Chapter 371:
"Charizard, don't hold back! Go full power, Overheat!"
Hearing "Leaf Storm" again, Kensuke's expression turned serious.
Regardless of whether the previous Leaf Storm was Serperior's final flourish, the grand spectacle of it still made his heart tremble.
Because he had just seen the look on Kaede's face.
When the announcer explained that Leaf Storm would lower move power, there wasn't a trace of panic on Kaede's face—instead, he smiled.
This reminded Kensuke of something, and a bad premonition instantly arose in his heart.
Sure enough, in the next moment, the previously calm battlefield, with a slight lift of Serperior's tail...
*Whoosh... Whoosh....*
The wind rose. Almost in the blink of an eye, a Leaf Storm matching the scale of the previous one took shape once more...
No, no...
This one was even larger than before. Violent winds carrying howling leaves rustled and clattered across the entire field.
The attacking power of the leaves had also intensified.
Some leaves even reached the edge of the battlefield, triggering the energy protection mechanism.
Spectators in the front rows gasped in shock, afraid the leaves would breach the energy barrier and hit them.
But the roaring wind and the continuous sound of leaves clashing drowned out their exclamations.
Fortunately, the energy barrier was sturdy enough; the scattered storms at the edges couldn't break through.
"Holy... holy crap.... Don't do this...."
The moment the wind currents began forming, the announcer's eyes widened. He and his Aegislash swiftly flew higher, a curse escaping his lips.
If the edge of the storm was this frightening, one could only imagine the intensity of the Leaf Storm Charizard was experiencing at the center!
"Groar!"
The moment the storm took shape, Charizard's pupils contracted. Instead of immediately using Overheat as commanded by its trainer, it directly activated Flare Blitz, enveloping itself in flames first.
Then it landed on the ground immediately.
It stomped the ground hard, dense Fire-type energy spreading out from its body, even tearing the ground open and causing scalding magma to erupt.
This was the powerful Fire-type move—Overheat.
But the usually unstoppable, smooth-flowing Overheat, this time, seemed to lose its energy after extending forward about ten meters, coming to an abrupt halt.
Meanwhile, the wildly whirling leaves found their target, swarming towards the central Charizard.
At first, they were burned by the flames surrounding it. But as more and more leaves swept over, piling onto Charizard like a tidal wave or landslide, they eventually completely submerged it, leaving not a single red spark visible.
...
This Leaf Storm lasted about ten seconds before dispersing. The countless leaves, under Serperior's control, dissipated like foam.
When the two Pokémon became visible again, Serperior wasn't even breathing heavily, while Charizard was kneeling on one knee, panting heavily.
It didn't even have the strength left to activate Blaze.
That it could still stand was solely due to its strong willpower.
It struggled to open its eyelids, looking towards Serperior, seemingly trying to understand why this Serperior's Leaf Storm could overpower its own Overheat, combined with Flare Blitz!
Its two most powerful moves couldn't even match the opponent's one move, and it couldn't even touch the opponent...
But under the sunlight, Charizard could only gaze at the Serperior, which seemed to radiate a faint green aura, looking down on it like a monarch...
"Serperior, follow up with a Leaf Tornado... shall we?"
Seeing that Charizard hadn't completely lost the ability to battle,
Kaede couldn't help but issue another command, just in case Charizard managed to activate Blaze and erupt.
This Fire/Flying type's resistance to Grass was truly remarkable; it had actually withstood a single Leaf Storm from a strengthened version of Serperior's Contrary attack.
Silence...
Leaves scattered across the field, dissolving into countless specks of energy. The spectators, whether near or far, after the initial stunned silence, gradually became quiet.
This resulted in a profound stillness throughout the stands.
After a long while, the crowd slowly returned to its usual energy.
"Wait... wasn't it said that using Leaf Storm would lower Serperior's move power? This doesn't feel like a decrease at all?!"
"It clearly got stronger..."
"Terrifying, terrifying... Is this really a move a Serperior can use? I thought a Legendary Pokémon had arrived..."
"Hey, look at Serperior... it used two Leaf Storms of such massive power and isn't even breathing heavily?"
It was the revived noise from the audience that snapped the announcer, who had flown to the highest point, back to reality.
He hurriedly flew down and began commentating, "Charizard is unable to battle! Therefore, the... the winner is Serperior!"
The announcer was even stuttering slightly.
Mainly because that last scene was too frightening.
It almost took him down too.
But he quickly regained his professional composure.
"Wait, no, no! After using Leaf Storm, the power of Serperior's second Leaf Storm didn't decrease; instead, it increased! This means Contestant Hayashi Kaede's Serperior doesn't have the Overgrow ability, but a special ability, Contrary! And not just any Contrary!"
His voice was excited and invigorating. "This is an ability where stat changes have the opposite effect! That means Serperior's Leaf Storm gets stronger with each use!"
"And right now, Serperior has already used Leaf Storm twice!"
He had seen the Contrary ability before, but this Serperior's Contrary seemed to have a frightening level of boost?
The announcer reacted quickly. Upon seeing the intensity of the second Leaf Storm, he immediately understood.
He was just busy dodging at the time.
His words made the audience even more excited while causing Kensuke's vision to darken.
*Darn it...*
*You didn't say that earlier.*
Looking at the Serperior, still standing proudly on the Grassy Terrain, seemingly without any exhaustion after two such powerful Leaf Storms, Kensuke felt a wave of despair.
This was the most difficult battle he had faced since becoming a trainer, and the strongest opponent he had ever encountered.
The battle continued.
Kensuke could only shake his head and send out his fourth Pokémon—Swellow.
Seeing the Flying-type Swellow, Kaede pondered for a moment, recalled Serperior, and switched to the never-before-seen Pidgeot.
*Seeing as the match is almost over, if Pidgeot doesn't make an appearance now, it might just be here for the ride.*
"Go get it~!"
"Pidgeot!"
Seeing Kaede recall Serperior, Kensuke's eyes had initially lit up.
His goal in battling Kaede had been clear from the start: avoid a clean sweep, and at least defeat one Pokémon.
So, when he saw Kaede switching Pokémon, he felt there was still hope.
For example, that Alcremie—if he commanded fast enough, maybe he could take it down before it used Metronome.
And what are the odds of a Pokémon having such good luck? Able to pull off an outrageous move every time?
But...
When he saw that Pidgeot, the hope he had just felt was doused with a bucket of cold water.