Victory

Wild sand flew as Lileep stood amid endless waves of sand, releasing energy from its entire body. Countless droplets gathered into purple venom, launching a second assault on the severely injured Mega Gardevoir.

The venom shot out at tremendous speed. Mega Gardevoir tried to evade it, only to find that all the airborne sand seemed to be under Lileep's control, forming violent sandstorms that blocked her advance.

Will's synchronized psychic powers suffered interference, leaving him unable to detect Mega Gardevoir's movements. Looking up, he found his Pokémon surrounded by layer upon layer of sand, without any chance to move.

Earlier, he had relied on Bronzong and Jynx to defeat two of Gongping's formidable fighters with great difficulty. He had never expected this Lileep to use its Water Absorb Ability to expand and manipulate the sand.

If she could not evade it, she would force her way through!

Countless wisps of Will-O-Wisp burned in midair, blossoming into brilliant flames in Mega Gardevoir's hands. The impact of the surging energy shook the surrounding sand slightly, but venom shot out just as before, piercing Mega Gardevoir's body.

Endless toxins invaded her body. With a savage expression, Mega Gardevoir conjured a giant Awakened Fireball overhead and hurled it down at the Sandstorm. Yet Lileep seemed unmoved, gathering specks of shattered, rainbow-colored rock around itself.

The fragments spread in every direction. Under Lileep's control, Ancient Power clashed head-on with the Awakened Fireball in the air.

Powerful silver light shone over Lileep as Ancient Power's secondary effect activated, boosting its Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed all at once!

Shattering rocks and sprawling flames lit up the entire arena. There was no denying the brutality of Lileep and Mega Gardevoir's fight. Mega Gardevoir repeatedly tried to tear apart the sand with her terrifying Confusion, but under Lileep's control, the sand seemed to grow ever more ferocious.

Moisture drawn from the ground flowed continuously into Lileep's body, instantly boosting its Special Attack a second time. The rocks around it grew several times larger and rolled toward Mega Gardevoir overhead at tremendous speed.

Violent Confusion formed a gigantic silver hand. With a sweep from Mega Gardevoir, it forcefully cleaved at Lileep. Yet the shattered rocks erupted with intense light in midair, spraying countless streams of venom over Mega Gardevoir.

Already badly poisoned, Mega Gardevoir suffered the potent corrosion of this venom, and the wounds on her body began to fester.

Once beautiful and elegant, Mega Gardevoir now resembled a festering old witch, looking thoroughly wretched. As a Pokémon who cherished her beauty, being treated this way by Lileep brought a crazed killing intent into her eyes. The Confusion around her erupted again, and Will screamed as the psychic backlash sent him flying.

"Oh no, Mega Gardevoir's gone berserk!"

Even the air seemed about to tear it all apart. Before Mega Gardevoir's godlike psychic power, the sand ahead gradually began to weaken. Just as she prepared to charge into the heart of the Sandstorm, Lileep blazed with light, and Ancient Power boosted all its stats once again.

Violent air currents raged as Mega Gardevoir plummeted. Brutal silver Confusion erupted from her body, forming a terrifying shock wave.

Lileep still wore a cheeky grin. Its surrounding tentacles pulled and released, springing its entire body upward instead. Countless tentacles slowly spread, gripping Mega Gardevoir tightly while deftly dissipating the force to withstand the attack.

Countless vines shot from the ground, piercing through and wrapping around Mega Gardevoir as they tried to pull her away. At the same time, beneath Lileep, the water absorbed earlier erupted again. The surface burst apart with a crash, and the spray once more turned into hidden projectiles that shot upward.

Facing these attacks, Mega Gardevoir formed a special psychic energy barrier around her entire body. While blocking the assault, she gathered a powerful blade of energy in one hand. Yet Lileep landed on the ground and, with its Speed boosted twice, swiftly moved toward her.

After using Ingrain, Lileep lashed its arm down like a steel whip, carrying a vibrating force that produced a sharp, piercing screech as it scraped through the air. Mega Gardevoir tried to dodge, but the toxins invading her entire body made her tremble violently.

As the poisonous corrosion of her bones, muscles, skin, and sinews continued to worsen, even the flesh on Mega Gardevoir's right arm rotted away, exposing a sliver of blood-red bone. Compared with her external injuries, the vibrations unleashed by Lileep were even harder for her to endure. At last, she let out a frenzied roar.

"This can't go on. That Mega Gardevoir is going to lose her mind!"

No one had expected Lileep's fighting style to conceal such terrifying danger, enough to drive a powerful Psychic-type Pokémon to the point of facial disfigurement and complete physical and mental exhaustion.

No wonder Gongping rarely brought this Pokémon into battle. Its abilities were far too bizarre.

With a final eruption of willpower, Mega Gardevoir unleashed a terrifying Death Psywave Fluctuation, churning through the entire arena from every direction as though to blast apart the Ingrain vines.

Yet the exploding vines shattered in midair into an even more horrifying corrosive liquid. Mega Gardevoir screamed. Just as countless streams of corrosive liquid were about to engulf her, Lileep shot out its tentacles, grabbed her, and hurled her viciously out of bounds.

"Mega Gardevoir is unable to battle!"

Although she was unable to battle, Lileep looked somewhat apologetically at the gravely injured Gardevoir, who had returned to her original form. After thinking for a while, it came up with something and began laughing with a creaky cackle.

Since it had stepped in to save Gardevoir, everyone in the arena stared blankly as Lileep puffed out its belly and spat out the nutrients it had absorbed from the earth earlier, slowly nourishing the unconscious Gardevoir. Under the influence of this energy, the terrible injuries on her body gradually vanished.

"Thank you."

"My Lileep went too far."

With Will's ace, Mega Gardevoir, defeated, any uncertainty over the King Battle's outcome was gone.

The unconscious Jynx took the field, and Lileep seized the opportunity to attack with Ancient Power. But by then, the airborne sand had dispersed, lowering Lileep's combat performance by a notch. Jynx woke at the last moment and, while taking Lileep's Ancient Power, which had been strengthened several times, fired an Ice Beam in retaliation, severely injuring Lileep.

Will's final Pokémon was Ran Niao. Although it successfully defeated Lileep, which kept maneuvering with Water Absorb, it then faced a Swampert in perfect condition. In the end, the Psychic-type King Will lost 5-6 to the Sandstorm King Gongping, bringing this Regional Tournament to a close.

Agatha smiled happily. She had never expected that boy Gongping to truly do the Kanto Region's trainers proud. "What a wonderful battle. What do you think, Pryce?"

"I suppose it was good enough. That boy Will really is an embarrassment, losing twice in a row. Karen, you're entering the next Regional King Tournament!"

Faced with Pryce's demand, Karen gave a strained laugh and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Actually, wouldn't Mr. Koga be more suitable?"

After recalling their respective Pokémon, Will and Gongping shook hands. The Psychic-type King looked somewhat dejected, clearly struggling to accept his latest defeat in a King Tournament.

"Although I lost, I won't change my path. To stand at the pinnacle of trainers, I'll keep fighting."

"I look forward to our next battle."

After recalling all his Pokémon, Gongping showed no joy. Just as at the start of the match, he left the arena alone without any expression. In the competitors' passageway, however, a figure blocked his path.

"You certainly had your moment of glory. Looks like the rumors were true-you really were the one who hurt Rosa!"

Gongping had heard more than enough of these cutting accusations in the Unova Region, so he ignored the girl's reproach and merely stepped lightly around her. "Excuse me, please let me through!"

"You hypocrite! One day, I'll expose your true colors!"

PS: I don't actually like writing six-on-six battles very much. Write too much and it's just padding the word count, dull and boring, practically a blow-by-blow log. By the time I got to Lileep, the overall outcome was already decided. It was like the cleanup stage of a battle between two players in a game. There was no need to keep writing more, so let's leave it at that.