"How is this possible?"

  Wren gasped at the sight before her, staring at the Metagross on the field in disbelief.

  Her Steelix, in both level and strength, was supposed to be superior to Metagross.

  While she felt that it could block the Iron Tail attack, it was the effortless way in which Metagross did so that uled her.

  "Metagross, throw it out," Julian instructed casually.

  "Meta~"

  With a dull thud, Metagross's body lowered briefly before it shot forward and struck Steelix's tail using a Take Down move, sending the Steel-type Pokémon flying several dozeers.

  "Steelix, use Fire Fang!" Wren shouted.

  Fire-type moves deal double damage to Steel-types.

  Steelix quickly grouself by tapping its tail against the Earth, tering the recoil from the Take Down, and charged toward Metagross with a fiery, gaping maw.

  However, to his surprise, Metagross had vanished from that spot.

  Steelix instinctively sed the area.

  "Steelix, behind you! ter with Fire Fang!" Wren's and rang out just as Steelix felt a rush of wind at its babsp;

  Without time to focus, it turned and instinctively bit behind it.

  Metagross's Bullet Punch collided with Steelix's Fire Fang, creating a sharp ringing sound.

  Although Steelix's teeth cracked, it mao cmp down oagross's arm.

  The fiery energy so close to his throat made Metagross quite unfortable.

  "tih Bullet Punch," Julian ordered.

  Impressed with Steelix's capabilities, Julian hat despite the odds, Steelix succeeded in nding a bite oagross.

  Their exge of injuries had now bee a battle of resilience.

  With four arms, Metagross had the upper hand in that regard, while Steelix had only one mouth.

  The Bullet Punch struck Steelix's , glowing with a silvery light, leading to a pained release.

  "Unleash the Hyper Beam!" Wren anded fiercely.

  Metagross now stood directly in front of Steelix.

  At this cle, the accuracy of the attack was guaranteed.

  However, the proximity meant that Steelix would also be caught i when it detonated.

  "Zen Headbutt, smash it!" Julian responded boldly.

  If it weren't for the system's requirement for brute f against the oppo, Julian might have opted to have Metagross use a defensive maneuver instead.

  Despite Metagross being a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, Julian was fident in Steelix's toughness due to the intense pressure it had endured underground.

  As the two Pokémon cshed again, their powers collided, resulting in a massive explosion that showered the arena with smoke and fire.

  The energy shields rippled with the force of the bst.

  Steelix was hurled backward, nding heavily several meters away from Julian.

  In the chaos and smoke, her Julian nor Wren could see their respective Pokémauge Steelix's dition.

  With visibility obstructed, Wren couldn't determieelix's position and was uo issue precise ands.

  "Steelix, use Defense Curl!"

  Although she couldn't visually track Steelix, Wren was aware that Julian was equally in the dark about Metagross's whereabouts, so it was wise to bolster Steelix's defenses until visibility returned.

  "What a forturainer," she thought, eyeing the distaagross with envy.

  Julian seemed to be prepared to wait for the smoke to clear before engaging again.

  However, she uimated him.

  A typical trainer might have chosen to do that, but Julian was no ordinary trainer.

  In situations where visibility is promised due to haze, smoke, or terrain, standard protocol advises against fighting.

  Yet, Julian possessed the ability to sense aura, allowing him to locate Metagross through the smoke.

  "Metagross it's at three o'clock—fire Hyper Beam!" Julian shouted.

  Wren was taken aback. How did he know Metagross's location? It felt impossible.

  As she watched Metagross begin to charge its attack, Wren quickly called out,

  "Steelix, dig!"

  Uain if Metagross would actually strike Steelix, she wasn't willing to take the risk.

  The hyper beam cut through the smoke, scattering it, and in that moment, she caught a glimpse of Steelix's tail disappearing into the ground.

  'How could he have sensed Metagross despite the smoke?'

  Cold sweat trickled down Wren's forehead.

  If she had hesitated before Steelix to dig, the attack would have ected mercilessly.

  What a narrow escape.

  "Earthquake!" Julian anded.

  "No, Steelix, e back up!"

  Wren's expression shifted dramatically.

  As a pseudo-Elite Trainer, she had aeelix to use Dig.

  On the opposing side stood the son of the Walker family, who certainly wouldn't let Metagross go without learnihquake.

  It's important to remember that when Pokémon are underground, the damage dealt by Earthquake is doubled pared to when on solid ground.

  Metagross floated like a normal Body Sm, its powerful limbs crashing down onto the ground, causing the entire arena to tremble violently and fissures to appear across the surfabsp;

  Julian and Wren quickly grabbed the handrail nearby.

  Although the venue rotected by an energy shield, it wouldn't block the seismic effects traveling through the ground.

  In standard matches, certain moves are banned, includihquake and Draeteor, due to their rge area of effed difficulty in trol.

  A pseudo-Elite Pokémon unleashihquake at full power could potentially devastate aire town.

  This battle club, being the premier venue in Lake City, allowed the use of Earthquake when most clubs would prohibit it.

  Just one use of Earthquake could rehe battleground unpyable.

  Fortunately, Metagross maintained some trol over its Earthquake's power; otherwise, it wouldn't just be the arena sufferiation.

  After unleashing a powerful Earthquake, Steelix remained buried beh the ground for an unusually long time.

  "Dig it out," Julian instructed.

  Metagross desded into the hole created by Steelix, and after a moment, emerged with the unscious Steelix in tow.

  "Winner: Metagross!" shouted the referee.