Chapter 1438: The King

Rumble!!

The heaven-destroying flames rushed straight toward Terastallized Aggron's face. The crimson giant pillar pierced the sky and earth, and the earth-yellow halo vibrated violently within it!

The power of Flamethrower after Blaze was triggered was extraordinary, and the thrust was also not small, forcing a slowdown of the Double-Edge sprint, making the great monster unable to get close to Charizard for a short time.

The power added by resonance was something even All Baimu had to admire, and Mega Mawile beside him was also full of solemnity.

Thinking from another perspective, it had to admit that it was very difficult to withstand this move unscathed.

After all, it was weak to Fire itself, not to mention Charizard's such powerful firepower!

It was a pity that the Pokémon battling in front wasn't it.

It was Aggron.

The only Pokémon in the world with a level as high as 98, which had changed its four-times weakness through Terastallization, yet still possessed the Rock-type STAB effect!

Not to mention its ability 【Rock Head】, which perfectly immunized it to the negative effects of the Rock-type ultimate move 【Double-Edge】.

So no matter how much Leon and Charizard triggered Blaze, no matter how they resonated, all of this was ultimately futile.

The scorching flame torrent poured over its whole body, and Terastallized Aggron's figure remained motionless.

With Magnet Rise, even if it couldn't hit the opponent at the first time, its massive body wouldn't be recoiled to the ground.

The excited host and the audience outside the field soon discovered this point.

"Flamethrower after Blaze is triggered... doesn't seem to be particularly effective!?"

Ground-type was neither weak to Fire-type nor resistant to Fire-type. Logically speaking, with Charizard's current firepower, it should at least be able to block the opponent's attack and knock it down from mid-air, right?

Clearly the power had increased significantly...

But, just this?

When the crimson giant pillar gradually exhausted, the Double-Edge colliding with it remained bright, rushing straight toward Charizard!

"Dodge!"

Leon waved his hand vigorously. Charizard's wings vibrated and circled, avoiding the collision of Double-Edge at an extremely sharp angle.

Terastallized Aggron missed the collision and quickly turned its orientation to continue chasing Charizard.

Fortunately, the latter's Dragon Dance wasn't used in vain. The acceleration effect was exceptionally excellent, ensuring that it could always maintain a certain distance from its opponent.

One hitting, one dodging, the two Pokémon were stuck in a stalemate.

"Groar..."

Terastallized Aggron wasn't impatient.

Although level 98 didn't grant it speed sufficient to catch up with Charizard after two Dragon Dances, its defense and physical strength were almost maxed out.

And Charizard's physical strength was less than one-third, otherwise how could Blaze be triggered.

The result of dragging out the time was obvious.

Besides, was Leon the type of person to drag out the time?

From the very beginning, this Undefeated Champion's fighting style had never been cautious. He belonged to an advanced version of Ash, advocating upright attacks.

Because for a long time, his strength had been the same as All Baimu's current strength, far higher than the opponents he encountered.

In a game, when encountering roadside NPCs, who would think of using tactics to drag out their own time?

Of course, it was to frantically press moves that were super effective!

Leon hadn't fought this kind of battle where he was crushed by the opponent's strength for a long time, just like the players who fought Cynthia for the first time in the Diamond/Pearl remakes, who were shocked to find that their familiar level-suppression tactics seemed to have some kind of problem.

At this very moment, facing the ultimate great monster created by the "official" cheat, Leon had to admit one thing.

"All Baimu! You are stronger now!"

Flames burned in his eyes, and he shouted: "But, we won't retreat either! Fire Blast!"

"Roar!!"

Charizard opened its big mouth, and majestic flames roared out. The ultra-high temperature distorted the air, making the light in the arena dim. The giant strip-shaped flames were like some kind of seal suppressing Terastallized Aggron.

"Stone Edge!"

"Groar!"

Terastallized Aggron roared loudly, the pitch-black ground disintegrated immediately, and countless large and small rubble rushed into the sky to protect its surroundings, gathering irregularly in layers, forming an indestructible stone wall.

Rumble!!

The deafening loud noise echoed in mid-air!

The swirling flames and the stone wall continuously emitted high-pitched roars, vibrating the air inside and outside the arena, and the aftermath alone triggered the protective devices repeatedly.

The power of Fire Blast was more violent than All Baimu had imagined. It seemed that under Leon's shout, Charizard's firepower had further increased.

—Increasing the power of move output continuously with the Trainer's heart, bond resonance was truly a terrifying power.

"Groar..."

Terastallized Aggron roared muffledly, no longer letting the stone wall resist the near-black-red flames. Its body rushed forward suddenly, causing the stone wall to be defeated from the inside, and countless rubble tore through the flames like a rainstorm and rushed straight over!

【Stone Edge】, integrating defense and offense!

And this time, facing the thousands of whistling rubble, even though Charizard showed the speed of dodging Double-Edge just now, it couldn't manage to dodge completely.

Thud-thud-thud!

The heavy potential energy turned into a terrifying impact, hitting Charizard's body one after another, smashing into its wing membranes and chest and abdomen.

"Roar!"

Charizard let out a muffled groan, its body falling toward the ground like a kite with a broken string.

Bang!

Smoke and dust rose.

The host shouted: "Stone Edge broke through Fire Blast! Charizard was hit! It fell to the ground!"

Countless spectators widened their eyes to watch this scene. Many of Leon's fans covered their mouths in disbelief, and some even began to pray for Charizard.

Was it ending?

Had it fallen just like this?

Terastallized Aggron followed and fell to the ground, its heavy body shaking up dust and smoke, reflecting this Pokémon that had been calm and composed from beginning to end like a demon god, making people feel awe from the bottom of their hearts.

"Groar..."

It roared low toward the distance.

Where the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, Charizard propped up its body, hunched over tiredly, every breath as if it had exhausted all its strength.

Seeing this scene, Leon was not disappointed, but instead showed a smile.

He lowered the brim of his hat and whispered: "Thank you, Charizard, but please hold on a little longer! Show everything you have, everything we have! Champion Time!"

The pitch-black baseball cap flew high, Leon raised his right hand high, and let out an unprecedented roar!

"Fire Blast!!"

"Roar——!!"

Charizard roared to the sky, violent flames surged from its tail, turning into giant characters and wrapping around its body, which had gradually turned crimson due to the ultra-high temperature, forming a terrifying posture like Flare Blitz!

All Baimu raised his hand accordingly: "Looks like it's time! Double-Edge!"

"Groar!"

Terastallized Aggron's body crawled, the earth-yellow halo suddenly shone brightly, energy light streams swirled around its rotation, and the rubble around it flew high, driven by the terrifying airflow to rotate, like rings around Saturn.

The two Pokémon gazed at each other intently across the arena, which was unrecognizable under the scorching flames, and then...

Full-speed impact!

Boom——!!

The arena was instantly occupied by two rays of light. Crimson flames and earth-yellow halos filled the entire field of vision. When the two giant beasts collided with each other without mercy, a terrifying roar exploded in mid-air!

Flames and Rock-type energy eroded and annihilated each other, and the splashing aftermath swept across all parts of the arena, causing the protective devices to emit low moans.

Charizard drove the flames full of hope in despair, let out a roar almost identical to Leon's, and the raging fire burned everything visible to the naked eye, and was even more determined to completely melt the Terastallized Aggron in front of it!

The flames at the end of its tail burned violently, continuously supplying it with powerful firepower, and the scorching light in its eyes was enough to pierce the dawn brought by the darkness!

"Go——!!"

"Roar——!!"

In the deafening roar, Leon and Charizard, with their decades of tacit understanding, effort, and fighting spirit, finally successfully smashed the earth-yellow halo that seemed indestructible in front of them!

The surging torrent of flames immediately found a vent, rushing straight forward like a volcanic eruption, swallowing everything.

The half of the arena where Terastallized Aggron was located was covered by flames, and the ground was filled with scorching light like flowing high-temperature lava.

But just when Charizard wanted to rush forward further.

A sharp claw suddenly tore through the curtain of high-temperature flames and grabbed its neck in a posture it couldn't believe.

"Groar——"

In an instant, the world turned upside down!

Thud!

The earth vibrated violently, like the noise made when something was burning.

But this noise directly led to the dissipation of the flames. A gust of wind surged and blew away the crimson flames, making the arena exceptionally clear.

The audience rubbed their eyes and looked down, suddenly seeing a scene that made their hearts palpitate!

Terastallized Aggron had actually stepped on Charizard's body, looking down at it from above. What exactly happened just now?

Clearly, Fire Blast had broken through Double-Edge!

The host also shouted: "Charizard's momentum was blocked by Aggron! Some unknown situation has occurred!"

Unknown?

Indeed, except for Leon and All Baimu, no one knew the specific situation.

Fire Blast had indeed smashed Double-Edge. Gathering his years of hard work, the supreme strike symbolizing Galar's strongest partner, there was no reason it couldn't break through the opponent's ordinary offensive situation, even if the opponent's level was terrifyingly high.

Hope and bonds are always the strongest power in the Pokémon world!

However.

Breaking through the opponent's offensive didn't mean the remaining flames could burn through Terastallized Aggron.

What Aggron was most proud of would always be this supreme defense that no one could shake!

Once upon a time, it could face Wallace's Mega Swampert directly, and now, it was the same for Charizard's bond-fueled Fire Blast.

If you want to break through its defense, level up to level 100 first!

"Groar!"

Terastallized Aggron lowered its head to watch Charizard, withdrew its foot that was stepping on the opponent, and without the slightest hesitation, its giant tail slammed down!

Thud!

Giant rocks rose from the bottom, lifting Charizard into the sky!

Boom!

Smoke billowed!

The host shouted: "Stone Edge hit! Charizard has no power to fight back!"

The audience stands became inexplicably quiet.

Everyone realized something. Deng Pei flew in from outside the field. When the smoke cleared, he also saw Charizard lying on its side, eyes closed.

"Charizard is unable to battle! Aggron wins!"

As the words fell, unprecedented cheers came from all directions, piercing through the entire arena and even spreading throughout Wyndon!

It was over!

"All Baimu wins! Successfully advanced to the finals!" The host shouted loudly: "He maintained his undefeated posture! Even when facing the undefeated Champion Leon!"

Bang-bang-bang!

Fireworks exploded, and ribbons flew everywhere.

Inside the arena.

Leon's tense muscles slowly relaxed. He breathed heavily, his eyes filled with both confusion and the relief of gradually reacting.

"It's over."

Masters Eight tournament, he stopped at the semifinals.

Leon looked up at the sky, his heart still unable to calm down.

Loss, regret, and the unwillingness to give up—this feeling was too wonderful, making it hard for him to recover for a long time.

It had been too many years since he had this feeling.

Wanted to win.

Wanted to defeat All Baimu and Aggron.

Wanted to continue being the World Champion with Charizard.

Leon turned around, picked up his hat, and put it on his head. His consciousness instantly traced back to his first defeat.

It was also the only defeat.

"Next time, I must win!"

He clenched his fists and said this sentence, which had been absent for decades.

Thinking this, Leon ran toward the center of the field and helped the gradually waking Charizard up. He whispered: "Thank you, Charizard, you fought very well."

The best one in nearly ten years!

"Roar..."

Charizard responded softly, its gaze following its Trainer to look at Aggron, which was very close, and All Baimu, who was walking over slowly.

All Baimu reached out to Leon, who was half-kneeling on the ground. "Thank you, a very wonderful battle. I witnessed the bond between you and Charizard with my own eyes."

"It's me who should say that, thank you for letting me witness true strength!"

Leon shook hands with him, followed the other's pulling force to stand up, and Charizard also stood up, looking at Aggron after Terastallization ended.

Aggron nodded at it, "Groar."

You are not bad.

Being able to make it feel threatened now, Charizard's strength was worth recognizing.

"Roar!"

Charizard nodded in response.

Aggron was the strongest Pokémon it had encountered so far, so strong that it deeply felt that the other party was no ordinary thing.

In the audience stands, Hop and Wooloo were like frostbitten eggplants, listless.

They couldn't accept Leon's defeat. The surrounding cheers poured into their ears, sounding particularly harsh.

Ash and Pikachu were still immersed in the palpitations brought to them by Leon and Charizard at the end, and at the same time, they deeply realized Aggron's terror.

Even if it were him on the field, he would have thought that the winner after breaking through Double-Edge was Charizard.

As a result, Aggron had actually torn through the high-temperature flames so easily and countered Charizard, which had reached its peak momentum.

"Pikachu..."

"Pika!"

They began to get nervous, and what followed was infinite anticipation.

In the preparation room.

No one spoke.

Many Gym Leaders were dumbfounded. For example, Melony, as an expert in Rock-type, couldn't imagine the match ending in this way.

"Perhaps, only such a person can form bonds with so many legendary Pokémon?"

"..."

Cynthia stood up, her eyes piercing through the floor-to-ceiling window and landing on All Baimu, her heart also unable to calm down for a long time. ===== CHAPTER 1439 =====