Madam Florges was firing on all cylinders.
First, she used Grass Knot to successfully immobilize Nidoqueen. As the Nidoqueen struggled against the entangling vines, two glowing green energy balls shot from Florges's hands.
Boom! Boom!
The Nidoking stumbled and collapsed under the force of the two Energy Balls, barely managing to rise before more vines erupted from the ground, dragging him back down.
Now, it was Florges's time to dominate.
Nidoqueen never even got close.
Boom—
Just as Florges struck Nidoqueen, the Nidoking she had intended to save was obliterated by Honchkrow's fully charged Sky Attack. No ordinary Pokémon could withstand such a devastating blow.
Yang Dou had ordered Nidoking to brace itself with a defensive move, but Aoki's Drapion, lying in wait, seized the moment. The instant Nidoking's protective barrier flickered into existence, Drapion's Crunch shattered it with a single strike, leaving Nidoking wide open.
The explosion kicked up a thick cloud of dust. Honchkrow, having delivered its attack, swiftly flapped its wings to steady itself midair.
Nidoking's legs had sunk deep into the earth from the sheer force of the impact, immobilizing it completely.
In that moment, Aoki's entire team unleashed their full strength.
With Yang Dou's Houndoom already down, a glaring weakness had formed in his defensive line. Aoki tore through it effortlessly, ignoring Yang Dou's desperate attempts to negotiate.
The next to fall was Koffing.
Too slow to evade, it spent the entire battle scrambling away from Slowking's relentless Psychic assaults. Slowking, positioned at a safe distance, bombarded it with long-range attacks, teleporting away whenever Koffing tried to close the gap.
Any Sludge Bomb attempts were swatted aside by psychic barriers before they could land.
This was Slowking's preferred strategy—kiting slower opponents. If they were fast, it would warp space with Trick Room before resuming its bombardment.
With the Sniper ability amplifying its critical hits, Slowking needed only four or five strikes to finish Koffing off.
Once Koffing fainted, Yang Dou's team crumbled entirely.
Slowking redirected its psychic energy to aid the others, using Psychic to pin Nidoking in place so Drapion could land more hits.
Nidoking and Nidoqueen collapsed almost simultaneously.
The two shared a bond deeper than battle—even in defeat, they reached for each other, their outstretched claws nearly touching before they slumped into unconsciousness.
With them down, Yang Dou's fate was sealed.
Only his Feraligatr remained.
And, of course, the Weavile still locked in combat with Aoki's Weavile deeper in the forest.
CRACK!
A block of ice hurtled from the trees, shattering against the ground to reveal Yang Dou's unconscious Weavile inside.
Aoki's Weavile emerged moments later, its fur matted with shallow cuts but its eyes blazing with undiminished ferocity.
Had anyone ventured into the forest, they would've been stunned by the devastation.
The entire battlefield had been transformed into a frozen wasteland—snow piled high on the branches, jagged icicles jutting from the earth, boulders encased in glacial sheaths.
Aoki's Weavile had manipulated ice energy to such a degree that it reshaped the terrain, turning the forest into an arctic tundra that stifled the enemy Weavile's agility.
If this control expanded further—threefold, perhaps fivefold—it might even rival the legendary power of an Ice-type deity.
That was the mastery Aoki's Weavile wielded.
The sight of his frozen Weavile shattered Yang Dou's last shred of hope.
Thud.
He collapsed to his knees.
Feraligatr stood beside him, but against Aoki's entire team—all still battle-ready—it stood no chance.
Now, Yang Dou understood Aoki's earlier taunt: "I brought you here to ensure no one interferes."
At the time, he'd dismissed it as arrogance.
But now, it was reality.
If only they'd fought near the camp—even if he couldn't win, he could've held out until reinforcements arrived.
Three Champion-level Trainers were stationed there.
Three.
That overwhelming strength had made him complacent.
Just as Aoki had been, in another life.
The difference? Aoki had learned from his mistakes.
Yang Dou never got the chance.
Aoki approached, his Pokémon forming a silent semicircle behind him. Though battered, they were far from beaten.
Weavile, the most injured among them, was already being tended to by Florges's healing energy.
"Who are you?" Yang Dou rasped, voice raw with desperation. "You're not with the League. The League doesn't execute people!"
Aoki said nothing.
Instead, he gestured to Slowking.
"Recognize this Pokémon?" Aoki asked, resting a hand on Slowking's shell. "Though back then, it was just a Slowpoke."
"Slowpoke…?" Yang Dou's face twisted in confusion, then dawning horror.
But beneath the fear—Aoki saw it.
That flicker of madness.
Aoki had shown the same madness when he knew he was going to die in his last life.
It couldn't be more familiar.