"Earthquake!"
Without a second thought, Metagross slammed its right fist heavily onto the ground.
Thud!
The ground trembled violently. Yellowish-brown shockwaves swept in all directions, while surging sand was pushed back by invisible walls, clearing the space at the center.
However, the next second, it was buried again by the shifting sand.
The power of Earthquake was undeniable, especially since the opponent was underground. What made Li Xiang frown was that this super-effective Earthquake hadn't forced Hippowdon up from below.
Did it endure the hit? Or did it faint underground?
No, it escaped the underground attack range of Earthquake!
Li Xiang shifted his gaze and spotted the pitch-black Hippowdon emerging from the ground not far away. Sand was still gushing from its back, and its condition wasn't good. The Earthquake had clearly dealt some damage, even if minimal. Combined with the earlier Grass Knot and Shield-Breaking Meteor Mash, it was worse off.
Li Xiang frowned deeply.
Its Dig speed is incredible! Are you really a Hippowdon, or an Onix?
Earthquake's area of effect was at least twenty meters. Although the power diminished further out, Metagross had struck extremely quickly, fully minimizing the move's start-up and recovery lag. Even with such a swift attack, Hippowdon had still managed to escape the high-damage zone using Dig.
It can run that fast?
On the other side, after Hippowdon emerged, a white light lit up on its body, followed by tiny, glowing green particles sinking into it. This was unmistakably the sign of Slack Off, as it recovered from its injuries.
"Chase it down!"
Whoosh!
A sharp gust howled!
Metagross lunged forward, its massive body controlled by Magnet Rise spinning at high speed. This wasn't any particular move, just a method it had recently devised to close in on opponents faster over short distances and attack.
Silver light flashed.
Bullet Punch coated Metagross's spinning form with a silver ring as it slammed hard into Hippowdon's head.
Bang!
A visible ring of compressed air exploded outward!
Hippowdon's head spun, naturally interrupting Slack Off. Yet it showed no fear; instead, its ferocity was aroused. Flames rose from its massive, grotesque maw as it viciously bit down on Metagross, who was throwing an ice-blue, freezing punch.
Moves collided!
Crackle—Bang!
After a grating screech came the muffled explosion of smoke bursting apart! Both were sent reeling several meters back by the force of the blast. Flames and smoke covered everything, swirling wildly with the sand.
A few seconds later, the smoke was blown away by the sandstorm.
The two stood over ten meters apart, watching each other warily. One had black smoke wafting from its mouth, the other had bite marks on its arm. But at the slightest movement or any hint of retreat, both would fiercely strike to prevent the other from acting.
Li Xiang stood at the edge of the sandstorm, covering his mouth and nose, not daring to get too close, as he observed the state of both sides.
Hippowdon was clearly in bad shape. Its Slack Off had only just begun when it was interrupted, who knows if it could offset Bullet Punch, on top of the earlier Grass Knot, Shield-Breaking Meteor Mash, and the peripheral Earthquake. Its stamina was critically low. If it weren't so tough, it might have already collapsed.
Metagross was far better off. It had only been bitten on the hind leg by Crunch, and on the front paw wielding Ice Punch by Fire Fang. Looking closely, several deep, clear bite marks were visible.
As expected of the creature with the strongest bite force on Earth, even in another world, it can bite through steel!
The current situation was certainly in his favor. The sandstorm didn't affect Metagross, and Hippowdon didn't have much stamina left. If it tried Slack Off again, Metagross wouldn't give it the chance, unless—
Rumble!
A massive amount of sand was kicked up!
Hippowdon increased its sand output and burrowed into the ground.
The range of Earthquake was limited, as was the range of psychic detection.
It planned to recover as much stamina as possible before being detected and before an Earthquake hit. Metagross had no recovery methods, and its own attacks were potent enough.
In terms of sustainability, it had the advantage!
The sandstorm howled fiercely. Hippowdon's reckless sand expulsion led to this result.
The effect was mutual.
Li Xiang couldn't hear if Feng Laiyi had given any commands, but he understood why Hippowdon stubbornly kept using Dig.
A race of speed, huh?
"Find it! Earthquake!"
He shouted.
Metagross didn't really need the command; it already knew what to do and had acted even before he spoke. But Li Xiang still liked to say it.
"Metagross."
Metagross's voice cut through the sandstorm. Golden waves of psychic energy had already spread out like a tide.
This was the purest form of speed contest, like two Pokémon in a game with the same speed stat, relying on randomness to decide who attacks first. When both have the power to take out the other in one hit, it all comes down to luck.
Clearly, luck was on Li Xiang's side this time.
Or rather, Hippowdon had failed to correctly gauge Metagross's strength. Its idea was right: if there was no chance to switch out, use another method to recover. But Metagross's scanning speed was far beyond most opponents it had faced.
Only a few seconds passed.
The silver Metagross, its body continuously emitting golden psychic waves, located Hippowdon underground.
Hippowdon had just started its Slack Off.
It was indeed incredibly fast.
Metagross's gaze sharpened. In just those few seconds, Hippowdon had traveled at least several tens of meters underground, faster than running on the surface.
But, this is where it ends!
Metagross slammed both fists onto the ground!
Thud!
The ground shattered, like a biscuit hit by a bullet, breaking into irregular chunks of various sizes that pressed against each other. Countless grains of sand were blasted into the air, raining down like droplets.
Yellowish-brown shockwaves swept away the sand in all directions, completely isolating it!
This Earthquake was clearly far stronger than the previous one.
Hippowdon hadn't expected the attack to come so quickly. Highly sensitive to tremors, it instinctively interrupted Slack Off and used Protect underground.
However, the green shield couldn't withstand such a powerful blow. With a crack, it shattered and dissipated into the air.
Layered after layered of shockwaves sank into its body!
"Urgh!"
Hippowdon cried out in pain, but stubbornly held on, retaining a shred of consciousness as it ran away from Metagross. Even if its stamina was low, its Sand Stream ability could still contribute as long as it could be recalled by Feng Laiyi.
But the moment it poked its head out, a massive fist slammed down!
Bang!
A skull-rattling thud!
Hippowdon's vision went black, it lost consciousness completely, and the holes on its back stopped gushing sand.
"Tweet—"
Miao Shuang blew the whistle, declaring Metagross the winner.
The sandstorm continued to howl. Li Xiang squinted, thinking about which Pokémon Feng Laiyi would send out second.
The biggest impact of the sandstorm on both sides was the obscured vision. Unlike rain, with sandstorm and hail, visibility was dangerously low.
Fortunately, this didn't affect Metagross. It promptly detected Feng Laiyi's second Pokémon and quickly retreated.
"Bzzz!"
A screeching whine cut through the air.
A high-speed drill bit flew out of the sandstorm, surrounded by streams of milky-white air currents, and drilled viciously towards Metagross's arm.
It was incredibly fast, catching everyone off guard.
Fortunately, a pink shield materialized in front of Metagross just in time, obstructing the drill's attack and deflecting it aside.
The drill bit grazed past Metagross, then split apart to reveal a reddish-brown mole. It landed decisively, retreated, dug its claws into the ground, and quickly vanished into the sandstorm.
This creature kicked sand incredibly fast, and with the sandstorm obscuring vision, Li Xiang could hardly track it.
—Excadrill, a Ground and Steel type with the Sand Rush ability.
A Pokémon that could churn the hard ground as freely as a desert.
That move just now was Horn Drill. In the games, if the user's level was equal to or higher than the target's, a successful hit would cause the target to lose the ability to battle instantly. The effect was similar in the anime, but with high damage also came high risk; missing was especially costly.
That was quite greedy. Did Excadrill have any moves to hit Metagross with? If not for Magnet Rise, it would. With it, only a few pitifully weak Dark-type moves remained.
Incidentally, Metagross also knew Magnet Rise. It didn't need to waste energy on Earthquake; it could just charge in with Fighting-type moves without any issue.
"Lock onto it! Drive in with Hammer Arm!"
"Metagross!"
Metagross roared, its psychic power locked firmly onto Excadrill. If Excadrill tried to escape its range, it would immediately give chase using Agility.
Excadrill fled while boosting its attack with Swords Dance. Noticing Metagross hot on its tail, it didn't panic, calmly judging the distance between them. It mentally rehearsed whether it could charge in and then pull back.
The first hit had caught Metagross off guard because Excadrill's position upon being sent out was uncertain. Now that Metagross was prepared, it would easily get caught.
The most troublesome thing about facing a Psychic-type Pokémon was its psychic scanning. Unless you were so fast the opponent couldn't react,
you couldn't hide your position.
With that in mind, Excadrill exchanged a glance with Feng Laiyi. Seeing the trust in her eyes, it took a deep breath and abruptly changed direction!
It charged straight at Metagross!
Bring it on!
Metagross saw Excadrill charging right at it, its eyes lighting up. It clasped its thick foreclaws together into a massive fist, wrapped in reddish-brown energy, and rushed forward!
Like the wind and lightning!
The speed Metagross could achieve when "driving" was vastly different from its normal pace. It was like a maglev train: slow to start, then faster and faster. Standing nearby, you'd feel like you might get sucked in.
Excadrill was also startled by the momentum, but it was prepared. Instead of using Protect, it braced itself with Iron Defense and took Metagross's rushing Hammer Arm head-on!
With a "Boom!"
The two Pokémon blasted right through the sandstorm, slamming violently against the edge of the arena, triggering a reaction from the barrier generator.
Purple, diamond-shaped energy shields materialized on the wall.
Excadrill was being relentlessly smashed against the wall by Metagross. Even with Iron Defense, it nearly coughed up its dinner. Gritting through the searing pain, it looked at Metagross inches away and its crimson eyes, then furiously swung its pitch-black claws!
Brutal Swing!