The Masters Tournament finals had reached the fever pitch of their second phase. Leon sent out his fourth Pokémon, and Inteleon emerged onto the field in a flash of red light. Rather than attack immediately, the Pokémon displayed a gentlemanly air, looking toward the newly arrived Diancie.
"So it is Diancie!"
Leon had already worked out exactly which of Mingyou's Pokémon could Mega Evolve. As for the two that had yet to appear, they were undoubtedly Garchomp and Latias. There would be no surprises there.
Diancie's appearance soon caused a stir. Many in the audience still remembered the brilliant performance against Garchomp in the first round.
"Diancie!"
Diancie raised a hand, and a diamond blade took shape.
After observing for a moment and considering carefully, Inteleon nodded slightly. Leon recalled the Pokémon into a Poké Ball to Gigantamax.
A dark purple veil covered the sky. As Inteleon emerged from the Poké Ball, the Pokémon's tail grew enormous, coiling downward into a towering platform that supported the body above. Crouched atop that tail, Inteleon held a sniper rifle made of compressed water, calmly aiming at Diancie below.
"G-Max Hydrosnipe!"
"Light Screen!"
Mingyou did not use Mega Evolution immediately. Diancie was at a type disadvantage, and Mega Evolution would reverse the balance between offense and defense, sacrificing durability for the power to break through anything.
Against a Dynamaxed opponent's onslaught, abandoning defense from the start was a terrible choice. Although stalling for three turns would end Dynamax, that did not mean the opponent was defeated. Even after it wore off, Inteleon could still fight.
For now, he would block the first two attacks...
Just as Mingyou thought that, the high-pressure stream Inteleon fired suddenly curved right before striking Diancie. It swept around behind and struck the back of Diancie's head with pinpoint