"Nidoqueen, intercept it! Nidoking—Focus Energy, then Earth Power!"

Garchomp surged forward at a terrifying speed. Known as the Dragon of the Land, it moved across the ground with a swiftness that surpassed all imagination. Its rush left behind a blurred afterimage as it closed in. But Giovanni didn't panic. He remained calm, matching his Pokémon's movements step by step, and issued his counter-orders with steady composure.

Garchomp's Take Down landed squarely, but Nidoqueen dug in her heels, forcing herself to endure the brutal hit. Her powerful arms shot forward, gripping Garchomp's claws in a crushing hold. At the same time, Nidoking gathered energy from the trembling earth below him—his whole body glowing with a violent aura. With a thunderous roar, he slammed a punch directly into Garchomp's chest, sending the land-dragon crashing into a nearby high-rise building.

"BOOM—!"

The massive steel frame shuddered under the impact, twisted beams screeching as dust exploded into the air. The skyscraper itself groaned and began to sway ominously.

Logan didn't even have time to check on Garchomp's condition. His voice was sharp, decisive:

"Dragonair, Aqua Tail! Vaporeon, Hydro Pump!"

Against Giovanni's Ground-type core, the only viable strategy was exploiting type advantages. Vaporeon unleashed a Hydro Pump, a torrent with enough force to pierce through steel like an electromagnetic cannon. Dragonair's elegant body twined through the air, gathering spiraling torrents of water around its tail, and whipped it downward toward Giovanni's Pokémon.

"Rhydon—Stone Edge!"

Rhydon, still injured from Mewtwo's earlier ambush, slammed its foot into the ground. Jagged stone spires erupted upward, shielding Giovanni's team. But Vaporeon's Hydro Pump was far too powerful for mere rocks to contain—it smashed through, spraying shards everywhere, and continued barreling forward. Though weakened, the attack was redirected just enough for Nidoking and Nidoqueen to withstand it together.

Dragonair's watery tail was also deflected, crashing harmlessly against the jagged stone barrier and scattering debris.

Giovanni smiled coolly. "Using Stone Edge as a shield… Logan, that's a tactic you rely on often yourself. It's effective. Quite effective."

"Tch." Logan clicked his tongue.

Giovanni fought like a hedgehog, impossible to approach without injury. His tactics revolved around impeccable defense and perfectly timed counters.

People often said, a defense held too long will eventually break. But Giovanni defied that truth. His defense was flawless, refined to mastery. No matter the type matchup, no matter the overwhelming strength of an attack—if it couldn't land, it meant nothing. His stability and control were like the very earth beneath their feet—immovable, unshakable.

He was called "Giovanni of the Earth." The title fit him perfectly. As solid as bedrock, he endured every assault, then struck back in the briefest opening with devastating precision.

Even now, while handling the ground battle, Giovanni still directed his Beedrill soaring above—splitting his focus between ground and sky without faltering.

Trainers and scholars alike had long agreed that commanding six Pokémon at once was the practical limit of human ability. In reality, even Gym Leaders rarely could handle more than three or four simultaneously with efficiency. More Pokémon often meant more chaos, not more strength.

But Giovanni was not "most Trainers." He had reached that razor's edge of human capability, commanding multiple Pokémon on land and in the air with complete control. If he ever pushed past that limit… he might well earn the title of Grandmaster.

'Against Giovanni, with his Ground-type mastery, the ideal strategy is to take the skies and establish air superiority… But his Beedrill is too sharp, too relentless. It pins me down like a thorn in the throat, rendering all aerial advantage useless. Forced to the ground, against the Earth itself… victory feels impossible.'

Logan gritted his teeth, thoughts racing. No matter how he looked at it, Giovanni's airtight style left no clear opening. Only an equally legendary power could challenge him head-on.

"Logan," Giovanni's smooth voice cut through the chaos. "It has been twenty-seven minutes since this battle began. How long can your body endure?"

"As long as I have to," Logan growled, clutching his left arm tightly. Pain pulsed like fire from his arm up to his shoulder, creeping dangerously close to his mind. His vision blurred, his focus wavered. Every nerve screamed. But he refused to falter. Bite by bite, he forced himself to endure.

Giovanni's gaze shifted upward toward Mewtwo. "So Mewtwo has fully developed into a Legendary… My twenty-year plan has not gone to waste. Once I've finished with you, I'll find a way to capture it."

He returned his cold eyes to Logan. "It's over. Truly over, this time. Your body won't last. Either you recall Mewtwo and collapse from exhaustion… or its cells consume you, killing you outright. My Beedrill may be drained from fighting Mewtwo, but combined with my other Pokémon… you cannot win."

Logan glanced at his team. Garchomp, still standing strong in spirit, though battered. Dragonair and Vaporeon—both exhausted, breathing heavily, barely able to continue. Even with Garchomp's resilience, Giovanni's airtight defense and multi-layered assault made it nearly impossible to take down even a single Pokémon cleanly.

Then—Logan's ears twitched. He heard them—screams. Red. Blue.

His companions were in danger.

"It seems your friends are suffering as well," Giovanni remarked coolly. "Enough talk. Dugtrio—Magnitude! Follow with Earthquake!"

His face hardened, his voice sharp as a blade.

What followed was unlike anything Logan had ever seen.

The ground roared. Not trembled—not shook—roared. The earth convulsed like a beast flipping onto its back. Cracks tore open the pavement, splitting the foundation of the city itself. Skyscrapers swayed as though the world had been turned upside down.

In that instant, Giovanni summoned not just a Pokémon attack, but a natural disaster. Within kilometers, the earth buckled and heaved, a calamity equal to a wrathful god.

"CRACK—!!"

"RUMBLE—!!"

"CRASH—!!"

High-rise buildings collapsed like dominoes. Steel and concrete, weighing thousands of tons, crumbled into ruin. From above, they plummeted like an avalanche, burying entire city blocks under the weight of a mountain.

And through it all, Giovanni walked forward with steady steps, unshaken, untouched. His cold eyes scanned the rubble where Logan had been buried beneath the crushing remains of several skyscrapers.

"...Hmph. So, how much fight do you still have left?"

But then—Giovanni froze.

A faint flash of pink light flickered through the dust. His instincts screamed in alarm.

"What was that…?"

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T/N:

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