A signature Pokémon and an ace Pokémon were two completely different concepts.
For a Trainer, the two were not necessarily the same Pokémon.
For example, Chuck's signature Pokémon was Poliwrath, while his ace Pokémon was Machamp.
Lorelei's signature Pokémon was Cloyster, while her ace Pokémon was Lapras.
Agatha's signature Pokémon was Gengar, while her ace Pokémon was Arbok.
The reason for this distinction was simple: being powerful did not necessarily mean that a Pokémon left the deepest impression on people.
Because Bruno's Machamp had become so deeply ingrained in people's minds, Chuck's Machamp had somewhat faded into obscurity.
In terms of pure strength, however, the latter was not necessarily that far behind the former.
Combined with factors such as battle records and the spectacular nature of their battles, the signature Pokémon and ace Pokémon of most famous Trainers were somewhat different.
There were exceptions, of course.
Steven's golden-colored Shiny Metagross was one such example. It was practically the best symbol of his identity.
Naturally, becoming a signature Pokémon still required considerable strength.
Even if it was not the strongest member of a Trainer's main team, it had to at least rank among the top three.
Chuck's ability to raise Poliwrath could be considered one of the best in the Pokémon world.
Although the Poliwrath standing before him was only at the Elite level, and although Silas had complete confidence in Serperior's strength, his expression still became extremely serious.
"Treecko, you'll be the referee."
Chuck casually pointed toward a blue-haired young man.
"Yes, Master!"
The blue-haired young man, a Surfboard strapped to his back, answered energetically before walking to the referee's position and getting ready.
"Future Dewford Gym Leader Brawly?"
Silas immediately recognized the young man's identity.
Dewford Town was only a small island settlement in southwestern Hoenn, but it still held considerable influence throughout the Hoenn region. Dewford Gym was also one of Hoenn's eight Gyms.
For someone who would eventually become its Gym Leader, Brawly's strength went without saying.
If Silas remembered correctly, Brawly was also a close friend of Steven.
The reason was naturally connected to a location near Dewford Town called Granite Cave.
It was a place rich in all kinds of rare stones.
"Let me see whether you're really a Trainer who can read the ebb and flow of the tides."
While Silas was observing Brawly, Brawly was observing him as well.
He was curious just how outstanding Silas really was to receive such praise from so many people.
After all, the last person to receive such high praise from Chuck had been Bruno when he was young.
What many people did not know was that Bruno, whose mastery of both hard and soft martial arts had now reached an advanced level, had once trained under Chuck for a period of time.
Of course, according to Chuck, that had been an exchange of knowledge rather than formal training.
But as someone who had grown up training at Cianwood Gym, Brawly knew exactly how eager Bruno had been to learn during that period.
In terms of a Trainer's overall strength or pure hand-to-hand combat, Chuck, whose physical abilities had declined considerably with age, was naturally no longer Bruno's match.
But when it came to understanding and mastering the essence of martial arts, Chuck, who had learned from countless different schools, could absolutely be considered a grandmaster in the Pokémon world.
He had even specifically traveled to the Galar region long ago to study martial arts.
"Then let the battle begin, like a surging tide!"
Brawly shouted passionately, his love of surfing seemingly embedded deep within his blood.
"Serperior, use Leaf Tornado!"
"Ser!"
Serperior tilted its body slightly and whipped its tail.
A massive tornado composed entirely of razor-sharp leaves suddenly appeared on the battlefield.
Before anyone realized it, the battlefield, which should have been nothing more than an ordinary dirt arena, had already been covered by a thin layer of grass.
"That's some impressive Grassy Terrain preparation." Chuck gave a thumbs-up in praise. "Now, smash it apart with Ice Punch!"
He swung his fist enthusiastically.
Chuck was also known as the "man who lets his fists do the talking."
His battle style was simple: attack with his fists, then attack again.
"Poli!"
As his Pokémon, Poliwrath had clearly inherited that philosophy.
Even when facing a Grass-type move that had a type advantage over it, it showed no fear whatsoever.
It clenched both fists.
As a biting chill appeared around them, it charged forward.
Before Silas could react, Leaf Tornado swallowed Poliwrath whole.
"Not good."
Instead of being pleased, Silas became worried.
"Track its movement. Prepare Grass Knot."
Silas gave his command with a solemn expression.
Serperior nodded slightly, its red eyes reflecting the swirling green storm.
"Boom!"
The next moment, a blue-and-white figure burst through the attack and charged straight ahead.
Chuck once again swung his fist.
"Good! Keep that posture and hit Serperior with consecutive Ice Punches!"
"That attack rhythm is incredibly tight."
Silas couldn't help but marvel.
The attitude of completely ignoring how much damage it took and focusing solely on getting into close combat and ending the battle was enough to make anyone feel a chill down their spine.
He could even clearly see the numerous marks covering Poliwrath's body.
They were all wounds left behind by Leaf Tornado.
Even with Ice Punches clearing the way, there was no way Poliwrath could defend itself from an attack that dense with perfect coverage in every direction.
After all, Poliwrath didn't have eyes in the back of its head.
Fortunately, Serperior had already made sufficient preparations.
With the grass growing under the effects of Grassy Terrain concealing their movements, two special blades of grass quietly emerged and intertwined.
A Grass Knot silently waited along Poliwrath's inevitable path.
"Poli!"
Just as expected, Poliwrath seemed completely unaware of the trap and was suddenly tripped.
As Poliwrath lost its balance and began falling forward, Serperior revealed a faint smile.
Grass-type moves were naturally super effective against Water-type Pokémon, and Grass Knot was particularly powerful against a heavy Pokémon like Poliwrath.
Taking this attack alone would consume more than half of Poliwrath's remaining stamina.
"Boom!"
"Ser!"
The next moment, however, Silas understood that it was too early to celebrate.
Serperior, struck directly in the abdomen by Ice Punch, was sent flying backward.
It cried out in pain as a blue-green chill continuously wrapped around its body.
"What incredible flexibility."
Silas secretly clicked his tongue in amazement.
The scene that had just happened replayed itself repeatedly in his mind.
Just as Poliwrath was about to be tripped and slammed into the ground, it had forcibly maintained its balance through sheer strength.
Its two feet gripped the ground firmly, and its entire body seemed to become parallel to the ground as it halted its momentum.
Then all four limbs exerted force simultaneously.
While leaving deep marks in the ground, it reached Serperior at an even greater speed.
Then came two unreasonable, lightning-fast Ice Punches.
"Poli..."
After accomplishing all of that, Poliwrath suddenly let out a sigh of relief and opened its mouth, desperately gasping for breath.
Only Poliwrath itself knew just how much energy that sudden burst had consumed.
Breaking through Leaf Tornado's blockade had been far more difficult than it had imagined.
Although it had forcibly twisted its body and avoided the concealed Grass Knot, the damage it had suffered still remained.
Poliwrath felt its entire body trembling uncontrollably from exhaustion, especially its lower half.
Chuck stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes as he carefully analyzed the battle.
"Is it because of Grassy Terrain? This kind of boost shouldn't be possible.
"Could it be that this Serperior is also close to breaking through to the Elite level? Impressive. Very impressive."
Looking at Poliwrath's condition, Chuck did not choose to pursue the advantage and recklessly expose an opening for Silas to exploit.
Instead, he ordered Poliwrath to take advantage of the opportunity and recover.
"Ser..."
On the other side, Serperior was also reorganizing its body while Grassy Terrain continued to take effect.
Two vines sprouted from both sides of its body and whipped around, smashing the ice covering it into pieces.
It stared at Poliwrath with obvious wariness.
Green light continuously flowed from the battlefield into Serperior's body.
Chuck knew they could not drag this out any longer.
Poliwrath could not use Aqua Ring, and trying to compete with a Grass-type Pokémon in recovery and endurance was simply a case of teaching one's grandmother to suck eggs.
"Jump up, then use Body Slam!"
"Poli!"
Upon hearing Chuck's command, Poliwrath, whose breathing had clearly settled down considerably, spread its legs.
Its powerful muscles suddenly contracted before exploding with force.
"Boom!"
Clouds of dust erupted as it transformed into a blur and shot into the air in the blink of an eye.
Locking onto Serperior's position, Poliwrath performed a forward somersault before spreading all four limbs wide.
A violent impact filled the air above the battlefield.
As the distance between them rapidly decreased, Poliwrath's speed continued to increase.
Visible currents of air enveloped its body.
The watching apprentices cried out in amazement.
But neither Silas nor Serperior showed the slightest trace of fear.
Only when Poliwrath was five or six meters away did Silas finally give his command.
"Aerial Ace!"
The two brief words left his mouth.
Brilliant white light instantly enveloped Serperior's body.
With an agile twist and flick of its body, it moved.
Everyone watching suddenly realized that Serperior had disappeared from their field of vision.
"Can you really use Grassy Terrain like that?"
Brawly, who was serving as the referee and observing the battle from close range, narrowed his eyes.
He could see that the moment Serperior moved, the grass around its body seemed almost sentient, giving it a "push." That was what allowed Serperior to accelerate to an extraordinary speed.
Even as a Trainer specializing in Fighting-type Pokémon, Brawly understood just how difficult such a maneuver was.
"This is bad."
Chuck also understood what Serperior's sudden burst of speed meant.
Poliwrath could slightly alter its direction while airborne, but at such a short distance, there was no way it could keep up with Serperior moving at high speed with Aerial Ace.
Silas's sense of distance was simply too precise.
If the distance had been greater, Poliwrath could have remained airborne longer and waited for Aerial Ace's duration to end.
If the distance had been shorter, Poliwrath could have relied on the tremendous speed of its descent to forcibly keep up with Serperior.
The amount of damage it would suffer was another matter, but at least it could have restricted Serperior's movements.
Unfortunately, five meters was the distance that put Poliwrath in the most difficult position.
"Water Gun. Use the recoil to turn yourself around."
Although he had already reached this conclusion, Chuck still made one final attempt.
"Pssh!"
A powerful stream of water shot from Poliwrath's abdomen.
The recoil from the water striking the ground, combined with Poliwrath's control over its body, caused it to spin around and once again lock onto Serperior's position.
But by then, the white light of Aerial Ace was still concentrated around Serperior.
Its noble red eyes shifted slightly as Serperior twisted its body without the slightest hesitation, changing direction once again.
"BOOM!!"
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Poliwrath, still maintaining its Body Slam posture, crashed heavily into the ground.
Dust billowed into the air, completely obscuring its body.
Serperior returned to its original position and raised the front half of its body upright. Two Vine Whips slowly extended from its sides.
"Puff, puff, puff!"
More than a dozen seeds glowing with green light flew through the air and landed around the cloud of dust.
Under Serperior's control and the effects of Grassy Terrain, countless tiny vines extended from the seeds.
In the blink of an eye, a green, semicircular cage formed over the ground.
Faintly, strange light could be seen flowing through the vines that made up the cage.
The apprentices watching the battle were Trainers themselves, so they naturally recognized one of the most troublesome Grass-type moves of all: Leech Seed.
It inflicted continuous damage while simultaneously restoring the user's strength, making it practically indispensable in a battle of endurance.
"Poliwrath, show them your fighting spirit! Break it with Poison Jab!"
Chuck lowered his center of gravity and unleashed a tremendous roar.
"Boom! Boom!"
As if responding to his voice, several seconds later, dull impacts echoed from within the cage.
Everyone could clearly see one section of the cage bulging violently outward.
"Growth."
Silas had not expected Poliwrath to still have enough strength to fight back under these circumstances, so he once again commanded Serperior to reinforce the vines.
The vines forming the cage expanded and contracted as though they were alive, almost as if they were breathing.
They visibly grew thicker, while their coils tightened even further.
"Boom!"
The impacts became increasingly muffled.
However, the bulging section grew smaller and smaller.
Although they could not see what was happening inside, everyone could imagine the scene.
After a long while, everything finally fell silent.
"Uh…"
Brawly opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something.
"Okay, okay! I give up.
"Kid, hurry up and open this thing! Seriously, you didn't leave me any face at all!"
Chuck's loud voice came from inside.
"Ser!"
Serperior turned to look at Silas and very naturally released its control over the vines.
Silas smiled and praised it.
"Nice work."
"Ser~"
Serperior proudly raised its tail.
Of course.
As the vines disappeared back into the ground, Poliwrath's figure was finally revealed.
Its injuries could no longer be seen because its entire body was tightly bound by the vines, leaving not even the slightest gap.
The vines had not merely immobilized it. While trapped inside the cage, Poliwrath had also been enduring the draining effect of Leech Seed.
With all these factors combined, even though it had used the super-effective Poison Jab, it had still been unable to break through the vines.
"So, the winner of this battle is Silas, our junior disciple."
Brawly looked at Poliwrath, whose eyes were spinning in circles, and announced the result with complete conviction.
The way Silas had mastered these techniques was enough to demonstrate just how powerful a Trainer he truly was.
"Oh my, you're finished already?"
Yuriko's voice came from the entrance.
"Perfect. Don't bother going to the Pokémon Center. I've brought someone back with me."
"Chuck, looks like you got beaten pretty badly!"
An elderly voice slowly came from behind her.
"You old geezer, hurry over here and heal my Poliwrath."
Clearly, Chuck was very familiar with the owner of the voice. He greeted him with a joking curse.
..
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