"So fast!" The commentator's voice cracked.
Steven's reaction was also lightning-fast, and he immediately ordered: "Air Slash!"
Skarmory's crossed Steel Wing suddenly unfurled, and streaks of transparent wind blades formed instantly, slashing towards the Greninja that was right in front of it!
Too close! At this distance, it was impossible to dodge!
Everyone thought Greninja would be sliced into pieces by the sharp wind blades.
However, Greninja's body twisted in mid-air at an angle that defied the laws of physics, and its tongue scarf, like a long whip, precisely coiled around one of Skarmory's talons!
Using this momentum, Greninja swung its body violently, like swinging on a rope, narrowly dodging all the Air Slash attacks, and subsequently swung onto Skarmory's back!
The entire process was fluid and smooth, breathtakingly fast!
"What?!"
The composure on Steven's face finally vanished, replaced by a touch of gravity.
He had miscalculated.
He thought Ariel would use Greninja's speed and versatile skills to maneuver, but he didn't expect the opponent's tactics to be so aggressive, choosing close-quarters combat right from the start!
Skarmory's most prized defense and flight advantage were gone the moment it was engaged in close quarters!
"Now, Quick Attack!"
Ariel's voice was as cold as a final judgment.
Greninja stood on Skarmory's back, its hands having already condensed two short blades made of water energy.
It gave Skarmory no chance to react; the dual blades were unsheathed, carving two deadly blue arcs through the air!
The blade light was not aimed at Skarmory's hard back armor, but precisely struck the joints where its wings connected to its body!
That was the most fragile part of Skarmory's structure!
Crack!
The crisp sound of breaking, amidst the noisy stadium, was clearly heard by everyone.
Skarmory let out a shrill cry of agony, its prized Steel Wings hanging limply, losing the ability to fly; like a kite with a broken string, it spiraled down from the sky.
With a loud crash, it slammed heavily into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
As for Greninja, the moment it fell, it leapt down lightly, landing steadily in front of Ariel, putting away its water blades, and returning to a half-crouched posture, as if that earth-shattering strike just now had nothing to do with it.
The entire venue was deathly silent.
The referee was stunned for a few seconds before reacting, running over to check Skarmory's condition, and then raising the flag high.
"Skarmory is unable to battle! Therefore, the winner of the first round is, Trainer Ariel!"
After the brief silence, an explosion a hundred times more intense than ever before erupted!
"It... it was a one-hit KO?!"
"Are you kidding me! Mr. Steven's Skarmory, taken out in one hit?!"
"That weak point... it was the wing joint! How did he find it? And in such a high-speed battle!"
Those who bet on Ariel felt their hearts about to jump out of their chests, especially Gym Leader Stern, who gripped the armrest tightly, his palms sweating, but his face filled with a nearly manic excitement.
As for those who had bet everything on Steven, their faces instantly turned pale.
Steven stood in place, looking at the Skarmory that had lost its ability to battle on the field, then looked at the composed Greninja opposite him, and the boy who had been calm from start to finish.
He took a deep breath, took out a Poké Ball to recall Skarmory, his movements still elegant, but his eyes had completely changed.
He had underestimated his opponent.
No, it couldn't even be called underestimating.
He had given enough importance to the match, but Ariel's strength far exceeded his estimation.
That wasn't just an on-the-spot reaction, but an instinct etched into his bones after countless combat drills.
From the Spikes onwards, everything had been within the opponent's calculations.
Using Double Team to force out his area-of-effect attacks, then using Water Shuriken to create water mist as cover, and finally using that god-like footwork to close the distance...
One link after another, without a single flaw.
Steven looked up at Ariel; this time, there was no laziness in his gaze, only pure fighting spirit.
"I underestimated you, Ariel." His voice echoed throughout the venue via the microphone, "Next, I will bring out my true strength."
Ariel didn't respond, just watched him calmly, his gaze seemingly saying:
Come on, then.
The next Poké Ball was tossed by Steven, red light hit the ground, and a Pokémon with a strange form appeared on the field.
It had a sturdy green root base, pink petal-like tentacles swaying from its head, and two yellow eyes peeking out from between the tentacles.
It was Cradily!
A Pokémon revived from ancient fossils by Devon Corporation using cutting-edge technology!
"Ancient life..." The commentator's voice was somewhat excited, "Trainer Steven has sent out the extremely rare Cradily! With its Rock and grass-type dual attributes, this is not good news for Greninja's Water-type and Dark-type!"
The audience erupted again; they didn't expect the second Pokémon to be so rare—this was Steven's true foundation!
Ariel's gaze fell on Cradily, his thoughts racing.
Rock and grass-type; Greninja's Water-type skills and Dark-type skills would deal normal damage.
It was just that it would be super-effectively countered by the opponent's grass-type moves.
"Cradily, Ingrain!" Steven's command was concise and powerful.
The roots at the base of Cradily instantly pierced into the hard battle field, as if merging with the earth, and a green life energy slowly flowed into its body, continuously recovering its stamina.
This was to play a war of attrition.
Ariel would not give the opponent this chance.
He didn't even speak; a telepathic message had already been transmitted to Greninja.
"Greninja!"
Greninja's figure instantly blurred; it didn't choose to use Water Shuriken to probe from a distance, but instead directly chose to charge!
"Too reckless!" Some experienced Trainers in the audience exclaimed.
However, Steven's eyelids twitched. He knew that Ariel would never do anything meaningless.
"Energy Ball!"
The tips of the tentacles on Cradily's head gathered a brilliant green light, and a highly concentrated grass-type Energy Ball whistled out, aiming straight for the charging Greninja.
Here it comes!
In Ariel's Psychic perception, the trajectory of that Energy Ball was incredibly clear.
Almost at the same time the Energy Ball was launched, he issued the second command.
"Aerial Ace!"
Greninja's figure twisted while charging, its entire body wrapped in a sharp air current, and a faint cyan halo appeared on its originally water-blue skin.
Its attribute, at the moment of using a Flying-type move, switched from Water and Dark to purely Flying!
Protean!
Boom!
The grass-type Energy Ball hit Greninja squarely, but the damage was significantly reduced by the Flying-type, only causing its figure to pause for a moment.
And in that split second of hesitation, leveraging the momentum of Aerial Ace, Greninja had closed in on Cradily, and with a palm blade wrapped in flying energy, it slashed fiercely at Cradily's petal tentacles!
"Ugh!" Cradily let out a muffled grunt.
Having succeeded with one strike, Greninja immediately retreated, its movements fluid and smooth, without a hint of hesitation.
"Such fast offense and defense transition!" The commentator's voice went up an octave, "Using the Protean ability to change its own attribute while attacking to resist damage! Trainer Ariel's cultivation and command of Greninja have reached an incredible level!"
Steven's eyes grew even more grave.
This level of command could no longer be achieved through verbal communication alone.
"Truly worthy of being a Psychic, Ariel."
"Ancient Power!" Steven no longer hesitated.
Cradily's whole body lit up with an ancient rocky luster, and countless stones appeared out of thin air, sweeping towards Greninja like a storm!
This was an area-of-effect attack, impossible to dodge!
Greninja dodged and wove through the stone storm, yet was still hit by several rocks, letting out a cry of pain, its aura clearly weakening.
But while toughing out the damage, it quickly formed signs with its hands, and several Water Shuriken were thrown towards Cradily.
Both sides were trading damage for damage!
After a few rounds of exchanges, both Greninja and Cradily were battered, their stamina both dropping to the danger line.
Ariel looked at the panting Greninja and knew they couldn't keep fighting.
Greninja was his core main force; it wasn't worth putting it into a near-faint state just to take out a Cradily.
"Come back."
He calmly took out a Poké Ball, and a red light recalled Greninja.
Knowing when to stop.
The auditorium was in an uproar; in their view, this was almost a stalemate, and Greninja even had a slight upper hand, so why retreat voluntarily?
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