The appearance of a double sandstorm, and one created by a Mega Tyranitar and a quasi-Champion Gengar, at that.
Combined, Pelipper had no power to resist.
After a brief struggle, it gradually lost control of the weather.
Shelly's expression changed; she hadn't expected the opponent's weather counterattack to come so quickly!
"Matt!!" Shelly immediately shouted to Matt beside her. It was now a foregone conclusion that her rain had been overridden.
The only one who could help her now was Matt, who had been standing by her side.
But this was the second time she had called for Matt's help, yet he remained unmoved.
Seeing Matt's reaction, Shelly's expression instantly turned grim. Just as she was about to reprimand him, Matt's earlier obstruction of Archie summoning Kyogre had already made her feel something was amiss, and now it was confirmed.
However, while she was fuming, Aoki didn't stop commanding his Pokémon.
"Blaziken," Aoki called out.
Blaziken instantly understood Aoki's meaning. Its feet began to alternate leaving the ground, creating a special rhythm with its hops, while fierce flames erupted from its body.
The temperature of the flames grew hotter and hotter, slowly changing from red to yellow, then to gold, with a few strands of crimson-gold flames mixed in.
Instantly, with Blaziken at the center, the air temperature surged. The moisture in the air, originally from the rain and a few Pokémon, was now slowly evaporating under Blaziken's scorching flames.
The water droplets and vapor clinging to Tyranitar's sand, as long as Tyranitar controlled them to circle Blaziken's body once, quickly became very dry.
Its control over sand also became increasingly adept.
The air within the alternate space slowly became drier. After seizing control of the weather, the overall environment within the space was now tilting towards a sandstorm.
Not only Blaziken's scorching flames, but Florges also summoned plants to absorb moisture from the air, and Slowking could also absorb this vapor. As for Tyranitar, although it couldn't control the sandstorm like another Tyranitar, as a Rock-type Pokémon, providing assistance was no problem at all.
For a time, the weather and environment within the alternate space all changed.
Aoki watched this scene, the smile on his face growing wider.
As someone equally knowledgeable about rain teams, would he not know that in similar situations, rain suppresses sandstorms?
Since he knew, Aoki naturally had corresponding countermeasures.
Double sandstorms seized the weather, Blaziken's high temperature scorched the air, and Florges, Slowking, and Aggron provided additional help.
Shelly's expression was extremely grim. She originally had a single-core lineup, and now Aoki had directly crippled her core, while Aoki still maintained a complete dual-core lineup. How was she supposed to fight now?
Even if there were some advantages in Pokémon types, at this moment, against a dual-core lineup, this type advantage seemed somewhat insignificant.
However, Aoki didn't directly launch an attack; he was still waiting, waiting for Matt to make a decision.
Not long after, as if something had clicked, Matt, who had been looking down, suddenly raised his head, the confusion on his face gone.
Glancing at Shelly, who was struggling against the sandstorm, Matt strode to a spot not far from Aoki.
Aoki watched her approach him and asked, "What? Have you made up your mind?"
Matt looked at Aoki, silently for ten seconds, then nodded, a hint of respect appearing in his eyes.
Kneeling on one knee, he respectfully called out, "I am willing to follow in Lord Aoki's footsteps!"
She didn't know Aoki's purpose, nor why Aoki, a revered Elite Four member of the League, wanted to take her under his wing, but at this moment, a very firm voice echoed in her heart.
Aoki was definitely no ordinary person. The ability to foresee all of this indicated he was more capable than Archie.
And she also had the special Psychic seed left by Aoki in her mind; she seemed to have no other choice.
Clang—
Shelly stared blankly at this scene, her dagger falling to the ground. She pointed at Aoki and Matt, opening her mouth but for a moment not knowing what to say.
Aoki nodded to Matt, using his psychic powers to help him up, "Good!"
A simple word, accepting Matt's allegiance.
From the Celebi space, when Aoki saw Matt and thought of his various deeds, he decided that this person needed to become his subordinate!
Because in Aoki's view, Matt was the only one among the several Team Aqua executives who hadn't completely lost his humanity.
The subordinates Aoki now recruited, or rather, the people he controlled, all had humanity deep within their hearts, and their own bottom lines.
In Aoki's current philosophy, becoming an underground force was acceptable!
But even an underground force must have its own bottom line. When a person completely loses their bottom line, they can no longer be called human.
Whether it was Roserade, whom he first subdued, or Jarvis, who was later subdued but not yet fully awakened, or Tianhao Yu, who was self-doubting and self-examining, or Matt, who was now subdued and finally dared to openly question Archie—they were all such people.
Even Lysandre, who wasn't exactly subdued by Aoki but was not far off, only chose to create Team Flare after seeing through the reality of humans in the Pokémon world and the capriciousness and distortion of human nature. Aoki merely gave a slight push and helped him recognize himself and what he truly wanted.
These people, without exception, had all come into contact with the lowest, deepest, most twisted darkness of the Pokémon world.
What Aoki did was truly just to liberate themselves.
Born in light, grown in darkness.
To understand darkness, one must first merge with it!
As Aoki's strength increased, the schemes he laid out grew larger and larger. It wasn't about overthrowing the League's rule or becoming an underground boss like Giovanni.
What Aoki wanted to do was simply to give these people living in darkness some ability to protect themselves, and most importantly, to ensure he himself had enough self-preservation.
Matt stood up and respectfully stood behind Aoki.
Shelly looked at this scene, somewhat stunned for a moment.
However, he quickly reacted, pointing at Matt and angrily scolding, "Matt, I can't believe you betrayed Team Aqua, betrayed Leader Archie! Do you even know who you've pledged allegiance to?"
"Oh? Tell me, who am I?" Suddenly, Aoki's half-smiling voice rang out.
Hearing Aoki's words, Shelly was about to say he was an Elite Four member, but the words didn't come out.
Could someone who could take Team Aqua's Matt as a subordinate just be an Elite Four member?
"Who exactly are you?" Shelly couldn't answer, so he could only question.
Aoki smiled, "I'll tell you once you defeat me!
Tyranitar, Stone Edge!"
Commanding his Pokémon, he directly launched an attack.
Could a rain team without rain be a match for Aoki?