"Cacturne, use Drain Punch!"
Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly.
Seeing this, Cacturne immediately understood.
Next, a faint green glow suddenly appeared around Cacturne's fist.
However, after executing the move Drain Punch, Cacturne did not launch the attack immediately. Instead, it closed its eyes, as if sensing something.
"Huh... Poliwrath's part is still understandable, but what is Cacturne trying to do?"
"It's fine to use Drain Punch, but what's with closing its eyes? Could it be that Cacturne is also going to imitate Poliwrath and launch long-range attacks?"
At that moment, the spectators were completely confused. Was this still a Martial Arts Tournament? There had always been oddities, but this year there were really far too many.
"Wait... what's going on?"
Suddenly, one of the spectators froze in shock. On the field, the droplets of water flying through the air, for some unknown reason, all began to gather toward Cacturne's fist.
Boom, boom, boom!
Midair, those droplets collided with one another and exploded violently.
"W-what the hell?! Can the move Drain Punch be used like this?"
"Why can Drain Punch even attract long-range attacks?"
A spectator started shouting excitedly, but after doing so, he suddenly felt a bit awkward.
Because the people sitting next to him... looked extremely calm.
"It's Cacturne. The legendary child of miracles. What's so surprising about that?" one of the spectators beside him said calmly. Cacturne had already given them far too many surprises.
"Ah... well, you're right."
The spectator smiled awkwardly and sat back down to continue watching the battle.
At that moment, Ethan had also witnessed the scene and could not help but smile faintly.
When Cacturne had just awakened the Water Absorb ability, it had already been able to use the move Absorb to reproduce the effect of the Storm Drain ability.
Now, after Cacturne's continuous development, the Water Absorb ability combined with the move Drain Punch could also produce an effect similar to that of Storm Drain.
And Poliwrath's attacks, which looked like bullets, were essentially still water, so they were drawn in by the move Drain Punch and ended up colliding with each other in midair.
"It's been countered!"
At that instant, the Poliwrath trainer's pupils shrank.
This move had been revealed specifically to deal with Cacturne, and he had never imagined that Cacturne would neutralize it by some unknown method.
"Poliwrath, use Super Water Bullet!"
Upon hearing his trainer's order, Poliwrath let out a low growl.
Next, a fist-sized sphere of water suddenly condensed in its hand, while Fighting-type energy enveloped the entire hand.
In the next instant, that huge ball of water shot forward, only to be drawn in and deflected by Cacturne's Drain Punch.
"Cacturne, use Power-Up Punch to break it!"
Ethan gave the order decisively. That Super Water Bullet did not seem simple at all; relying solely on Drain Punch would make it very difficult to block directly.
But just as Cacturne's fist slammed heavily into the Super Water Bullet, an extremely powerful energy erupted from within, causing the entire sphere to explode at once.
"This is... Dynamic Punch!"
Upon seeing the scene, the spectators' gazes trembled.
Combining a water bullet with the move Dynamic Punch was truly an outrageously treacherous move!
However, when the water explosions scattered and transformed into countless aquatic arrows that shot toward Cacturne, everyone was stunned to discover that Cacturne remained completely unmoving, enduring those water arrows head-on without the slightest change in expression.
"Just as I thought... this Cacturne also has the Water Absorb ability!"
At that moment, Professor Sterling, who was acting as a guest commentator, suddenly spoke, leaving the other guests completely astonished.
"Cacturne with the Water Absorb ability?"
One of the guests showed a doubtful expression.
Professor Sterling nodded with great seriousness.
After witnessing Cacturne's power, he had thoroughly investigated its information.
According to internal data from the Pokémon Researchers' Guild, there indeed existed an extremely small percentage of Cacturne that possessed the Water Absorb ability.
"The water arrows have no effect? Could it be that this Cacturne also has Water Absorb?"
The opposing trainer also realized the problem, and immediately an expression of difficulty appeared on his face.
Just as he was thinking, Cacturne had already lunged forward, Fighting-type energy gathering in its fist—it was the move Power-Up Punch!
"Poliwrath, counter with Dynamic Punch!"
Boom, boom, boom!
Finally, the two Pokémon collided head-on for the first time.
In addition to its long-range attacks with water bullets, Poliwrath's close-combat capability was also extremely strong.
In previous battles, Poliwrath had always secured victory through close combat.
Boom, boom, boom!
The fight continued on the field, accompanied by constant thunderous sounds.
For a while, both Pokémon fought on equal footing.
However, as the battle progressed, it was clear that Cacturne's momentum was getting better and better, as if it were doped, while Poliwrath's condition worsened progressively, to the point of being completely suppressed by Cacturne.
By the end of the battle, Poliwrath's condition was extremely poor. Thin streams of blood could be seen seeping from its fists, but strangely, Poliwrath showed no signs of having suffered injuries.
Ploc.
When a drop of blood fell from Poliwrath's fist, the atmosphere of the entire stadium suddenly changed.
At the same time, Cacturne had already retreated to a considerable distance, and despite having fought for so long, it was still brimming with energy.
"What's going on? Isn't Poliwrath's condition strange?"
A spectator frowned in confusion.
"Yes, something's not right... what happened to Poliwrath?"
"Why does it not look injured, yet it's bleeding?"
Another spectator was also puzzled. Before he could finish speaking, Poliwrath collapsed heavily to the ground.
"D-does this... mean the winner has already been decided?"
A spectator opened his mouth in shock. The ending had been far too sudden.
"Poliwrath, what's wrong with you?!"
Poliwrath's trainer panicked.
Immediately, the on-duty medic rushed onto the field to examine it.
After the examination, the medic showed a strange expression, because Poliwrath actually had no serious injuries... instead, it was dehydrated!
"Dehydrated?"
"So dehydrated that it's bleeding?"
A spectator asked in disbelief.
"It's not simple dehydration. It's that all the water in Poliwrath's body has been absorbed."
At that moment, after a more detailed inspection, the medic gave his final diagnosis.
When his words fell, the entire stadium fell silent for an instant, followed by a collective sound of deep inhalations.
(End of chapter)