"What a speed! But my Voltorb isn't slow either," Wattson said.
"Voltorb, use Spark!"
"Breloom, Mach Punch!"
Voltorb cloaked itself in electricity and barreled into Breloom. Breloom's glowing fist met the charge head-on.
After several exchanges, the stronger Mach Punch prevailed, knocking Voltorb backward.
A split second later, Breloom froze.
"No way... Paralyzed? Even without a direct hit?" Gary muttered.
Spark only has a 30% chance to paralyze on contact, and the two moves had merely clashed. Gary hadn't expected paralysis at all.
"Excellent! Screech!" Wattson ordered, hoping to drop Breloom's Defense before finishing it off.
But as Voltorb opened its mouth-like seam, pain shot through its body. The repeated collisions had taken their toll. Being ten levels lower than Breloom, every hit had hurt.
"Voltorb can't keep this up. Breloom, Mach Punch again!" Gary called.
Even paralyzed, Breloom could still move—just slower. Its 230 base-speed burst was now merely fast.
Seeing Breloom could still fight, Wattson gritted his teeth.
"Voltorb, Self-Destruct!"
Gary's eyes widened—Wattson was going all in.
Voltorb's body blazed white and rocketed forward.
BOOM!
A violent shockwave tore across the arena, a mushroom cloud rising from the blast. When the dust settled, Voltorb lay scorched in a crater. Breloom sat several meters away, badly battered and panting—but conscious.
Self-Destruct had only crippled Breloom; without any recovery moves, it couldn't stay in.
"Hah! Tough Breloom. My second Pokémon!" Wattson pointed at the field.
"Magnemite, you're up!"
"Breloom, return," Gary said immediately. The mushroom fighter had done enough.
He threw his next Poké Ball.
"Grovyle, let's go!"
FWIP!
[Lv. 30 Grovyle ♂ / Elite]
"Nice choice," Wattson smirked. "Magnemite, Thunder Wave!"
"Dig!" Gary countered.
Grovyle vanished underground, evading the paralyzing wave.
"Gain altitude—quick!" Wattson warned. Ground-type moves were quadruple effective.
CRACK!
The arena floor erupted as Grovyle burst out, leaping high and striking the rising Magnemite in mid-air.
Magnemite was stunned. It couldn't believe Grovyle could jump that high.
Although Grovyle's leaping ability wasn't on par with Combusken's, it was still impressive—easily reaching heights of four to five meters.
"Power-Up Punch!" Gary shouted.
"What?!" Wattson's eyes bulged.
Grovyle's fist, wreathed in white light, smashed into Magnemite. The Steel-type plummeted, hitting the dirt with a loud clang. Sturdy kept it from fainting—but just barely.
Grovyle casually flicked a Razor Leaf. Magnemite, still reeling from the confusion caused by Power-Up Punch, couldn't react in time.
The sharp leaf struck true. Magnemite collapsed.
Wattson was surprised. He hadn't expected Magnemite to fall so quickly—but the match wasn't over yet.
"Magneton, go!" Wattson sent out his last Pokémon. It hovered onto the field, fully aware the outcome now rested on it alone.
"Quick Attack! Keep the pressure on," Gary commanded.
A white blur streaked across the field—Grovyle zipped around, taunting Magneton with sheer speed.
"Speed won't save you!" Wattson snapped.
"Magneton, Lock-On—then Zap Cannon!"
All three of Magneton's eyes tracked Grovyle. Crackling energy converged into a sizzling orb, then lanced across the arena.
"Detect, then Power-Up Punch!" Gary called.
Grovyle's eyes flashed green. Darting along the very edge of the beam, he closed the gap. The missed Zap Cannon swung back like a homing missile—but Grovyle slipped behind Magneton and drove another glowing fist into one of its heads.
BANG!
Magneton crashed to the ground, reeling.
"Dig—finish it!" Gary commanded.
Before Wattson could react, Grovyle dove underground. In its confusion, Magneton unleashed a wild Discharge, electricity arcing everywhere—except at its target.
CRASH!
Grovyle erupted from beneath, the Ground-type strike detonating like an Earthquake. The hit delivered massive quadruple damage.
Magneton twitched once—then powered down.