"This oppressive feeling—it's really making it hard to breathe," Ryosuke said with a wry smile, tugging at his collar.
His Sceptile would likely be no match for this Empoleon.
"Swords Dance!"
Four sharp swords rose around Ninjask, beginning to spin around its body.
Its physical attack ability began to rise sharply!
"Is it a Baton Pass strategy?" Steven's mouth curved slightly.
"Ice Beam!"
The water around Empoleon's body instantly gathered within it, and it slowly raised its chilling wing.
An icy blue energy light bloomed.
"Protect!"
Facing the field-wide Ice Beam, Ryosuke decisively had Ninjask use Protect.
A green energy shield enveloped Ninjask, choosing to temporarily avoid the attack.
Crack!
The icy blue light flashed, and the entire field was covered in a thick layer of ice.
Even Ninjask's green Protect shield was frozen and shattered into pieces.
But Ninjask didn't seem to be affected much.
"The power of this move is truly terrifying..." Ryosuke felt the chill and was somewhat fearful.
Without Protect, Ninjask would likely have already lost its ability to battle.
"Baton Pass!"
Ryosuke didn't dare to have Ninjask use Swords Dance again, choosing to directly use Baton Pass.
The amplification effect of one layer of Swords Dance plus one layer of Speed Boost would be passed to the Pokémon receiving the Baton Pass.
Ninjask turned into a red light, returning to its Poké Ball.
A green-colored Pokémon took its place!
It had a large tail, and the leaves growing on its arms were as sharp as blades.
Sceptile!
Upon entering the field, Sceptile showed a grim expression.
This penguin in front of it gave it immense pressure.
It was like the Milotic it faced when it first participated in the Ever Grande Conference.
However, upon closer thought, that Milotic's strength was even more terrifying than the one in front of it.
But in terms of presence alone, Milotic's aura was not as powerful as the one in front of it.
"Leaf Blade!"
The blade-like leaves on both sides of Sceptile's arms instantly extended, and with a simple charged-up burst, it fiercely attacked Empoleon.
"Whirlpool."
With Steven's understated word, a water vortex formed by powerful currents instantly emerged around Empoleon's body.
Swish!
Sceptile's Leaf Blade only cut a gash in the water vortex, barely revealing Empoleon's body.
But it didn't harm Empoleon in the slightest.
Sceptile's gaze sharpened, and it quickly jumped backward, creating distance from Empoleon.
Empoleon gently shook its head.
What a pity. If my old partner were here, I could also cross blades with you.
Steven's mouth curved slightly. Since Empoleon wanted to, trying close combat was fine.
"Swords Dance!"
"Then we'll use Swords Dance too!"
Ryosuke followed closely.
On the field, several sharp swords appeared successively around the two Pokémon, greatly increasing their physical attack ability!
"Drill Peck!"
"Leaf Blade!"
Empoleon's wing-like arm edges were extremely sharp and could be used as blades.
"Awooboo!"
Let this Lord of the Waves meet you!
Empoleon waved its wing, and the water vortex quietly dissipated.
Stepping forward, Empoleon began to spin at high speed, rushing toward Sceptile like a top.
Sceptile's gaze was sharp, wielding the Leaf Blades on both sides of its arms, countering Empoleon.
Bang—
The two Leaf Blades overlapped, actually blocking Empoleon's Drill Peck!
In terms of power, Sceptile with two layers of Swords Dance suppressed Empoleon with one layer of Swords Dance.
"Aqua Jet!"
The rapidly spinning Empoleon suddenly stopped, water gathering on its body, and it began close combat with Sceptile, swinging its wings.
Its water-infused wings and Sceptile's green-glowing blade-leaves began to clash!
Clanging sounds continuously echoed in the arena.
"Sceptile!"
Sceptile used Leaf Blade to parry Empoleon's wing, and the Leaf Blade on its other arm was ready to strike!
Bang!
Leaf Blade landed on Empoleon's body. Fortunately, with its Steel typing, Grass-type moves were not very effective against Empoleon.
Empoleon was knocked back several meters before it finally stopped.
But the strengthened Sceptile's power was quite astonishing. Empoleon must not have felt good.
"That's enough playing around, Empoleon!" Steven reminded, then shouted:
"Ice Spinner!"
"Awooboo!"
Empoleon emitted a chilling aura all over its body, and its entire frame began to spin at high speed!
Substantial Ice-type energy swung wildly, smashing onto the ice layer, shattering it to pieces!
Watching Empoleon charge, Ryosuke immediately reacted:
"Detect!"
Sceptile's eyes widened, and it quickly retreated, causing Empoleon's Ice Spinner to miss.
The ice layer was shattered! And a large crater was left in the original field!
"Brick Break!"
Sceptile braked with both feet, then launched forward without hesitation, raising its arm and fiercely chopping toward Empoleon!
"Surf!"
Empoleon in the center of the large crater straightened slightly, and towering waves surged from its body!
Sceptile had just gotten close when it was swallowed by the waves!
It was slammed hard onto the ice layer by the waves!
"Sceptile!"
Sceptile cried out in pain, its entire body bouncing up from the recoil.
Kicking up countless ice shards.
"It's time to end this!"
"Empoleon, Icy Wind!"
Empoleon waved its wing, and a cold wind mixed with ice particles blew toward Sceptile.
Icy Wind swept past!
Sceptile, who had just painfully gotten up, couldn't dodge in time and was frozen into an ice sculpture by the cold Icy Wind.
Crack crack—
Empoleon casually waved its wing, and the ice sculpture shattered!
Sceptile fell forward onto the ice layer covered in ice particles.
"Sceptile is unable to battle! Empoleon wins!"
At this point, Ryosuke had only Ninjask left.
"You worked hard, Sceptile."
Ryosuke recalled Sceptile into its Poké Ball, his expression full of despondency.
"Go, Ninjask!"
Ninjask re-entered the field, but it couldn't change anything.
After taking Sceptile's two-layered Swords Dance Leaf Blade, Empoleon's condition wasn't great.
But in its current state, one-shotting Ninjask was just a wave of its wing.
Like Sceptile, its body was too fragile to withstand Empoleon's boosted attack.
What good was Ninjask's speed?
"Surf!"
"Protect!"
But the necessary struggle still had to be made.
Towering waves crashed against Ninjask's Protect shield.
Shattering it forcefully!
"X-Scissor!"
Ninjask's speed was truly incredible. In the blink of an eye, it was in front of Empoleon.
Its extremely fast speed allowed Ninjask's front legs to strike Empoleon's body.
But it didn't cause much damage.
Empoleon slightly raised its head, its calm gaze fixed on Ninjask.
As it raised its wing, the water that hadn't been fully drained by the field's drainage system gathered in Empoleon's grasp.
A powerful stream of water rushed over Ninjask's body!
Knocking it directly down!
Empoleon straightened its back, casually brushing off the small ice shards on its body.
If it hadn't wanted to cross blades with Sceptile, it could have instantly defeated the opponent's last two Pokémon.
But it had finally gotten excited.
Let's just play around!