Zhuqing Breeding Center.
The exhibition match between Lance and Steven continued.
Both sides had been going back and forth for several rounds.
Currently, the RedGyarados was afflicted with Toxic, and Skarmory had a slight advantage.
Next was the clash of Ice Fang and Steel Wing.
Gyarados still held the upper hand, but even so, Skarmory maintained its slight advantage.
Because immediately after, Gyarados's stamina dropped again due to the Toxic status.
Lance waved his arm.
"Then let's make one last stand, Gyarados, Outrage!"
The RedGyarados went completely berserk, its eyes bloodshot, and a violent surge of Dragon-type energy erupted, engulfing everything.
The Outrage used by the RedGyarados in its fury, carrying an aura of destruction, crashed into Skarmory with the force of a thunderbolt.
Skarmory had almost nowhere to hide from this move.
In reality, Steven could have chosen Roost and engaged in a war of attrition with the RedGyarados...
But considering it was an exhibition match, there was no need to play too dirty, so Steven also opted for a move clash.
Steven's calm voice rang out,
"Skarmory, Brave Bird!"
Skarmory crossed its wings, its entire body erupting in dazzling blue light, and it swooped down towards the RedGyarados.
Crimson light and a sky-blue figure collided fiercely!
Boom—
Accompanied by a deafening explosion, dust and smoke filled the sky.
Da You, Cynthia, Diantha, and others instinctively shielded the children, helping them ward off the shockwave.
Both Pokémon remained standing.
But Skarmory was covered in wounds, almost unable to move.
Cynthia whispered, "Skarmory has activated its Sturdy ability, which will leave it with one last bit of HP."
Diantha added, "And the RedGyarados is already on its last legs."
The RedGyarados was also panting heavily, and with a painful roar, its massive body crashed to the ground, stirring up dust.
Li Wei, the referee, had already seen the RedGyarados's current state and abandoned the circle eyes.
Li Wei raised his left hand, "The RedGyarados is unable to battle, therefore the winner is Skarmory!"
As Li Wei announced Skarmory's victory, Skarmory, which had spread its wings and let out a cry, also collapsed immediately after.
Both sides lost the ability to battle almost simultaneously, but Gyarados fell first.
"Ah! What a shame!"
The children in Group A, led by Lance, were somewhat disappointed by Lance's defeat.
Da You rubbed his head and laughed, "This was a splendid battle; we should applaud both sides."
"Yes!"
Led by Da You and Shion, the entire venue erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers.
"That was amazing!"
"Outrage was so cool!"
"Skarmory's Brave Bird was also incredible!"
Lance and Steven each returned their RedGyarados and Skarmory to their Poké Balls.
"Good job."
The two walked to the center of the arena.
Steven extended his hand to Lance, "Thank you for the match."
Lance reached out and shook his hand, smiling with relief,
"A splendid contest."
"Joy, I'll leave Gyarados and Skarmory to you."
Joy smiled sweetly, "Please rest assured and leave them to me; they'll recover their strength quickly."
"Lucky~"
Chansey took the Poké Balls from Lance and Steven and quickly delivered them to the Pokémon Center's treatment room.
Da You and Professor Professor Rowan were still reviewing the battle with the children, also allowing some time for the next match.
"Gyarados's Intimidate upon entry weakened Skarmory's offensive capabilities."
"Dragon Dance increased its speed, but it also put Gyarados in a Toxic state..."
"In the final moments, there wasn't only the option of an all-out attack; Skarmory also had Roost..."
On the other side, You Jia was very excited after watching the match.
"How was it? How did the filming go?!"
Cameraman Sugiyama smiled confidently, "I'm filming; you can rest assured!"
"That's great! Adding this battle to the documentary will make it even more likely to go viral!"
You Jia had a premonition that this special documentary would be very popular.
This was what Lance was most worried about.
Because after losing, he would be repeatedly mocked.
Lance could already imagine that Gold and Lt. Surge would constantly bring it up to tease him.
[I should find Silver to give Gold a taste of his own medicine...]
Lance decided to teach Gold a good lesson before he himself was too embarrassed.
If everyone was embarrassed, Gold wouldn't dare to pop up.
Lt. Surge was also easy to deal with; the League was recently holding Gym evaluations...
There just happened to be a special evaluator, and that was Joy, who had Latias...
Let Joy give Lt. Surge a good beating...
Lance just had to pretend he was passing by, or say he was there as an evaluation supervisor, to watch.
As long as he saw Lt. Surge getting beaten up...
Lt. Surge probably wouldn't dare to be too arrogant...
[I'm truly a genius!]
Lance felt proud of his intelligence.
After the residual excitement of the RedGyarados and Skarmory battle subsided, the two female Champions made their appearance.
Unlike Lance and Steven, who had not discussed their Pokémon choices at all,
they had discussed beforehand which Pokémon to send out.
The children were still immersed in the shock of the previous match and were also full of anticipation for the duel between the two elegant female Champions.
"Go, Teacher Cynthia!"
"Go, Teacher Diantha!"
The children from Group C and Group D loudly cheered for their respective teachers.
Li Wei held a blue and a Red flag in his hands.
"This match will also be refereed by me. Next is the battle between Cynthia VS Diantha. Both sides, please send out your Pokémon simultaneously."
Cynthia's golden hair fluttered in the wind, her expression focused and calm.
Although she and Diantha were good friends, she would not go easy on her because of that.
While she teased Diantha often, Diantha was still the KalosChampion and did not need Cynthia to go easy on her.
"Let the battle song play, Kommo-o!"
Cynthia sent out her new ace, Kommo-o.
Although Kommo-o was raised by Cynthia after she became Champion and couldn't compare to her ace Garchomp, it was now in her top tier.
Accompanied by a heavy thud and the sound of scales clashing,
a bipedal, scale-covered fighting dragon roared loudly.
Kommo-o looked like it was fully armored, possessing a pair of large, steel-scaled fists like a fighter, and a powerful, strong tail.
When this large tail swayed, it would make a clanking sound to intimidate opponents.
Unlike Cynthia, who was full of presence from the start,
Diantha elegantly curtsied, a smile on her face: "My choice is this child, Goodra!"
Accompanied by a faint mist, a Goodra, equally large in size, with two strong antennae, smooth purple skin, and a huge tail, made a shining entrance.
Goodra, with its entire body covered in slime, could reduce the damage of moves to a certain extent, especially when it was sufficiently slippery.
"Then, let the battle begin!"