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Chapter 118: Just One Step Away
🕑 Added 2025-04-07 15:51:26 +0000 UTC
The Indigo Stadium hung in a stunned silence, the psychic barrier flickering faintly from Cloyster's defeat. Pryce stood motionless, his blank expression a stark contrast to the devastation of the battlefield—five Pokémon down, his reign teetering on the edge.
Without a word, he reached for his final Poké Ball and released his starter: Piloswine. The Ice-Ground Pokémon materialized with a low grunt, its shaggy fur bristling, tusks glinting under the stadium lights.
Gladion's eyes narrowed, his thoughts racing as Piloswine took the field.
'A Piloswine? Not even a Mamoswine?' The realization solidified his suspicions—Pryce's ascent to Champion wasn't pure merit; it was politics, connections, and the Kanto-Johto divide propping him up.
A Champion's starter should be a pinnacle of power, yet here was Piloswine, unevolved despite Mamoswine being a known evolution. All it needed was Ancient Power—a move any dedicated trainer could've taught over years of effort.
Gladion remembered that in the anime Pryce lost his Piloswine and was stuck in ice. It then evolved into Mamoswine after Ash helped save it.
'He stopped training it,' Gladion mused, disgust curling his lip. 'Gave up on it, thought it was 'useless,' too weak to evolve. Focused on new Pokémon—or maybe none at all—coasting on his war glory. Pathetic.'
Pryce's apathy glared in that choice.
Piloswine, sensing Pryce's despair, turned its massive head—larger than most of its kind, not an alpha but a formidable specimen—and gave its trainer an encouraging nod.
Its hooves pawed the cracked ground, stance battle-ready, tusks lowered. Pryce's blank stare didn't shift, as if he'd already surrendered to the inevitable, but the announcer seized the moment, voice booming with fervor.
"Here it is, folks—the legendary Champion's ace! Piloswine steps up, and look at that size! This isn't just any Piloswine—it's a beast, a titan in its own right! Those tusks, that bulk—it's battle-ready, brimming with power! Pryce's last stand starts now—can his starter turn the tide against Gladion's unstoppable force?"
The crowd stirred, a murmur of anticipation rising, though doubt lingered in their eyes.
As Pryce looked at Piloswine, some determination came back to his face "I are not losing without putting up a fight."
Pryce's voice cut through, flat but resolute. "Piloswine, Earthquake!"
Piloswine reared, slamming its hooves down with a guttural roar. The ground buckled, a seismic wave ripping through the stadium—cracks splintered the battlefield, the pond's water sloshing violently, stands trembling as spectators gripped their seats.
Colossus stumbled, his massive frame swaying as he fought to regain footing, the sheer force rattling even his alpha resilience.
Pryce pressed the advantage, hope flickering in his chest. "Blizzard!"
Piloswine's tusks glowed, unleashing a howling storm of ice and wind. The Blizzard engulfed Colossus, frost creeping over his rocky hide, encasing him in a thick shell of ice. Pryce's thoughts surged, a desperate grasp at victory.
"If I can take down this Tyranitar—his strongest, it has to be—the rest'll fall easy. Piloswine's got the stamina, the power. One crack in Gladion's armor, and I can still win this."His blank facade masked a fleeting spark—'Maybe I underestimated my starter. Maybe it's enough.'
Gladion's smirk didn't waver. "Colossus, stomp—keep stomping 'til you're free!"
Colossus's eyes blazed through the ice, and with a single step, the arena quaked—cracks spiderwebbed outward, the ice groaning.
Another stomp, then another, each a thunderous blow that shattered the frost, shards raining down as he broke free, unscathed. The crowd gasped, the announcer shouting, "Colossus shakes it off—pure power breaking Blizzard's grip!"
Pryce's spark dimmed, but he rallied. "Ice Shard!"
Piloswine fired a barrage of jagged shards, sharp and swift. Gladion countered, voice calm but commanding. "Dark Pulse—then Hyper Beam!"
Colossus's maw pulsed with dark energy, a wave shattering the shards mid-air into harmless dust. Then, without pause, he reared back, energy coiling—Gladion didn't hold back this time.
'Piloswine's tough—tougher than the rest. It can take it,' he thought, trusting the starter's resilience. The Hyper Beam erupted, brighter and fiercer than against Lapras, a roaring lance of destruction. Pryce shouted, "Protect!"
Piloswine conjured a shimmering barrier, but the beam's force—unrestrained alpha might—smashed through, shattering the shield and striking Piloswine's thick hide. The explosion rocked the stadium, smoke billowing as the ground cratered.
When it cleared, Piloswine lay sprawled, blood trickling from its mouth, breathing shallow but alive.
Gladion exhaled, relief washing over him—'Good, not dead.' He'd gauged it right; Piloswine's durability held, though the injuries were severe. Colossus's power was a sledgehammer, but Gladion hadn't aimed to kill—just to end it.
Pryce snapped from his stupor, eyes wide with horror as he saw the blood. "Piloswine!" he cried, voice breaking as he recalled his starter, clutching the Poké Ball.
Panic seized him—he bolted toward the stadium's healing wing, cane forgotten, running with a desperation unseen in years. The match slipped from his mind, his focus solely on his wounded partner.
In the stands, Professor Oak watched, a soft smile tugging at his lips. 'There it is—the Pryce I knew.' His thoughts drifted to decades past, Pryce's war days when he'd cradled his Pokémon after every fight, bonds forged in fire. "That's why I chose you as my successor, Pryce," he murmured. "Not just your connections or war feats, but that heart—how you cared for them, connected with them. It's still there, buried under the years."
The announcer's voice broke the crowd's trance, rising with electrifying passion. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Gladion Vortex—a 15-year-old prodigy—has defeated Champion Pryce with just two Pokémon! Can you believe it? Electivire and this alpha Tyranitar, Colossus, have toppled a legend! Delibird, Glaceon, Weavile, Lapras, Cloyster, and now Piloswine—all down, and Gladion's barely scratched! Are we staring at a new era? A kid rewriting Indigo's history? Give it up for GLADION VORTEX—the champion slayer!"
The stadium erupted, a deafening roar shaking the rafters—"Glad-ion! Glad-ion!" Banners waved, kids leapt, adults cheered, a tidal wave of awe and disbelief. "Two Pokémon!" "Pryce is finished!" "Colossus is king!" The jumbotron flashed Colossus's final Hyper Beam, Piloswine's fall replayed in slow motion, cementing the moment. A teen shouted, "New Champ material!" The noise swelled, a crescendo of a new dawn.
Gladion stood tall, Colossus at his side, the alpha's chest heaving but unscathed. Pryce's absence barely registered—his victory was absolute, his point proven. The crowd's chant washed over him, a testament to his rise, and he raised a fist, soaking it in.
"Grandpa, I am just one step away from completing your dream." As Gladion murmured this, Collosus let out a loud roar as if he was agreeing with Gladion.
