As Magmortar lost its ability to battle, Paul also recalled Magmortar without saying a word of encouragement, unlike Ash, who would encourage his Pokemon. Instead, Paul silently took out his next Pokeball.
"Aren't you going to encourage Magmortar? He did his best in this battle too."
"A loss is a loss. The winner takes it all. That guy's strength isn't enough, that's all there is to it."
"I thought you had changed a bit, but you're still so annoying." Ash frowned slightly, expressing some dissatisfaction.
Originally, there was a feeling that Paul might have changed when he showed concern for Infernape, but judging from his current attitude towards his Pokemon, there was no change at all. He was still the cold-hearted Paul he always was, showing not a hint of change.
In response to Ash's words, Paul simply said: "Aggron, prepare for battle!"
With a flash of light, a massive creature appeared on the battlefield.
Aggron, a Pokemon Ash had faced before, was part of Conway's spatial team, and quite formidable. However, Paul's Aggron was even stronger, with a larger physique and Gym-level strength, having an attribute advantage over Conway's Aggron.
Faced with such a monstrous presence, Ash brought out...
"You're up, Venusaur!"
"Veeena!!" Ash's second Pokemon, Venusaur, marked the first time Ash used Venusaur in the Quartz Conference.
"So that Bulbasaur evolved..." Upon seeing Venusaur, Paul frowned, deep in thought, and promptly recalled Aggron, tossing out his next Pokeball instead.
"Froslass, prepare for battle." With a flash of light, a Pokemon that appeared to be wearing a kimono appeared on the field. This was a snowy-white Pokemon with a mask on its face seemingly made of ice, revealing purple skin beneath.
Her body looked like she was wearing a kimono, giving her the appearance of a snow maiden emerging from an iceberg.
From the appearance alone, it was obvious that this Pokemon was an Ice-type. Ash knew this was Froslass, a Pokemon discovered in the Sinnoh Region, evolving from a female Snorunt using a Dawn Stone.
Paul was clearly not the kind of trainer who stubbornly charged ahead. After seeing Venusaur, switching Pokemon was inevitable.
After all, Aggron was four times weak to Venusaur. Even if level wasn't a factor, with a four-time disadvantage, there was no way Aggron could be Venusaur's match. The four-times weakness was just too severe.
Just look at Lance. If Lance's main Dragonite wasn't four times weak to Lorelei, he wouldn't be stuck at the Elite Four level. Among the trainers of the Elite Four of Kanto, Lance would definitely be number one.
If it weren't for the four-times weakness, Lance would be the Champion of both Johto and Kanto by now.
Even Champion Lance couldn't overcome a four-times attribute disadvantage to defeat his opponent, so naturally, Paul wouldn't be so stubborn either.
"Ash's second Pokemon is the never-before-seen Venusaur, but this Venusaur is certainly familiar to everyone. It evolved from the Bulbasaur that defeated Elite Koga. Meanwhile, Paul retracted his Aggron, being four times weak to Venusaur, and sent out the Ice-type Froslass, who has an advantage over Venusaur. How will Ash respond?!"
The commentator's enthusiastic voice rang out. Even though his professional judgment was proven wrong in the last match, it wasn't really his fault. Who would have thought Ash's Infernape could defy the odds like that, managing three Flare Blitzes at low health without losing its ability to battle? This was completely unprecedented!
Thus, the commentator's confidence remained unshaken, continuing to simplify the situation on the field, explaining for the audience who weren't familiar with what was going on.
"Venusaur, use Razor Leaf!" Paul had switched his Pokemon, but Ash had no intention of switching. Facing the negative attribute head-on!
"Veeena!" Venusaur roared, launching dozens of spinning, sharp leaves from the large flower on its back. The emerald-green leaves seemed to slice open the air, shooting directly at Froslass.
Paul's eyes narrowed, and his voice coldly echoed: "Froslass, use Hail."
"Woooh~" Froslass raised both hands, as if praying to the heavens, just as Razor Leaf hit her. The sharp leaves tore into her kimono and mask, leaving several cuts.
Grass-Type against Ice-Type was not weak, and this hit dealt significant damage to Froslass. At the same time, Froslass successfully used Hail, causing light snow to fall from the sky, and strong winds began to blow across the battlefield. Froslass's figure vanished into the snowy weather.
The Ability Snow Cloak allowed Froslass to hide her body in the snow, thus dodging enemy attacks. This was her hidden Ability, the reason Paul had Froslass use Hail despite being hit by Razor Leaf.
The other reason was Razor Leaf's speed was simply too fast for Froslass to dodge. So instead, she took on that attack to use Hail, the correct tactic.