"She was already strong. Except for Akari, I have never seen a Trainer with more talent than Selene."
Damian chuckled. He was not surprised at all by Selene's performance.
The reason Selene had such confidence when fighting people her own age was because her strength was truly at the top among her peers.
Although her talent was not quite as overwhelming as it was in the games, she did not lack resources. With Damian backing her, how could she ever lack anything she needed?
Her first Pokémon was a Dratini. Later, Damian sent her an Articuno and a Nihilego.
As for her battle opponents, she had a rival like Hau. She also had a Champion-level Trainer like Kukui to practice with personally.
It could be said that among the Trainers of her generation, Selene was the very best, except for Damian himself.
"Selene is truly amazing."
Lillie felt very proud and happy for her friend.
Platinum blinked after hearing this.
"Mr. Damian, can you not even beat Miss Selene?"
Platinum was very curious about this. She did not deny Selene's strength, as the proof was right in front of her.
If it were her, she probably would not be Selene's match. But what about Mr. Damian?
"Me? We are about the same. My level at the end of last year wasn't much better than Selene's."
Damian raised an eyebrow when he heard this, and then he laughed as he spoke.
In other words, at this time last year, Damian was confident he could compare to Selene, or perhaps he was even a little stronger?
That was frightening.
Platinum clicked her tongue inwardly. So in the end, the most talented Trainer of these last two years was Damian himself.
It was impossible for anyone in this era to have better talent than Mr. Damian and Miss Selene, right?
She wondered how talented the future children of Mr. Damian and Miss Selene would be.
Wait, no! Her own daughter with Mr. Damian would have the greatest talent!!
That child was chosen by Arceus itself.
So, having children also depended on luck. Two talented parents did not always mean their child would be even more talented.
Thinking of this, Platinum smiled and looked a little proud.
Seeing Platinum suddenly start smiling shyly, Damian gave her a strange look. He didn't know what she was thinking about.
On the battlefield.
The battle was still continuing. Even though she had just fallen behind, Caitlin did not get discouraged.
Instead, she started battling more carefully. However, Tapu Koko was indeed stronger. Also, Tapu Koko was more flexible and faster.
Caitlin tried to have Tapu Lele use Psychic to limit its movement. However, since their strength was similar, the effect of Psychic was not very strong.
Tapu Koko could still use long-range moves to counterattack while being held by psychic power.
They fought for a while longer. Although Caitlin found an opening for Tapu Lele to hurt Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele's injuries were much worse.
Caitlin was not stubborn. She withdrew Tapu Lele. There was no point in letting Tapu Lele keep fighting. Lele could not defeat Koko. At most, it would only hurt Koko more, but Lele would definitely be unable to battle.
Psychic Surge was important to Caitlin's team. She couldn't let it be defeated right here.
"A very wise choice."
Seeing Caitlin withdraw Tapu Lele, Damian could not help but praise her.
Caitlin was indeed very calm during battle. She did not act on her emotions or insist on having Tapu Lele and Tapu Koko fight until one of them fell.
Because the result was easy to see. Right now, Tapu Lele simply could not match Tapu Koko.
Caitlin's second Pokémon was Hatterene.
This Pokémon had evolved from the Hatenna that Damian had given Caitlin. This Hatterene had the Ability Magic Bounce.
"Trick Room!"
Caitlin was very calm. She had Hatterene use Trick Room.
"That was good! Caitlin made a strong move."
Platinum's eyes lit up slightly. Trick Room could reverse the speed order within its area. Hatterene's speed was very slow.
But inside Trick Room, when facing Tapu Koko, it could turn the situation around!
"It is indeed a good idea, but..." Lusamine looked thoughtful.
"What if Selene also switches her Pokémon?"
Lusamine knew that Selene also had a Pokémon with very low speed.
On the field, Selene first had Tapu Koko attack directly with Wild Charge while Hatterene was using Trick Room. She got a free hit.
A semi-transparent cube of distorted space rose in front of Hatterene and expanded. It twisted the space across the entire battlefield.
Trick Room was complete.
Selene decisively withdrew Tapu Koko and took out her third Poké Ball.
"Melmetal!"
The Poké Ball opened. A large silver metallic Pokémon landed heavily in front of Selene.
"What is this Pokémon?"
Platinum was stunned. She had never seen this Pokémon before, although it seemed a bit familiar.
"Melmetal. A Steel-type, the Hex Nut Pokémon. Its Ability is Iron Fist. It is said that the punches Melmetal throws using the centrifugal force of its heavy hex nuts are considered among the strongest of all Pokémon."
Damian gave a simple introduction of Melmetal.
"It's not strange that you don't recognize it. This is a Mythical Pokémon that is rarely seen."
Damian looked closely at this Melmetal. Selene had told him before that she had caught a Meltan. It seemed it had evolved.
He didn't know how she made Meltan evolve. Did she use Meltan Candy, or was it like in the anime where many Meltan merged to evolve?
But that didn't matter.
So it was actually a Mythical Pokémon...
Platinum looked at this unusually tall and strong Melmetal. It really was special.
"Melmetal is a Pokémon with very strong close-range fighting ability. However, its main weakness is its low speed. But now that Trick Room is active, that weakness disappears."
"Doesn't that mean Caitlin's Trick Room is being used by Selene?"
Lillie tilted her head.
"Exactly. But it still depends on Caitlin's own performance. After all, she set up Trick Room for Hatterene to limit Tapu Koko."
Damian nodded.
"Also, while Melmetal's close combat is extremely strong, its Special Defense is not high. It's lucky that it resists both Psychic and Fairy types."
"But Hatterene knows Mystical Fire. If Caitlin can manage the distance well, it is not impossible to beat Melmetal."
Damian analyzed the situation.
Melmetal was similar to Ultra Beasts in one way. Its strengths and weaknesses were both extreme.
Its strengths were its toughness, power, and defense. But its Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed were all poor.
Of course, Special Attack didn't really matter, because Melmetal didn't rely on Special Attacks to fight. Its Ability was Iron Fist.
Speed was usually a big weakness, but with Trick Room twisting the speed order, Melmetal could move before many faster opponents.
Although in most cases, there wouldn't be a Trick Room set up perfectly for Melmetal.
However, Special Defense was Melmetal's biggest weakness. Melmetal's Special Defense was very low. Fire moves hit Steel hard, and Fire-type moves were very common.
Just like Hatterene, it could learn Mystical Fire.
To some extent, Melmetal was extremely strong when fighting slow Pokémon that relied on close combat.
But against Pokémon that were fast and good at long-range attacks, Melmetal could struggle badly.
This came from the nature of the Pokémon itself. In reality, besides type matchups, the strengths and weaknesses of each Pokémon could also counter one another.
Under the distortion of Trick Room, both Hatterene and Melmetal were very slow. Now, it was basically like they were back at the starting point.
The battle began. Just as Damian predicted, Caitlin observed briefly and confirmed that Melmetal was a close-range powerhouse.
She decisively began to maintain distance. She used Hatterene's special attacks to keep the opponent away.
In the end, Hatterene was originally a long-range attacker. Although its close-combat ability wasn't too weak, it could not compare to Melmetal.
Mystical Fire was fired continuously. The heat made Melmetal cry out in pain. It found it very hard to catch up with Hatterene, which made Melmetal more and more frustrated.
However, this kind of hit-and-run fighting style was very risky.
That was what happened to Hatterene. Melmetal slowly forced it into a corner. Although Hatterene immediately used its psychic powers to make itself float up.
But the worn-down Melmetal still managed to reach out forcefully and grab its tail. It pulled Hatterene down and smashed it heavily onto the ground.
Then, Melmetal swung its fist in a wide arc and punched Hatterene hard.
Double Iron Bash!
Two consecutive steel-fist strikes hit Hatterene so hard it almost forgot how to function.
Then, Melmetal followed up with an Iron Head. Hatterene's eyes immediately turned into swirls. It lost its ability to battle.
"That's such a shame. It was so close."
Platinum felt sorry for Caitlin.
"Not really. Melmetal is in bad shape too."
Damian shook his head. Even though Melmetal defeated Hatterene, its own condition was not good.
Caitlin's third Pokémon was Gallade. Gallade moved flexibly to dodge Melmetal's fists. It successfully defeated Melmetal with Sacred Sword.
Then, Selene sent out Incineroar. Intimidate, plus Fake Out, plus Parting Shot. It weakened Gallade again and again.
Next, Selene's fourth Pokémon was Dragonite. This was Selene's first Pokémon.
Caitlin withdrew Gallade. How could Gallade fight after having its Attack lowered twice? She definitely had to switch.
Caitlin's fourth Pokémon was Galarian Articuno.
However, after a fierce battle, Galarian Articuno was no match for Selene's Dragonite and was defeated.
Then, Caitlin decisively sent out Metagross and used Mega Evolution.
Mega Metagross defeated the heavily injured Dragonite. Selene sent out Incineroar again.
After Mega Evolving, Mega Metagross no longer had the Ability Clear Body. Naturally, it could not resist the weakening effect of Intimidate.
However, this time Selene did not use Parting Shot to switch out. Instead, she had Incineroar keep fighting.
After hesitating for a moment, Caitlin also did not switch out Mega Metagross. It was only one Intimidate. There was an effect, but it was not too serious.
The battle continued.
"The battle between these two is wonderful~"
Lusamine sighed. Were young Trainers always this fierce nowadays?
The match was nearing its end. Caitlin was cornered first. Tapu Lele had also been defeated.
She only had one Pokémon left. Meanwhile, Selene still had one Pokémon that hadn't appeared yet, plus the Tapu Koko on the field now.
"This is great~ As expected of a High Executive of the organization! Caitlin, you really are strong."
Selene's face was slightly flushed now. It showed how excited she currently felt.
This was exactly the kind of battle she loved.
This was much more exciting than battling Professor Kukui.
This really far exceeded her expectations. She originally thought this girl, who looked like she was from the same generation, would probably be at the same level as Professor Kukui.
She had underestimated her. But this was indeed a great surprise!
"Come on. Let me see what your last Pokémon is. It must be very strong."
This was the first time Selene had enjoyed a battle this much.
Hmm, she could consider spending time with Damian and this blonde girl in the future.
Selene really felt that she would never forget today's battle for the rest of her life.