Read up to 30 advanced chapters exclusively on my Patreon at - patreon.com/LoverrBoy
---------------------------------
"He... He evolved! Hahahaha! Pupitar—no, Tyranitar! Hahaha! Oh my god! You actually evolved right now?! This timing is absolutely perfect!"
It took Axu a long while to recover from the shock, and when he did, he erupted into a frenzy of joy. He jumped, shouted, and waved his arms like a gleeful child.
"Roar!!"
And the freshly evolved Tyranitar only gave Axu a slight glance of disdain before letting out a low, growling roar that didn't seem to mean anything in particular.
Liam stared speechlessly at the newly evolved Tyranitar right in front of him. Then, he glanced past it at Axu, who was still dancing and hollering in excitement. Suddenly, a strange thought crossed his mind…
'Maybe… this earnest, slightly goofy guy in front of me is the actual protagonist of this story…'
'This is outrageous! Is the difficulty level getting bumped up just like that? What the hell is this absurd development?!' Liam roared internally.
"My god! Evolution! The most mysterious phenomenon in the world of Pokémon has just occurred right before our eyes! And it's evolved into none other than the Tyranitar, the Tyrant of the Sands! This is truly unbelievable!" Even the commentator hadn't expected this and was practically shouting with excitement.
"Red side, please send out your final Pokémon as soon as possible."
The referee's voice echoed through the battlefield, unfazed by the surrounding chaos.
"Understood. My last Pokémon will be this one! Go, Arbok!"
Liam nodded slightly at the referee's prompt, took a moment to consider his options, then pulled out Arbok's PokeBall and swiftly tossed it onto the field.
"Chaarbok!"
A burst of white light shot out, and Arbok's large, muscular body appeared on the field. It glanced up at its opponent and, feeling the immense pressure emanating from Tyranitar, a flicker of excitement flashed in its eyes.
"What?! My god! Just after Axu's Larvitar evolved into a monstrous Tyranitar, everyone was wondering how trainer Liam would respond. We thought he had some powerful ace he was saving for last! But… why is it just an Arbok?! What is Liam thinking? Has he already given up?!"
The commentator's voice held disbelief, as if he couldn't comprehend why Liam would choose to send out a seemingly underwhelming Arbok at such a critical moment.
"Heh. Is that what you think too?"
Liam smiled faintly at the commentator's words and then looked toward Axu.
"No," Axu immediately shook his head. "I can feel it—this Arbok of yours isn't ordinary. It's on a whole different level compared to the average Arbok."
His gaze on Arbok was filled with surprise, quickly giving way to a serious and cautious look. Clearly, Axu wasn't naive enough to think Liam would send out a weak Pokémon at such a decisive moment. This Arbok must be hiding incredible power.
Liam nodded with a calm smile and didn't say anything more.
"Both sides are ready! The battle begins!"
"This opponent is strong—don't let your guard down! Tyranitar, charge in and use Crunch!"
Axu clearly took Arbok seriously. The moment the referee finished speaking, he immediately gave Tyranitar the command to attack… however—
"Tyra…"
Tyranitar didn't move. It simply stood there, completely ignoring Axu's order.
"Huh? Tyranitar, what are you doing?! Hurry up and attack! Why are you just standing there like you're enjoying the weather?!"
Seeing that his command had been issued but Tyranitar was still motionless, Axu panicked. He stepped forward, yelling frantically.
"Roar!"
This time, Tyranitar did respond to his voice—but instead of attacking Arbok, it turned its head toward Axu with a look of utter annoyance.
Then it opened its massive jaws, and a dark pulse of energy surged out—Dark Pulse! The blast exploded beside Axu with a violent impact, sending him flying across the battlefield.
"This is bad! A huge incident has occurred! The freshly evolved Tyranitar appears to be ignoring its trainer and has actually turned on him! Security! Security! Someone get in there, now!"
Panic erupted as the crowd gasped in horror. The commentator's voice cracked as he shouted at the top of his lungs, demanding immediate intervention.
"Are you okay, kid? Are you hurt anywhere?"
A security officer quickly rushed over, helped the violently coughing Axu to his feet, and asked with concern.
Cough cough cough! "I'm fine! I'm still in the match! Don't stop me… Tyranitar! Stop messing around! This is an official battle! Obey my command already!"
Pushing the security officer aside, Axu ran back to his half-destroyed command zone and shouted at the raging Tyranitar in the middle of the field.
"Tyran?! Tyranitar!!"
Hearing his voice again, Tyranitar's eyes flickered with a savage gleam. It opened its jaws once more, and Dark Pulse began gathering again.
"Arbok, Mud Bomb!"
"Chaarbok!"
Right before Tyranitar could unleash the attack, Liam's voice rang out from the opposite side. Arbok struck quickly, hurling a Mud Bomb directly at Tyranitar's back. The resulting explosion made Tyranitar roar in pain.
"Roar!!"
Caught off guard, Tyranitar winced as the Dark Pulse it was building dispersed. It whirled around with fury in its eyes, now fully focused on Liam and Arbok. With a furious roar, it began charging straight at them.
"Just a freshly evolved Tyranitar and you're already getting cocky? Arbok, use Glare! Followed by Acid Spray!"
"Charbok!"
Arbok met Tyranitar's charge without fear. In fact, its eyes showed clear disdain. This brute, who only knew how to blindly charge forward? Trash.
"Chaaa!"
At Liam's command, Arbok reared up, and the eerie pattern on its chest glowed with a strange light. Tyranitar, in the middle of its rush, suddenly froze. Sparks of electricity crackled across its body—Glare had paralyzed it!
"Chaarbok!"
Seeing Glare succeed, Arbok wasted no time. It opened its jaws and unleashed a stream of thick, purple sludge—Acid Spray—straight at the immobilized Tyranitar.
"Roar!"
Just before the spray could hit, Tyranitar roared, and a swirling sandstorm burst forth in front of it. The storm swallowed the Acid Spray, and then rapidly expanded to cover the entire battlefield.
"Tyranitar! Stop this! Snap out of it and listen to me!"
Axu shouted desperately into the sandstorm, but it was no use.
"A sandstorm… annoying move. Arbok, use Coil, stay put!"
"Chaa!"
Coil—Arbok's newest move—wrapped its body tightly, boosting its Attack, Defense, and accuracy. At the edge of the sandstorm, Arbok formed a defensive coil, mouth slightly open, tongue flicking, waiting in silence for its prey.
"Roar!"
Suddenly, Tyranitar came barreling through the sandstorm, hugging the ground. Its gaping maw glowed with dark energy—Crunch! It lunged straight at Arbok.
"Now! Arbok, Stomp!"
The Stomp TM had been one of the five TMs to come from Giovanni with better success rates, enough for both Garchomp and Arbok to learn it. Well worth the investment.
"Chaarbok!"
Without budging, Arbok raised its thick tail high and brought it crashing down the moment Tyranitar got close. A shockwave rippled outward, slamming into Tyranitar mid-lunge. It grunted and slowed down.
"Iron Tail!"
"Chaarbok!"
Seeing Tyranitar paralyzed and slowed, Liam seized the chance. Arbok sprang forward, tail turning metallic as it whistled through the air—and struck Tyranitar square on the head.
"Roar!!"
A loud, crisp crack! Tyranitar—over 200 kilograms of muscle and rock—was launched through the air by the sheer force of Arbok's Iron Tail, slammed into a boulder, and collapsed in a heap. Its eyes spun dizzily as it lost consciousness.
As a Steel-type move, Iron Tail dealt devastating damage to the Rock-type Tyranitar. On top of that, it had just evolved and hadn't fully adjusted to its new power—its Sand Stream ability hadn't even activated properly.
After enduring multiple hits, Liam's strengthened Arbok landed the final blow to bring it down.
With Tyranitar defeated, the sandstorm began to fade. Around the battlefield, the referee, the security team, Axu, and every spectator—inside and outside the arena—fell into stunned silence.
All eyes were on the final outcome, unable to believe what had just happened. For a long moment, nobody moved…
Then suddenly, the stadium erupted into thunderous cheers and applause!
"Unbelievable! Our contestant Liam has done it! He used just an Arbok to defeat the fabled Sand Tyrant—Tyranitar! He's victorious! He has won the very first match of the main stage at this year's League Tournament! He's shown us just how powerful he truly is! Everyone! Give him a round of applause!"
A few seconds after the shock wore off, the commentator shouted with wild enthusiasm. Even though Liam couldn't see inside the announcer booth, he could already imagine the commentator spitting all over the place in excitement.