Manalo Stadium.
As Wild Charge and Flare Blitz collided,
after a blinding flash and a deafening explosion,
two figures plummeted straight out of the sky, trailing billowing black smoke, and slammed into the field.
Manalo Stadium fell unnervingly silent.
The spectators all held their breath.
The dust slowly cleared.
The referee was about to step forward to check both Pokémon.
Amid the dust, Charizard remained standing. The flame on its tail was faint, but it still burned.
Regieleki, however, lay motionless on the ground.
After a careful inspection, the referee loudly announced:
"Regieleki is unable to battle!"
"Charizard wins!"
"We won!"
Ash and Pikachu jumped up in excitement.
"You were amazing, Charizard!"
But the price of victory was steep.
Charizard could barely turn its head toward Ash and let out a low growl.
"Come back and rest for now."
Charizard's Blaze had already activated, which also meant its stamina was nearly exhausted.
More importantly, Charizard had already used four moves: Heat Wave, Scorching Sands, Solar Beam, and Flare Blitz. That meant it could not use Roost.
Although it had taken Regieleki down,
Ash's Charizard was practically out of commission too.
After Charizard sustained heavy injuries to defeat Regieleki, the battle between Ash and Brandon grew even more intense.
Brandon had already lost three Pokémon.
Ash still held the advantage.
"Both trainers, please send out your Pokémon at the same time!"
"I'm counting on you, Melmetal!"
The heavy Melmetal landed with a dull thud.
Standing over two meters tall, its body made of liquid metal, Melmetal towered on the field.
"Contestant Ash has sent out Melmetal, whose performance during the Alola League was outstanding!"
How could it not have been outstanding?
Its Double Iron Bash had sent Empoleon flying.
It had nearly made Professor Kukui question everything he knew.
Ash had