"Mega Garchomp, use Dragon Rush!"
Dragon Rush—also known as Dragon Charge or Dragon Dive!
As one of the Dragon type's most powerful close-range physical attacks, Dragon Rush possessed tremendous destructive power.
Seeing Aiden and Mega Garchomp make their move, Drake immediately shouted,
"Mega Gengar, use Hypnosis!"
Unfortunately for him, an attack like that was completely useless against Aiden.
After all, Aiden himself was a powerful Psychic.
With just a slight release of psychic energy around Garchomp, he could protect it from the effects of Hypnosis.
"Garchomp, now! Use Dragon Claw!"
"What?! Impossible! How can your Garchomp ignore Hypnosis?"
Seeing Drake panic, Aiden said nothing.
Clearly, Drake simply didn't know enough about him.
Any regional Champion familiar with Aiden would know that he possessed psychic powers.
And whether it was psychic power, Aura, the Viridian Force, or similar abilities, none of them were prohibited during official Pokémon battles.
Trying to compete with Aiden using psychic abilities?
Forget it!
The instant Drake became flustered, Mega Gengar also stared at Mega Garchomp in surprise.
Pokémon and Trainers influenced each other during battle, and a Trainer's emotional state could easily affect their Pokémon.
That moment of hesitation was all Garchomp needed.
A terrifying Dragon Claw, seemingly powerful enough to tear space itself apart, descended with unstoppable force and slammed directly into Mega Gengar!
Boom!
Gengar was sent flying out of the battlefield.
It crashed heavily onto the ground, immediately dropping out of its Mega-Evolved state before completely losing consciousness.
Seeing Gengar's eyes turn into spirals, Drake's expression changed dramatically.
Ding! Garchomp defeated Mega Gengar.
Experience gained: 15,000.
Level increased.
Current Level: Lv. 81.
"Gengar is unable to battle!"
"Garchomp wins!"
With two of Drake's Pokémon defeated, he had only one left.
Gritting his teeth, Drake took out his final Poké Ball.
His last Pokémon was—
Ditto!
Ding! Ditto's current attributes are as follows:
Pokémon: Ditto
Level: 78
Ability: Limber
Type: Normal
Potential: Gold
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Locked
Gigantamax: None
Moves: Transform
That was right.
Ditto knew only one move—Transform.
Once transformed, it could imitate its opponent and use all of that Pokémon's moves.
Thus, the moment Ditto entered the battlefield, it prepared to transform into Garchomp.
Aiden, however, immediately recalled Garchomp.
"I'm counting on you, Drapion!"
Drapion had originally been a Skorupi that Aiden caught shortly after arriving in the Sinnoh region.
It had long since completed its final evolution and was one of the relatively few Poison- and Dark-type Pokémon on Aiden's team.
Of course, Drapion was also a Pokémon that people often mistakenly assumed was a Bug type!
As Drapion entered the battlefield, Ditto had no choice but to transform into Drapion instead.
For a moment, two identical Drapion stood opposite one another.
"Drapion, use Pin Missile!"
At Aiden's command, Drapion raised both claws.
Countless needle-like projectiles erupted forward, blanketing the battlefield in a barrage of attacks.
Facing the overwhelming firepower, Drake immediately ordered,
"Ditto, use Pin Missile too!"
Ditto was certainly an unusual Pokémon with an extraordinary ability.
However, it also placed extremely high demands on its Trainer.
Transform allowed Ditto to copy the opponent's appearance and moves.
But if its Trainer didn't understand the Pokémon it had transformed into, there was no way to fully utilize its new capabilities.
And once that happened, Ditto would naturally lose much of the advantage provided by Transform.
As both sides unleashed Pin Missile, countless projectiles collided throughout the battlefield.
Explosions rang out one after another.
Dust and smoke quickly swallowed the entire arena.
And at that exact moment—
Drapion moved!
It charged toward Ditto at high speed.
Hidden within the smoke, beyond Drake's line of sight, Drapion opened its jaws and sank a pair of venomous fangs directly into Ditto!
Although Ditto had transformed into Drapion's appearance, it naturally couldn't truly obtain Drapion's Poison typing.
Thus, as the violent toxin entered Ditto's body, it was immediately poisoned!
Seeing this, Aiden's lips curled into a faint smile.
This battle was already decided.
"Drapion, use Cross Poison!"
Taking advantage of Ditto's poisoned condition, Drapion immediately attacked.
Poison energy gathered around it before a vicious Cross Poison slammed into Ditto and sent it flying!
"Finish it! Fell Stinger!"
At Aiden's command, Drapion roared.
The enormous stinger on its tail—the most dangerous weapon of its scorpion-like body—shot forward and stabbed directly into Ditto!
The combination of intense poison and overwhelming pain instantly caused Ditto to lose consciousness.
Ding! Drapion defeated Ditto.
Experience gained: 12,000.
Level increased.
Drapion has reached Lv. 82. Current attributes are as follows:
Pokémon: Drapion
Divine Authority: None
Level: 82
Ability: Battle Armor
Type: Poison / Dark
Potential: Gold
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Locked
Moves: Poison Sting, Pin Missile, Toxic Spikes, Bug Bite, Poison Fang, Night Slash, Screech, Fell Stinger, Cross Poison, Crunch, Hone Claws, Venoshock...
Affinity: 255
Profile: The leader of a Drapion colony living in the forest near Lake Valor. It possesses far greater strength than an ordinary Drapion and constantly waves its thick tail around to demonstrate its position as leader and show off its power. After evolving, this habit became even more obvious!
Likes: Fighting and showing off its tail.
Looking at Ditto lying unconscious on the battlefield, the referee immediately raised his flag.
"Ditto is unable to battle!"
"Drapion wins!"
"As all three of Mr. Drake's Pokémon are unable to battle, the winner is Champion Aiden!"
"Champion Aiden advances to the Top 16!"
The instant the result was announced, thunderous cheers erupted from the audience.
Of course, almost everyone had predicted this outcome from the beginning.
The only real question had been—
How long would Aiden need to win?
With Aiden securing his victory, the remaining matches continued.
Eventually, the list of all sixteen Trainers advancing to the next round was officially finalized!
And that meant the true battle was about to begin.
From this point onward, the remaining sixteen Trainers would participate in full six-on-six battles.
They would fight for the final eight positions—
The coveted seats of the Masters Eight!
Only those eight Trainers would have the right to stand at the pinnacle of the inaugural World Championships and prove that they truly belonged among the strongest Trainers in the world.
...
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