After Donphan rolled into the sandstorm, people could not see the two Pokémon at all. Even on the camera, there was only thick yellow sand flying around. No one knew what was happening inside.
The yellow sand made a whistling sound and blew hard. It looked like it would stay for a long time.
Under the sound of the wind, people could only hear the sound of Donphan rolling and the ground shaking. They used their imagination to guess what was happening in the battle.
Based on his experience, Tyson knew that his Donphan should have started attacking Tyranitar by now.
Then, a huge crashing sound came from the sandstorm. It sounded like two trucks had crashed into each other. Right after that, Tyranitar roared. Clearly, the two Pokémon were already fighting.
"It worked!"
Tyson felt very happy, but then he felt that something was wrong.
Why did the rolling sound stop suddenly?
Why was only Tyranitar roaring?
Where was Donphan? Why was it not rolling anymore?
Before he could think about it, he heard Tyranitar roar again inside the sandstorm. Then, it sounded like something heavy was being smashed onto the ground. The hitting sounds happened many times.
At the same time, there were quiet cries of pain. This sound belonged to Donphan!
This made Tyson feel very worried. He looked at the sandstorm for a long time. He could not see anything, so he looked at the man on the other side.
The trainer areas were on high platforms. This let Tyson look over the sandstorm to see Natsui's face.
At this moment, the man was not panicking. Most people would panic if they could not see their Pokémon or give commands. Instead, he had one hand in his pocket and a calm face. He looked like he did not care about the battle in the sandstorm.
This was very unusual.
It showed that he had seen this before, or he had so much confidence in his Pokémon. He was not worried about losing even without giving commands!
No matter which reason it was, Tyson realized his strategy had failed. It usually worked every time, but not now.
The situation became bad immediately.
Once the sandstorm started, he could not control it. He could not stop it just because he wanted to. He had to wait for the sandstorm to go away. During this time, he did not know what was happening, so he was very worried!
His heart was in his throat again.
He was very worried that Donphan would be the first to lose.
If that happened, he was trapped in his own plan!
Tyson could not wait anymore. He shouted loudly to the Donphan in the sandstorm, "Donphan, get out of there quickly!"
Right now, the most important thing was to see Donphan again. Seeing the situation was the smartest thing to do. Then, he could give new commands. Even if he had to stop using the sandstorm and ruin his move, it was worth it!
His voice went into the sandstorm, but a long time passed and Donphan did not come out. Instead, Tyranitar's roar sounded even more scary!
This was very bad!
Now he knew one thing: something happened inside. Donphan's attack failed. It did not happen the way he expected!
But Tyson was helpless. Even if he wanted to use a Poké Ball to bring Donphan back, the sandstorm blocked him. He could not find where Donphan was!
Luckily, the sandstorm did not last very long.
As the sand slowly settled, it became easier to see.
Everyone looked inside the sandstorm. Through the thin sand, they could see a tall figure standing in the middle. Its body was moving up and down as it breathed. Meanwhile, another smaller figure was lying still on the ground!
What was happening?
Was the winner already decided?
It had only been a short time; it should not be possible!
Everyone was very curious. They did not blink as they looked at the center of the field. They wanted to know what happened. When the sandstorm disappeared completely, they could see the whole field.
The tall figure standing was Tyranitar.
Its eyes were glowing red. It had just finished being in a state of confusion. In front of it, Donphan was not rolled up anymore. It was lying on its back in a large hole. There were marks all over Donphan's body and the hole from a giant force. Clearly, Tyranitar did this!
"This..." The announcer was shocked. Then, he understood what happened. He shouted, "Tyranitar must have used Superpower to stop Donphan's Rollout first! Then it used Thrash to beat Donphan! The cries of pain were from Donphan!"
The announcer did not really need to say it. Any trainer could see why Donphan lost.
But even though they saw it, they could not believe Donphan was defeated so easily.
Some trainers felt bad for Tyson.
They knew Donphan took all the damage from Thrash. That is why it was knocked to the ground.
Thrash is a high-damage Normal-type move. After using it, the Pokémon loses its mind and destroys everything in front of it. Because of the sandstorm, Tyranitar could only see Donphan. So, Donphan took all the hits directly.
It was very brutal.
It felt like Tyson had sent his Donphan right to Tyranitar.
If there was no sandstorm, it would be easy to dodge Thrash.
It was a mindless attack. It could not keep chasing the target easily.
Tyson realized this, and his face looked bad.
It was not a mistake, but he did not expect Tyranitar to act without commands!
Other Pokémon would be lost or confused in that situation. They would be careful.
Would they dare to use a move that causes confusion without an order?
If it missed, the Pokémon would be confused. Then the opponent would attack it hard!
Tyranitar was too bold!
And no one expected its damage to be so high. It knocked out Donphan directly!
Donphan has great defense and stamina. It is not a Pokémon that loses easily.
Tyson never thought his Pokémon would lose so fast!
He did not even see how he lost. The man on the other side did not give any commands!
At this moment, he realized this man was on a different level.
He had heard about Natsui, but now he truly felt the gap between them!
He had never fought the Elite Four, but he thought that the Elite Four might not be much stronger than this man!
This thought shocked Tyson.
Why did he think that?
Is he as strong as the Elite Four? Or even stronger?
But how was that possible? He was just a contestant. It should not be possible.
He shook his head to stop thinking about it. He looked at Donphan's belly and sighed.
He could see what happened. After Donphan was flipped over by Superpower, its soft belly was exposed. That caused this result.
It was really bad luck.
Tyson thought he had bad luck. He thought Donphan was accidentally flipped that way.
But he did not realize that every strategy has a risk.
Using Rollout in a sandstorm is a good strategy against small Pokémon.
But against a strong Rock-type like Tyranitar, it was too much.
Even if they tried again, the result would be the same.
To be honest, Natsui was also a bit surprised that Tyranitar won so easily.
He felt that Donphan was too weak. He felt the battle ended before it really started.
Then he realized it was not that the opponent was weak. It was that his own Pokémon was too strong.
This made sense. His Pokémon had fought many Legendary Pokémon and groups like Team Rocket. Every fight made them grow. Now, these opponents did not feel like a threat.
This is why he stores his old partners and catches new Pokémon in new regions.
Otherwise, tournaments would be too easy and boring.
This is also why some young people become Gym Leaders or Elite Four members. They are just too strong. Like him now, the tournament did not feel difficult.
The Pokémon League gives those people special roles so they can skip these steps.
He wondered if the League would ask him to be an Elite Four member one day.
Natsui smiled and shook his head. He used a Poké Ball to bring back Tyranitar. Tyson was still standing there thinking. Natsui did not wait and released his next Pokémon.
After a blue light, Venusaur appeared.
Tyson saw the Pokémon and came back to his senses. He felt insulted!
He was the one who lost, but the opponent changed Pokémon first!
What did this mean?
Did he think he could win even if he showed his Pokémon first?
Tyson was shocked, but then he smiled at himself.
So what if that was true?
From the battles so far, he knew he was not as strong as this man. Even if his last two Pokémon won this round, he still had to beat four more Pokémon to win the whole match.
But was that possible?
His time in the Ever Grande Conference would probably end here.
He was very sad about it. He had big hopes, but he met a powerful opponent so early!
At least... he had to defeat at least one of his Pokémon!
He did not expect to win against Natsui anymore, but he did not want to lose too badly!
Tyson did not wait. He used a Poké Ball and released his strongest Pokémon—Meowth!
Meowth did well in the early parts of the tournament, but it was not famous yet.
However, it looked special because it wore a hat and boots.
The Meowth from Team Rocket stopped what it was doing. It looked at this Meowth. It did not want to sell snacks anymore. It wanted to see if this Meowth would help its trainer defeat one of Natsui's Pokémon!
"Good luck, meow."
Natsui looked at the Meowth carefully.
Ash had told him about it. This Meowth lost a fight to a Persian for leadership. It was hurt, and Tyson saved it. The boots and hat were for its injuries at first, but it kept them.
Because of the pain from that loss, this Meowth decided to never evolve. It stayed in this form and became Tyson's strongest Pokémon.
Natsui thought it would appear last as the best Pokémon. He did not expect Tyson to send it out now.
It seemed Tyson was in a corner and had to take a risk early.
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