Chapter 124

"Yes!" Anira and Leaf cheered when Onix's Iron Tail connected with Tyranitar, who finally looked weary.

Onix was not in good shape either, and it was clear that it would fall first. However, it had done its job brilliantly and had survived long enough.

"Head Smash!" Seeing the opening, Aizen called out for one final move, and the stubborn Onix managed to use it, putting all of its remaining strength behind it.

However, at the same time, it received a half-cooked Focus Blast, which was more than enough to make it lose consciousness.

"Onix is unable to battle. Tyranitar wins the ninth round." Cyrus announced the result, and Aizen recalled his Pokémon with a smile on his face.

"Lapras, want to have a go?" He turned around and asked his siren Pokémon, who nodded its head.

"Eeeu!"

"Let's go then."

Lapas immediately created an Icy road for itself and then slipped right into the battlefield.

"The tenth round is between Tyranitar and Lapras. Let's begin!"

Anira was already laughing in the stands when Aizen chose Lapras, and though Leaf was confused at first, her eyes soon widened in realisation.

"Awesome!" She cheered, and even Anthony knew what the result was going to be.

"Stone-Edge!"

"Waterfall!" Aizen called out, and Lapras, who had been watching the battle for so long, used the move and immediately slid its body away in the Icy surface, causing the Stone-Edge to miss its target. "Hydro Pump!"

"Eeeuu!!!" The Siren Pokémon retracted its head and then shot out a torrent of Water that was more powerful than that of its friend, Wartortle.

Tyranitar groaned in pain but then stomped hard on the ground, generating an Earthquake, which destroyed the Icy Field around Lapras.

"Stone-Edge!"

This time, the move connected the target, and Lapras suffered significant damage as it was weak against such moves.

"Meteor Beam!"

"Hydro Pump!"

Tyranitar, who was preparing a Meteor Beam, could not evade the attack and suffered again, finally showing weakness as it swayed on its feet.

Aizen looked at the sky and then smiled a little.

"Perish Song."

The next second, everyone started hearing a song that sent chills up their spines, but no one could imagine what Tyranitar was going through right now.

It was losing its mind and its senses were betraying it.

The Meteor Beam crashed onto Lapras, who tried its best to dodge by sliding in random patterns, but eventually, it got hit and suffered immense pain.

Both the Pokémon seemed ready to fall at any moment now, and Anthony knew that there was no hope left for him.

"Return, Tyranitar." He sighed and recalled his Pokémon, saving its pride where it would have hated to fall unconscious against a small Lapras.

"Tyranitar has been forfeited. Lapras Wins the tenth round. The winner of the match is Aizen Orayen."

"Yes!!!" The girls went crazy when the result was announced, and even Anthony's friends, Deric and Candy, could not help up stand up and clap for the Winner.

They really were not expecting Aizen to win the match, and what they had just witnessed had surprised them a lot.

"You are the best!" Anira rushed right past her brother and went to hug Lapras, who nudged its face against hers.

However, soon the siren Pokémon lost consciousness as well, and Aizen recalled it before paying attention to the people who were now surrounding him.

"That was an awesome match!" Leaf grinned and then blushed when he gently patted her head.

"I am glad you enjoyed it. Let's talk later. I need to go to the Pokémon Center to get my team checked. They are all injured."

Aizen glanced at the lemon-haired boy, who was looking a little lost, and when their eyes met, he nodded to him before leaving for the Pokémon Center.

Anthony sighed and then regrettably shook his head.

"You took him a little too easy." Candy came over and commented, but the lemon-haired boy shook his head again.

"Maybe. But he's good."

"I can't believe that he has only started his journey this year." Deric too reverently spoke, and Sina could not help her giggles at those words.

"You are lucky that you did not choose to have a Pokémon Battle between Mega Pokémon." She suddenly said something that caught her friends off-guard. "You would have lost miserably against his team."

"That's not nice." Candy admonished her, but Dexio shook his head.

"She's right. His Mega Pokémon are ridiculously strong and well-trained. Also, Aizen has been around Pokémon all his life. It's not fair for anyone to battle against him unless they know about Pokémon as much as he does. If you really want to win the Kanto League this year, then you will have to work harder than you have ever done in your life."

Anthony frowned at their words but did not say anything in reply.

Taking a deep breath, he sighed again and then led his Friends to the Pokémon Center after thanking and saying goodbye to Cyrus and his wife, Natalie.

"He's good!" Natalie could not help but comment, and her husband nodded his head.

They were both impressed by what they had just witnessed.

A Gym Battle was one thing, where the Gym Leader would test the limits of the Challenger's Pokémon, sticking to the guidelines that prevented them from going all out, but an all-out Knock-Out Stage Battle was an entirely different story.

"Want to go watch this year's Indigo Conference?"

"Of course!" His wife laughed as she stepped forward and pulled him in a deep kiss.

On the other side, half an hour later, the girls curiously watched as Aizen helped himself to a sumptuous meal in the Cafeteria of the Pokémon Center.

They had all eaten to their fill during their dinner, but the Orayen Prince still looked quite hungry.

"He gets hungry after getting overwhelmed with excitement." Anira giggled at their curiosity and informed them.

"Oh..."

"And here I thought it was the stress of the match that caused this fit of hunger."

Leaf and Misty reacted to Anira's words, and Aizen laughed at the latter's comment.

"The only thing that did not go according to plan was when I lost Rinko, but he already had one Pokémon left at that stage, and I knew I had won."

"I forgot that Lapras knew Perish Song!" Leaf laughed, not in the least embarrassed at admitting that she had forgotten such an important detail.

The Orayen Prince smiled her way and stopped eating to meet her eyes.

"Expect every match in the Top 32 to be just as intense as the one you witnessed tonight. Those that make it to the Knock-Out Stages will be giving their all, and so will their Pokémon. Try your best to never end up with a single Pokémon when your opponent still hasn't revealed all six of their Pokémon."

"You never know when they might bring out Lapras or another Pokémon that can use Perish Song or Destiny Bond," Anira added.

Hearing their words, the girl from Pallet Town frowned but nodded her head. Soon she lowered her eyes and lost herself to some thoughts, which none of her friends disturbed.

Aizen finished his meal in silence, and it was then that Misty raised a curious question.

"Which Evolutionary Items are you going to pick?" She inquired.

"Electirizer and the Fire Stone."

"Not Metal Coat?" The Orange-head confusedly looked at him. "Onix and Scyther could use it."

"Metal Coat is not an issue. Can easily be arranged and can even be found in PokeMarts." He smiled at her. "If we go by rarity and value, the Dragon and Prism Scales are the expensive ones. Onix does not need a Metal Coat. It is old enough and close to naturally evolving into Steelix. As for Scyther, I am not going to force it to become a Scizor. It will lose its ability to Fly and will only be able to glide. There's also the loss in Speed. He needs to decide by himself."

"You don't like Scizor?" Leaf raised her brow at him.

"Of course, I do. And I want one on my Team. However, it will be a Scyther who is willing to evolve into Scizor."

"I see." She smiled. "You can always catch one more Scyther. And I saw the information about Kleavor, it is a nice Pokémon too."

"It's ugly and creepy. Scyther and Scizor look much better." Misty immediately shook her head, and her body trembled as she visualised the other evolution of Scyther. "Hell no!"

Everyone at the table laughed at her reaction, and the Orayen Prince smiled at her before looking at Daisy.

"My Grandmother has invited you and your family to the Blanc Island." He informed her, and everyone turned to look at him in surprise. "You too." He told Misty when she looked at him and watched her immediately become nervous.

"When?" Daisy asked, a little nervous herself.

"As soon as possible for all of you. Your family needs to go together."

The blonde Waterflower nodded her head and then looked at her sister.

"We have a show next month, Misty, but we are free for the rest of this month. Father can take a leave too for a couple of weeks."

"I will come with you." The Orange-head nodded to her sister's words and then looked at Anira. "Can you come with us?" She asked, hoping the Princess would say yes.

"No." The Orayen Princess adamantly shook her head. "If I go with you, Grandma will make me stay on the Island with her. I won't be able to come back before the Indigo Conference." She folded her arms on her chest and cutely pouted, which made her brother chuckle at her.

"Also, there's a change in plans. We are leaving for Celadon City tomorrow." Aizen continued, and Leaf surprisedly looked at him. "I have to finish collecting the rest of the three Badges as soon as possible, and then I have to leave with Sabrina. We have some important things to deal with."

The pink-eyed girl simply nodded her head, as she too had received the news on her watch earlier today.

A few minutes later, Anthony and the rest entered the lounge, and Aizen stood up to greet his opponent, shaking his hand.

"Good fight."

"I hope we face each other again in the Indigo Conference. And yes, good fight." Anthony smiled before he put the backpack on the table. "Make your pick."

"Thanks." The Orayen Prince nodded his head before he picked out the Electirizer and a Fire Stone, which relieved the lemon-haired boy a lot.

Though an Electirizer was precious, it was not as difficult to come by as the Dragon Scale and the Prism Scale, and he could always have another Fire Stone arranged for him.

"Have a nice evening." The boy wished them all and then took his leave, not staying around to share some words.

And after he left, Sina and Dexio stepped forward, promising Aizen that they would be there at the Indigo Conference.

The two fellow Researchers stayed with him for a good few hours, talking about a lot of things, and Anira too joined them for the chat.

As for the rest, they left early to return to the Saffron Gym to get some sleep.