battle far exceeded imagination. Both sides were completely unyielding, but overall, the situation remained perfectly balanced.
Giovanni's fourth Pokémon was Rhyperior, which was also a core main force of Giovanni's, with exceptionally outstanding strength.
Lance thought for a moment and then sent out another Dragonite; this was Lance's Dragonite Unit 2.
This time, Lance chose to utilize Dragonite's flying advantage. Rhyperior was very powerful, but Rhyperior was slow due to its heavy weight and had low special defense.
This move took a lot of time, but in the end, Rhyperior still fell under Dragonite's Hydro Pump.
The situation once again turned into Lance leading.
But seeing this, everyone understood that Giovanni's strength was not weaker than Lance's; until the very last moment, one could not let their guard down.
"I never thought Giovanni's strength would reach such a level."
Backstage, Lorelei's cold and beautiful brows were tightly furrowed. The battle had progressed to this point, and Giovanni was still evenly matched with Lance.
If this were in the past, who would believe it if someone said Giovanni, a mere Gym Leader, was on the same level as Lance as a Trainer?
Yet now, the facts were laid out before them.
"It is indeed astonishing. I wonder why Giovanni hid his strength before."
Agatha's cloudy eyes narrowed, but upon closer thought, it seemed Giovanni hadn't hidden his strength?
It was just that no one could fully force out Giovanni's strength. If he wasn't interested in challenging the League, mere Gym challengers naturally couldn't make Giovanni go all out.
"No wonder he could give birth to a monster like Mammon; it's not surprising at all," Agatha chuckled deeply.
With such a powerful father, it was truly not uncommon for Mammon to be so exceptionally talented.
Meanwhile, on the field.
"You truly live up to your reputation, Champion Lance. You are indeed powerful."
Recalling the fainted Rhyperior, Giovanni couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"You're not bad either."
Lance said indifferently. Having battled to this point, he acknowledged Giovanni's strength, putting everything else aside.
"Oh? To be acknowledged by Champion Lance, what an honor," Giovanni's lips slowly curled into a smile.
"However, since I've already undertaken the Elite Challenge today, I naturally aim for the Champion title."
"If you have the ability, come and defeat me."
Lance's cold eyes remained unchanged.
The Champion title has always been ascended by the strong. If Giovanni could defeat him, Giovanni would naturally become the Champion.
"That truly is a statement befitting your character, Lance."
A hint of intense malice appeared on Giovanni's somewhat dark face.
"Didn't you want to see my Mega Evolution? I'll show you now!"
Giovanni threw out his fifth Poké Ball.
The Poké Ball opened in mid-air, a flash of white light, and the sound of insect wings flapping rapidly swept across the sky.
Finally, it slowly landed in front of Giovanni, holding its twin stingers and staring at the Dragonite in front of Lance.
The entire venue erupted in an uproar, countless people showing expressions of astonishment.
Because Giovanni's fifth Pokémon was, surprisingly… a Beedrill?!