"Gliscor, use Guillotine to counter!"
Unfazed, Gliscor charged forward at full speed, both of its pincers glowing white as it rushed toward Electabuzz.
BOOM!
The two Pokémon collided, but in a contest of raw power, Electabuzz had the upper hand. With a burst of strength, it sent Gliscor flying backward into the sky.
However, Electabuzz's hands still coated with Ice Punch's freezing energy, were firmly locked in Gliscor's pincers, making it difficult to break free.
If it were any other Pokémon, Electabuzz could have fought back with electricity—but against the Ground-type Gliscor, the situation was far more uncertain.
In midair, the two Pokémon grappled fiercely. Electabuzz repeatedly activated Self-Motivation to boost its power while struggling to free itself, whereas Gliscor patiently waited for the perfect moment to counterattack.
"Use Screech!"
"Buzzz—!!"
The moment Paul gave the command, Electabuzz opened its mouth wide and unleashed an unbearable, high-frequency soundwave directly at Gliscor.
"Waaah!"
Gliscor was momentarily startled, but after recovering from the initial shock, it responded in kind—emitting a Screech just as powerful as Electabuzz's.
The two opposing soundwaves clashed, with no clear victor. The horrific noise spread outward in all directions, forcing the spectators to cover their ears in discomfort.
After a few seconds of stalemate, both Pokémon seemed to silently agree to stop at the same time.
"Poison Jab!"
A glint of cunning flashed in Gliscor's eyes. Until now, it had only used its pincers for battle—but in this instant, its tail glowing with a poisonous purple hue, struck forward toward Electabuzz.
"Psychic!"
Electabuzz's eyes suddenly flashed blue, and just as Gliscor's stinger was about to pierce its target, a powerful psychic force stopped it in its tracks.
"He knows Psychic?!"
Lucas was dumbfounded.
Since when did Electabuzz have Psychic-type moves? That was unheard of!
The battle seemed to have reached another stalemate.
Logically speaking, if this continued, Gliscor would have the advantage, thanks to its ability to heal itself with Poison Heal.
But Paul's training methods had never been bound by conventional logic.
"Gliscor, use Sandstorm to create distance!"
Sensing danger, Gliscor immediately whipped up a swirling Sandstorm, enveloping both itself and Electabuzz inside a tornado of raging sand, continuously chipping away at Electabuzz's stamina.
Taking advantage of the storm's cover, Gliscor forcefully flung Electabuzz aside and quickly soared outward, putting distance between them.
Yet within the sandstorm, Electabuzz stood its ground, lightning crackling fiercely around its body. With a sudden surge of power, it unleashed a Fierce Wind, instantly dispelling the sandstorm.
Emerging from the dissipating storm, Gliscor immediately activated Swords Dance, boosting its attack power.
Electabuzz, watching this, felt a slight pang of regret.
It had already Motivated itself twice in secret—if it had just one more moment, it could have launched a decisive strike and knocked Gliscor out instantly.
Frustrated, Electabuzz didn't wait for Gliscor to finish powering up. It swiftly formed a Focus Blast in its hands and hurled it forward, following up immediately with an Ice Punch aimed directly at Gliscor.
Having just finished boosting its attack, Gliscor instinctively clamped its pincers down, crushing the Focus Blast. But before it could react, Electabuzz was already right in front of it, fist coated in freezing energy.
There was no time to think—Gliscor could only raise its pincers to block the attack.
BOOM!
Electabuzz's fists landed squarely, sending Gliscor plummeting to the ground. The impact left both of Gliscor's pincers coated in ice, freezing them together.
It's super effective!
"Thunder!"
Paul pointed at Gliscor, giving his next command.
"Buzzz—!!"
Electabuzz unleashed a barrage of lightning, striking the ground in front of Gliscor. The once-flat battlefield cracked under the impact, and chunks of stone went flying, burying Gliscor beneath the rubble.
Without looking back, Electabuzz soared toward the goal ring.
"Waaah—!"
Just as Gliscor managed to crawl out from beneath the debris, Electabuzz placed the ring onto the hook.
Battle is Over!
"The ring has been successfully placed! The match is over! The winner of this year's PokéRing Tournament is Paul from Veilstone City!"
"Woooah—!"
"Yahoooo—!!"
Clap clap clap…
The crowd erupted into cheers as the announcer declared the results.
"Waaah…"
Among the celebrations, Gliscor melted the ice on its pincers using Fire Fang, then dejectedly flew back to Lucas, looking heartbroken.
If only it had been just a little faster with Swords Dance… just a little faster… maybe it could have defeated Electabuzz…
So close, yet so far.
"It's okay, Gliscor. You did great."
Lucas gently patted Gliscor's head, comforting it.
Given the situation, they had no choice—without Swords Dance, there was no way to overpower Electabuzz. But using it meant leaving an opening in their defense.
In the end, both he and Gliscor had underestimated Electabuzz's speed.
"Buzz~"
Electabuzz, too, felt happy for a moment after winning. But as it returned to Paul's side, its excitement gradually faded.
It realized that this battle had exposed several weaknesses in its strategy.
"Your performance was worse than expected. Practice more strategies against Ground-type Pokémon, and refine your use of Psychic to incorporate it effectively into battles."
This battle exposed Electabuzz's lack of effective methods against Ground-type Pokémon, particularly in long-range combat.
Although Electabuzz had a decent number of ranged moves, the only ones effective against Ground-types were Swift, Aura Sphere, and Psychic.
Among these, Swift and Psychic had originally been learned to help correct Thunder's trajectory, and neither had been trained to a high level of proficiency.
Before activating its Self-Motivation boost, these moves were mostly used for harassment against opponents of the same level, with little impact otherwise.
As for integrating Psychic abilities into battle—something Paul had learned from Maylene's Meditite—it was easy to understand in theory but would require extensive long-term training to truly master.
"Buzz~"
Electabuzz admired Meditite's battle style, which made it seem as if it could predict its opponent's actions. Resolving to improve, it nodded obediently and planned to dedicate more effort to train its Psychic move.
"Let's go."
Seeing that Electabuzz accepted his critique without resistance, Paul stepped off the hot air balloon and signaled for it to follow.
"Paul, I almost had a chance to defeat you this time! Next time, I'll definitely become stronger and win!"
From the balloon beside him, Lucas landed alongside his Gliscor, speaking with unwavering confidence.
"You've come this far? I hope so."
Paul remained indifferent, replying calmly before continuing toward the awards stage.
Even though he didn't particularly care about the championship title or the prizes, they were proof of his and his Pokémon's efforts. It was only right to claim them.
"I can do this… If I just figure out a better strategy and train my Pokémon well enough to improve their strength..."
Behind him, Lucas watched Paul's back, already deep in thought about how to defeat him. Then, he followed along to witness the award ceremony.
The ceremony was relatively simple, broadcasted live as Paul received his champion's medal—along with a massive pile of Pokémon food.
Looking at the heap of food, Paul knew that without his Grotle, his team would barely be able to eat half of it.
After a moment of thought, he turned to Lucas and said:
"No point in wasting it. You take half."
"Huh?!"
Lucas was visibly stunned. But before he could say anything, Paul tossed out all of his Poké Balls, releasing his entire team.
"Eat as much as you can."
Paul gestured toward the pile of food.
"Ursaaa!"
"Grooo~"
"Chaa~"
"Wooo~"
"Buzz~"
It was mealtime. Hearing that they could eat freely, the Pokémon let out excited cries. Ursaring was the first to charge forward, using its powerful claws to open the packaging effortlessly.
The others quickly followed, launching a full-scale assault on the food.
"Grooo~"
Seeing Paul's Pokémon eating so happily, Lucas' once confident and battle-hardened Gliscor swallowed its saliva uncontrollably.
"Go ahead and eat too, everyone."
Following the principle of never wasting food, Lucas released his own Pokémon, letting them join forces with Paul's team to eliminate the massive stockpile of rations.
As he watched the group of ravenous Pokémon devouring their feast, Paul's lips curled ever so slightly into a faint smile.
Paul… actually smiles like this?
Lucas happened to catch this rare moment, feeling a slight shock in his heart.
As the sun set in the distance, the great battle of food came to an end. With the combined efforts of both teams, victory was secured.
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