"Blastoise is unable to battle. Hisuian Samurott wins!"
At the referee's announcement, Gary Oak pulled out a Poké Ball and recalled Blastoise.
"You did great, Blastoise. Get some well-deserved rest."
After a few words of encouragement, Gary took a moment to think. Then, with a look of utmost seriousness, he threw out his third Poké Ball.
"Umbreon, let's go!"
"Umbree!"
As soon as Umbreon landed on the battlefield, it was struck by the hidden Stealth Rock traps. Wincing from the sudden blow, it barely had time to react before Hisuian Samurott charging at it at high speed, dual blades glowing with Sacred Sword.
"Double Team!" Gary called out.
Just before Hisuian Samurott's blades could land, Umbreon's figure blurred and split into dozens of clones. Hisuian Samurott slashed through one, but it was only an illusion—the real Umbreon had evaded the strike.
"Hyper Beam!"
Paul ordered calmly.
"Chaaah!"
Hisuian Samurott pivoted toward the scattered Umbreon copies, unleashing a devastating Hyper Beam. Sonic waves roared across the field, tearing apart the illusions one by one until none remained.
"Foul Play!"
The moment the illusions vanished, the real Umbreon darted into action. Its body shimmered with a dark eerie glow as it weaved between the remaining sonic blasts, closing in on Hisuian Samurott.
"Aqua Jet!"
Just as Umbreon launched its final charge, a shimmering veil of water sprang up around Hisuian Samurott, forming a flowing protective barrier.
Splash! Splash!
One after another, the charging Umbreon clones crashed into the watery shield and dissolved into mist. Yet one shadowy figure suddenly appeared behind Hisuian Samurott, bursting through the Aqua Jet with force and ramming toward him.
Hisuian Samurott's eyes flashed sharply. In an instant, it twisted its wrist, aiming one of its blade-like arms at an almost impossible angle toward Umbreon's path—anticipating the trajectory so precisely that it was as if Umbreon had run straight into the blade.
However—
Just before the attack could connect, Umbreon's body flared with a ghostly blue light and using a sudden, almost supernatural movement, twisted its charge at the last second. Slipping past Hisuian Samurott's blade by mere inches, it slammed its head directly into Hisuian Samurott's forehead with full force.
Detect!
Wham!
The unexpected use of Detect, even under such conditions, caught Hisuian Samurott completely off guard. Reeling from the sharp pain, Hisuian Samurott staggered forward uncontrollably.
Not about to miss this opening, Umbreon quickly regained its footing and lunged again, launching another Foul Play straight at Hisuian Samurott.
"Chaaah!"
Hisuian Samurott, relying purely on instinct, twisted his body and parried with one of his blades at the last possible moment.
BOOM!
The collision sent Hisuian Samurott skidding backward across the field—but he had successfully deflected the blow.
"Sacred Sword!"
Without hesitation, Hisuian Samurott rebalanced his stance and swung his twin Sacred Swords down toward Umbreon.
"Flash!"
Just then, an intense blinding light erupted from Umbreon, momentarily stunning Hisuian Samurott. Unable to see, Hisuian Samurott swung his blade instinctively, but the attack missed its mark.
"Feint Attack!"
Taking advantage of Hisuian Samurott's brief blindness, Umbreon burst forward in a flash, using Quick Attack to accelerate and leap straight at him.
"Step back, three o'clock direction!"
Despite being unable to see, Hisuian Samurott instinctively retreated a step backward and immediately unleashed Sacred Sword, slashing toward the three o'clock position.
BOOM!
The attack was perfectly aimed, but Umbreon's eyes flashed with a sharp blue gleam—using his inner vision to anticipate Hisuian Samurott's move. With nimble agility, Umbreon dodged and countered with a fierce body slam!
However, just as Umbreon lunged forward, the curved blade on Hisuian Samurott's head began to glow a vivid green—he countered with a Megahorn!
CRASH!
The two Pokémon collided with tremendous force, recoiling in opposite directions.
"Ice Beam!"
By now, Hisuian Samurott's vision had cleared. Spotting Umbreon's location, he fired a streak of icy-blue energy from his mouth.
"Psychic!"
Before Umbreon could even hit the ground, his eyes glowed again. Harnessing powerful psychic, he twisted the trajectory of the Ice Beam, successfully avoiding any damage.
"Again!"
Impressed by Umbreon's brilliant performance, Hisuian Samurott clashed his twin blades together like clapping hands in applause—then taunted him to use Psychic again!
— One more time—Hisuian Samurott was setting up, baiting Umbreon into repeating his last move for the next three turns!
"What the—?!"
Gary Oak gasped in shock. He hadn't expected Hisuian Samurott to pull off such a nasty tactic.
After all, from observing the battle so far, Gary realized this Hisuian Samurott must have a Dark typing! And Psychic-type moves were completely ineffective against Dark-types!
"Secret Sword, Thousand Fold Waves!"
Paul gave the order coolly and decisively.
Hisuian Samurott's feet summoned a surging wave beneath him, and he charged straight at Umbreon!
Seeing the incoming tide, Umbreon's face showed a flicker of panic. His eyes flared brightly as he desperately gathered the few scattered pebbles and dust from the battlefield, hurling them at Hisuian Samurott with psychic force!
Then, without waiting for the outcome, Umbreon turned and fled, boosting his speed with Psychic to dodge.
But there wasn't much debris left on the battlefield. Hisuian Samurott easily cut through the flying rubble with a single slash—
—and, with another burst of speed, he closed the distance to Umbreon, blades flashing relentlessly.
Two consecutive strikes of Secret Sword: Thousand Fold Waves slammed into Umbreon, overwhelming him completely.
In the end, Umbreon collapsed to the ground and unable to continue battling.
"Umbreon is unable to battle. Hisuian Samurott wins!"
The referee's voice echoed across the field.
Hisuian Samurott, though victorious, couldn't help but show signs of fatigue. He hadn't expected this little Umbreon to be even harder to deal with than a Blastoise.
"Return. You did well."
Gary called, retrieving Umbreon into its Poké Ball.
Facing a fatigued Samurott, Gary sent out a Pokémon that wasn't exactly at a type advantage.
"Go, my sweetie!"
"Woo!"
Onto the field bounded a majestic Arcanine, its tall commanding figure covered in thick, flaxen fur.
Then—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three sharp explosions rang out as layers of Stealth Rock inflicted significant damage on Arcanine the moment it entered the battlefield.
"Razor Shell!"
As Arcanine barely steadied itself, Hisuian Samurott surged forward, cloaked in flowing water, preparing to strike.
"Roar!" Gary commanded.
"Woo!"
Facing the oncoming threat, Arcanine let out a powerful, resonant Roar straight at Hisuian Samurott.
Struck cleanly by the sound wave, Hisuian Samurott vanished into a beam of red light and was automatically recalled into its Poké Ball. One of Paul's Poké Balls at his waist burst open.
"Draaah~"
With a harsh clatter, Drapion dropped onto the field. Its massive pincers clicked menacingly as it locked eyes on Arcanine with a ferocious glare.
"Flare Blitz!"
From Arcanine's jaws erupted a blazing Flare Blitz, surging forward in the shape of a giant flaming character.
"Acupressure, then Cross Poison!" Paul ordered briefly.
"Draah~"
Understanding immediately, Drapion's tail pincer lightly jabbed its own body at key pressure points, boosting its stats. At the same time, its two massive claws crossed together, condensing toxic energy into a gleaming purple X-shaped slash—Cross Poison—aimed squarely at the incoming Flare Blitz.
Though Cross Poison was slightly weaker in raw power, it successfully detonated the Flare Blitz mid-air.
"Extreme Speed, then Fire Fang!" Gary seized the opening.
In a blur, Arcanine darted across the battlefield, closing the distance in an instant. Flames erupted around its fangs as it lunged toward Drapion.
However, Drapion neither dodged nor defended. Taking the full brunt of Fire Fang, Drapion thrust out its massive pincers from the sides, clamping hard around Arcanine's neck and lifting it high into the air.
Before Arcanine could struggle, toxic venom exuded from Drapion's pincers, poisoning Arcanine at point-blank range.
"Arcanine, use Flare Blitz!" Gary shouted.
"Woo..."
Gritting through the suffocating poison, Arcanine tried to gather the strength to launch another Flare Blitz.
But just then, Drapion's first Acupressure activation completed, greatly boosting its Attack.
Its crushing grip tightened, interrupting Arcanine's attack before it could ignite.
Flare Blitz—failed to launch!
"Poison Fang. Then Venoshock." Paul commanded coldly.
"Draaah—!"
With a fierce roar, Drapion slammed Arcanine hard into the ground. A terrifying surge of Poison-type energy erupted from Drapion's twin pincers, once again invading Arcanine's body.
A thick blast of venom spewed from Drapion's mouth at close range, crashing into Arcanine and dealing tremendous damage.
Poison continued to ravage Arcanine's system, leaving it barely clinging to consciousness!
"Arcanine, Reversal!"
"Finish it—Fell Stinger!"
Gary and Paul shouted at the same time.
In that instant, Arcanine, despite being heavily weakened and under control, flared with a faint red light—an echo of desperate strength. Drawing on every last ounce of its willpower, it suddenly broke free from Drapion's grasp and lunged straight at its opponent.
But in Drapion's eyes, there was no fear—only a flash of excitement.
SWISH!
Before Arcanine's attack could connect, Drapion's tail claw struck down from above, piercing directly into Arcanine's head to deliver the finishing blow.
"Aahh—!"
Arcanine collapsed to the ground, unable to rise. Meanwhile, Drapion's body erupted in a dazzling flash of white light, letting out a triumphant roar.
Fell Stinger — if this move knocks out an opponent, the user's Attack stat sharply rises.
On top of that, Drapion had previously landed a pressure point strike, boosting its Attack by five stages—almost maxed out.
Right now, Drapion was so overwhelmingly powerful that even a Torterra would stand no chance against it. Even Electivire would risk being overwhelmed with a single misstep.
Only Ursaluna, unleashing its full force might still be able to keep Drapion under control.
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