On screen—
Even though Empoleon had braced itself, it was still blasted back over ten meters by Flash Cannon!
Its HP barely dropped, but Melmetal completely crushed his momentum
And this was a Pokémon that quad-resists Steel…
"Such a powerful hit! But we're not giving in that easily! Empoleon, use Hydro Pump!"
"Empaaay!"
Empoleon opened its sharp beak, massive torrents of water gathering at its mouth.
A heartbeat later, it fired a roaring pillar of water straight at Melmetal!
"Melmetal, spin on the spot!"
Faced with that fierce water cannon, Ash didn't panic at all. If Melmetal had anything going for it, it was its absolutely insane Defense!
Sure, it's Sp. Def was kinda trash…
But before this battle, Ash had specifically put Melmetal through a spinning special training course!
Both its offense and defense had leveled up from that!
Obeying Ash's command, Melmetal began to rotate in place at high speed, quickly turning into a massive silver top!
Hydro Pump slammed into the spinning Melmetal—and was instantly deflected off to the sides!
Not a scratch taken!
"Whoa!"
Kukui and Empoleon both froze in shock. He knew Ash had been training Melmetal recently…
But he didn't expect that training to go this far!
…
"Hahaha, is this really Professor Kukui? He's way too funny!"
"And Empoleon too—he always looks so serious, but that expression just now was priceless!"
The crowd was amazed by Melmetal's defense…
…but they were even more entertained by the synchronized dumbfounded faces of Kukui and Empoleon.
Plenty of people had already screenshotted the pair and were turning them into reaction images.
One attack blocked, Kukui immediately gave another order.
"Use Whirlpool!"
That Whirlpool had made things really rough for Lycanroc earlier, forcing Ash to switch out.
So Kukui decided to run it back!
A huge spiraling current formed between Empoleon's flippers before being hurled straight forward!
"Take it head-on!"
"Meltaa!"
With Melmetal's size and speed, dodging a move with that kind of range was basically impossible.
So Ash simply chose to let it tank it. If it were Melmetal… it could handle it!
The Whirlpool swallowed Melmetal whole, completely wrapping around its body!
The raging currents surged and howled… but when they hit Melmetal's body, it looked more like…
Someone was hosing a steel giant down in a bath.
The silver titan didn't take any damage at all. Instead, it struck a series of flexing poses inside the whirlpool like it was showing off a bodybuilding routine.
"Empaaay…"
Empoleon tilted its head all the way back with a dead-eyed look that said, "Guess we're having grilled fish tonight."
as if silently asking Kukui:
'You seriously expect me to fight something like that?'
"Haha… looks like Water-type moves aren't doing much. Melmetal is just too heavy."
Kukui wiped the sweat from his forehead, giving Empoleon an awkward smile.
Making it brawl with a heavyweight Mythical like this really was asking a lot.
It couldn't hurt the opponent at all, yet that Steel-type, which it quad-resisted, was hitting hard.
Legendaries really were busted.
…
"Pfft— I never thought Empoleon could make that kind of face. Professor Kukui's Pokémon are pretty great."
Seeing Empoleon's look, Cynthia finally couldn't contain her laughter.
That expression was just too cursed.
"This fight doesn't feel quite as stiff as the previous ones, but both sides are definitely going all out."
Lance commented seriously.
He understood better than anyone just how strong Kukui really was.
Even if he was joking around mid-battle, he definitely wasn't holding back.
The fact that Ash was keeping up with just a 'mightyena-class' Lycanroc and an unevolved Torracat?
Way beyond what Lance expected.
And Melmetal too—this Legendary was absurdly strong. A Steel-type move beating back a quad-resist Empoleon, while Water-type nukes barely did anything in return?
The power of Legendaries really was terrifying.
This one Melmetal alone was probably stronger than Regice had been.
"Godai" is about to become a unit of measurement at this rate…
(Godai: "Say that again, I dare you.")
On screen—
Kukui still didn't want to back down yet. He wanted to "die properly" first.
After all, Empoleon quad-resisted Steel! Strictly speaking, Ash was also fighting against a type disadvantage here.
If he chickened out now, could he still call himself a man?
"Empoleon, use Hydro Pump again!"
"Empaay!!"
Powerful water energy gathered at Empoleon's beak once more before exploding out in a raging torrent!
Faced with another roaring Hydro Pump, Ash once again had Melmetal start spinning!
The torrent smashed into the spinning Melmetal and was scattered apart a second time!
While Kukui was still racking his brain over how to break through Melmetal's defense…
Ash started his counterattack.
"Use that spin's momentum—Double Iron Bash! Coat it with Thunder Punch!"
"Meltaa!"
Melmetal stopped spinning, but its arms stretched forward like rubber!
Electricity crackled across its fists, golden sparks dancing as its twin hammers shot forward like meteors straight at Empoleon!
Thanks to gravity and its own great weight, those punches were insanely fast.
Empoleon had no time to dodge and could only raise its flippers to block!
"Bang! Bang!"
Two punches landed in rapid succession, smashing into Empoleon and sending it flying backward—
Crashing straight into Kukui and tumbling together all the way to the edge of the arena!
"Boom!!"
Dust exploded into the air. When it finally cleared, Empoleon's eyes were spinning in circles, clearly unable to battle.
Kukui himself also looked more than a little dizzy.
"…What a terrifying move. Not only does it carry Steel-type power, but just Melmetal's raw force plus that spin make those two blows explosive."
"And Ash even had Melmetal layer Thunder Punch on top—that's multi-tasking on three levels at once. Definitely worthy of a Legendary."
As Hoenn's Steel-type Champion, Steven immediately saw straight through the structure of Melmetal's attack.
Those two spinning punches looked simple…
But in reality, most Pokémon wouldn't even come close to pulling something like that off.
For an ordinary Pokémon, just trying to use two moves at once was ridiculously hard—
Never mind fully exploiting rotational momentum to amplify its power, then layering a third move on top of it.
Only a Legendary could do that so casually.
Ash's Legendary… really was that strong.
At the very least, it left Regice in the dust. If Ash had had Melmetal back then, beating Regice would've been no effort at all.
(Godai: "For the record, I didn't do anything to deserve this slander today!")
"Melmetal is indeed impressive, no question. But… a Legendary with a divine role isn't something Ash can handle."
Lance's tone remained firm.
Even with Ash sitting right beside him, he didn't bother sugarcoating anything.
He was just being honest.
"Besides… Professor Kukui still has Incineroar. I've personally experienced how strong that Incineroar is."
"Huh? You've battled Professor Kukui before, Lance?"
Ash blinked in surprise.
"Yeah. And not just me—Lorelei, Bruno, and Agatha fought him too. Against those three, he's slightly stronger overall."
"But against me? His strength is still clearly inferior. In the end, his winning streak stopped at me."
Lance said proudly.
Back then, Kukui had come to the Kanto League, fought his way through all four Elite members…
And finally ran into Lance, the last line of defense for Kanto's honor.
If not for Lance, Kanto's Champion seat might have ended up in the hands of someone from distant Alola.
"Heh. If you're so strong, why aren't you the Kanto Champion yet?"
Lorelei pushed up her glasses with a little grin.
Lance's smile stiffened instantly. That was his eternal sore spot.
Every one of his "Dragons" was hard-countered by Lorelei's Ice-types. Unless he raised two more non-Dragon Pokémon to Champion level…
He would never beat her.
But if he did that… he wouldn't be the Dragon Master Lance anymore, would he?
He couldn't defile his title as the Dragon (Flying) Master!
"All right, all right. You can keep your Kanto drama for later. For now, let's focus on the match."
Leon reminded them, and they turned their attention back to the screen.
Kukui had already recalled Empoleon.
His next Pokémon—Incineroar!
Kukui once again sent out his ace.
By rights, after taking two Rock-type hits, Incineroar's HP shouldn't be looking so good right now.
But… it had taken a nice chunk out of the "Regenerator buff." Its health bar was back to safe levels.
(Fandom joke: every time Ash recalls a Pokémon, its HP magically comes back, so everyone calls it "Regenerator.")
Facing Incineroar, Ash still didn't plan to switch out.
He was the local champion of fighting against type disadvantage!
"Let's ride this momentum and keep going!"
"Meltaa!"
"Spin and use Double Iron Bash!"
"Meltaa!"
Melmetal started spinning once again, ready to unleash those unstoppable fists toward its new foe!
"Same move, huh? But this time your opponent's different! Incineroar, start with Bulk Up!"
The Attack and Defense boost from earlier had vanished after Incineroar was recalled, but that was fine. Time to stack it again.
"Rooaaar!"
Incineroar flexed like a pro bodybuilder, muscles bulging as its power rose a level.
By then, Melmetal had finished charging—its two massive fists shot out like falling stars!
Kukui didn't tell Incineroar to dodge.
"Catch it head-on!"
"Rooar!!"
Incineroar's claws flashed out, both arms snapping forward as it grabbed hold of those incoming fists!
"Crack—"
A faint grinding sound came from Incineroar's forearms—
That was bone and muscle straining under the force.
Even with a Bulk Up boost, catching that attack unscathed just wasn't possible.
But… taking some damage in exchange for completely stopping Melmetal's fists?
Very worth it.
"Meltaa!"
With its fists locked down, Melmetal couldn't pull them back at all.
Its entire body was dragged forward like an anchor on a cable. Thanks to its massive weight and the elasticity of its liquid metal arms, it was yanked right in front of Incineroar.
Incineroar was forced back several meters from the impact, paws digging into the ground—
But even with its arms tingling from the strain, it refused to let go of those fists.
"Now it's a man-to-man showdown, Ash! Incineroar, Fire Blast!"
At Kukui's shout, the belt of flames around Incineroar's waist flared, gathering searing power—
Then erupted outward!
Flames bloomed in the shape of a giant, slamming straight into Melmetal at point-blank range!
Fire burned across Melmetal's body, dealing some very real damage!
Ash saw that Melmetal couldn't tear free from Incineroar's grip and immediately called out:
"Melmetal, don't lose that fighting spirit! We're not going down yet—Thunder Punch and Flash Cannon!"
Another double-cast from two moves at once!
Electricity surged over Melmetal's fists, jolting into Incineroar's arms and body, making it roar in pain.
At the same time, blue-white light gathered at the center of Melmetal's hex-nut head—
Next moment, a beam of energy shot out like a laser!
Incineroar braced, raising its head and opening its jaws. A set of fiery fangs formed in front of its mouth—
Then clenched down, biting into the incoming Flash Cannon!
The blue-white beam was shattered and scattered by Fire Fang!
"Seriously?!"
Even Ash was stunned by Incineroar's answer.
His Lycanroc had just bitten through Whirlpool with Crunch earlier—
Now Kukui had straight-up copied the idea and had Incineroar bite through Flash Cannon with Fire Fang!
That was some textbook "steal your tech and upgrade it" tactics.
"Haha, Ash, I'm not shy about learning from you! Incineroar, another Fire Fang!"
"Tch… in that case—Hyper Beam!"
Hyper Beam—base power 150, pure destructive force! And it's Special, which Incineroar didn't buff with Bulk Up!
Both sides yelled their commands. Incineroar opened its jaws wide, crimson fire coating its fangs—
While radiant golden energy gathered at Melmetal's hex-nut.
This was exactly what Kukui had said: a battle between men.
Neither side even thought about dodging.
"Crunch!!"
"BOOM!!"
Incineroar's blazing fangs sank deep into Melmetal's body, igniting the liquid metal, flames spreading over its entire frame—
At the same time, Melmetal's golden beam of annihilation slammed into Incineroar's back, exploding with a deafening roar.
Smoke swallowed the arena.
The crowd held its breath, waiting to see which one would still be standing.
As the smoke finally thinned, Melmetal was still upright…
But its silvery body showed clear signs of partially melting from the heat.
Incineroar's back, already black with fur, now sported patches of even darker charred marks.
Its claws, still clamped around Melmetal's fists, trembled and finally loosened.
It staggered back two steps, swaying on unsteady legs, then—
"Rooooaaaar!!"
A guttural roar erupted from its throat.
Even though its expression was exhausted and ragged, there wasn't a trace of surrender in its eyes.
Melmetal, meanwhile, still hadn't moved.
"Mel…taa…"
It let out a low cry to show it was still conscious—
But the recoil from Hyper Beam left it totally unable to move for the moment.
Legendaries did have a natural resistance to recoil and recharge drawbacks.
Latios firing off Giga Impact barely needed any cooldown time at all, after all.
But Melmetal hadn't been evolved for long.
It still couldn't completely ignore that "recharge" rule.
"Now's our chance! Incineroar, finish it with Fire Blast!"
Kukui naturally wasn't going to let this opportunity slip by.
At his shout, Incineroar roared again, the flames on its belt flaring brilliantly—
A massive Fire Blast exploded out point-blank, slamming into the immobilized Melmetal!
Already worn down to its last reserves, Melmetal couldn't withstand this final hit and crashed to the ground—
Unable to battle.
Incineroar vs. Legendary: victory!
And with leftover HP at that.
Countless viewers around the world stared blankly at the display.
It took them a moment to process what they'd just seen.
Even though ninety-nine percent of them had bet on Professor Kukui to win…
They'd all placed those bets because of the divine Tapu Koko.
If Tapu Koko hadn't been on the team, they absolutely would've gone all in on Ash.
He had two Legendaries this time, after all!
But even with most people backing Kukui, in their minds, the one who would be tasked with taking down the Legendaries had to be Tapu Koko.
Did they think just anyone could topple a Legendary?
Yet today, Kukui showed the world that besides Pikachu—
There were other Pokémon who could face down "gods" with mortal bodies… and win.
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