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Giovanni's Pokémon moved with incredible speed, and they excelled at Ground-type moves. At Giovanni's command, the three Pokémon quickly used Dig, swiftly regrouping with Nidoking and Nidoqueen before bursting back out of the ground.
While their movement speed on the surface was slow, their digging speed was extraordinarily fast. Eddie saw them use Dig and was about to send an Earthquake their way for some fun, but before he could issue the command, they had already broken through the surface.
Obviously, Giovanni had already anticipated the possibility of his Pokémon being struck by Earthquake while underground, so he had trained them extensively in digging speed. Their proficiency was truly remarkable.
"Those three Pokémon were just surrounded and beaten down. Although we couldn't deal severe damage due to the time constraints, they still sustained significant injuries. If we push harder, dealing with these three shouldn't be a problem."
"But taking them all down at once is unlikely, so let's focus on eliminating one of them first."
Eddie was thinking about his next tactics, trying to defeat Giovanni's Pokémon one by one to secure victory over his opponent.
But this wasn't simple. Although Giovanni had fewer Pokémon than Eddie, his overall strength wasn't inferior to Eddie's at all.
Furthermore, Giovanni—the man known as "Giovanni of the Earth"—commanded Pokémon with exceptionally high defensive capabilities. Even though he was now taking an aggressive offensive approach because of Eddie's Z-Move, the inherent defensive power of his Pokémon remained unchanged.
"If we take the initiative to attack, we'll be easily caught off guard. But if we just wait for Giovanni to attack, it'll be too passive."
Eddie was uncertain whether to attack or defend. When fighting against someone like Giovanni, he had to consider every step carefully. Otherwise, it would be easy for Giovanni to seize an opportunity and turn the tables on him.
In fact, it wasn't only Eddie who was constantly thinking about how to fight—Giovanni was also under tremendous pressure.
Actually, he was under far greater pressure than Eddie. He didn't have a trump card like the Z-Move, and his ace Mega Beedrill had been severely damaged by Pikachu and was now being suppressed by Mewtwo.
It seemed that his Mega Beedrill wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. And when Mega Beedrill was defeated and Mewtwo could come over to fight alongside Eddie, that would be the moment of Giovanni's defeat.
This was what worried Giovanni most. However, it wasn't the most critical issue.
The most important thing was...
"Ugh... cough cough!cough cough!"
Taking out a white handkerchief from the outer pocket of his already somewhat tattered suit, Giovanni covered his mouth and coughed several times. When he pulled the handkerchief away, he could see crimson blood staining it.
"Only been fighting for about an hour, and your body is already giving out?"
"But I have to hold on... at least, I need to find that child before I die."
Giovanni appeared unharmed in his battle with Eddie, but in reality, he had expended enormous amounts of energy. The massive energy consumption and constant mental calculations were causing his body to operate under extreme strain.
After all, Eddie was just as cunning as he was. Sometimes he really wanted to know, "How did Eddie become such a crafty person at his age?"
"No, I can't think about this now. Eddie has already noticed that my body is failing. I must finish this as quickly as possible..."
Giovanni had originally wanted to suppress the discomfort in his body and avoid coughing up blood, but now he really couldn't help it. After quickly wiping away the blood, he looked at Eddie. He was genuinely afraid that Eddie would seize this moment of vulnerability and launch an attack.
However, when Giovanni looked at Eddie, the latter showed no sign of joy from seeing him cough up blood. Instead, his face was pale and he looked obviously very weak.
"Huh? That guy, how come..."
Giovanni was puzzled. Eddie, just like him, had been fighting until now without taking a single hit. How could a young man like him be so weak? Could it be that Eddie had the same terminal illness as him?
"Cough! Damn it! Why at this moment? The timing was perfect when Giovanni was coughing up blood just now!"
Giovanni was right. The moment Eddie saw him coughing up blood, he had wanted to launch an immediate attack.
However, just as Eddie was about to give the order, his body seemed to lose all strength in an instant. He was so exhausted that he couldn't even move. He used every ounce of remaining strength to prevent himself from collapsing onto the back of Mega Charizard X.
Because he knew that if he collapsed at this moment, he would never be able to get back up. In such a weakened state, it would be a miracle if he could stand again.
"It's normal to feel weak after using Z-Moves twice in succession, but it had to happen at that critical moment—not earlier or later! If Giovanni hadn't coughed up blood just then, I would have been the one to fall."
Eddie certainly understood why he was weak. A Trainer who hadn't reached the Master level would experience weakness when using Z-Moves. The Pokémon would be weakened, and the Trainer would be as well.
Recalling the first time he used one, he had collapsed immediately after just a single use and then had to stay in bed for a day and two nights before fully recovering.
Now Eddie had used two Z-Moves in succession, and the fact that he was able to hold out until now was due not only to his own experience but also to the help of his Aura power, which "passively and gradually increases the user's physical fitness." Otherwise, he would have collapsed long ago.
"Hahaha, Uncle Giovanni, you look a little unwell. Do you still want to continue fighting?"
As the saying goes, it's better to lose the battle than lose face, and Eddie hadn't lost yet. So even though he was so weak that he was about to collapse, he still held on and teased Giovanni about his condition.
"Hahahaha, I don't know why you're so weak, but even in this state, you still have the guts to mock me. I think you're worthy of my respect. I really admire you more and more. It's a pity you don't want to join us."
Giovanni couldn't help but smile when he saw Eddie's defiant posture. The more they fought, the more he admired Eddie.
"However, looking at the situation, it seems neither of us can continue fighting for much longer. So, let's use our last move with everything we've got to decide the outcome."
"A showdown? Keep bluffing. Of course, if you're going to throw your life away, I'll be happy to help you do it."
Eddie also laughed. He didn't believe Giovanni's words at all. Giovanni didn't have Z-Moves. His Mega Beedrill was being held down by Mewtwo. What advantage did he have to decide the outcome?
No matter what moves Giovanni's Pokémon used, they would be pale and powerless before a Z-Move. Giovanni couldn't possibly be unaware of this, so his so-called showdown was nonsense, just meant to catch Eddie off guard.
However, Giovanni was saying exactly what Eddie wanted to hear. Eddie's condition was worse than Giovanni's, and he could collapse at any moment. Therefore, Eddie wanted a chance to end this fight even more than Giovanni did.
Of course, if Giovanni really wanted to "go all-in and bet everything on one move," then Eddie would definitely be happy to oblige and use his third Z-Move to defeat Giovanni!