"When did you find out?"
The masked man's voice changed, becoming a voice Ace was very familiar with.
"Find out?"
Ace scoffed, his face showing a hint of emotion. "I knew from the beginning. After training under you for so long, in my eyes, you are the greatest ice user in the world."
"So that's how it is."
Pryce said calmly, "Are you going to stop me?"
"Yes."
Ace raised his hand, a Poké Ball already in his grasp.
"Turn back, Pryce," Ace sighed. "You won't succeed. Time isn't something that can be so easily controlled."
Pryce said nothing. His Delibird slowly descended.
Seeing this, Aerodactyl also gently landed with Ace.
As soon as they touched down, ice spikes rapidly formed. Spreading quickly from under the Jynx, they raced toward Ace.
In the next moment, Lapras appeared, surrounded by a mass of ice crystals. Facing the onslaught of spikes, Lapras responded with an identical attack.
"Crack!"
The two attacks collided, scattering ice shards. A jungle of jagged ice crystals instantly sprouted where they met, their sharp points a chilling sight!
In the next moment, two Metang charged toward Pryce from the left and right.
Their Bullet Punches left a series of afterimages in the air, aiming for vital points on Pryce's upper body.
"Thud, thud!"
With two dull thuds, a Houndour and an Ariados shot out from under Pryce's robe, intercepting the two Metang's Bullet Punches.
"Is that all you have?"
Pryce's voice came through, filled with cold disdain.
"Of course not. Let me show you a surprise."
Ace snapped his fingers. The two Metang leaped back, then converged. As they intertwined, a light of evolution burst forth from their bodies!
As the two Metang evolved, their forms gradually merged. When the light faded, a shiny Metagross stood before Pryce!
"Boom!"
The moment Metagross's evolution was complete, a blizzard of ice and snow condensed and blasted the Pokémon, pushing it back. Its four legs dragged deep grooves in the ground.
But even so, Metagross withstood the attack. After stabilizing itself, it violently shook its body, shattering the icy shell that had formed on it. This level of damage was nothing to Metagross!
"Gyro Ball!"
Metagross began to spin rapidly, lifting its body into the air as it closed in on Pryce.
The Ariados charged forward, shooting out a stream of silk that quickly stuck to Metagross's body, then yanked hard.
Clearly, Ariados had overestimated its own strength and underestimated Metagross's.
But that was natural.
Metagross has a special way of evolving, and its post-evolution form is more than twice as strong as its pre-evolutionary state.
When it was still a Metang, Ariados had managed to endure a single Bullet Punch. From its perspective, Metang was insignificant, and the damage was just a trifle.
But now that it had evolved into Metagross, its strength had more than doubled, and the sudden burst of power caught Ariados off guard.
The immediate force of the pull on the silk dragged Ariados toward the giant Pokémon. As it flew through the air, Ariados's eyes filled with despair as it saw Metagross's fist getting closer and closer.
"Thud! Thud! Thud..."
Once, twice, three times...
As Metagross spun, the silk wrapped around it, but at the same time, Ariados was also trapped by the silk.
A single punch would send it flying, but the silk would then pull it back.
Then, another punch, another rebound, and the cycle would repeat.
If Pryce hadn't intervened and had his Houndour use Flamethrower, burning both Ariados and the silk, Ariados would have eventually been hammered into a pulp by Metagross!
"Thump."
A charred Ariados fell in front of Pryce, unable to battle.
Pryce ignored it. In the next moment, Houndour was sent flying by a single punch from Metagross. These decoy Pokémon were simply no match for Pryce's ace.
After knocking Houndour away, Metagross charged forward, aiming a Meteor Mash at Pryce.
"Don't get too cocky, you brat."
Pryce scoffed. In the next instant, Metagross was instantly frozen, turning into a block of ice, unable to continue the fight.
Ace saw this and a slight smile appeared on his face. It seemed Pryce was about to fight with his full power.
"Lapras!"
The Lapras, which had been standing still, saw the ice spikes in front of it shatter instantly, turning into a smooth sheet of ice. With a move of its legs, it charged toward Pryce.
Ace seized the opportunity to recall Metagross. He then looked back at Lapras, only to see it swallowed by several Blizzards!
"Boom!"
A muffled sound erupted from within the blizzard. The thick, snowy storm was instantly torn apart as Lapras burst out, throwing its head back and unleashing a concentrated Blizzard at Pryce.
Pryce's eyes narrowed. He was in disbelief at the almost-unharmed Lapras.
As the Blizzard approached, a Seel stood in front of Pryce. A powerful wave of coldness washed over it. The Seel's face showed shock before it was instantly frozen in a block of ice.
"Lapras... How is that possible?!"
Pryce looked at the frozen Seel, unable to believe it.
He knew his Seel had the Thick Fat ability, which made it practically immune to Ice-type attacks!
And yet, this Seel was frozen by a single Blizzard. The extreme low temperature was even difficult for him to create.
Ace watched everything silently, sighing to himself. He wouldn't have dared to face Pryce without having a full plan.
Lapras was one of his trump cards against Pryce, and the other was his Ninetales.
The immense level advantage meant Ninetales had incredibly powerful firepower.
And its time spent in the lava lake had significantly boosted its Fire-type abilities.
The Ninetales Ace had now was exactly what he had always hoped for.
There was no flashy technique; there was only a terrifying suppression of power, enough to burn everything to the ground!
The Iceblood lineage granted Lapras immunity to Ice-type moves, while Ninetales's fire was superior to ice.
Lapras and Ninetales were Ace's ultimate hand, completely suppressing Pryce on all fronts!
Seeing Pryce lost in thought, Ace opened a Poké Ball. Ninetales elegantly landed on the ice.
In contrast to the coldness Lapras radiated, the ice beneath Ninetales's paws instantly cracked and melted.
The scorching-hot Ninetales raised its tails, and nine ethereal balls of fire appeared at their tips.
"Pryce, give up."
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