The battleground at the Breeding Center.
This was a match that drew the attention of many people at the facility.
"I choose you, Metagross!" Wayne called out.
Alan shouted loudly in response, "Go, Incineroar!"
Wayne against Alan—a matchup chosen by Blue himself.
It seemed Wayne was developing a reputation as a master of type disadvantage battles.
Incineroar, a Fire and Dark-type Pokémon, had super-effective moves against Metagross, which was Steel and Psychic-type.
Blue wanted to observe Wayne's command ability through this particular battle.
Why not have Claire participate instead?
Claire's breeding ability was stronger than Alan's overall, but her Glameow was purely a companion pet with almost zero combat capability.
It was also because Incineroar was exceptionally powerful.
The value of being called "the universe's number one Incineroar" wasn't just for show.
Incineroar let out a threatening Snarl as it entered the battlefield, activating its Intimidate Ability. Unfortunately for Alan, Wayne's Metagross had the Clear Body Ability, which prevented stat reductions.
Alan already knew this fact about Metagross.
It was just that the Snarl alone carried tremendous presence and momentum.
As a former Pokémon World Martial Arts Tournament Champion, Alan was well aware of how important battle momentum and psychological pressure could be.
Incineroar knew Darkest Lariat, and using Iron Defense would be useless against that move—it would shatter the defense in minutes.
So Wayne's opening move was strategic.
"Metagross, use Agility!" Wayne commanded.
Metagross's body transformed into a blur, flickering rapidly across the battlefield like a silver afterimage.
"Incineroar, Darkest Lariat!" Alan countered.
Incineroar held its arms out wide, wreathing them in swirling flames as it began to spin.
Like a fiery twister capable of destroying a parking lot!
But Metagross had superior speed, especially now with the boost from Agility working in its favor.
Looking at Metagross flickering across the field like a silver stream of light, Alan adjusted his strategy.
"Incineroar, use Bulk Up!"
Alan, commanding from his position, struck a Bulk Up pose alongside his Pokémon in perfect synchronization.
"Interrupt it! Bullet Punch!" Wayne ordered immediately.
After using Agility, Metagross's speed advantage became even more apparent. A quick Bullet Punch connected with Incineroar's face, successfully interrupting the Bulk Up attempt.
The move's damage wasn't particularly high, but interrupting Bulk Up was the main objective—and it succeeded perfectly.
"Cross Chop!" Alan called out.
"Dodge it!" Wayne responded instantly.
Metagross's powerful brain quickly calculated the trajectory of Incineroar's incoming Cross Chop attack.
Like the exquisite footwork described in martial arts novels, Metagross gracefully brushed past the Cross Chop with minimal movement.
Shion, with her distinctive twin ponytails bouncing, exclaimed excitedly, "That was so close!"
Between Metagross and Incineroar, Shion was definitely hoping for Metagross to win.
After all, the Shiny Metagross was much cooler in her opinion.
Alan's Incineroar didn't know Will-O-Wisp, which was fortunate news for Wayne's strategy.
Alan and Incineroar found themselves completely on the defensive, unable to even land a single hit on Metagross.
"Incineroar, use Flame Charge!" Alan commanded, changing tactics.
Blue nodded slightly from his observation position. This was a good strategic choice.
Using Flame Charge would increase Incineroar's speed, and this particular move was very fast with a higher probability of connecting compared to other offensive moves.
Metagross's super-powered brain calculated the optimal response in less than a tenth of a second.
Metagross had two primary options available: Protect or Teleport.
"Use Teleport, then follow up with Hone Claws!" Wayne ordered.
"Meta!" Metagross acknowledged.
Metagross used Teleport to create immediate distance from Incineroar, and simultaneously executed Hone Claws to boost its attack power.
Flames burned intensely behind Alan as he threw a powerful punch through the air. "Let's use Flame Charge again!"
"Protect, then Scary Face!" Wayne called out.
This time, Metagross didn't dodge. Instead, a terrifying, menacing face materialized before Metagross, imprinting itself onto Incineroar's mind as if the Dark-type had been possessed by a ghost.
Alejandro, who was watching from the sidelines, pushed up his glasses analytically. "This way, the speed boost from Flame Charge will be completely nullified."
Shion asked curiously, "Why do you say that?"
Alejandro smiled and explained patiently, "That's because Scary Face lowers the opponent's Speed stat significantly. Actually, if Alan had reacted faster at that crucial moment, he could have attempted to use Scary Face as well to counter the strategy."
Wayne's command sequence was completely within Blue's expectations.
By boosting both speed and attack power, even if Metagross's moves weren't super-effective against Incineroar, it wouldn't be a significant problem.
After Scary Face lowered Incineroar's speed, Metagross quickly created more distance, not being greedy for additional hits at all.
"Use Hammer Arm! Target the leg!" Wayne commanded strategically.
What made this even more effective was that the Fighting-type move Hammer Arm was super-effective against the Dark-type Incineroar.
Metagross attacked from behind once more, landing a heavy Hammer Arm directly on Incineroar's right leg.
Incineroar grunted in pain, dropping down to kneel on one knee.
"Incineroar! Hold on! Stand up!" Alan encouraged desperately.
Wayne couldn't help but think to himself: Alan, you're quite the persistence expert...
However, Alan had originally been a professional boxer, and perseverance itself was an extremely important trait in that discipline.
Incineroar's jumping ability has been sealed. If Metagross knew Earthquake... Blue was thinking analytically.
Just as Blue was pondering this tactical consideration, Wayne's command rang out clearly, "Metagross, use Earthquake!"
"Let's go all out! Incineroar, Throat Chop!" Alan shouted with determination.
Blue immediately waved his hand as a warning. "Everyone watching, get down!"
Claire quickly held Shion's head protectively, embracing the young girl as they both crouched down low.
Metagross was sent flying backward out of the rising cloud of dust and debris.
Incineroar's powerful Throat Chop had still managed to connect despite everything.
However, Wayne's Metagross had excellent stamina and defensive capabilities. Taking two Throat Chops wouldn't be enough to knock it out of battle.
After the Earthquake-induced tremor subsided and the dust finally settled, Incineroar was already lying on the ground with swirls in its eyes.
Blue, who had remained standing in his cool observational position throughout the intense exchange, raised his left hand as referee. "Incineroar is unable to battle! The winner is Metagross!"
"Meta!" Metagross cried out victoriously.
Shion was even more excited than Wayne himself.
"Yay! Metagross won!" she cheered enthusiastically.
Alan was powerless to offer any rebuttal.
"Hey, hey! That's way too biased, Shion!" he protested weakly.
"Thank you for the match, Alan. That was a great battle," Wayne said respectfully.
Alan rubbed his fists together with a competitive grin.
"I lost to you in a Pokémon battle, but we could always have a real-life sparring match instead," he suggested half-jokingly.
Wayne glanced at Alan, who stood a good half-head taller than him.
"I think I'll pass on that," Wayne declined wisely.
Although Wayne possessed the Heavenly Aura Physique, their weight classes weren't even remotely on the same level.
Wayne also hadn't learned any proper fighting techniques that would help him in hand-to-hand combat.
"The strategy was just a bit too straightforward," Blue commented, though he didn't criticize much. His feedback was mostly encouraging toward Alan's effort.
The strength difference between the two Pokémon showed that Metagross was slightly stronger overall, but the gap wasn't enormous by any means.
Alan chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I'm still not very used to fighting in this kind of open battlefield venue."
Alan's words weren't meant as an excuse—they were simply the truth.
The Pokémon World Martial Arts Tournament was traditionally held in a contained ring environment.
Furthermore, the tournament rules specifically prohibited the use of status-changing moves.
Status moves? What status moves? Nobody knew about those in that competition format.
Full-force offensive punches and direct attacks were the tournament's core philosophy.
"Alright, everyone can disperse now," Blue announced, dismissing the gathered crowd.
Blue now had a reasonably clear understanding of both Wayne's and Alan's respective command abilities.
Alan might have been physically taller than Wayne, but in terms of both breeding knowledge and battle command skills, he was inferior to Wayne's capabilities.
However, considering that Alan was a relatively late newcomer to serious Pokémon training and loved Pokémon so deeply, Blue felt that everything was still quite acceptable and promising.
Damn it, why am I becoming more and more like that guy? Blue thought with mild exasperation.
He inexplicably found himself complaining about his own changing personality.
He used to be purely academic in his approach, but after spending time interacting with Red, he'd gradually started paying more attention to Pokémon's emotions and bonds with their Trainers.
Blue had originally booked a hotel room in the city center for his stay.
However, after hearing that Alan had purchased a small villa and lived there alone, Blue chose to stay at Alan's place instead.
After washing up and getting ready for bed, Blue took out his phone.
Looking at the address information and the Eevee Video Network account labeled "Jubilife Breeding Center" that Red had sent him, he felt increasingly uneasy about the coincidence.
"This name... this address..." Blue muttered to himself with growing realization.