Slowking's Water Pulse easily defeated the Camerupt without any struggle.
The remaining Team Magma member still wanted to resist, but seeing the toxic spikes surrounding him and his three Pokémon already unconscious, he gave up.
He crouched down with his hands on his head, signaling that he wouldn't resist.
To help Butler get what he wanted earlier, he had exhausted too much energy, and his Pokémon had already suffered multiple injuries.
Aoki motioned for Slowking to restrain him, then tied him up with a rope, removed his space equipment and Pokéballs, and tossed them aside.
Now was not the time to worry about him. The battle between Steven and Butler had been going on for a while.
Although Aoki had spent some time dealing with the two Team Magma members, Steven and Butler—both highly skilled Trainers—had already clashed multiple times in that short span.
Overall, Steven was at a disadvantage.
But it wasn't to the point where he was about to lose.
Even having two pseudo-legendary Pokémon with such high potential couldn't completely make up for the level gap.
Moreover, Butler's Camerupt was still his trump card, and its natural advantage against Steel-types was evident.
If not for the combined psychic powers of Steven's two Metagross shielding them from the Fire-type attacks and mitigating the damage, they might not have lasted this long.
Aoki scanned Camerupt's data using his system.
Pokémon: Camerupt (Light Cyan) (Abnormal)
Gender: Male
Level: 50
Type: Fire/Rock
Ability: Magma Armor
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Heavy Slam, Rollout, Mud Bomb, Yawn
Basic Moves: Rock Slide, Fissure, Flamethrower, Growl, Tackle, Ember, Focus Energy,
Magnitude, Lava Plume, Amnesia, Smokescreen, Earth Power, Curse, Body Slam, Earthquake
Learnt Moves: Earth Power, Stomp, Snore
TM Moves: Protect, Hidden Power (Flying), Flamethrower, Rock Tomb, Stomp, Sleep Talk
This was the kind of move pool a normal Trainer's Pokémon would have.
But the way Steven used TM moves was on another level—it was almost unfair!
However, as Aoki looked at the data, his expression darkened.
No, not just darkened—it turned downright grim.
A Level 50 Camerupt—a pseudo-Elite Pokémon!
In Aoki's past life, the strongest Pokémon he ever trained had only reached Level 52.
Only when someone reaches the pseudo-Elite level do they truly understand how terrifying Pokémon of this power class are.
Even though Camerupt had just reached this stage, its strength was still overwhelming.
But why was it marked as abnormal?
Could it have something to do with the two berserk Pokémon he encountered earlier?
Butler wasn't just relying on his pseudo-Elite Camerupt—he also had a Mightyena at his side.
Though the Mightyena hadn't made a move yet, Butler, as someone raised in the underworld, was always wary of being ambushed.
Even after Aoki defeated the two Team Magma members, Butler simply watched with a frown. He didn't step in, didn't stop them, and didn't say a word.
He silently observed as Aoki took down the two members, all while keeping Steven's Metang in check with his Camerupt.
Aoki walked up to Steven, who wore a serious expression while commanding his two Metang with precision.
If not for his exceptional command skills, even two Metang wouldn't have been able to withstand Camerupt's relentless flames.
Neither side had fast Pokémon, but this allowed Camerupt to perform at its best.
Steven's face relaxed slightly when he saw Aoki approaching.
Aoki's arrival meant the other two Team Magma members had been dealt with—he could now focus entirely on the battle.
But Camerupt's strength was undeniable. If Fire didn't counter Steel, Steven was confident that even against a pseudo-Elite Pokémon, his Metang could hold their own.
Camerupt's Fire/Ground typing gave it excellent resistances.
Aside from a four-times weakness to Water and a two-times weakness to Ground, it was resistant to Poison, Bug, Steel, Fire, and Fairy moves, while being completely immune to Electric attacks.
It wasn't surprising that Camerupt was one of Team Magma's signature Pokémon.
"But could it be…? One of you is the young master of the Devon Corporation, and the other is that genius Breeder who made headlines recently. What was your name again?"
Butler didn't address them directly. He was simply trying to recall their identities.
Steven was easy to recognize—two shiny Metang made it obvious. But Aoki had made his name in Kanto, and even though it was reported in the news, Butler had to think for a while before remembering.
At least it showed he kept up with League information.
Hearing Butler's words, Aoki and Steven were both slightly taken aback.
They hadn't expected to be recognized by Team Magma. Recognizing Steven was one thing, but recognizing Aoki was another.
Butler suddenly laughed.
"Hahaha! I didn't expect to find two rising stars from the League here. How lucky am I? My Camerupt just reached pseudo-Elite level, and now I get to test it against two promising Trainers! Is this fate? Is this a sign that I, Butler, will take over Team Magma in the future? Hahahaha!"
The normally composed Butler burst into maniacal laughter.
Aoki frowned.
He could tell a lot from Butler's arrogant words just now.
Camerupt had only just reached the pseudo-Elite level!
And it likely wasn't through natural growth—something external had boosted its power. That would explain why the system flagged it as abnormal.
This Butler was clearly ambitious. If he had this strength, did he truly think he could take over Team Magma?
Did he believe Maxie was just going to sit back and let him do as he pleased?
A Trainer who gets drunk on power they can't control.
That was how Aoki described him in his mind.
A person who couldn't command their own strength was no threat—no matter how powerful they seemed in the moment.
Another fool who lost himself chasing power that wasn't his.
Aoki had seen plenty of them before.
This kind of thing happened because of the warped hierarchy of the Pokémon world.
"Another Trainer who's let power go to his head. Let's end this, Steven." Aoki's tone was calm.
He had felt some pressure before. But now, after seeing through Butler, he realized there was nothing to worry about.
It was doubtful Butler could even command his Pokémon properly.
"Yeah. Let's do this together!" Steven nodded confidently.
With his intellect, he too had already seen through the kind of person standing before them.