It was another extraordinary confrontation where the battlefield seemed to shake like a meteor hitting Earth.
Hank gazed at Mega Gardevoir with slight amazement. He never imagined that his final opponent would be Mega Gardevoir, the most remarkable challenger he had encountered in his entire career.
"I never thought the last battle of my trainer journey would be so..." Gym Leader Hank whispered.
"Brilliant?!" John completed his thought.
"Huh!" Hank took a deep breath. No matter what kind of opponent stood before him, his competitive spirit as a Trainer remained unquenchable!
John raised his head, seriously contemplating his strategy for the upcoming battle. Type advantage was just that, an advantage, not a guarantee of victory. He would need to use every ounce of his skill!
Their gazes locked across the battlefield as they simultaneously issued their commands.
"Machamp, Bullet Punch!"
"Gardevoir, Calm Mind!"
The colossal Machamp lunged forward, its seemingly bulky body displaying surprising agility. Silver-white energy flashed around all four fists as it unleashed a barrage of punches toward Mega Gardevoir.
Standing behind his Pokémon, John watched the incoming assault with wide eyes.
'This isn't just Bullet Punch, these are like missiles, cannonballs! Each of those 180-pound fists is bigger than I am!'
Wait, can Machamp even learn the Steel-type Bullet Punch? This defies everything I know!'
The moment Mega Gardevoir received John's command, she closed her eyes and initiated Calm Mind. As the Bullet Punch approached, her raised right hand guided her to teleport away from her position.
The ground in front of John, already damaged from previous attacks—collapsed and shattered again, the destruction spreading toward the Trainer's position.
"All reporters, move back one hundred meters!" Hank's assistants rushed forward, pulling the media personnel away.
Without this intervention, the reporters would be in grave danger. The arena was open, with no energy shield to protect spectators from the clash between the gigantic Machamp and Mega Gardevoir!
Even photographers hoping to capture close-up shots were forcibly dragged to safety by the assistants.
Mega Gardevoir reappeared behind Machamp after Teleporting, raising her hand to strike downward with tremendous force.
In that instant, Mega Gardevoir's psychic power exploded outward. Her blue hair and black skirt fluttered with the psychic energy's release!
Invisible waves of psychic force erupted from Mega Gardevoir's feet, dancing wildly and lashing out!
"Psychic!" John commanded.
Machamp spun around immediately. As Hank's ace Pokémon, it had mastered mind's eye movement, allowing it to "see" the spiritual attacks invisible to the naked eye.
Bullet Punch collided with Psychic energy, creating countless explosions in rapid succession!
"Psychic Assault!" John ordered again.
Suddenly, a Mega Gardevoir appeared behind the Dynamax Machamp.
Psychic energy erupted instantly, with countless mental spikes extending outward, whipping around frantically.
"Substitute?" Gym Leader Hank panted slightly, frowning as he hurriedly commanded, "Protect!"
The massive Machamp turned immediately, positioning its hands left and right to create two barriers blocking both Mega Gardevoirs' Psychic attacks.
Seeing this familiar defense, John's lips curled into a slight smile. He had faced the same tactic when battling against Coach Williams.
Facing this defense again? I learned from our last battle!
"Moonblast!" John added to his commands.
Both Mega Gardevoirs withdrew their psychic energy and raised their hands skyward.
The entire grassland fell into momentary darkness as the moon grew brighter. Hazy moonlight sprinkled down, and countless pink energy particles descended from the moon like a meteor shower.
No—this was a pink meteor storm!
"Wide Guard!" Gym Leader Hank switched tactics.
The enormous Machamp retracted its arms, crossing all four limbs in front of its chest.
Rock-like barriers immediately formed around it, blocking the meteor rain filling the sky.
"Tap-tap-tap!!!" The raindrops hit the barrier with crisp, sweet sounds.
But just a second later, Machamp, seemingly protected by Wide Guard, trembled violently as if struck by machine-gun fire.
Countless Moonblasts had teleported inside the Wide Guard, striking Machamp directly!
Last time, a single Moonblast was blocked by his defensive barrier. This time, I'll teleport dozens inside and see how he blocks that!
"Bang!" The Wide Guard shattered, breached from within, a rare occurrence!
"Aura Sphere!" Gym Leader Hank gasped sharply. Machamp was taking damage, but it wouldn't go down without retaliation.
The gigantic Machamp gritted its teeth against the Moonblast barrage and threw an Aura Sphere with a backhand motion.
Due to Dynamax, this Aura Sphere vastly surpassed even Hariyama's. To describe its size... it could swallow an elephant whole!
Thrown with Circle Throw technique, the massive Aura Sphere flew with lightning speed, locking onto one Mega Gardevoir.
"Teleport!" Mega Gardevoir vanished immediately.
But thanks to its targeting ability, the Aura Sphere didn't explode in midair. Instead, it traced a graceful arc and redirected toward the spot where Mega Gardevoir reappeared.
"Trouble," John frowned.
Although Mega Gardevoir, with Psychic and Fairy typing, had quadruple resistance to Fighting moves, this Aura Sphere was ridiculously massive.
A direct hit would cause serious injuries to Mega Gardevoir's delicate frame.
Time for the gecko to drop its tail, John thought.
Facing the giant Aura Sphere, Mega Gardevoir didn't dodge but faced the attack head-on—until the moment of impact.
Another Mega Gardevoir used "Ally Switch" at the last second. The Mega Gardevoir targeted by Aura Sphere was merely a Substitute.
The explosion resonated throughout the battlefield.
A massive circular crater twenty meters in radius appeared where the attack landed.
If the reporters hadn't been evacuated earlier, dozens would have perished!
Mega Gardevoir had vanished, with the Substitute taking the full brunt of the Aura Sphere.
Turning his head, John observed the Dynamax Machamp again. It was seriously injured, but John sensed that Gym Leader Hank himself was suffering more.
Hank knelt half-way on the ground, one hand braced against the earth and the other clutching his chest, as if he had sustained a severe injury.