The smoke had yet to clear, and the battle that Tetsuya had thought was about to end suddenly took another turn.
Houndoom, Miltank, and Ditto were all defeated by a single Solar Beam. The four-headed Weezing was also caught in the attack and collapsed after having already expended a tremendous amount of energy.
Even Tetsuya found this difficult to accept, but he had no choice but to recall all four Pokémon into their Poké Balls.
Now he had even fewer Pokémon available, leaving only Mamoswine, Golurk, and Beedrill…
Once the smoke finally dispersed, what appeared before Tetsuya was a… Venusaur?
If it had simply been an ordinary Venusaur, it would not have been enough to surprise him…
The plant on this Venusaur's back was exceptionally vivid, even somewhat unnaturally so. From what Tetsuya knew about Venusaur, it was a dual-type Grass/Poison Pokémon. The plant on its back was also highly poisonous, and the stronger its toxicity, the more vivid the plant became.
Five energy beams extended from Venusaur's body and pierced into the five fallen Pokémon on the ground. The poison within those five Pokémon were continuously drawn into Venusaur's body.
'This…'
It was clearly just an ordinary Giga Drain. How could it possibly possess the ability to absorb poison?
At that moment, the old man burst into laughter…
"Boi, do you think you won just now because you were 'stronger' than me? Those five Pokémon had simply been drained by Venusaur, weakening their capacities. Now my Venusaur has reached its most critical moment, and the value of those five has come to an end. This Venusaur is the true final victor!
I specifically raised it to deal with my dear compeer, Agatha. Its Giga Drain can absorb the poison of any Poison-type. Today, your Pokémon will also become targets for it to drain, ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Tetsuya stared coldly. He had never known that Venusaur could be raised in such a way. This was something he had never encountered in his previous life, and a Venusaur like this had never appeared in public either.
According to the old man, he was Agatha's… senpai? It seemed entirely possible that Agatha had eliminated him before he ever had the chance to take revenge.
This location was near Fuchsia City, and Fuchsia Gym had always had one of Agatha's students serving as its Gym Leader. The old man had chosen to train in this area, which showed just how deep his grudge against Agatha must have been.
Using Fuchsia Gym as a catalyst to bring down Agatha was indeed a fairly good idea.
Before his eyes, the five Pokémon on the ground had their poison completely drained by Venusaur and died. Venusaur's target was now Tetsuya, or more precisely, the old man's objective was the Pokémon in Tetsuya's possession.
"Beedrill, Golurk, fall back. Mamoswine, advance."
Tetsuya had already prepared for battle. It was not because he was battle-hungry, but judging solely by that Solar Beam, he wouldn't be able to walk away without an intense battle… and besides, his research into Poison-type Pokémon made it impossible for him to pass up the chance to gauge the capacities of a Venusaur like that one.
The old man was so confident in this Venusaur, and it was supposedly his secret weapon for dealing with Elite Four Agatha. It certainly had something extraordinary about it. Perhaps Tetsuya might even be able to discover how this Venusaur had been raised through the battle.
Mamoswine charged. The previously blazing sunny sky instantly became covered with dark clouds, while the temperature rapidly plummeted. Snowflakes began drifting down from the sky, followed immediately by hail.
Tetsuya sneered. Weather like this was unquestionably extremely unfavorable for a Venusaur with the Grass type.
At the very least, Tetsuya had gained one favorable condition. It was now impossible for Venusaur to use a Solar Beam as powerful as the one it had just unleashed.
"Icicle Spear."
Tetsuya launched the first attack. Mamoswine fired successive Icicle Spears, merely as a probing attack.
Venusaur swung its vines, knocking the Icicle Spears to the ground.
Dozens of vines danced around Venusaur, forming an impenetrable defense. Blizzard and hail had virtually no effect on it. This Venusaur's vines whips had already become a perfect defensive line.
However, as far as Tetsuya knew, Venusaur could only learn a handful of Poison-type moves on its own… Poison Powder, Toxic, Sludge Bomb, and Venoshock.
It was simply impossible to raise Venusaur into a "king" among Poison types. Moreover, Poison was Venusaur's secondary type, and its toxicity simply could not compare with Pokémon whose primary type was Poison. This was also one of the reasons Tetsuya had not raised Venusaur in his previous life.
Yet the person before him had raised this Venusaur with Poison as its primary focus…
Just how much power it could reveal was something Tetsuya needed to verify for himself!
"Mamoswine, 'Blizzard'."
Tetsuya gave the command, thinking that Venusaur was already using more than a dozen vines to deal with the hail falling from the sky. What other method could it possibly have to deal with Mamoswine's ultimate move?
Blizzard howled forth, bearing straight down on Venusaur. Yet Venusaur remained completely unmoved, merely adjusting the direction in which its vine whips were swinging. As the whips lashed out, they tore an opening through the Blizzard, leaving Venusaur completely unharmed.
However, this was only the first stage of Blizzard…
Immediately afterward, the Blizzard transformed into a [Blizzard Cyclone], closing in on Venusaur from every direction. Venusaur's dozen or so vine whips could no longer remain concentrated, naturally reducing their power considerably.
Their dispersed defense was already proving inadequate, and the vine whips were overwhelmed by the [Blizzard Cyclone].
"Humph… Venusaur, make your move."
Venusaur unleashed dozens of Leaf Storms, each one moving to counter a [Blizzard Cyclone]. However, these were by no means ordinary Leaf Storms. Purple poison energy was swept up within the storms, while Poison Powder was mixed among the flying leaves.
Leaf Storm alone was simply incapable of contending with Mamoswine's Blizzard, as could be seen from how it was steadily forced back by the [Blizzard Cyclone].
However, as the cyclones advanced, a series of "hissing" sounds could be heard. Its advance grew slower and slower, while the blizzard itself became increasingly thin.
Tetsuya kept his eyes fixed on the changes across the field. Had this Venusaur's toxins truly become this powerful?
Although the power of Leaf Storm could not contend with Blizzard, the Poison Powder's toxins within it could actually corrode and dissolve the hail and snowflakes. As a result, the blizzard was reduced to nothing more than a simple cold wind.
Although it still inflicted some damage on Venusaur, its power could no longer be compared to what it had been before.
Even worse, with the hail and snowflakes gone, the third stage, [Blizzard Vortex], could no longer be completed!
"Giga Drain." The old man sneered as dozens of energy spikes extended from Venusaur and pierced directly into Mamoswine's body.
However, Tetsuya was not particularly worried by this. Relying solely on Grass-type moves, there was absolutely no way this Venusaur could defeat his Mamoswine.
But in the very next second, Tetsuya abandoned that naive thought in shock. This was probably the most terrifying aspect of Venusaur…