Join my p@treon for more chapters
[email protected]/Tempest_29
The same beginning, but a different ending.
Garchomp's training over these past days had not been wasted.
"Roaaaaar!" Mega Garchomp bellowed, expressing its triumph over the defeat it had once suffered.
Now, it had proven itself!
With newfound confidence, Mega Garchomp became increasingly bold. To put it simply, it was riding high on victory.
In the stadium, the audience's voices erupted with tremendous excitement.
"Holy crap! Chris actually took the lead and won the first battle!"
"I feel like I've seen this scene before! When Chris battled Elite Four Elian, he also won the first match. This moment is just like that moment!"
"Using Rock-type moves to hide both Draco Meteor and Garchomp itself—what an ingenious strategy! Chris's tactical thinking is incredible!"
"Coach, I want to learn this technique!"
"Get lost! Even I don't know how to pull that off!"
Winning the opening battle with Garchomp sustaining no damage reminded countless viewers of Chris's legendary fight against Elian.
Could it be... could it be that Chris was about to create another miracle today?
Marvin stared at Mega Garchomp for a moment, then glanced at Chris before breaking into a smile. "It seems we can't underestimate rookies."
As he spoke, Marvin retrieved his Poké Ball to recall Dragonite and threw out another one.
The Poké Ball opened in mid-air, and brilliant snow and ice immediately began falling from the sky. The entire battlefield seemed to transform into a winter wonderland.
An elegant and beautiful Pokémon stood before Marvin, drawing envious gazes from countless spectators.
It was a Ninetales—specifically, an Alolan Ninetales.
Unlike ordinary Ninetales' Fire typing, Alolan Ninetales possessed Ice and Fairy typing. In terms of appearance, it was several grades more stunning.
A rare and powerful Pokémon indeed.
Chris didn't care about its rarity—he knew Alolan Ninetales could only be found in specific regions. What concerned him was its typing.
Ice-type plus Fairy-type... a double nemesis to Dragon-types, right?
Chris didn't hesitate. Before the battle even began, he directly retrieved his Poké Ball to recall the still-Mega-Evolved Garchomp.
Then he released another Pokémon.
A mass of pristine white landed on the battlefield, revealing another fox-like Pokémon.
But as soon as this fox appeared, the entire National Pokémon Competition Center fell silent—whether spectators or officials, everyone was stunned.
"What a beautiful Pokémon!"
"No, it should be called handsome!"
"What kind of Pokémon is this? I've never seen it before!"
Discussions erupted throughout the audience.
Even Marvin, despite being Champion, frowned. "An unknown Pokémon..."
"Is this also a Pokémon from that secret realm?" In the Elite Four VIP room, Victor and Tate looked toward Roy.
"Yes," Roy nodded without taking his eyes off the battlefield. He was somewhat surprised that Chris had sent out this Pokémon, considering it had only been captured two months ago.
The stronger the Pokémon, the harder it was to build a proper bond.
The Pokémon Chris had sent out was naturally Zoroark.
To counter an Ice plus Fairy-type Alolan Ninetales, there were four effective type advantages: Poison, Rock, Steel, and Fire.
Coincidentally, none of Chris's main team members possessed any of these four types.
However, this wasn't too significant a problem. Without type advantage, he'd simply have to overwhelm with raw power.
Three of his main Pokémon hadn't yet faced serious opposition, so it was better to go one by one. After all, even in a battle against Marvin, Chris felt the process might be similar to his victory over Elian.
One Pokémon defeating one Pokémon. The battle rules were four out of six—only four Pokémon could appear in the end.
Don't ask Chris why he possessed such confidence.
Did you think his two months of intense training were because he felt he couldn't win the Championship?
No, those two months of grueling preparation were simply to make his victory rate reach one hundred percent. After all, a ninety-nine percent chance of winning still wasn't completely safe.
Both sides had completed their Pokémon switches, but Marvin didn't immediately launch an attack. His furrowed brow showed he was maintaining extreme caution.
Power wasn't frightening—the unknown was!
He would rather face a Legendary Pokémon like Entei or Moltres than encounter a Pokémon he had never seen or heard of on the battlefield.
Not knowing its typing... how was he supposed to strategize?
Chris smiled slightly. Since the loser of the previous round wasn't taking initiative, then he, as the winner, would attack first.
"Zoroark, Dark Pulse!" Chris commanded.
Zoroark's white fur fluttered in the wind as it gracefully raised its clawed fingers.
Behind it, countless black vortexes the size of basketballs materialized, and numerous dark energy beams burst forth from them, all targeting Ninetales with precision.
"Is this Zoroark?"
"Could it be a Shiny Zoroark? But something doesn't seem right..."
"Hmm, according to the law of luck conservation, I have reason to suspect that the Shiny Zoroark that should have belonged to me was claimed by Chris..."
"On this day, Shiny Elite finally made the whole world remember his title!"
Focused now, Marvin also heard Chris's name for this unknown Pokémon.
Zoroark? Shiny Zoroark?
Marvin formed his own hypothesis, though he keenly sensed something was amiss.
Alolan Ninetales were Ice and Fairy-type. Not many types resisted them effectively—Bug, Ice, and Dark-type moves.
Bringing out a pure Dark-type Zoroark made sense.
But did Chris really have no other Pokémon that weren't weak to his opponent while having type advantage? Or did he not even understand basic type matchups?
Marvin quickly dismissed this ridiculous notion.
Come on, this was an Elite Four member!
"Ninetales, hide in the snow!" Marvin issued a conservative command.
Ninetales stepped back slightly, its ice-crystal body quickly becoming concealed within the swirling snow.
Countless Dark Pulse attacks shot into the snow curtain, disappearing like stones thrown into the sea. Except for some initial ice crystals scattering, there was no other reaction.
Chris looked up at the falling snow and ice, initially thinking Ninetales had the Snow Warning ability. But unexpectedly, it possessed the Snow Cloak ability instead.
So, did Marvin's Ninetales carry some item that could instantly change the weather upon entering battle like his own Gyarados, or had this Ninetales actually developed the natural ability to affect weather patterns?