At that moment, the effects of Hail would reach their peak, subjecting Pangoro to an even greater onslaught from the falling ice.
"Pangoro, dodge the area of Icy Wind and charge in with a Fire Punch!" Nathan commanded at once.
The range of Icy Wind wasn't so wide that it was unavoidable; as long as Pangoro moved fast enough, it could be evaded.
With a push from its legs, Pangoro instantly activated Shave and darted to the right, narrowly avoiding the oncoming Icy Wind. It then rushed straight toward Glaceon.
"Glaceon, use Ice Shard! Don't let it get close!"
Glaceon cried out again, summoning a barrage of sharp ice shards and hurling them toward Pangoro.
However, thanks to Pangoro's speed—and with Kami-e activated—it was able to dodge with ease.
Evelyn frowned slightly, but didn't hesitate. "Glaceon, Blizzard followed by Ice Fang!"
Receiving the command, Glaceon let out a roar, and a frigid wind mixed with snowflakes swept outward—a fierce Blizzard enveloping Pangoro.
The raging storm was like a smokescreen, obscuring vision. Taking advantage of this, Glaceon rushed into the Blizzard, chilling breath escaping from its mouth as it closed in on Pangoro.
"A tactic similar to the smokescreen from yesterday?" Nathan thought in surprise, but then smirked. "Still, I can't let you land a hit."
Pangoro was now shrouded in the Blizzard and taking heavy damage, further worsened by the ongoing Hail. If this kept up, it might very well be worn down to defeat.
"Pangoro, stay alert! Be ready to use Substitute paired with Seismic Toss!" Nathan said calmly.
Hearing its trainer's voice, Pangoro collected itself. Though it felt uncomfortable being caught in the Blizzard, it stayed vigilant and kept a close watch on its surroundings.
Suddenly—
Whoosh!
Glaceon's silhouette burst out of the snowstorm, Ice Fang glowing with chilling power as it lunged straight at Pangoro.
The bite was about to land cleanly.
But at the last moment, Pangoro activated Substitute, creating a decoy to take the hit. At the same time, it grabbed Glaceon and flung it backwards with tremendous force, making the Ice-type dizzy from the impact.
"Beautiful! Finish it off with Hammer Arm!" Nathan laughed.
Given the type advantage Fighting has over Ice, combined with Pangoro's inherent strength and the power of Hammer Arm, if the move connected, Glaceon would be unable to continue.
"Roar!!"
Pangoro roared, then launched a punch without hesitation.
Glaceon had just barely gotten back on its feet and wasn't fully recovered when Pangoro's Hammer Arm came crashing down.
Boom!
The Hammer Arm sent Glaceon flying. It hit the ground and fainted on the spot.
"Glaceon is unable to battle," the referee announced immediately.
Evelyn withdrew Glaceon into its Pokéball. Her expression showed no surprise—almost as if she had expected this result.
In her mind, she had anticipated losing both of her matches. Her goal was to use these battles against an Elite-tier opponent to hone her Pokémon, not to win the championship. The rewards didn't matter to her.
"Come out, Gardevoir." Evelyn sent out her trump card.
Seeing Gardevoir enter the field, Nathan didn't intend to let Pangoro continue. While Pangoro still had some fight left, it had taken considerable damage earlier.
Besides, since he had promised Evelyn not to hold back, and this was the final match of the tournament, he wanted to leave a lasting impression on the audience—so he decided to bring out Volcarona and go all out.
Withdrawing Pangoro, Nathan unclipped the Pokéball from around his neck and smiled gently. "Let's finish this quickly."
As his voice fell, the red light of the Pokéball flashed, and Volcarona, clearly hearing Nathan's words, emerged on its own, landing gracefully in front of him.
The air grew scorching. Sunlight bathed the arena.
Volcarona took flight, its wings slowly beating behind it.
A terrifying aura erupted.
Its wings were cloaked in fire with each beat, appearing as though they were forged from flames—making Volcarona look noble, divine, like a child of the sun.
Faced with Volcarona, Evelyn felt intense pressure, as did Gardevoir.
"Let's begin the final match," Nathan said with a smile.
Evelyn nodded without hesitation and issued her command. "Gardevoir, use Disarming Voice, then Psybeam followed by Psychic!"
Disarming Voice was a guaranteed-hit move that launched a sound-based mental attack.
With a melodious cry from Gardevoir, Volcarona let out a soft call in response, clearly affected. Immediately after, a Psybeam burst forth, followed closely by an invisible wave of mental energy—Psychic—crashing forward.
These two moves were clearly aimed to catch Volcarona off guard after being hit by Disarming Voice, making it difficult for it to dodge.
Unfortunately, Evelyn had underestimated the durability of a Pokémon at the Elite level—especially one as strong as Volcarona.
Not to mention, Disarming Voice wasn't a particularly powerful move.
"Dodge, Volcarona," Nathan said calmly. "Then use Fiery Dance!"
"Vol-caa~!"
Volcarona's wings fluttered, its body becoming a blur as it weaved through the air like a mirage, dodging the attacks and soaring higher into the sky.
As its wings beat, it released shimmering red powder from its wings.
Then, a gust of wind swept the particles across the battlefield.
The moment the powder touched the ground, the entire battlefield ignited into a sea of flames.
Even Gardevoir, trapped within the inferno, showed signs of pain.
It had been mentioned before: Volcarona's scales possessed the ability to ignite. Fiery Dance was a special technique that paired this trait with Flying-type moves—essentially Volcarona's signature move.
It used wind to scatter its flaming scales across every inch of the battlefield.
When training this move, Nathan had almost set the wilds ablaze.
"Gardevoir!!" Seeing the agony on her Pokémon's face, Evelyn grew anxious and panicked.
But regaining her composure, she quickly shouted, "Use Telekinesis! Lift yourself into the air!"
Although Gardevoir couldn't fly, it could use its strong psychic power to hover temporarily—but doing so consumed energy constantly and couldn't be sustained for long.
Letting out a pained cry, Gardevoir enveloped itself in psychic energy and began to float.
Nathan's lips curved into a smirk. "Volcarona, end the match."
""Vol-caa!"
Volcarona called out softly, nodded, and beat its wings once more.
A wave of scorching wind rolled out in all directions.
This wasn't a single gust—it was continuous, wave after wave, like crashing tides.
With nowhere to hide, even Teleport wouldn't save Gardevoir.
The ground was covered in fire, and the skies were filled with searing heat.
Layer after layer of heat waves engulfed Gardevoir, and soon burn marks began to appear across its body.
It cried out in pain, lost the concentration to maintain Telekinesis, and fell toward the blazing battlefield.
Heat Wave wasn't just wind—it inflicted real damage.
…
Unable to withstand the continuous assault, Gardevoir reached its limit.
Just as it was about to crash into the sea of flames, Evelyn didn't hesitate. "I forfeit!"
As soon as she spoke, Volcarona flapped its wings once more.
A massive gust of wind swept across the arena.
The flames vanished, and the temperature dropped significantly.
Gardevoir crashed hard into the ground and fainted on the spot.
The referee took a deep breath—the match had ended faster than expected, but the spectacle was nothing short of extraordinary. Volcarona's overwhelming power had left a lasting impression.
Without hesitation, the referee shouted, "This match is over! The winner: Nathan Vesper!"
"It's over! It's really over!!"
"This Volcarona is incredible—two battlefield-controlling moves in a row made it impossible for even a Psychic-type like Gardevoir to escape. Under those conditions, it stood no chance."
"That was one fiery, satisfying performance!"
"I think it's safe to announce it now."
"That's right! The winner of this year's Trial Tournament is…"
"Nathan!!"
The crowd erupted in cheers.
Evelyn withdrew Gardevoir and looked up at the majestic Volcarona with a complicated expression.
Compared to their previous battle, this time, she had truly experienced the terrifying might of Volcarona.
Unrivaled power.
…
[Ding! Congratulations on completing the 'Trial Tournament' mission. You've earned the following rewards!]
[1: Mysterious Map!]
[2: Awakening Fruit!]
[3: Viridian Power!]
[4: Ho-Oh's Feather!]
[5: Azure Flute!]
As the system notification echoed in his mind, Nathan's eyes lit up with excitement.
The Mysterious Map's purpose was unclear for now, but it was probably similar to the one he'd seen in the system shop yesterday.
The Awakening Fruit, though—that was the real treasure. Just like the Miracle Fruit, it was a rare and extremely useful item.
If the Miracle Fruit allowed a Pokémon to awaken a second ability…
Then the Awakening Fruit could awaken Hidden Power.
In the games, Hidden Power was just a move—but in the real world, it wasn't that simple.
It represented a second energy force within the Pokémon's body.
Very few Pokémon ever managed to awaken it.
Take Volcarona, for example. It had both Fire and Bug types, but its primary energy came from its Fire-type affinity.