Lucas' words had barely faded when—
"GUUUZZZ!!"
A deep, hoarse, and ferocious roar erupted through the air—it was the Guzzlord!
"Aggron!" Iris's expression changed slightly, for she had seen it clearly—
The Guzzlord's massive pincers had already clamped tightly around Aggron's two legs, and right now Aggron was struggling desperately, trying to break free from that crushing grip!
"Dark Pulse!"
The Guzzlord gathered a dark light in front of its maw, the energy pulsing with malevolent power before it shot forward and slammed directly into Aggron.
The dark energy exploded across Aggron's metallic armor with a violent boom!
"Stop it Aggron, Metal Sound!"
Iris immediately shouted her command.
But the Guzzlord was faster!
Aggron gritted its teeth through the pain, lifting its head as it tried once again to unleash its Metal Sound.
Metal Sound was a supporting-type move—while it lowered the opponent's special defense, the piercing torment it caused to an enemy's eardrums could also throw them into agony.
However, just as Aggron raised its head, an immense force suddenly surged up from beneath its feet. Caught completely off guard, Aggron lost its balance and toppled heavily to the side!
BOOM!
Aggron crashed onto the ground with a thunderous impact!
"Aggron!"
Iris's expression tightened—falling down at a time like this… this was bad!
Given Aggron's massive weight, remaining upright was fine, but once it fell, it couldn't get up quickly at all. And that, of course, left it completely open to enemy attacks.
"Bulldoze!"
Lucas did not waste this golden opportunity.
Guzzlord spun around, its tail swinging high like a meteor hammer, and under Iris's anxious gaze, it smashed it down mercilessly!
BOOM!
The Guzzlord's tail struck Aggron's body just as it was struggling to rise.
The terrifying crash resounded across the arena—Aggron was slammed hard into the ground again, its face twisting in pain as cracks spiderwebbed across the battle platform beneath it.
Such overwhelming power—this strike had been too heavy!
Especially since it landed on Aggron's exposed back, the pain must have been excruciating.
"So vicious…" Many spectators gasped, stunned by the brutal scene.
That massive tail came down like a meteor—just imagining it landing on them made their own bodies go cold.
It seemed Iris might lose again…
"Earthquake!"
Guzzlord lifted one massive leg and stomped down hard.
The entire battlefield shuddered violently as invisible shockwaves rippled outward.
Aggron, being the closest target, took the full brunt of the quake.
It let out a pained roar—the effect of Earthquake was especially devastating against it!
Iris's expression grew dark. Aggron had a quadruple weakness to Ground-type moves! That Earthquake had dealt an enormous blow to it.
And worse yet—
Aggron could barely resist, because the Guzzlord still had its pincers clamped tightly around its legs!
"Oh? It hasn't fainted yet?"
Lucas raised an eyebrow, mildly surprised that Aggron still hadn't gone down.
Its endurance was unexpectedly strong—but seeing how weakened it looked, it wouldn't last much longer.
"Fire Blast."
Lucas spoke calmly, as if merely stating a fact.
The Guzzlord kicked Aggron's body aside, then immediately spat out a blazing kanji-shaped inferno.
BOOM!
The Fire Blast erupted violently, sparks flying everywhere—and by the time the flames dissipated, Aggron had completely lost consciousness.
"Aggron is unable to battle! Guzzlord wins!"
The referee quickly stepped forward to examine Aggron, then glanced at the silent Iris and raised his flag to announce the result.
Hang in there, Iris…
The referee sighed inwardly. As someone from the Unova region, of course his heart leaned toward Iris.
"Woooooah!!"
As the referee's voice echoed, the entire Opelucid Arena erupted in deafening cheers.
"What a powerful dragon!"
Clair's eyes sparkled as she stared at the Guzzlord in awe.
Despite its terrifying and feral appearance, there was no denying—it was strong. Incredibly strong!
Aggron's earlier attacks had made even Clair hold her breath for Lucas for a moment, but she hadn't expected the tide to turn so quickly.
It wasn't the Guzzlord that fell but the Aggron that had appeared to have the upper hand, completely overwhelmed in an instant.
This Guzzlord was truly extraordinary!
"Indeed. Its endurance is simply incredible," Cassius remarked, shaking his head in admiration.
Aggron had clearly seized the initiative earlier, even managing to suppress the Guzzlord but no one could have predicted that the counterattack would come so swiftly and violently.
"The Guzzlord's biggest strength might just be its absurdly high stamina," Green commented, eyes gleaming with interest.
She and Marnie both owned a Guzzlord too, but theirs were nowhere near the level of Lucas's.
After watching two of Lucas's matches, Green was starting to understand the proper way to use one.
There was no need to fight for the first strike—just defend, endure, and then counterattack decisively.
And with its outstanding endurance, it could take a hit long enough to return one even stronger.
"Iris has already lost two Pokémon in a row…"
Rosa bit her lip nervously as she looked toward the field.
Although she knew Lucas, of course she wanted her best friend Iris to win.
But right now, things looked terrible.
This Lucas… was just too strong. It was almost unfair—after all, Iris had even defeated Hoenn Champion Wallace before!
"Your strategy was impressive," Lucas said, recalling the Guzzlord and smiling at her. "But unfortunately, you still underestimated it."
Her battle sense had been quite good—better than he expected.
That Metal Sound was a clever move, and it had worked rather well.
However, in truth, Lucas had done it all on purpose.
"When you made that surprised face earlier—it was really quite something."
He smirked slightly, tilting his head playfully.
Yes—he had done it deliberately. He wanted to see that look of shock on Iris's face—when someone thought they had victory in their grasp, only for everything to be suddenly flipped upside down.
It was… amusing.
"You really have a twisted sense of humor."
Iris's eyelid twitched—was that really what he had been thinking about at that moment?
No wonder he used to be in Team Rocket!
"Well, people should always take pleasure in the things they enjoy seeing," Lucas said with a half-smile. "But right now… it's still battle time."
"Guzzlord's role is done. Next, let this one play with you a bit."
He reached for another Poké Ball, enlarging it in his hand.
"I won't let my guard down this time!"
Iris's eyes sharpened. Play with me? Did he think their battle was just a game?!
Don't underestimate me!
"Honestly, whether you take it seriously or not," Lucas shrugged innocently, "the result will still be the same."
"…"
Iris was speechless—but she couldn't deny that he might be right.
"Alright then—come out, Arbok!"
Lucas threw the Poké Ball backward with a flick of his wrist.
A massive, golden cobra landed on the field, its body coiling as its icy, vertical pupils locked onto Iris.
Shiny Arbok!
"It's that Arbok!"
From the audience, Rosa's eyes went wide. She could never forget it!
That same Arbok had once nearly swallowed her Serperior whole!
After that, Serperior had suffered from a long-lasting trauma—whenever it saw a snake-shaped Pokémon, it would start trembling uncontrollably…
How infuriating!
"Arbok, huh…"
Iris studied the golden cobra carefully. Though she knew she shouldn't judge by appearances, something about this one didn't seem right…
Normally, an Arbok's length averaged around 3.5 meters—perhaps four meters for particularly large specimens.
But this golden Arbok before her… looked easily over four meters, maybe even close to five!
Such an enormous cobra—it sent a shiver down Iris's spine.
Compared to other snake-like Pokémon, Arbok's sheer presence was truly terrifying.
"If it's a serpent, then I'll use you, Archeops!"
Without hesitation, Iris threw her Poké Ball.
A prehistoric bird Pokémon landed before her with a cry—it was Archeops!
"Rock and Flying type, huh? Another type advantage," Lucas mused, glancing over the ancient bird.
Its appearance was a blend of dragon and bird traits—a Pokémon resurrected from fossils of an ancient age.
Though it wasn't exactly elegant, it was undeniably powerful.
And with Arbok being a pure Poison type, its Poison moves wouldn't be very effective against a Rock/Flying Pokémon.
"Archeops, Tailwind!"
Iris acted immediately, commanding Archeops to take the initiative!
With a powerful flap of its wings, a fierce wind pressure spread across half the battlefield.
The gusts swept toward Arbok, but the golden cobra stood firm, its cold eyes unblinking as it fixed its gaze on the airborne Archeops.
"Dig."
Lucas's lips curved upward slightly as he gave his command.
Arbok abruptly dove forward—its head plunging into the ground as its massive body followed, disappearing underground and leaving behind a large hole.
"Earthquake!" Iris's face broke into a confident smile.
If the opponent had used Dig, then of course the best counter was Earthquake!
Archeops spread its wings, leaping high into the air before preparing to slam down—
Under the effects of Earthquake, any Pokémon hiding underground would take even more damage than usual!
(End of Chapter)