Stone Edge

"We lost..." Harrison murmured sadly.

Seeing his friend feeling down, Morrison went to comfort him, "I know you're feeling sad because of the Porygon, but cheer up, dude. Look on the bright side, we still get some money at least."

Sighing, Harrison returned his attention to the field.

"Who do you think will win?" he asked, changing the subject.

Morrison shrugged his shoulders at that, "I don't know."

"But I hope Reggie will lose," he said, gritting his teeth.

"Me too," Harrison nodded.

There was no doubt that Reggie was a powerful trainer, but they much preferred if Hisoka won the tournament. Only because Reggie defeated them in the semi-finals.

Although they had never fought against Hisoka, they could still see he was an excellent trainer. Milotic, Gardevoir, Weavile... All of these Pokemon were very rare.

***

Dark City.

Everyone in Dark City was sitting in front of their television, waiting for the match to start. The team they were rooting for was none other than Team Hisoka. They were very grateful to their gym leader for improving the lives of everyone in Dark City. The least they could do was to support him.

"Where is Ned? The match is starting soon," Ben, the chubby kid, asked while looking outside the window.

Simon, the lanky kid, took a bite of his burger and said, "Ned is in Celadon City with his parents. He said they were going to watch the match live."

"What! I wish I could be there too," Ben said in envy.

While the two were talking, the television's screen dimmed slightly.

"It's going to start!"

***

Celadon Stadium.

The referee slowly walked into the arena and stood on the sidelines. Then, he raised his flags while glancing at the two teams in the stands.

"Trainers! Please get ready. The match is about to start," he shouted.

As soon as he said that, a countdown appeared on the large screen behind him.

5!

4!

3!

2!

1!

Beep!

Reggie immediately threw the Pokeball in his hand, "Dusknoir!"

His younger brother, Paul, also followed suit, "Go! Froslass"

Two Pokemon with different looks appeared in the field at the same time. The first Pokemon was black in color and had a single red eye, somewhat resembling a cyclops. In place of its feet was a wispy tail.

Meanwhile, the second Pokemon was primarily white. It wore a red band around its waist, usually paired with a kimono. Similar to Dusknoir, it also had no feet as it floated in the air.

'Dusknoir and Frolass,' Hisoka thought, recognizing the Pokemon instantly.

Unlike Rhyperior, Magmortar, Electrivire, and Weavile, Snorunt and Dusknoir's evolution method had already been announced in Sinnoh about two years ago.

Using an item called Reaper's Cloth, a Dusclops could evolve into a Dusknoir, a very scary Pokemon. As for the other Pokemon, only a female Snorunt could evolve into a Froslass with the help of a Dawn Stone.

If there was no Dawn Stone, Snorunt would evolve into a Glalie as it grew. It was a Pokemon with multiple evolution forms, just like an Eevee.

Hisoka then looked at Ran and nodded to each other as they threw their Pokeballs out.

Roar!

A bellow resounded throughout the stadium as Rhyperior revealed himself in front of everyone.

Time seemed to slow down, and a pin-drop silence enveloped the entire stadium as everyone stared at the giant Pokemon blankly.

Hisoka really gave them a big surprise. This kind of strong Pokemon usually only appeared in the League Conference. They didn't expect to see one today.

"This guy is hiding his strength the whole time?" Reggie smiled bitterly.

The only time he had seen such a big Pokemon was during his travel to Hoenn, where he accidentally met Steven Stone. The latter was exploring a cave with his Pokemon, a giant Aggron.

***

"Hehe!"

After that, Misdreavus revealed herself with a chilling laugh. She floated above Rhyperior and stared at her opponents curiously.

From these two Pokemon, she felt a power similar to hers.

Compared to the shocking figure of Rhyperior, Misdreavus was somewhat normal in appearance at least.

Misdreavus had always been hidden by Hisoka's side and hadn't been registered as his Pokemon yet. Since Ran's two Pokemon were too weak to fight in the finals, he let her use his Misdreavus in his stead. He could always take it back later.

He had also given the last ability crystal he got from Blaine to Rypherior so he could awaken his ability. Thankfully, he had awakened Solid Rock, an ability that was very suitable for him as a tanker.

Solid Rock reduced the damage taken from super effective attacks. With Rhyperior's defense, he could completely resist Ice-type attacks from Froslass.

***

"Just follow the plan, Paul," Reggie mumbled, loud enough for his brother to hear.

After saying that, Reggie glanced at his brother. The two crossed their eyes and nodded in understanding.

"Froslass! Hail!"

Hail, a weather-changing move. Although this type of move consumed a lot of stamina, the effect was also very prominent. All Pokemon not of the Ice-type would receive continuous damage for some time.

Froslass body glowed blue as she raised her hand toward the sky. Then, a dark cloud formed above the battlefield. As she brought her hand down, tiny ice crystals started falling.

Ting!

Ting!

The ice fell on Rhyperior's body, producing several sharp sounds. Yet, they barely even scratched his skin. On the other hand, Misrdeavus hid below Rhyperior's rocky plates as soon as the hailstorm started. This was the safest place for her at the moment.

Most of Reggie and Paul's attention was focused on Rhyperior. They paid little attention to Misdreavus, which supposedly belonged to Ran. Ran's previous performance hardly reached the threshold of an Elite Trainer. Even Paul was much better than her.

If it wasn't for Hisoka, she wouldn't even be able to pass the first round, let alone the finals.

'Let's attack that big Pokemon first!' Reggie thought at this time.

"Dusknoir! Use Shadow Punch on that Pokemon!" he gave an order while pointing toward Rhyperior.

Dusknoir's red eye instantly locked on Rhyperior as its hand became outlined in a gray aura. Then it punched the air as a shadowy black fist came out of its hand and hit the giant Pokemon.

Bang!

Dusknoir then released its hold on the energy fist as it dissipated into thin air, staring at his opponent wide-eyed.

Its full-power Shadow Punch, which was enough to injure many Pokemon, didn't even hurt it?

In response, Rhyperior raised both of his arms and fired several rocks from the hole in his palms at Froslass and Dusknoir.

Bang!

Bang!

Multiples stone flew toward the opponents one after another.

Seeing that, Reggie quickly said, "Use Gravity to block the rocks!"

"Froslass, Dodge!"

Every time Reggie issued an order, Paul would also follow suit. His combat experience was far less than his brother's, so he had to follow his brother's lead.

Duknoir raised his arms toward the oncoming rocks as invisible energy surged from its body.

"Dusk!"

It exerted its force as it stopped the rocks in their path and pushed them down on the ground. Froslass on the side managed to evade all the rocks sent by Rhyperior with its fast speed.

While the battle was going on, no one noticed that Misdreavus had disappeared from view. Before the start of the battle, Hisoka had already told her to help Rhyperior.

Heh!

Rhyperior snorted in disdain.

'Since Rock Throw didn't work, I'll use Rock Wrecker then. Let's see if you can stop this,' thought Rhyperior. His arms were aimed at his opponents.

Hisoka scrunched his brows together immediately.

"Rhyperior! Use Rock Tomb!" he ordered in a cold tone.

Hearing the anger in Hisoka's voice, Rhyperior quickly put away his arms and stomped his leg on the ground.

Multiple gray rocks outlined in white energy formed around him, and he threw them toward Dusknoir and Froslass.

At the last second, Froslass managed to avoid the rocks. If she were hit by that, she would be severely injured. Paul in the stand wiped the sweat off his head in relief. He almost thought that Froslass couldn't avoid that just now. Fortunately, nothing bad happened.

However, Dusknoir did not escape unscathed due to his slow speed. After rocks spun in the air a few times, they quickly fell to the ground, surrounding them in a circle.

Reggie didn't know what Hisoka's game was, but when he saw the large circle surrounding his Pokemon, he suddenly got an ominous feeling.

"Dusknoir! Use Shadow Sneak!"

As Reggie's voice fell, a shadow flashed across the arena and latched on his opponent's shadow. The hidden shadow made it impossible for Rhyperior to avoid its attack as it succeeded in delaying his action.

Paul also followed his brother's lead, "Froslass! Ice Beam!"

Froslass raised her arms forward and formed a cold, blue energy ball. Suddenly, a white figure appeared behind her.

'How did it get here?' Reggie thought in shock.

He knew Ghost-type Pokemon could turn invisible, but he had already put Dusknoir on guard. So how did it avoid Dusknoir's guard?

As a Pokemon that was able to travel between the human and spirit worlds, Duknoir was undoubtedly a master at locating its target. It was simply unthinkable that a Misdreavus of all could sneak past its guard.

"Hehe!"

Misdreavus took a deep breath and breathed out a large fireball at Froslass.

"Watch out, Froslass!" Paul shouted in a hurry.

But it was too late. The fireball struck the unaware Froslass.

"Fros!"

She screamed in pain due to the hot flame. The Ice Beam in her hands could no longer be controlled as it exploded.

Dusknoir, who was the closest to her, was the first to bear the brunt. An ice beam struck it from the side. The cold frost spread to its arm, freezing it.

After the successful sneak attack, Misdreavus quickly disappeared from view again.

"Dusknoir, use Shadow Punch again!"

Reggie shouted anxiously, trying to buy some time for Froslass to recover. Just then, a chill went up his spine after he glimpsed a smile on Hisoka's face.

Hisoka waved his hand and said, "Rhyperior! Stone Edge!"

Roar!

Rhyperior then punched his hand on the ground, releasing a shockwave that spread throughout the field.

A second later, the whole battlefield began to tremble.

The audience in front row seats almost fell due to the strong vibration. Luckily, the energy shield kicked in and absorbed the impact of the attack caused by Rhyperior.

***

Cracks started spreading across the field, reaching a depth of several meters. The large rocks that were set up by Rhyperior earlier suddenly glowed blue before they exploded.

Bang!

The rock pillars exploded one at a time.

This happened in a blink of an eye. The large cloud of dust completely obscured what was happening in the field.

The crowd waited for the dust to settle with bated breath.

"Brother Reggie?" Paul looked at his brother hopefully.

Instead of replying, Reggie kept his mouth shut as he stared at the field, clenching his fist.

***