Giovanni had thought he had a chance of defeating Heiduo.
Even if Heiduo had more Pokémon, what use were they if he could control Heiduo himself?
There were countless ways to deal with Pokémon without their Trainer.
But he had still underestimated Heiduo.
Heiduo was indeed young, only nineteen this year, and he had been a Trainer for merely five years.
Nor was he as underhanded as Giovanni, deliberately sending his Pokémon forward to die without caring whether they suffered fatal injuries.
At the very least, Heiduo would not have his Crobat carry a Golem about to use Explosion forward as cannon fodder.
A Pokémon that had lost its ability to fight was at its most vulnerable.
But Heiduo had one advantage.
—He always held a trump card capable of turning defeat into victory.
Even with Beedrill's gleaming stinger aimed at his throat, the trump cards hidden in his hand were still piled as high as a mountain.
And the one he had revealed now was merely one of them.
Heiduo grabbed Beedrill's stinger and gently moved it aside.
The stinger immediately left Heiduo's throat without encountering the slightest resistance, as though what had just happened had been nothing more than playfighting.
Heiduo rubbed his slightly sore shoulder, feeling as though he was about to rust. Since he could not have a real-life brawl, this "fight" had ultimately been less satisfying than he would have liked. But he could not bully the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled, so he could only hold himself back.
Before him,
Giovanni's ace, Beedrill, remained frozen in place. It could only watch Heiduo move about like a statue, balancing on Aggron with its two thin little legs, its ruby-like eyes emitting an eerie gleam in the sunlight.
Giovanni's expression did not change, as though he