met free Chapter 220 Another
Chapter 220 Another
There are many kinds of victories in the world.
As the evil-type champion, Cranberry, once said, there are glorious failures and glorious victories in the world, and right and wrong are often difficult to distinguish.
While trainers who possess Victini are said to never lose, the effectiveness of Victory Star will naturally decrease if the opponent relaxes their standards for victory.
In fact, if it were just a normal match and Joggs didn't resort to his underhanded tactics, he would have been defeated by the Ardek Champion countless times.
Therefore, when he saw the Desert Cloud God lose its fighting ability at the same time as the Volcano Moth, the Sage felt a momentary displeasure at the failure, but more than anything, he felt the relief of having accomplished his mission.
Next, all that's needed is to figure out a way to escape.
Landorus has lost its ability to battle, but Yoggs still has other Pokémon on its body. With Victini's infinite energy, breaking through the encirclement should not be a problem.
Therefore, he must first create chaos.
"Hahahaha! The so-called Unova Champions are nothing but this!"
While using a Poké Ball to retrieve Landorus, the Blue Coat Bishop deliberately raised his voice, brazenly mocking the ugly-looking Champion Aldera in front of him, while plotting a wonderful idea in his mind—if the opponent suddenly launched an attack to avenge his partner, he could take advantage of the chaos caused by the move to jump out of the Tower of Heaven.
However, the champion's reaction was unexpected.
"As I said before the match started... even if you win the singles match, I cannot award you the title of champion."
Adek walked onto the playing field and picked up Volcano, his tone remaining calm. Not only did he show no anger, but Joggs couldn't even detect any sadness in his words.
"So what? As I said when I first came here, the championship title is not my goal."
While subtly moving towards the window of the Tower of Heaven, the Sage continued to utter unpleasant words, observing the reactions of Alder and the Unova Four Heavenly Kings outside the arena.
"So what if you're still the champion? A trainer who loses their ace is like a palace without pillars, destined to collapse and crumble."
The malicious words echoed through the tower like a venomous curse. Aldek did not respond, and the four Heavenly Kings watching remained expressionless.
Joggs suddenly felt that something was wrong.
As the battle ended and the exhilarating adrenaline slowly subsided with the blood circulation, the idle brain finally focused on information outside the duel.
Only then did he realize a terrible truth—
From the moment Joggs challenged Ardek for the championship to now, with Landcloud defeating Volcarona and about to leave the stage, Wanlong, Yueju, Lianwu, and Gadria—the four League Kings who should have been defending the championship—have all remained silent without prior agreement.
Even when Landcloud used its final attack, "Stone Spike," Ardek's disciples and friends remained silent, watching helplessly as the enemy's move robbed Volcarona of its last chance of survival.
This is not normal! This indifference is definitely not normal! There must be a hidden truth inside this Tower of Heaven that Joshua is unaware of, but which is tacitly understood by the Ardek champion and the Four Heavenly Kings.
Just as Joggs was about to realize his mistake, his opponent spoke up again.
"Although I don't quite understand some of the inexplicable details of the match, the result speaks for itself, and I really lost to you. In the past, whenever the younger generation lost to me, they would always sigh and say to me, 'Old ginger is indeed spicier'... I never thought that just when I was about to relinquish my championship title, it would be my turn to say that. You are indeed a dueling opponent who can keep me in high spirits."
As he took out a yellow crystal-shaped energy block from his pouch and fed it into the mouthparts of the Volcano, Adek spoke casually.
Huh?
Only then did the sage in blue realize that the fire moth, which had lost its fighting ability at the same time as the earth cloud, although its flames had long since dissipated and it was covered in wounds and unconscious, showed no signs of dying.
The old man's hands, hidden in his sleeves, began to tremble for no reason, and a bad premonition welled up in his heart.
This isn't a reciprocation of kindness; it's practically a substitution of one thing for another.
Who is this person who only knows one aspect and not the other?
.
"Haha, it seems he's realized what mistake he made."
On the edge of the battlefield, opposite Yorgos, the Dark-type Champion, Blueberry, broke the silence first, whistling and speaking to her companion beside her. Her brows were full of flippancy.
"But even we spent two full-scale battles to confirm this fact, so we have no right to laugh at this old man."
Yes. It wasn't until Yueju tragically ended her all-out battle and nodded and then shook her head at Lian Wu, who was asking about Alder's strength, that these four powerful figures, second only to Alder in the Unova region's battle arena, finally confirmed a simple fact.
As is well known, the Ardek champion has two Vulcan moths.
"Impossible! How could such a thing happen!"
A question came from the other side, a voice breaking with emotion. The sage from the Plasma Group revealed a ferocious expression; his disheveled hair and beard, messed up during the battle, now looked even more menacing.
"If you have such strength, why do you still resort to such tricks? If you still have such a promising Pokémon, why do you want to step down as champion?"
“Childish…” Gadriya, who was beside her, spoke softly with her eyes half-open as if she hadn’t woken up yet.
It's unclear whether he was commenting on Joggs's behavior or answering the other person's question.
"That's quite a clever trick." Wanlong, the Ghost-type Elite Four member, had somehow produced a red-covered notebook and was rapidly jotting down the match notes with a pen. She seemed quite satisfied with the material she had gathered, and said as she wrote—
"While the general perception is that Ardek's Volcarona has two strong and one weaker members—the older one, if not for illness, is stronger, while the newly bred one is less capable and relatively weaker in battle—if we review the league's match records over the years, Mr. Ardek's performance does seem to align with the views of these outsiders—"
“In the past, powerful Volcaronas could easily defeat challengers, including us, in just a few rounds. However, with the old Volcaronas getting injured and the new Volcaronas taking the lead, such overwhelming matches have become rare. Champions now prefer to use experienced tactics to defeat their opponents.”
"This leads to a reasonable speculation that the newly succeeded Volcano is far less powerful than its predecessor, so Alder has to rely on tactics to make up for its lack of combat strength... But is that really the case?"
Adek's disciple, Lian Wu, shook his head with his arms crossed: "Of course not, the battle just now is perfect proof."
This is the whole truth—
The Volcarona sent out by the champion to battle against Cattleya and Blueberry, and finally perished together with the God of Fertility, Landcloud, under the blessing of the Star of Victory, was not Alder's initial partner whose life was nearing its end, but rather the second main Pokémon he trained later.
What could have been fatal to the aged Volcarona was nothing more than a normal defeat for the young and strong Volcarona.
"Master wouldn't send out a weak Pokémon to the League tournament. In fact, even the young Volcarona was already at the peak of the old Volcarona's strength. Otherwise, under the pressure of the four of us Elite Four members desperately improving our strength to defeat the champion, Master Alder could not have maintained his title by relying solely on tactics."
"Yes," Wanlong said, pausing her pen.
"The two Volcaronas were already extremely similar in size, and this Volcarona that appeared this time even released intense flames around its body to disguise itself as its senior, making it almost indistinguishable from the real thing... However, it's quite surprising that it was able to defeat all six of the Elite Four's main members in one go. Is this the so-called power of 'resolve'? Is it to prove its strength to the Pokémon inside the Poké Ball before its senior dies?"
"Well, I truly witnessed a glorious victory firsthand." Bulbasaur chuckled, glancing unfriendly at her colleague who was skilled with Ghost-type Pokémon.
Of course, inside the Tower of Heaven at this moment, there was someone whose mood was even worse than that of Yueju.
This man had just experienced a draw that could be described as a "victory," but the meaning of victory and defeat suddenly reversed in an instant. Now, even with Victini's infinite energy, he could not reverse the battle that had already ended—every action he had taken since ascending the tower now looked like a clown's farcical performance in a circus.
"Sage of the Plasma Group, do you still wish to continue the battle?"
The Pokémon in Alder's arms had regained some strength, and it swayed as it flapped its wings again, hovering once more beside the champion—it really wasn't that old Volcarona that was about to die of old age.
"By the way, you mean you want to fight it, right?"
Alder returned the weakened Volcarona to its Poké Ball. He then took the red and white Poké Ball hanging in the center of his chest and gently pressed the round button in the center.
"The Poké Ball is getting a little hot. I'm so sorry, I've suppressed your fighting spirit for so long because of my whim..."
Adek sighed and called out—
"Make your appearance, my dear old partner."
A giant fire moth appeared in the center of the Tower of Heaven.
No, its size is actually about the same as its kin who were just returned to the ball. It's just that the flames burning on the edges of its wings are so huge that this fire moth looks enormous.
The flames enveloping the wings were neither bright red nor bright yellow, nor a blend of both—but rather dazzling white flames.
A white light as brilliant as the sun.
It simply stood there, yet it exuded the same aura and pressure as its successor, the Volcano, unleashing its strongest attack.
The Blue Cardinal, Joggs, who climbed the Tower of Heaven to kill the Volcano, vanished instantly upon glancing at his chosen victim.
He turned and ran. He scrambled up the circular opening in the wall of the Tower of Heaven in three quick steps and jumped out.
Even if a three-year-old child were to attack a boxer from behind with a sharp weapon, the probability of success would be extremely low. And if the weapon had already been lost, there would be absolutely no need to launch an attack.