Two consecutive Frenzy Plants, had dealt tremendous damage to Torterra. But Torterra's actual level still sat a notch above Venusaur's, and that margin was the only thing keeping it standing.
"Zen Headbutt."
There was a flicker of something in Paul's voice, barely detectable, but the resolve underneath it was absolute.
Torterra's eyes snapped open through the pain. The blue energy above its head gathered again, faster this time. Before Venusaur could react, Torterra wrenched its head upward and drove the psychic-charged skull hard into Venusaur's jaw.
Boom!
Venusaur was blasted backward, the hardest hit it had taken since the battle started. Psychic-type moves still carried real bite against it.
Venusaur twisted through the air, righted itself, and landed solidly, though a visible bruise had already formed along its jaw.
"They're no pushover." Ash's brow tightened for just a moment. "Venusaur, Frenzy Plant again!"
Thanks to Xerneas's legacy, Venusaur could use Frenzy Plant almost like a basic attack. Ordinarily the move demanded enormous energy conversion before the vines could even form. Venusaur bypassed that step entirely, drawing directly from its life force to shape the plants.
The result was a Frenzy Plant that hit harder than normal and carried none of the usual post-move lag, which explained why Venusaur had been moving freely after every use.
Venusaur roared and a fresh wave of massive thorned vines burst from the ground, surging toward Torterra.
"Thrash. Clear them out."
Thrash was a Ground-type move, equal in raw power to Flare Blitz. No recoil damage, though it lowered the user's defenses. Paul was not trying to hit Venusaur with it. Ground-type moves could not touch Venusaur, and he knew that. The target was the vines.
Dense earth energy coated Torterra's entire body, turning it a deep ochre. It charged forward and ploughed straight into the Frenzy Plant.
The vines that had passed through Light Screen were already at half strength, and meeting Torterra's earth-charged body they wilted and snapped. Torterra tore through the entire wave in under a second and closed the distance to Venusaur's face.
The ochre energy vanished. Blue light gathered over its head.
Zen Headbutt.
Boom!
This time Venusaur had no room to dodge. Torterra had charged through the Frenzy Plant at point-blank range and there was simply no angle to move to. The hit connected clean and Venusaur was flung backward, tumbling across the ground until it crashed into the barrier, which flared on impact.
For the first time since the match began, Paul allowed himself a thin smile. Fighting like this, he could win. At the very least, he could take Venusaur down.
"Venusaur, Synthesis."
Paul moved immediately. "Interrupt it. Crunch."
He was not about to let Venusaur heal. Grass-type moves lacked the power to matter and Ground-type moves could not reach it, so something fast and off-type was needed. Crunch fit.
Torterra charged forward with its jaws wide open, dark energy forming along its fangs, the kind of force that could bite through steel.
Venusaur ignored it entirely. The petals on its back began pulling in light, preparing to restore everything at once under the lingering heat of the faded Sunny Day.
Except Sunny Day was gone. Without it, Synthesis would be slow. Surely slow enough for Torterra to arrive in time.
Then the glow faded from Venusaur's petals.
Paul's eyes narrowed. Had it stopped? No. The bruise along Venusaur's jaw and the mark across its forehead were gone. The move had already finished.
Impossibly fast.
"Vine Whip, jump!"
A clean dodge would not be enough with Torterra already that close. Venusaur shot two thick vines from its petals and slammed them into the ground. The recoil launched it straight upward.
Torterra's dark fangs snapped shut on empty air.
"Power Whip!"
From above, Venusaur lashed four vines downward. The heavy green strikes hammered into Torterra one after another and the damage showed immediately. Power Whip was a physical move and Light Screen offered no protection. Even Torterra's considerable bulk was approaching its limit. It was durable by any standard, but it could not absorb this kind of punishment indefinitely.
"Petal Dance!"
Still falling, Venusaur released a storm of blossoms from the great flower on its back. They scattered across the field in every color, drifting prettily through the air with lethal force hidden inside each one.
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
The petals slashed across Torterra in rapid waves, each one cutting into the rocky shell and leaving deep grooves across its surface.
Torterra shuddered and tried to push itself upright. The Petal Dance did not stop. Petal after petal continued to burst and cut until the last one faded.
Then Torterra let out a low groan and went down, limbs limp, eyes slowly closing.
"Torterra is unable to battle. Venusaur wins!"
Ash thrust a fist into the air. "Yes! Great work, Venusaur!"
Venusaur touched down on the field, the great flower on its back rising and falling slowly as it held its head high. It had won the duel it had been waiting for.
Not against some filler opponent either, but against a genuine Elite Four Level Pokémon, and it had done it entirely on its own terms. The greatest fight of its life.
On the other side, Paul recalled Torterra without a word, fingers resting briefly on the ball. The moment Synthesis had completed in the blink of an eye, he had already known. There was no scenario where that Venusaur stayed down unless you could end it in a single hit.
He reached for the last ball on his belt.
"Electivire, let's go."
His voice was low and even. His face showed nothing. He sent the ball cutting through the air with a sharp flick of the wrist.
It burst open in a flash of white light and a compact, coiled figure landed on the field with a heavy thud. Yellow and black, muscles dense beneath the surface, eyes sharp and bright, a faint crackling static wrapped around its entire body.
Paul's sixth Pokémon: Electivire.
Like Torterra, it had climbed since their last recorded data. Whether Paul had timed the evolution deliberately or it had simply arrived at the right moment was impossible to say. What was clear was that he had prepared everything he could for this match. Against any opponent other than Ash, the full lineup he had brought would have been devastating.
The problem was that most of Ash's team was already sitting at Peak, and none of them apart from Infernape had yet shown Aura Fusion. For Infernape the boost had merely leveled the gap. For the others it would have been outright elimination. That gap had made the difference, and at this point the match had long since shifted from a contest to a conclusion.
Ash recalled Venusaur quietly. "You worked hard. Thank you." Then he reached for his own last ball.
"Pikachu, finish it."
There was only one way to end this match, and that was with Pikachu. Especially with Electivire standing across the field.
Pikachu had been waiting the entire match. Now it finally had its moment.
Pikachu launched off Ash's feet onto the field, cheeks already sparking, eyes bright and ready.
"Trainer Ash is sending out Pikachu as his fourth Pokémon to answer Electivire! We just watched a breathtaking Grass-type duel, and now we have a same-type clash featuring Ash's most famous partner. What happens next?!"
The crowd erupted.
Among all of Ash's Pokémon, Pikachu held a different kind of fame from Charizard or Venusaur.
Venusaur had just taken down an Elite Four Level Pokémon, which by any measure was the more impressive feat. Yet the sight of Pikachu stepping onto the field drew a louder reaction.
The reason was simple. Venusaur's strength felt almost mythical, too large to fully grasp. Pikachu's strength felt real and personal. People had followed Pikachu for months. They understood what it meant when Ash chose it to close out a championship final.
Pikachu had not fought many high-profile public battles during the tournament, though the private ones had been another matter entirely. If footage of the recent spar with Cynthia had ever made it out, the league would have imploded.
None of that mattered right now. Everyone in the stadium understood that sending Pikachu out here meant Ash wanted Pikachu to land the final blow. If Paul could somehow beat it, even a loss in the end would cement his name in Indigo Plateau history alongside Ash's own.
"Using an Electric-type against Electivire." Paul spoke for the first time since the opening exchange with Infernape, his voice measured. "You're not that ignorant, surely."
"I know Electivire's ability is Motor Drive," Ash replied easily. "Electric moves feed it speed instead of dealing damage. It could have Vital Spirit instead, but it doesn't."
Motor Drive absorbed Electric-type moves and converted them into a speed boost. Vital Spirit simply prevented sleep. With his Eye of Insight Ash had confirmed Motor Drive long ago, and he had chosen Pikachu anyway.
He had not blinked at a fourfold type disadvantage earlier in the tournament. A Motor Drive ability was not going to change anything.
Paul studied him for a moment, trying to find something in Ash's expression. Ash's grin did not waver.
Paul moved first. "Electivire, Thunderbolt."
Golden lightning tore across the field.