Faced with Venusaur's powerful Power Whip move, Blaziken showed not the slightest intention of dodging it.
Once before, during a gym battle against Mr. Ramos's Gogoat, Blaziken had been in a similar situation.
But this time, the opponent's strength and the power of the attack were completely different.
Blaziken didn't face it head-on like he did against Gogoat; instead, he spun his body and used the momentum of the whip to accelerate toward Venusaur.
Flames began to erupt from every corner of his body...
Completely engulfed in fire!
Flare Blitz!
At the last moment, Blaziken flipped through the air and landed squarely on Venusaur's upper back.
Boom!
Venusaur, caught off guard by the speed of the attack, had no chance to dodge and took the full hit.
The double Fire-type damage, combined with the sheer power of Flare Blitz, nearly caused Venusaur to collapse then and there.
The only reason he didn't fall instantly was his extraordinary physical endurance and vigor, which allowed him to remain standing.
But the assault wasn't over yet.
Aggron, who had started running from the beginning, reached Venusaur's front at that moment.
The attacks didn't stop!
Despite his imposing size, Venusaur had no physical advantage over Mega Aggron.
Aggron's gleaming metallic claws shone with a dangerously sharp edge.
Metal Claw!
He crossed both claws and slashed directly at Venusaur's face.
Slash! Slash!
The sharp steel claws wreaked havoc on Venusaur's face.
But that was just the beginning.
Aggron spun sharply.
With that spin, his armored tail, glowing with metallic energy, slammed violently into Venusaur's body.
Bang!
Venusaur's massive body was launched through the air, a testament to Aggron's colossal strength.
Aggron had learned power-usage techniques from Blaziken.
By rotating his body and striking with the tail using momentum, the impact became far stronger.
The fact that such a heavy Pokémon as Venusaur went flying from the blow proved the effectiveness of this technique.
Venusaur was thrown and crashed against a tree.
Still, he wasn't out of the fight yet.
Cain was surprised by this Venusaur's resilience.
"That endurance... Incredible."
"Finish it off. Blaziken, use Fire Punch!" Cain ordered.
The outcome wouldn't change.
While running, Blaziken stomped hard on the ground, kicking up dust.
His flame ribbons wrapped around his arm, forming a fist engulfed in golden fire.
A fist with extremely high-temperature flames.
Bang!!
The punch landed directly on Venusaur's body, just before he hit the ground.
Boom!
Venusaur didn't move... but the tree behind him exploded into pieces.
Reduced to ashes.
Finally, Venusaur collapsed to the ground, unable to continue battling.
Since the battle began, barely a minute had passed.
Venusaur had only managed to launch Solar Beam before being taken down by the combined assault from Blaziken and Aggron.
Both Pokémon shimmered briefly as their Mega Evolutions wore off.
Cain wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead.
This time, the double use of Mega Evolution hadn't lasted as long as the previous time, so he only felt slight fatigue, far from his limit.
Without hesitation, Cain threw a Poké Ball at the weakened Venusaur.
A Pokémon like that was worth more than ten Bulbasaur. Both for the construction of his island and his starter breeding plans, it held enormous value.
Besides, the Ivysaur and Bulbasaur that followed it were also numerous.
All of them now became part of Cain's plans.
With Venusaur captured, Cain mounted Drapion and headed toward the direction where the Ivysaur and Bulbasaur had fled.
Drapion, who hadn't participated in the fight, felt a bit frustrated.
But there was nothing he could do. That battle wasn't meant for him.
An Advanced-level Pokémon might still, with an advantage, defeat a Quasi-Elite. But for a Quasi-Elite to beat an Elite-level Pokémon... is extremely difficult.
So Drapion could only gather his energy, waiting for a worthy battle.
It had been a while since he'd had a full-power fight.
But soon his wish would come true.
Because while chasing the Bulbasaur, Cain entered the heart of the territory... and there he found the true leader of the group.
The previously defeated Venusaur wasn't the group's chief. This surprised Cain.
Before him now stood two Venusaur with fierce expressions.
A male and a female.
Both at Elite level.
It was very rare to find a wild group with two Elite-level Pokémon.
Most likely, this Bulbasaur group had formed from these two.
Moreover, the Venusaur blocking the Ivysaur and Bulbasaur's path had an even larger body than the one before.
A true beast over three meters tall.
A Giant Venusaur!
Pokémon: Venusaur (Blue)
Gender: Male
Level: 64
Type: Grass + Poison
Ability: Overgrow
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Magical Leaf, Sludge, Power Whip, Grassy Terrain
Basic Moves: Petal Dance, Tackle, Growl, Leech Seed, Vine Whip, Poison Powder, Sleep Powder, Take Down, Razor Leaf, Sweet Scent, Growth, Double-Edge, Worry Seed, Synthesis, Petal Blizzard, Solar Beam
Learned Moves: Frenzy Plant, Grass Pledge, Worry Seed, Snore, Bind, Synthesis, Seed Bomb, Giga Drain, Outrage, Stomping Tantrum
TM Moves: None
These were the data scanned by the system on the male leader Venusaur. The female, for her part, was level 63 and not very different.
"A Venusaur that can use Outrage? That's surprising..." Cain muttered.
But right after scanning both, Cain noticed something at the female Venusaur's feet.
A small figure peeked timidly, watching Cain from behind her legs.
What caught his attention was that this little Bulbasaur had a different color from the rest of its companions.
Cain narrowed his eyes.
It seemed the female Venusaur noticed his gaze, and with a slight flick of her hind leg, she hid the little one by tossing it behind her.
At the same time, several Ivysaur emerged from the bushes to block the little Bulbasaur's path.
(End of chapter)