Rhyhorn—one of Giovanni’s mainstays. It hasn’t even evolved, yet its power is terrifying!

In other words, this Rhyhorn’s level vastly exceeds the usual evolution threshold. In raw strength, it leaves its kin in the dust—no one of its species can compare!

When Rhyhorn thundered forward, the whole of Area 8 shook. The energy mirage of red-hot “hooves” gathered as it charged; if that strike landed, even steel bodies would suffer grievous wounds!

Ding—

A green blade of light suddenly extended.

Rhyhorn sensed danger. It snapped away from the flashing radiance—its underdeveloped little brain obeying its Trainer’s every command—and narrowly avoided the first blow!

But instantly, the pale green blade swept across with an army-cleaving arc!

Giovanni: “Tch—Solar Blade, is it!”

A rare, hard-hitting Grass move!

And right now… Harsh Sunlight is already up?

Without a single spoken order, that green humanoid Pokémon had auto-cast Sunny Day.

“But who do you think I am?”

Rhyhorn is 4× weak to Grass. One clean Solar Blade would be enough to knock it out.

But at that instant, Rhyhorn’s body flashed—and it dodged the slash with unbelievable speed!

“Rock Polish. My Rhyhorn is both sturdy and swift!”

“Bulldoze.”

A Ground-type staple with absurd versatility!

Hikaru had seen it countless times, but when this Rhyhorn used it, it carried the weight of a landslide—like Earthquake itself!

Rhyhorn stomped again and again; the field quaked, and it broke into a rampage—attacking every Pokémon in range!

Giovanni:

“Fuse the power of the earth into your body. Once you acclimate to that resonance, your moves’ power multiplies!”

“And—my Rhyhorn is holding a special Soft Sand. Ground-type force, multiplied!”

“Ground Pokémon boast tower-high Attack! How you properly use them… let me remind you!”

“This time, it’s not Bulldoze!”

Rhyhorn’s four feet flared. Area 8 heaved so hard it felt like the skyscraper swayed!

This time it was Earthquake!

Shockwaves skittered across the ground, then surged upward. Bulldoze keeps dropping Speed, and following it with Earthquake inflicts massive damage!

Lilligant staggered on the floor—Hikaru recalled her in an instant and sent out Torterra!

A roaring green war-hammer flew in!

“Left!”

Giovanni snapped the order. Rhyhorn shifted—Wood Hammer smashed into air!

Hikaru: “Missed?”

Giovanni: “Naturally. Predicting actions by seismic feedback—that is ‘the secret of the earth.'”

“Hmph. Torterra, huh. Not a common sight. A Ground type, then—perfect for me.”

Under Giovanni’s direction, Rhyhorn charged Torterra while triggering Earthquake—a blast of killing cold spilling from its fangs!

Ice Fang!

As a Ground master, Giovanni knows Ground’s weaknesses down to the bone. So when facing another Ground type, of course he has thunderous counters ready!

The ground shock rolled into the air.

Bulldoze—or Earthquake?

Judging a move purely by ‘how strong it felt’ is a mistake; there’s often something else in play…

For example—

Magnitude!

KRA-KROOM! The whole tower shuddered like a high-yield bomb had gone off—but Black Skyscraper is built from the newest, hardest materials, and the presence perched at the pinnacle won’t allow this challenge facility to collapse!

Unlike the fixed-100 power of Earthquake, Magnitude’s power is unstable—anywhere from 10 to 150.

But during each rampaging pass, Rhyhorn was actually firing chains of Magnitudes!

Betting on power variance, Giovanni had felt the moment the tremors began which Magnitude was coming next—

Then picked the perfect window to unleash the strongest wave!

Hit with Bulldoze, your Speed drops; Earthquake leaves you unsteady; then the highest-roll Magnitude seals the harvest!

And if they still stand through that…

…like this Torterra…

Then the finisher is Ice Fang!

“It’s over. Number two.”

Earth’s power had totally locked the opponent’s movement; he’d already foreseen the victory!

No one knows the ground better than he—

KRA-KROOM!

The Rhyhorn—its hide harder than steel—crashed to the floor!

Giovanni’s face froze. He saw green blades of grass and a thin energy film spreading underfoot and jerked his head up!

“Grassy Terrain. For a set time, every Pokémon on the ground restores HP at the end of each turn, Grass-type moves are boosted by 30%, and damage from Earthquake, Magnitude, and Bulldoze is halved.”

“Hats off, Giovanni-san—your Ground power is truly fearsome!”

“But I swapped in Torterra for exactly this moment!”

“You used Ice Fang immediately—which proves you can spot a Pokémon’s weakness at a glance. No one understands the earth better than you—but the converse holds, too.”

“Ground has peerless offense. That’s why people who overtrust it, expecting auto-victory, never stop appearing!”

Torterra exhaled in a rumbling roar.

A faint, shell-shaped ward shimmered over the arena, linking ground to sky and splitting the room in two!

Giovanni: “That’s… Wide Guard!”

Hikaru: “Correct. We’ve put our side under Wide Guard—protecting the whole team from most moves that target allies as a group or the field at large!”

“That includes Bulldoze, Earthquake, and Magnitude!”

A perfect shutout!

Giovanni’s heart jolted.

Meaning Torterra had only eaten one real hit!

Even in a nominal one-on-one, the move types don’t change—so Wide Guard still blanks them!

And the key: Wide Guard doesn’t suffer the ‘success rate drops when used consecutively’ penalty. You can chain it!

Only if you swap into Protect/Detect after spamming Wide Guard does that guard’s success rate plunge. Wide Guard itself is unaffected!

“Interesting! You pulled off a tactical chain at this level… Rhyhorn, you did your job superbly!”

“Losing wasn’t your fault. It’s on me. From here on, I won’t put blind faith in prior power!”

“Come—Nidoking!”

Giovanni’s old partner—the one that followed him ever since he left Viridian Gym’s world stage: Nidoking.

In Masters, even “Rainbow Giovanni” has special feelings for Nidoking; asked if he’d ever let it go, he answers it depends on conditions.

That said, this Nidoking isn’t Giovanni’s current ace.

Right now, his ace should be Rhyperior, evolved from his Rhydon.

In the World Coronation Series, Giovanni even had Garchomp and Gliscor.

In the Adventures manga, the one with special meaning to him is Beedrill—pity the Giovanni in front of us doesn’t have that “peerless bug.”

Hikaru does know a monstrously strong Beedrill, though.

As a classic Kanto “old-school monster,” Nidoking is undeniably powerful. Its base spread is balanced, but it once dominated an era.

Rock-hard skin like stone and a long toxic horn define it. Its mighty tail sweeps and coils prey until bones shatter.

“How about this one?”

“Ice Beam!”

Before the order even left his lips, Nidoking knew what to fire. Its energy cycled—then a swift, sky-blue beam hammered Torterra!

Thud—super effective!

Torterra dug in, ice shrapnel bursting for chip damage. Because we’d chained Wide Guard, we couldn’t slip a Protect in to block!

Watching a 4× Ice-weak Torterra tank Ice Beam and still look composed, Giovanni realized something at once.

“Yache Berry?”

Trigger on a super-effective Ice hit, halving the damage—once.

Hikaru shook his head. “No, not that.”

“But my Torterra’s got herbs for days.”

Yache hasn’t entered Torterra’s “berry compendium” yet—she can’t grow it now.

But berries and grasses? We’ve got plenty!

Snack on the grass again—recover some HP.

A stalk of Revival Herb dissolved into her system—Torterra’s strength surged back. She could keep going!

The white sacred tree on her shell flared with light!

“The weather is… Harsh Sunlight!”

Under sun, Solar Beam and Solar Blade go off instantly! Synthesis heals even more—though Torterra has a special blessing that keeps Synthesis strong even without sun!

BOOM! A brutal sun-lance smashed into Nidoking. It roared and braced—Poison kept it from being Grass-weak—and as it readied a counter, Torterra slid in at blinding speed!

Thump!

Giovanni: “Sliding… across the field? What move is this? I’ve never seen such a thing!”

Even a master of earth was seeing it for the first time!

Hikaru: “Grassy Glide! On Grassy Terrain, it becomes priority!”

Right now, Torterra has one thought—

GLIDE.

Full power, Grassy Glide looped and folded across the grassy floor. Nidoking never found its feet; it reeled, stunned by how fast such a heavy turtle could be!

Giovanni’s brow finally creased.

Field moves sound overwhelming, but there are ways to break them.

For example—just destroy the field!

But this is Black Skyscraper; with these reinforced future-materials, Giovanni couldn’t crack the floor. Nidoking was stuck in a bind—

This place… cripples Ground!

“In that case… Toxic Spikes!”

Nidoking bellowed, scattering barbs over the Grassy Terrain. They’ll poison incoming foes. And one more thing—

Real combat isn’t turn-based. Once Toxic Spikes are down, they’re a fait accompli. Even combatants already on the field might step on them and be poisoned!

One layer—Poison. Two layers—Toxic.

As Grassy Glide smacked Nidoking again, the purple brute finally seized its chance—grabbed Torterra!

Rime exploded off its body; heavy snow slabs conjured from nothing shattered across Torterra’s shell!

Avalanche! If you took damage earlier this turn, its power doubles!

Monster-class Pokémon like Nidoking learn a lot of off-type nukes. Flamethrower, Ice Beam, even Blizzard—all easy picks!

“Switch.”

Torterra’s 4× Ice pain point won’t vanish. She crunched another Revival Herb and was still game—but she was tired.

In this spot, if she dared Shell Smash to trade defenses for offense, she’d never have time to munch another herb!

“That nuisance Torterra is finally off the field!”

“Come—if you don’t want poison, send out your Steel types!”

Giovanni smiled. This was the moment he’d waited for.

After all those earlier probing fights, Hikaru’s love of Steel is well known. Steel won’t get poisoned—but it fears Ground. Advantage: Giovanni.

One swap—then you’ll never bring out anything but Steel. Your Grassy Terrain and Wide Guard vanish with Torterra!

That troublesome Torterra—benched!

“Gar-tu~”

In her ball, Torterra heard the verdict and nodded.

Sure, I’m 4× weak to Ice—but even they think I’m a pain!

That praise is enough. I could keep going; we’ve got herbs for days, and this isn’t any ‘official regulation’ facility anyway.

Who says I’m holding items? I grow them myself! If you don’t like it—start farming!

I, Torterra, am not holding an item!

“Rest up, Torterra.”

“The next one—it’s you!”

ROOAAR!

The water dragon stormed in, tossing its head. It had been itching to pound that purple monster!

And those barbs…

Giovanni’s eyes narrowed—the azure dragon didn’t get poisoned?

No… there’s something on its feet!

“A layer of Dragon Shoes—special wraps on the feet to block entry hazards.”

“The item’s proper name—Heavy-Duty Boots!”

Fitting boots for a dragon isn’t easy, but Hikaru’s stitching is good—everyone on the team already has a pair.

For Deoxys, the easiest—just slip a pointy tip-cover on.

Walking Wake roared. A surging flood spun up, sweeping every spiked barb into a single heap!

The move—Whirlpool!

In the games, Whirlpool doesn’t clear hazards. In reality? Just like “blowing up the field” can neutralize terrain, Whirlpool can scour your side clean of spikes!

And then—

Nidoking stared, shaken. Walking Wake raised its head and howled!

Under Harsh Sunlight, its Protosynthesis kicked—Special Attack up!

A colossal water gyre surged with unstoppable force; with Wake’s lunge, it climbed from the ground like an inverted cataract and collapsed into a tide that swallowed the whole field!

Secret technique—Surf!

Your numbers are handsome.

But my numbers—are above yours!

“Don’t think you’re sweeping my Nidoking that easily!”

“Charge the breaker—Horn Drill!”

An instant-kill move. If it connects, you win.

By reading tremor frequencies to infer the opponent’s position range—and indirectly boost Horn Drill’s accuracy—that’s Giovanni’s signature tech.

So long as you stand on the earth, even non-Ground moves exert crushing pressure. Their might becomes unmatched.

And monster-class Pokémon can contest elemental waves like Water and Fire—even when unfavorable—turning that power to their own use!

Nidoking’s eyes flashed with scorn.

Surf, huh?

Watch me drill it apart!

I won’t fail Giovanni. As his second ace, I won’t bow out easily!

Decades of foes—how many have I seen?

And you, water dragon—are you like that young Trainer’s Charizard, bearing invincible power?

Surf?

I can do that, too!

A pale-blue, spiral aura wrapped Nidoking as it lunged horn-first at Walking Wake!

Walking Wake blinked.

It… split the wave?!

What power!

But if that’s all—you’re not there yet!

The ancient water dragon puffed its cheeks!

“RAOOO!”

And Nidoking saw it—a blast hotter than Surf, a scalding orb of water-steam!

Steam Eruption detonated, swallowing Nidoking—ripping hide, searing flesh, shredding will—and blasted that giant frame into the air like a kite with cut strings!

“Gurururu! HOOO!”

Walking Wake bellowed!

Told you—my stats are higher!

You just had to test me!

Steam Eruption—boil the water to a rolling fury and hurl it at the foe. Under strong sunlight its base power doesn’t drop—it’s multiplied by 1.5!

Though, both sun and terrain are fading.

Giovanni stared for a heartbeat—then his shoulders shook, and he burst into laughter!

“Years—it’s been years since I felt this edge-of-defeat rush!”

“This is the feeling!”

“Heh! But my Nidoking hasn’t fallen yet!”

As Hikaru and Wake looked over, Nidoking, who’d been sprawled out, wobbled to its feet, gathered the last of its strength—and stomped the ground!

Because Horn Drill missed—

The final move is—

Stomping Tantrum!

Turn remorse into power—release all Ground energy—like it would blow Area 8 to rubble!

“Heh!” Nidoking’s lip curled. It leered at the reeling Wake.

Water dragon—take my last hit!

Supersonic!

A special ultrasonic wave spread across the field; riding Stomping Tantrum’s shock, it sent Walking Wake into confusion.

“The dragon’s done. Come—the next one—my ace!”

Having finished its part, Nidoking collapsed. Giovanni recalled it—and sent the replacement:

Rhyperior!

It evolved via a peculiar item. That rocky hide is made of unknown material—so hard even a famed blade can’t scratch it!

Rhyperior was huge.

But—

Celesteela was bigger.

[A-ah… i-is it my turn a-again? Uuu! T-this guy looks scary! I wanna hide in a bamboo grove…]

Rhyperior: “…”

It didn’t know the words, but it got the gist: you look scary.

TF—!

You are bigger and scarier than me!

To insult me—the Heavy-Armored Tyrant—you court death!

Hikaru cheered for Kaguya.

“Don’t worry, Kaguya—Rhyperior’s a great matchup. Believe in your strength!”

“From today, you’re a Rocket Hero!”

[E-eh? R-Rocket Hero?!]

Rhyperior also has an OHKO. Normally you’d just go Heavy Slam and be done with it—now you can’t.

Well then, Lady Kaguya—let Giovanni taste true human wickedness!

Giovanni cut the air: “Earth Power!”

Rhyperior’s special attack isn’t high, but for ranged probing it’s more than enough—and that’s exactly his play!

If it’s like the earlier Areas—’thought they were speed bumps, talk to my fully-insured semi’—then one Heavy Slam from Celesteela would flatten even Rhyperior.

So—poke from range. Flamethrower and Earth Power to soften, then line up High Horsepower + Horn Drill—that’s the line!

“Don’t want to close in—afraid of being pancaked?”

“Mm. That favors us!”

“Then—begin. Leech Seed!”

“And then… infinite flinch—Air Slash!”

The power gained at Celestial Tower—Seeker’s Creed—activates.

Project your creed into your Pokémon—double the chance of secondary effects to trigger!

Manual Serene Grace!

Leech Seed twined around Rhyperior—blue-silver vines coiling tight.

Isn’t that its own kind of blue-silver bind?

(End of Chapter)

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