"Grrrnnngh!!"
Upon receiving the command, Probopass's massive body trembled with a deep metallic rumble.
Then, one Magnet Bomb after another—each roughly the size of an adult's head—burst through the air and hurtled toward Chesnaught.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh…!"
"Chesnaught, don't be afraid! Charge straight through and use Hammer Arm!"
Seeing Wikstrom order Probopass to use Magnet Bomb, Wrench's expression showed none of the panic or nervousness he had displayed earlier.
Instead, a confident smile appeared on his face.
Once the counterattack command was given, Chesnaught did something completely unexpected.
Rather than dodging Probopass's barrage of Magnet Bombs, it charged straight toward them head-on!
"Ah…!"
The sight immediately had Wrench's friends and family members in the audience covering their mouths in worry, their fingers trembling anxiously.
But in the very next moment, the situation on the battlefield took a dramatic turn.
The members of Wrench's support group, who had been worried sick just moments ago, finally breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"BOOM—CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!!"
The Magnet Bombs slammed into Chesnaught's armored body.
But instead of exploding normally, they simply failed to detonate and dispersed harmlessly.
"Roar~!"
Chesnaught charged straight through the barrage.
Before Wikstrom and Probopass could react, Chesnaught clenched its fist.
In an instant, its fist became as large as a cooking pot.
Then it drove a devastating punch straight into Probopass's body!
"BOOM!!"
"Grrrnnngh~!"
Probopass was a Rock/Steel-type Pokémon, meaning Fighting-type attacks were four times as effective against it.
After taking a direct Hammer Arm, Probopass let out a painful cry as the enormous impact forced its body backward.
It skidded across the battlefield for several meters before finally coming to a stop.
"The Magnet Bombs had no effect on your Chesnaught earlier."
Wikstrom looked toward Wrench's Chesnaught rather than paying much attention to the temporarily pushed-back Probopass.
"So your Chesnaught must have the Bulletproof Ability."
"That's right. As expected of Elite Four Wikstrom—you saw through Chesnaught's Ability at a glance."
Although his Pokémon's secret had been exposed, Wrench's tone carried a faint hint of pride as he praised Wikstrom.
"Hahaha! I didn't expect your Chesnaught to possess the rare Hidden Ability, Bulletproof."
"But I've already fallen for that trick once. I certainly won't make the same mistake a second time."
…
…
"Probopass, grab it and use Tri Attack!"
The two sides exchanged blows for several rounds, allowing Wrench to display as much of his strength as possible.
Once Wikstrom felt that the timing was right, he began taking the battle a little more seriously.
Without the slightest hesitation, he issued his counterattack command.
Probopass immediately responded.
Using its magnetic power, it manipulated the iron filings beneath its enormous nose, which resembled a thick mustache.
The iron filings instantly transformed into a black chain.
With a violent snap, the chain wrapped tightly around Chesnaught.
Under Probopass's magnetic control, the restrained Chesnaught was pulled completely off the ground, its feet dangling helplessly as it floated in midair.
Below it, Probopass positioned itself like a massive cannon.
It aimed directly at the airborne Chesnaught.
Three distinct types of energy rapidly gathered.
Red flames.
Golden lightning.
Pale-white ice.
In the next instant, the three different energies transformed into three brilliant beams of power and simultaneously blasted toward Chesnaught!
Chesnaught —
Probopass —
"BOOOOM!!"
"Roarrr~!"
Electric-type energy wasn't particularly effective against Chesnaught.
But Fire- and Ice-type attacks were both super effective.
Under the combined torment of ice and fire, Chesnaught let out a miserable cry.
Its eyes rolled upward, and it immediately lost the ability to battle.
"Chesnaught is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Elite Four Wikstrom!"
With Chesnaught down, the referee at the side of the battlefield loudly announced the result.
The match had been decided.
The instant the audience heard the result, the entire stadium erupted into thunderous cheers.
"Elite Four Wikstrom…! Elite Four Wikstrom…!!"
"Wikstrom…! Wikstrom…!!"
"Elite Four Wikstrom…! Elite Four Wikstrom…!!"
"Elite Four Wikstrom…! Elite Four Wikstrom…!!"
"…"
"…"
Before the match began, there had still been plenty of spectators cheering for Wrench.
But now that Wikstrom had secured the victory, the cheers for the winner completely drowned out those supporting Wrench.
Even Wikstrom himself raised his voice and said,
"Let's give a round of applause to Wrench as well! He gave us a wonderful battle!"
Wrench's friends and family also loudly applauded and cheered for him.
But compared with the overwhelming roar of the crowd celebrating Wikstrom's victory, their voices were almost completely swallowed up.
The first match had ended.
Wrench recalled Chesnaught into its Poké Ball and left the battlefield.
The intermission lasted less than three minutes.
Soon afterward, a staff member hurried into the waiting room and informed Clemont that it was time for him to prepare for the next match.
"Gym Leader Clemont, the second match is about to begin. Please get ready…"
"I'm heading out, Ash."
Clemont, who had been chatting with Ash, rose from his seat and glanced at him.
"All right. Make sure you give it your best."
Ash nodded, stood up, and patted Clemont on the shoulder encouragingly.
"Mm."
Clemont answered before following the staff member out through the waiting-room door.
"Up next is a battle between the Gym Leader of the Lumiose City Electric-type Gym and Kalos League Elite Four member Wikstrom!"
"The battle format will be one-on-one!"
"Now, both Trainers, please send out the Pokémon you have prepared for battle."
Clemont followed the entrance passage onto the battlefield.
The referee once again issued the signal for both sides to prepare.
"Helioptile, I'm counting on you for this battle."
Clemont didn't hesitate.
He immediately took out a Poké Ball and threw it onto the field.
On the opposite side, Wikstrom didn't take advantage of the situation either.
At almost the exact same moment Clemont threw his Poké Ball, Wikstrom removed another one from his Trainer belt and tossed it onto the battlefield.
"Escavalier, it's your turn to take the field!"
Wikstrom's voice rang out with tremendous authority.
"Bang! Bang~!"
The Poké Balls opened.
Almost simultaneously, the two Pokémon appeared on the battlefield.
Clemont's Helioptile was the very same Pokémon he had previously lent to Ash when Pikachu was learning Electroweb.
More than half a year had passed since then.
During that time, Helioptile had grown considerably stronger.
Its entire presence was now far more powerful than before.
On Wikstrom's side, the Pokémon he had sent out was a Bug/Steel-type Escavalier.
Escavalier was a Pokémon native to the Unova region.
It evolved from Karrablast after being traded for Shelmet.
During the trade evolution, the original Shelmet body emerged from its shell and became Accelgor, while Karrablast took possession of Shelmet's metallic shell and evolved into Escavalier.
Escavalier possessed the appearance of a true knight.
Its body was clad in imposing metallic armor, while its hands carried two long knightly lances.
A knight's helmet covered its head.
At first glance, its entire body seemed to be completely encased in armor.
Yet beneath the armor, one could still make out its blue skin and black face.
The overall appearance was imposing and majestic.
There was something undeniably cool about the armored Pokémon standing proudly across the battlefield.
And now, with Helioptile facing it from the opposite side, the second exhibition match was ready to begin.