Everything seemed to have returned to the very beginning.
No.
The rain was still falling.
Splash...
Fine strands of rain, like a silver curtain torn apart by invisible hands, densely blanketed the entire Battle Arena without the slightest sign of stopping.
Steven gazed at the gorgeous Shiny Milotic in the distance. Without the slightest hesitation, he swiftly took out a Poké Ball and recalled the Skarmory outside the field.
"Looks like this isn't an opponent you can handle."
Though Skarmory had just raised its speed with Agility, Steven felt no attachment to keeping it in. He was more worried that if he hesitated any longer, this excellent chance to switch would vanish.
The host could not help shouting, "Steven is the first to make a switch! What will his next Pokémon be?"
Switching Pokémon less than three minutes into the match could be called the fastest substitution since the Masters Eight elimination rounds began, but all the Champions understood Steven's situation.
Ash in the stands said solemnly, "It actually used Twister to take control of Hurricane instead..."
Among all the Champions, he had been hit by Hurricane the most in battle, but he also understood this move's power best. In his eyes, the force Skarmory had displayed was only slightly weaker than what he had encountered himself.
Yet Shiny Milotic had cracked it so easily. It was hard to imagine just how terrifying Baimu's current strength was.
Bang!
Light blossomed.
Steven's second Pokémon—Cradily, the Barnacle Pokémon—made a dazzling entrance.
It had eight pink tentacles and an emerald-green body. The face-like part of its head bore a ring of round yellow eye spots, but those were not its eyes. They were some sort of external camouflage.
"As expected."
Baimu was not surprised by Steven's choice at all.
After all, this Cradily