"Alright, let's get a little serious now."
Giovanni looked at the wary Ace, flexing his wrists, his eyes gradually turning cold.
"Crap..."
Ace sensed Giovanni's shift. Without a word, he recalled Wartortle and immediately retreated.
The next second Ace retreated, a Dugtrio burst through the ground. It looked at the rapidly retreating Ace, a hint of surprise in its eyes.
Ace mentally sighed in relief, thinking how close that was. Luckily, he had thoroughly studied the Essence of Earth and had some understanding of Giovanni's battle style.
"Did he dodge? Is it a natural gift, or..."
Giovanni was momentarily stunned, but quickly recovered. He threw a Poké Ball.
Ace instantly threw a Poké Ball as well. Both Poké Balls opened simultaneously. Nidoqueen launched an Ice Punch towards the charging Victreebel.
Victreebel's Vine Whip lashed out, quickly coiling around a street lamp. With a powerful tug, it dodged Nidoqueen's Ice Punch.
"Earth Power!"
Giovanni immediately changed tactics. Nidoqueen stomped the ground, and the previously flat surface instantly shattered. Countless fragments of earth shot towards Ace and his retreating Pokémon.
"The power is truly astonishing."
Ace mumbled a complaint. Aerodactyl flapped its wings sharply, dodging the attack along with Crobat, while Victreebel immediately spat out Acid to dissolve the incoming projectiles.
"Lapras!"
Lapras's movement speed was somewhat pathetic, but having already turned a portion of the ground into an ice field, it now suddenly opened its mouth and fired an Ice Beam towards Nidoqueen.
"Bang!"
Beedrill blocked in front of Nidoqueen, crossing its twin stingers to fend off Lapras's Ice Beam. Then, with a forceful push of its stingers, it directly deflected the Ice Beam.
"Thud!"
A dull thud sounded, and a massive rock sphere suddenly appeared in Ace's vision.
The rock sphere bounced rapidly off the surrounding buildings, accelerating, and heading straight for Ace's back!
"Chansey!"
A Poké Ball dropped from his trench coat. Chansey instantly charged towards the rock sphere, hands held up in front of it like a reef, directly enduring the impact of the rock sphere.
"Throw it!"
"Self-Destruct!"
Two commands rang out at the same time. Chansey clutched the rock sphere tightly, then turned and hurled it towards Nidoqueen.
"Boom!"
The rock sphere exploded mid-air. A large amount of shattered rock sprayed out like bullets. Aerodactyl crossed its wings, shielding Ace. Ace only heard a rain-like patter of sounds. When Aerodactyl spread its wings, its wings were already covered in numerous cuts.
"Healing Pulse!"
Giovanni saw Chansey and knew it would be difficult to quickly defeat Ace.
As Chansey pointed its hands, healing energy rapidly shot towards Aerodactyl and Lapras.
Aerodactyl had protected Ace, and Lapras was inconvenient to move. Both Pokémon had sustained considerable injuries from Golem's Self-Destruct.
"Return, Lapras."
Ace immediately recalled Lapras. In this unfavorable terrain, Lapras's size made it a sitting duck.
"Victreebel, Ingrain! Then Solar Beam that damn guy!"
Victreebel emerged from cover. Its slender Vine Whips pierced into the ground, rapidly absorbing nutrients from below.
At the same time, Victreebel's uppermost leaves began to glow, absorbing sunlight and gathering power, aiming directly at Giovanni!
"Dugtrio."
Dugtrio burst through the ground, slamming hard into Victreebel.
However, the already rooted Victreebel wasn't so easily moved. It glanced at Dugtrio, sneered, and its fully charged Solar Beam suddenly shot towards Giovanni!
Giovanni watched the Solar Beam attacking him, and his eye twitched instantly.
Fast!
It was simply too fast!
Giovanni, who had been standing there looking so imposing, now disregarded his expensive suit. He executed a side roll, dodging Victreebel's Solar Beam.
And after Giovanni dodged, the Solar Beam directly blasted through a building behind him!
The building collapsed, and a large amount of rubble and dust permeated the air, temporarily covering the battleground between Ace and Giovanni.
The next moment, Ace and Giovanni retreated swiftly, emerging from the dust.
And close behind them were Ace's Haunter and Giovanni's Cloyster.
Haunter's right claw detached from its body, rapidly shooting towards Giovanni's throat, while Cloyster also accelerated mid-air, thrusting towards Ace's throat.
"Boom!"
Chansey leaped out, delivering a fierce punch to Cloyster.
Cloyster's shell shattered, and the Pokémon quickly flew back towards Giovanni.
"What is this strength?!"
Seeing his proud Cloyster defeated by a single punch, Giovanni was immediately perplexed.
He knew Cloyster's defense best, yet it had been defeated by Chansey.
"This Chansey, there's something off about it."
Thoughts raced through Giovanni's mind. But seeing Haunter persistently following him, he snorted coldly. Beedrill also charged out of the ash, launching a twin needle attack towards Haunter.
Haunter knew Beedrill was not to be trifled with. It waved its remaining left hand, sending a Shadow Ball towards Beedrill.
Beedrill dodged the Shadow Ball with a flash. Its twin needles almost instantly pierced Haunter's body.
Haunter cried out in pain, its claw attacking Giovanni immediately retracting. But just as Giovanni was about to catch his breath, a rock grazed past him, and the whistling air current messed up his impeccably slicked-back hair.
Giovanni's pupils rapidly constricted. In his eyes, Chansey again picked up a fragment of rubble as large as a head. With its throw, it came smashing towards him like a cannonball!
"Boom!"
A Poké Ball opened, and a Rhyperior appeared in front of Giovanni, swinging its tail fiercely, smashing the rock thrown by Chansey.
"How long has it been since I was this disheveled?"
Giovanni straightened up, looking at Ace, who was still being held by Aerodactyl's shoulder and dared not land. He sneered, "It seems you know my fighting style very well. My 'Essence' book must have been found by you."
Giovanni was meticulous. After the series of exchanges, he could roughly guess that the "Essence" he had compiled had been obtained by Ace.
Otherwise, with Ace's strength, it would have been impossible for him to fight for so long when Giovanni had already decided to kill him.
Clearly, Ace understood his combat strategy, otherwise, he wouldn't constantly have Aerodactyl hold him, not daring to land.
To guess his combat strategy, it could only be someone very close to him, or someone who had obtained his "Essence" and deduced his tactics from its contents.
"That's right."
Ace didn't hide anything. He stared intently at Giovanni and said, "Without that book, I probably would have already been defeated by now."
"You're very clever, to come up with methods from those fragmented words."
Giovanni said calmly, "However, you forgot one thing..."
Ace's brows furrowed tightly. At this moment, an extremely ominous feeling suddenly arose!