"Rhyperior, use Stone Edge." Giovanni's cold voice sounded, and Rhyperior lifted its massive foot, then stomped it down hard on the ground, causing countless sharp rocks to rise from the earth!
"Boom!"
The colossal rocks collided with deep green stems, in the intense roar, the rocks and stems pressed against each other, shattering, sending debris flying everywhere.
A glint flashed in Venusaur's eyes, pouring more of its life force into the stems, as more green plants continuously surged from the Gym's floor, twisting like giant pythons, attempting to entangle Rhyperior.
"Rhyperior, Hammer Arm." Just as Frenzy Plant was about to hit Rhyperior, Giovanni's emotionless voice rang out abruptly.
Rhyperior, upon receiving the command, showed no fear, its massive arms, thick as giant pillars, swung violently, creating a howling gust that pulverized the approaching stems.
Its massive arms moved as swiftly as a tornado, obliterating all the Frenzy Plant in its path, leaving not a trace behind, Rhyperior soon cleared an open area around itself.
It seemed Frenzy Plant's offensive had halted, even for a MEGA-evolved Venusaur, it's impossible to use Frenzy Plant endlessly. After blocking two consecutive moves, it was Rhyperior's turn to counterattack.
"Rhyperior, Earthquake."
"Roar!" Rhyperior bellowed and stomped its foot on the ground again, causing the entire Gym to tremble at this moment.
A massive energy spread from Rhyperior's location in all directions, but most of the force was focused on Venusaur.
Not to mention Venusaur could not move now, even if it could, given its speed and size, there was no way it could dodge such a wide-scale Ground Type attack.
"It's over." A smile curled at the corner of Giovanni's mouth, once Earthquake hit Venusaur, the outcome of the battle would be sealed.
Though Venusaur's presence had reached Elite Level, compared to a true Elite Level, it still fell short, after all, its level was raised by some unknown means.
This was Rhyperior's STAB move, coupled with Rhyperior's level still suppressing the enhanced Venusaur, once it hits, even if Venusaur does not lose its ability to fight, it would likely end up heavily injured.
Under Giovanni's gaze, and the gaze of Misty and others, Earthquake hit Venusaur directly, the intense trembling causing Venusaur's whole body to shake.
"Hahaha! Hahaha... huh?" Seeing Earthquake really hit, Giovanni could not help but laugh wildly, if there had still been any chance of accident before, now, with Earthquake hitting the mark, there was no possibility for Venusaur to turn the tables!
He had taken the first step!
Imagining the scene of Ash joining Team Rocket, Giovanni could not suppress a burst of excited laughter.
However, his laughter stopped abruptly in less than three seconds, because Venusaur's face, not only showed no sign of pain but vaguely appeared to be showing some pleasure.
Pleasure? Being hit by Earthquake and showing pleasure? How is that possible!
Before Giovanni could react, Ash's command sounded once more: "Venusaur, Frenzy Plant."
"Bana!!" Venusaur erupted with even more formidable power than before, from the ground emerged even stronger roots, containing more overwhelming life force than earlier!
Giovanni couldn't fathom what had happened, why after Earthquake hit the opponent, not only was the opponent unaffected, but even became stronger.
But clearly, now was not the time to ponder about this: "Rhyperior, Protect."
A verdant green barrier appeared in the blink of an eye around Rhyperior, defending it securely.
Countless stems like venomous snakes, ferociously slammed against the barrier. Ripples spread across it, yet it showed no signs of breaking.
Protect as a move is nearly indestructible unless the attacker's level significantly surpasses the user's by a large margin.
Eventually, the Frenzy Plant gradually lowered its offensive and retracted back into the ground, this attack was successfully defended, but Giovanni was still puzzled as to why Venusaur took no damage from Earthquake.
"What was that earlier, Earthquake clearly hit Venusaur, but Venusaur didn't take any damage." Gary murmured, face full of confused puzzlement.
Although Ash's battles have always been beyond his understanding, this time the situation had reached a point he completely could not comprehend, when could Venusaur become immune to Ground Type damage?
"Brock, this should have something to do with that power, right?"
"Yes, that's right, it should be the power Venusaur obtained there."
Gary: ???
"Hey, hey, what are you talking about, riddles, what power? How come I am the only one who doesn't know what's going on!" Gary asked bewilderedly, looking at the two.
"We can't say now, after all, walls have ears." Misty waved her fingers, looking secretive.
At these words, Gary looked towards the arena, noticing Giovanni perked up his ears, seemingly trying to get information from them.
Information in a battle is extremely important, once one side's battle secrets are known, that side would become extremely disadvantaged.
Seeing this, Gary closed his mouth temporarily and stopped delving into this matter further. If Giovanni cracked this secret, the hard-earned advantage would vanish.
"Venusaur, once more, Frenzy Plant!"
"Again? Frenzy Plant causes end lag to Pokemon, do you not understand this simple principle, Ash?" Giovanni showed a sneering smile, but his smile had not even fully formed when he saw Venusaur roar, and countless green plants sprang from the ground again.
Impossible! No end lag for Frenzy Plant? You've got to be kidding me!
Watching countless green plants closing in on Rhyperior, Ash finally couldn't suppress the smile on his face. To speak honestly, Venusaur's progress this time had pleasantly surprised him greatly.
No wonder it's the power of Xerneas, the God of Life, the effect is in no way inferior to the Rainbow Wing!
The reason Venusaur could be immune to Earthquake was due to Xerneas's power. Apart from being the God of Life, Xerneas had another title, the Earth God!
Venusaur now empowered itself by absorbing the life energy of the earth and green plants, which is how it managed to achieve such significant enhancements at Oak's Research Institute.
And the Earthquake earlier was directly converted by Venusaur into life energy, becoming nourishment. For such ground moves that have no substantial force attack, merely energy transfer, they all act as nourishment for Venusaur!
Venusaur, bestowed with Xerneas's power, is the new Earth God!
Now Venusaur effectively possesses Ground Type immunity!
And the reason it could continuously use Frenzy Plant is also due to its application of life force. In strict terms, Venusaur is not using Frenzy Plant a second time, the previous one simply hadn't ended.
It has begun to manipulate the growth and retraction of plants similar to Champion Ash's ability.
It just controlled Frenzy Plant to retract back into the ground, waiting for Rhyperior's Protect to end, before letting the Frenzy Plant, which had been secretly accumulating power, attack again!
From the moment Ash sent out Venusaur in this battle, Giovanni was left with no chance of victory!
"Boom!!"
Frenzy Plant engulfed the freshly-used Protect Rhyperior entirely, the field resounded with intense booms, and thick smoke permeated the arena.