After all, Blaziken had consumed a Blaze Stone, an Ultimate Fire-type treasure, which doubled the power of its Flamethrower. Combined with the fact that it was already Champion-level…
Metagross’s Protect finally shattered under the relentless Flamethrower, and its body was instantly engulfed in flames.
"Yes!"
One of the Pannar officials couldn't help but exclaim upon seeing this.
Naturally, he wanted their Champion to win, so when he saw Metagross get hit by the Flamethrower, he couldn't contain his excitement.
But then it occurred to him—if their Champion defeated Julian, wouldn't that mean Julian wasn't as strong as their Champion? And if that were the case, how would he handle the secret realm riot?
So… did he want their Champion to win or lose?
He was conflicted.
"Meta!"
A surge of powerful psychic energy erupted from Metagross, dispersing the flames and revealing its body, now slightly reddened from the heat.
The Flamethrower, enhanced by the Blaze Stone, wasn't just twice as powerful—the temperature itself had become far more extreme.
"Ken?"
Blaziken stared at Metagross in surprise. It had expected the opponent to show at least some signs of injury after being hit by that Flamethrower.
But now, aside from being slightly discolored by the heat, Metagross didn't seem hurt at all.
If the Flamethrower had lasted just a bit longer, it might have dealt significant damage.
"Steel Beam!"
A silver-white beam of light tore through the air, streaking toward Blaziken.
BOOM!!
Blaziken failed to dodge in time and was sent flying by the attack. The intense pain made its vision blur.
"Meta!"
Metagross instantly vanished with Teleport.
Blaziken caught the movement out of the corner of its eye and immediately began darting rapidly across the battlefield, trying to make it impossible for Metagross to lock onto its position.
"Earthquake!" Julian commanded.
Faced with an Earthquake, Blaziken's first instinct was to leap into the air.
Just as it jumped, Metagross landed, and the battlefield began to shake violently.
Within seconds, the entire arena was reduced to rubble.
"Brave Bird!" Omar shouted.
Blaziken, still in mid-air, became enveloped in a fiery, flame-like energy, its aura roaring as the air cracked apart. And Blaziken transformed into a soaring crimson bird, somewhat reminiscent of Moltres.
"Hammer Arm!"
Metagross charged forward to meet the Brave Bird head-on, its massive arm glowing with brilliant white light.
BOOM!!!
Metagross's left arm blocked the Brave Bird with Hammer Arm, the impact driving its body into the ground. But that didn't stop it from using Hammer Arm with its other hand.
Since the ground had already been shattered by Metagross's earlier Earthquake, the impact of the Brave Bird was minimized.
Seeing this, Omar couldn’t help but sigh in realization—he had been outplayed.
At first, he thought Julian had ordered Metagross to use Earthquake
merely to disrupt Blaziken’s movements. If that were the only goal, there were plenty of other, less costly moves that could have done the same—like Psychic or Metal Sound. Using Earthquake seemed like an overkill.But now it was clear: Julian had used Earthquake to destroy the battlefield, anticipating that Blaziken would jump into the air to avoid the tremors, and that Omar would seize the opportunity to have it use Brave Bird.
And so, here they were.
Metagross’s right arm came crashing down with a brutal Hammer Arm.
With a deafening boom, Blaziken—transformed into the fiery bird—was smashed into the ground.
Metagross was about to follow up with another Hammer Arm, but Julian's voice rang out:
"That's enough, Metagross."
Metagross halted, glancing back at Julian in confusion—as if asking, 'Aren't we going to finish it?'
Since Metagross didn't press the attack, Blaziken managed to leap out from the crater. It was clearly injured from the Hammer Arm, but still in decent condition.
"Blaziken, stand down as well," Omar said.
The two trainers had called off the battle, leaving one Pannar official confused: "Why did they stop? The outcome hasn't been decided yet."
"You want them to keep fighting?" another official clutched his chest, groaning. "If this continues, our funds for the next half of year will be completely drained."
So much funding burned away in a single sparring match—funds that could have built miles of railways and highways.
"This was only a spar. If Metagross and Blaziken truly fought to the end, one of them would inevitably end up gravely injured."
Ambassador David explained calmly, with a faint smile on his face. Although he was an ambassador, he was also an early-stage Elite trainer himself.
"And Metagross and Blaziken are the ace Pokémon of Julian and Omar. They can’t afford to be injured when there are greater tasks ahead."
His instincts were sharp, and he could tell that Metagross was stronger than Blaziken.
This match wasn’t about deciding victory or defeat—it was Julian displaying his strength.
And besides, no one would truly benefit if a winner was forced.
"…Ah, I see," the confused official replied, finally understanding.
The other Pannar officials, however, looked at him as if he were a fool. Did he really think the two intended to fight to the bitter end?
How had someone with this level of poor judgment even risen to their rank?
With the spar concluded, the protective barrier was deactivated.
Metagross and Blaziken both returned to the sides of their respective trainers.
"How was it?" Julian asked.
"Meta~"
Metagross: "Its strength is decent."
From what Blaziken had shown so far, Metagross was confident it could defeat it—though it might take a bit of time.
On the other side, Omar was asking Blaziken the same question.
Blaziken: "Where did you find this monster? If it hadn’t pulled back just now, one more Hammer Arm and I’d probably be done for."
Omar had long since developed a bond with Blaziken, enough that even without psychic abilities he could understand its words.
For a so-called mid-stage Pseudo-Champion, to be stronger than itself—a full-fledged Champion… it had completely shattered Blaziken's understanding of what a Pseudo-Champion was capable of.
"John's grandson. That Metagross is the offspring of that old guy's Metagross."
Blaziken suddenly recalled the scene of it being hammered into the ground by that very Metagross decades ago. The corner of its mouth twitched involuntarily.
'Damn, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree—this one's even more of a monster than that guy.'
Although there had been no clear winner, Omar knew perfectly well that if the battle continued, Blaziken would have most likely lost.
He sighed inwardly at Julian’s overwhelming power despite his youth—but at the same time, he felt relieved. After all, if Julian wasn’t this strong, how could he possibly help them resolve the Secret Realm riot?
Blaziken: "That one really hurt…"
It rubbed its chest as it spoke.
It was genuinely injured—whether Metagross had suffered any real damage though, remained unknown.
Metagross simply remarked that aside from feeling a bit overheated from the earlier Flamethrower, it was otherwise perfectly fine.
*****
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