"This is getting interesting..."
A spectator licked his lips, excited.
"Return, Swampert."
Jorge looked at Ethan in surprise, then his expression became serious and he threw another Poké Ball.
"It's your turn. Go, Venusaur!"
With the opening of the Poké Ball, a Pokémon with bluish-green skin, shaped like a toad and with a huge blooming flower on its back appeared: Venusaur, a Grass/Poison type.
Facing the mysterious poisonous power of Cacturne, Jorge chose a Pokémon that was also Poison type.
As soon as it entered the field, Venusaur used the move Ingrain, gaining resistance against the sandstorm as well.
"Cacturne, continue. Focus Punch!"
Seeing the switch, Ethan decided to keep the pressure on.
Cacturne had already released all of its strength with Growth taken to the extreme. If the battle stopped now, its stamina would be exhausted anyway.
Growth taken to the extreme, as an explosive move, showed its disadvantages in a 6Vs6 battle.
"Venusaur, hold on!"
Facing Cacturne's most powerful Focus Punch, Venusaur adopted a defensive stance.
At the same time, the huge flower on its back began to close, as if something were brewing inside.
The next instant, the nearly five-meter-tall Cacturne arrived in front of Venusaur and threw a punch that cut through the air, striking its body directly.
Venusaur sank slightly under the blow.
But thanks to the move Ingrain, its roots kept it firmly anchored to the ground, preventing it from being blown away.
Immediately afterward, the closed flower on its back suddenly aimed toward Cacturne. With an opening and closing motion, the instant the flower fully bloomed, a cloud of three-colored powders shot out and directly enveloped Cacturne!
"This is... the three powders!"
Ethan's face changed. The so-called "three powders" were the moves Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, and Poison Powder.
Since the moves had been prepared for quite some time, the amount of powder Venusaur released was astonishing.
After inhaling a large amount of the three powders, Cacturne's body immediately began to wobble; the effects appeared almost instantly.
"That's right, now use Mega Drain!"
Numerous vines sprouted from Venusaur's body.
While restraining Cacturne, they began to frantically absorb its energy.
After using Growth to the extreme, Cacturne was already consuming enormous amounts of energy every second.
Now, after a prolonged battle and under the effects of the three powders and the move Mega Drain, it finally could no longer maintain the extreme Growth state.
Afterward, under the continuous attack of Mega Drain, it lost the ability to battle and collapsed onto the sand.
However, just as Cacturne's body fell, Venusaur's body also suddenly staggered. A sinister aura enveloped its body!
"That move is... Destiny Bond!"
Seeing it, Jorge's face changed drastically.
Accompanied by a painful groan, Venusaur fell heavily to the ground.
At that moment, the audience fell silent. What seemed like a crushing victory had taken a turn no one had expected.
The effect of the move Destiny Bond is that after using the move, if the user is knocked out by the opponent's attack, the opponent will also be knocked out.
After defeating Swampert with Growth, it was obvious that Cacturne had barely any energy left.
Under those circumstances, that a practically unharmed Venusaur would be dragged down with it was something no one had imagined.
"So it was Destiny Bond... For a Cacturne to master that move, I really didn't expect it."
Jorge shook his head slightly. He had miscalculated.
If he had known Cacturne could use Destiny Bond, he would have ordered Venusaur to stop.
He would only have needed to wait for the effect to disappear to close the battle perfectly.
"Cacturne and Venusaur lose the ability to battle simultaneously. Since Cacturne fell first, Player Ethan will send out the next Pokémon."
The referee quickly announced the result, and the audience's attention returned to the field.
"If I choose first, then it has to be him."
Ethan smiled and opened a Poké Ball. Tyranitar's figure appeared once again.
With a deep roar, Tyranitar intensified the sandstorm, making it even more ferocious.
"The sandstorm weather... what a headache."
Jorge rubbed his forehead.
Due to the rarity of weather moves and incomplete information about abilities, weather teams had only recently begun to be understood by the public.
However, Pokémon with abilities or moves related to weather were extremely scarce.
That made forming a weather team particularly difficult.
Although everyone knew that weather teams were among the most practical and relatively simple in concept, very few managed to build one successfully.
"This Ethan's team is already very close to the Quasi-Elite level..."
The other six competitors in the back of the stands showed more serious expressions.
In purely individual terms, Ethan might still be at the professional level. But the boost that the sandstorm provided to his team was enormous.
And moreover, it was not a single-core team centered only on Tyranitar, but a dual-core system with Tyranitar and Cacturne. That Cacturne, aside from strengthening the sandstorm, had enough power to act as a core on its own.
"I wonder if Jorge's signature Pokémon has already reached the Quasi-Elite level... If it hasn't, he might lose against Ethan."
Adrian Vane also became serious. Even he, if he didn't send out his own Quasi-Elite-level ace, wasn't sure he could defeat Ethan.
At that moment, Jorge released the Pokémon he would use against Tyranitar: Kommo-o appeared on the field.
Clack, clack!
As it appeared, the sound of sand striking metal could be heard.
Although the sandstorm was still affecting it considerably, the solid scales covering its body blocked much of the damage.
"Kommo-o, get ready. Use Clanging Scales!"
The instant it appeared, the scales on its body vibrated rapidly, releasing a powerful sound wave.
After receiving the wave, even the sandstorm roaring across the field trembled.
Boom!
In the distance, Tyranitar covered its ears with obvious discomfort.
The next second, under everyone's astonished gaze, Kommo-o's figure suddenly appeared in front of Tyranitar. With an uppercut hook, Tyranitar's massive body was lifted off the ground and sent flying backward!
Boom!
When Tyranitar crashed to the ground, the stadium fell silent.
"What the hell?! Kommo-o's speed is absurd!"
A moment later, the audience burst into exclamations.
Even Ethan froze; he hadn't reacted to that speed.
"Clanging Scales..."
Ethan stared carefully at Kommo-o.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed: all the scales on Kommo-o's body had fallen off!
The effect of the move Clanging Scales is to attack by vibrating and scraping the scales of the body, lowering the user's own Defense after the attack.
Kommo-o had taken that move to the extreme, shedding all of its scales, which explained the overwhelming power of the attack.
"And as for the speed... I see. It's Autotomize."
The move Autotomize removes unnecessary parts of the body, drastically increasing speed and reducing weight.
To reach that speed, Kommo-o had even shed all of its scales. It was an explosion of speed taken to the limit.
"And its attack power is also strange. If I'm not mistaken, it must have used Belly Drum, right?"
The move Belly Drum reduces HP by half to maximize Attack.
"Autotomize plus Belly Drum... that's how Kommo-o can unleash that speed and offensive power."
After observing it, Ethan laid out his deduction.
"So you noticed..."
Jorge's eyes widened slightly in disbelief.
The audience was also stunned.
Just with a glance he had deduced all that?
Discovering Kommo-o's secret in an instant, purely through observation, was truly terrifying.
(End of Chapter)