(A seven-thousand-word chapter-please vote with your monthly tickets~)
A car horn suddenly sounded on another street and reached Cynthia's ears.
In that same instant, Cynthia saw the two women's Pokémon move together, as though some mechanism had suddenly been triggered.
A Fire Blast and a Blizzard shot in from either side, aimed at her Garchomp and Lucario respectively.
Without waiting for Cynthia to speak, her Garchomp and Lucario took the initiative to fight back.
Both Pokémon unleashed moves, meeting Fire Blast and Blizzard head-on. As the four moves collided, a violent explosion and shock wave instantly spread outward, whipping the clothes and hair of those nearby.
Even the items displayed outside the closer shops were knocked over by the shock wave.
At that, the onlookers instantly realized what level of battle this was.
To avoid getting caught up in the coming attacks, some hurried backward. Only after retreating a dozen or so steps and feeling they were at a safe distance did they stop and turn their attention back to the battle.
Though Shelly and Courtney had said they wanted to see how powerful Cynthia was, in the opening stages of the battle, they merely had Ninetales and Walrein serve as artillery, firing moves in an endless barrage at Cynthia's Pokémon.
Judging by their ferocity, they seemed intent on blasting Cynthia and her Pokémon into nothing.
By contrast, as the challenged party, Cynthia's Garchomp and Lucario had to push through this fierce onslaught and get as close to Ninetales and Walrein as possible.
And when her Pokémon finally fought their way close, the real battle had only just begun.
As former executives of Team Magma and Team Aqua, Courtney and Shelly were actually comparable to Gym Leaders in strength.
They might not have been able to defeat the strongest Gym