The quarter finals were now on and Shiranui's next battle was the first of that round. His opponent was Conway—a viridian-haired trainer from Sinnoh that boasted of being a brilliant strategist. "Go Shuckle!"
"[i]Shuckle, the Mold Pokémon. It stores berries inside its shell. To avoid attacks, it hides beneath rocks and remains completely still.[/i]"
"Tetsu, I choose you!" Shiranui's Aggron came out and the battle was on.
"Shuckle, Withdraw!"
"Tetsu, Heavy Slam!" Because Shuckle was one of the slowest Pokémon known, Tetsu was able to get in his attack before his opponent did. He slammed his metallic body on Shuckle's shell and despite no cracks appearing, Shuckle still felt the force of 360kg of metallic body mass. It withdrew into its shell afterwards.
"Shuckle, Gyro Ball!"
"Tetsu, finish it with another Heavy Slam!" Tetsu gave Shuckle another body slam. The Aggron got up to reveal Shuckle partly buried in the ground and knocked out.
---
"We'll see how your Aggron compares to mine," Conway stated before sending his Aggron into battle. Tetsu sized up the newcomer and the battle was on.
"Aggron, Iron Head!"
"Tetsu, Autotomize! Mega Ring activate!"
"Mega what?!" exclaimed Conway as Shiranui touched the keystone on his Mega Ring and Tetsu was enveloped on an orb. The orb shattered to reveal a bulkier, more armoured version of Aggron who immediately shed some of it to reduce his weight and make him faster. Conway's Aggron charged at Tetsu and a loud clang was heard as contact was made, adding another battle scar to Tetsu's carapace.
"Aggron, Iron Tail!"
"Tetsu, Brick Break!" The Mega Aggron charged at the normal Aggron and delivered a swift chop that triggered the latter's Sturdy ability. Conway's Aggron swung its tail and another clang was heard when contact was made. Tetsu's Defence stat had dropped.
"Aggron, Protect!"
"Tetsu, Headbutt!" As Tetsu charged at Aggron, the latter hid behind the green shield that stopped many an attack, Tetsu's included.
"Aggron, Roar!"
"Tetsu, try Headbutt again!" This time, Tetsu's attack connected and the low effectiveness didn't matter as Conway's Aggron went down.
---
"I don't know how you managed to do that, but my Dusknoir will end your winning streak!" Conway sent his Dusknoir out and Shiranui was unmoved as he scanned the ghost.
"[i]Dusknoir, the Gripper Pokémon and the fully-evolved form of Duskull. The antenna on its head captures radio waves from the world of spirits that command it to take people there.[/i]"
"Dusknoir, Trick Room!"
"Tetsu, Iron Tail!" The Mega Aggron struck Dusknoir with his tail before a force field surrounded the battlefield.
"Trick Room alters the very physics of the battle, making slower Pokémon attack before the faster ones," stated Conway, "Dusknoir, Focus Blast!"
"Tetsu, Stone Edge!" With Trick Room in effect, Dusknoir was able to get in its attack as it fired a bright beam of power from its hands. The beam blasted Tetsu into a knockout.
---
"Tetsu, return; Iroha, I choose you!" Shiranui sent his Kangaskhan out. "[i]With that Trick Room in effect and Dusknoir being able to use Focus Blast, I just hope Iroha can do enough damage.[/i]"
"Dusknoir, Focus Blast!"
"Iroha, Dizzy Punch!"
"You do realise my Dusknoir is immune to normal attacks," stated Conway in a condescending manner.
"That may be true in normal circumstances, but Iroha has the Scrappy ability!" rebutted Shiranui as Dusknoir fired a Focus Blast. Iroha barely dodged the attack before charging in and giving Dusknoir a punch that left it confused, made possible by the Kangaskhan's Scrappy ability.
"Dusknoir, Focus Blast again!"
"Iroha, Double-Edge!" Dusknoir couldn't focus its power through its confusion and hurt itself instead. Iroha charged in and sacked Dusknoir like the ghost was a quarterback. The hit was critical and Dusknoir went down. Shiranui advanced to the semi-finals.