"Jolt!!!"
Jolteon threw its head back and howled, the roar echoing across the entire arena.
The sharp fur all over its body erupted into countless lightning serpents, and the whole dojo was instantly swallowed by electric light.
Above the ceiling, churning storm clouds rolled in like the apocalypse pressing down!
Everywhere you looked—
The lightning brewing inside those clouds wasn't ordinary current anymore, but a frightening, brilliant azure glow.
It was genuinely chilling to witness.
Clearly, this was Jolteon's all-in, do-or-die killing thunder!
Grey didn't want Lucario to get hit by something like that, so he chose to end it fast. "Lucario—Extreme Speed!"
[Extreme Speed: Attacks the target by moving at extremely high speed.]
A move only a very small number of Pokémon can master!
Just hearing the name told you how terrifying it was.
The instant Grey's command fell, Lucario's figure blurred into near-invisibility!
At the same time, heaven-punishment thunderbolts slammed down one after another, each strike scorching the floor black and making the entire dojo quake in the storm!
And yet…
Those world-ending bolts couldn't even catch Lucario's afterimage!
Lucario slipped through the gaps between the strikes—so fast that even lightning looked slow beside it!
Boom!!!
After weaving through the relentless bombardment, Lucario crashed into Jolteon like a cannonball, the impact launching Jolteon clean off the ground!
"Now—Aura Sphere!"
The moment Jolteon was knocked backward, Lucario chained the next move seamlessly.
Aura gathered between its palms, and a dazzling blue energy orb formed instantly!
Aura Sphere!
Whooom—BANG!
The blue streak tore through the air and hit Jolteon mid-flight dead-on. The second explosion's shockwave made the dojo's glass windows buzz and tremble!
Jolteon slammed to the ground. Spiral eyes appeared, signaling the end of the first round.
Lt. Surge stared at the unconscious Jolteon in the middle of the field, his throat bobbing as he swallowed hard.
This Lucario—freshly evolved—had displayed strength that completely overturned everything he thought he knew about battling.
This…
Was this really…
A Pokémon that had just evolved?
Lt. Surge rubbed a thumb along his Poké Ball and let out a heavy breath.
For the first time in his life, this battle-hardened Electric-type trainer felt a deep, crushing sense of helplessness against another Gym Leader.
[So cool! I'm officially a Lucario fan now!]
[Waaah, I want to send gifts! After the stream ends, I need a Lucario photo!]
[That was insane. If I want the streamer's Lucario autograph… how much do I have to gift?]
[No clue. Probably something pricey. His Lucario's basically Elite Four level—expensive sounds fair.]
[Last time I lined up for Champion Diantha's signing event, I spent like a million and got a photo with her! Streamer's Elite Four level too—feels like tens of thousands would be about right.]
[A mil…lion? That expensive?!]
[Come on, Diantha's the Kalos Champion and an international film star. Even having a signing event is already amazing. And anyway, with the streamer, becoming a Governor gets you his private contact info!]
[Before the streamer becomes a Champion, we should gift while we can. Stack up some early shares!]
They compared Grey to Diantha—the international film star and Kalos Champion—and realized that getting an autograph for only twenty thousand, plus even private contact info, almost seemed… cheap.
All you could say was: being a streamer really was way too friendly to the masses.
"Grey, your strength really did catch me off guard," Lt. Surge said, recalling his Jolteon, his tone growing heavier.
That blow forced him to take Lucario seriously.
Elite Four gatekeeper level was still Elite Four.
Looking at the Pokémon in his hands, aside from his ace, only one of them was at that level.
So he didn't have a choice!
"My second Pokémon is this guy."
A Pokémon with a fairly large body—shaped a bit like an upside-down Poké Ball—entered the field.
Electrode. An old familiar face.
[Pokémon: Electrode]
[Type: Electric]
[Level: 60]
[Ability: Aftermath]
[Moves: —]
An Electrode with Aftermath!
This thing was not easy to deal with…
Sure, the damage Aftermath caused could vary depending on the strength gap—
But Lucario and Electrode were roughly on the same level. Even if he beat it, he still had to watch out for that ability.
It's not like he could just sneakily send out Poliwhirl on the side, right?
That would be a bit too cheap.
While the second battle hadn't officially started yet, Grey thought quickly.
Electrode was a Pokémon with extreme speed—its official Speed base stat from the League was 150.
But its other stats weren't great.
None of them even broke 100.
In a matchup like this, he had to be careful about whether Lt. Surge was going to pull out some weird, uncommon move.
Still, after fighting Electrode so many times, Grey more or less understood its usual battle style.
If it disagreed with you, it exploded.
Of course, Lt. Surge's Electrode had definitely been trained properly. It wouldn't be like a wild Electrode that blew up if you so much as breathed on it.
But Aftermath still needed attention.
Just in case it tried to drag him down with it…
"Looks like I should use ranged moves as much as possible for this one."
Static and Aftermath both only triggered on close contact.
If he stayed far away, he could prevent that neatly.
After thinking it through, Grey reached his conclusion.
And the second battle officially began!
"Lucario—Aura Sphere!"
Aura Sphere was a move that used aura to lock onto an enemy.
It basically came with a built-in "lock-on" effect—aside from a few extreme situations, it was almost guaranteed to hit.
And right now, against an Electrode that was basically a close-range landmine, Aura Sphere was absolutely the best choice!
"Lucario!"
After evolving, Lucario gave off that cold, handsome vibe with every motion—its move wind-up alone was enough to make a huge chunk of the audience scream.
No way around it.
Lucario was just too cool.
It even stayed in the top ten on certain fan sites year after year.
That alone showed how insane its popularity was.
Very quickly, between Lucario's palms, an Aura Sphere compressed to the extreme, making the air vibrate.
Electrode, rolling around near the edge of the field, suddenly stiffened. Its spherical body flashed with dangerous arcs.
That shiver of being targeted by a top predator made it slam to a stop.
As it spun and turned, it met Lucario's eyes—eyes locked onto prey—and that Aura Sphere ready to fire!
"Electro Ball!"
"Electrode!"
Electrode wasn't some easy opponent either.
At the command, the electric arcs bursting from its body condensed into an equally large orb of electricity, which it hurled straight at Lucario!
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.