“Red team, please send out your second Pokémon.”

The red team was naturally Archer. After careful consideration, Archer took out a Luxury Ball and released his second Pokémon.

“I leave it to you, my strongest partner, Crobat.”

Everyone in the audience had predicted that Archer would definitely send out Crobat, as it was his only King-level Pokémon known to the public. This Crobat was Archer’s trump card and could be considered his signature Pokémon.

However, Crobat was completely at a type disadvantage against Lucario. Despite Crobat’s strength having reached King-level, the spectators remained pessimistic about its chances.

Lucario glared proudly at the purple Crobat, its sharp eyes resembling those of a human. It suddenly assumed a fighting stance that looked like a martial arts pose. Before anyone could see clearly, Lucario had already launched its attack!

Lightning flashed and thunder roared as Lucario’s fists filled with electric energy. Facing the Poison/Flying-type Crobat, Lucario chose to use Thunder Punch.

Lucario pushed off the ground with its feet, taking off like a sprinter. It moved as swiftly as a dragon or a soaring bird. By the time everyone could see clearly again, Lucario was already at Crobat’s edge.

The fist glowing with lightning slammed toward the Crobat!

“Take off and fly to the sky!” Archer commanded urgently. If Crobat were hit directly by Thunder Punch, it would likely be defeated in just two more moves.

Pokémon like Crobat are renowned for their speed. Even if the difference in strength made it slightly slower than Lucario, the gap wasn’t significant!

Crobat flapped its four wings and quickly ascended into the air, avoiding Lucario’s first wave of attacks. This was the first time during the battle that Lucario’s attack had missed.

When Lucario saw Crobat take flight, it reacted almost instantaneously. It quickly crouched down and, with the leverage from this position, suddenly exerted force and slammed both fists into the ground, shattering it into massive boulders.

Simultaneously, an enormous amount of Rock-type energy surged from Lucario’s body, controlling the debris to fly toward the airborne Crobat like cannonballs.

Dense rubble floated in the air, controlled by Lucario, completely blocking Crobat’s flight path.

Lucario stretched out its paw and clenched it tightly, causing countless pieces of gravel to fly toward Crobat from all directions, bombarding it and leaving no chance to escape.

“Rock Tomb!”

Crobat dodged desperately, trying to use its speed advantage to escape the barrage of rubble, but these rocks, under Lucario’s control, seemed endless and impossible to evade. They directly engulfed Crobat.

“Crobat!”

It was instantly severely injured by this attack.

Archer frowned, knowing the match was over. This Lucario’s strength far exceeded his expectations. Even his King-level Crobat was no match for it. He needed to act now, otherwise he’d become the laughingstock of Embermere tomorrow, and the entire reputation of the Archer family would be at stake.

“I must find a way,” he thought. “Even if I can’t win, I can’t allow myself to be swept three-to-one. If I can just force this Lucario off the field, I still have a chance.”

“Whirlwind!” Archer had formulated a strategy and calmly commanded Crobat. He planned to rely on Crobat’s Whirlwind move to force Lucario off the field, then use Mean Look to prevent the Pokémon on the field from escaping, and finally use Roost to restore health. With this combination, Crobat would definitely be able to continue fighting.

[Whirlwind]: Forces the opponent away, making the next Pokémon enter the battlefield. If the opponent is a wild Pokémon, the battle ends immediately.

[Mean Look]: Fixes the opponent with an intimidating gaze that captures its soul, preventing escape from battle.

[Roost]: Descends to the ground, allowing the body to rest and recover HP.

“Here it comes, Archer’s classic tactics.”

“The combination of Whirlwind + Mean Look + Roost allows Crobat to pick off the opponent’s Pokémon one by one.”

“I just wonder if this guy’s other Pokémon are as strong as this Lucario.”

However, while Archer’s plan was solid, the outcome was unexpected. His strategy failed at the very first step.

As Crobat used Whirlwind, even a Champion-level Lucario couldn’t ignore the powerful gust from the King-level Crobat and was blown back into its Poké Ball. But immediately afterward, Lucario emerged from the Poké Ball and returned to the battlefield.

The audience in the stadium and viewers watching on TV all raised questions. The Whirlwind move had clearly taken effect, so why had it failed?

“How is that possible? Didn’t Whirlwind succeed?”

“Why is this Lucario still able to battle? Is it because of its will and the bond with its trainer? Is this the power of Aura? Damn it.”

“You’re an idiot. It’s obvious that the blue team (Ryan) only has Lucario, so Lucario went back into the Poké Ball and then came right back out.”

Everyone was shocked, but then realized this was the only explanation. There was only one Pokémon—Ryan had brought just one Pokémon to a 3v3 singles match. It was clearly going to be a one-versus-three situation!

“This is insane,” many thought. “But this Lucario really does have the ability to defeat three opponents at once.”

“Raaaawr!”

Lucario roared, and the gravel on the ground rose into the air again, flying toward Crobat.

Faced with rubble from all directions, Crobat had no means of escape and was directly surrounded and bombarded by the rocks striking its body!

The same move was used for the second time, but Crobat still couldn’t escape. It fell from the air to the ground, fainted, and completely lost its ability to battle.

That was two down.

“Crobat has lost its ability to battle. Lucario wins! Please send out the third Pokémon on the Red side.”

By this point, Archer was sweating profusely. As the top trainer in Embermere City, he clearly understood what had just happened.

This situation occurred because this seemingly inebriated opponent only had one Pokémon—Lucario—and only one Poké Ball containing it.

“What should I do?” he thought anxiously. “Am I really going to be defeated three-to-one?”

“There’s no need to continue this match.” Just as Archer was at a loss, the Water King Sawyer in the stands suddenly stood up and declared, “Archer, you’re no match for him. This Lucario is a Champion-level Pokémon. Step down.”

Sawyer’s words immediately caused an uproar. This Lucario truly possessed Champion-level strength!

“The next and final match will be between him and me.” Sawyer walked from the audience to the battlefield, and Archer breathed a sigh of relief. With Sawyer’s intervention, he could withdraw with dignity.

There was no shame in losing badly when battling against a Champion-level opponent.

Sawyer carried himself with a powerful aura. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and appeared gentle and refined, perfectly embodying the phrase “the highest good is like water, and virtue can carry all things.”

“I know you’ve been commanding Lucario,” Sawyer suddenly spoke again. “The bond between you has made your minds united. You don’t need to communicate with words at all. You can directly communicate through your Aura. I believe I’m right, Aura Guardian.”

“So I will be your opponent in the final match,” Sawyer said to Ryan as he took his position on the battlefield.

Ryan suddenly opened his eyes, stood up abruptly, and looked at Sawyer. “It’s a rare opportunity to have such a good battle. I accept your challenge.”

“Very well. I will give it my all,” Sawyer said seriously, then revealed the Z-Ring on his wrist, its meaning obvious to all.

“Z-moves?” Ryan felt his blood boiling. It was his first time fighting someone who possessed Z-moves.

“Let’s begin,” Sawyer’s words made the referee on the field extremely uncomfortable, but he didn’t dare say anything more. He retreated to the sidelines in embarrassment, becoming a mere spectator. “But before we fight, we should ask all irrelevant people to leave the field.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep