The ground was constantly trembling.
Cracks split open across the battlefield, one after another.
The residual shockwaves from both Pokémon's Earthquake attacks spread outward in visible ripples of power.
It was clear that Gigalith was taking the heavier damage.
"It's losing ground…" Silas's expression turned grim as he stared at the field.
He knew something wasn't right the moment his opponent ordered Onix to use Earthquake as well.
While Gigalith's Earthquake was strong thanks to its immense body weight, Onix wasn't far behind in power.
The key issue was that Gigalith was purely a Rock-type, meaning it didn't receive any Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) when using the Ground-type move Earthquake.
In contrast, Onix was both Rock and Ground-type, so its Earthquake gained a STAB boost, making it stronger.
The situation on the field confirmed this clearly.
The only thing Silas could be thankful for was that both Pokémon's Earthquakes clashed and partially cancelled each other out, lessening the damage Gigalith received.
However, because of that same clash, neither could freely change moves mid-attack.
Unless Gigalith could fly, stopping Earthquake first would leave it wide open to take Onix's next shockwave head-on — a potentially devastating blow.
Silas's mind raced, calculating the damage each side had taken and their remaining stamina.
Onix had also suffered some recoil damage — Earthquake hits Ground-types for neutral damage but it wasn't nearly as bad as what Gigalith endured.
Plus, Earthquake was a physical attack, and Onix's high Defense stat absorbed part of the impact.
Still, given Onix's relatively low HP, the accumulated damage wasn't negligible either.
"So should I keep trading Earthquakes?" Silas asked himself silently.
He could, but it would come down to luck in the end.
His face twisted with hesitation as he weighed the risks.
On the opposite side of the field, Shizuo was deep in thought as well.
Every Trainer wants to win. Only when victory is impossible do they settle for a draw.
So he too wasn't eager to leave it to chance and see whose Pokémon would collapse first.
Yet both sides were stuck in the same dilemma — whoever changed tactics first would likely be the one to lose.
The Earthquakes continued to rage.
Both Trainers had to grip the railing of their platforms to keep from being thrown off balance by the trembling arena.
It made thinking under pressure even harder.
"Enough—Gigalith, Wide Guard!" Silas shouted, clenching his teeth as he saw Gigalith's footing faltering.
"Gigalith!"
Maintaining its Earthquake, Gigalith let out a low growl.
It slammed both forelimbs down, the ground shaking even more violently and in that moment, a sand-colored energy barrier began to expand from its body.
Silas watched anxiously.
The Rock-type move Wide Guard functions similarly to Protect, but with a few differences: it covers the entire field and lasts slightly longer.
It can block multi-target or continuous attacks for a short period and unlike Protect, its success rate doesn't drop with repeated use.
However, Wide Guard isn't very popular because it's difficult to execute properly.
For example, if a Solar Beam was already about to hit, Protect could instantly block it. But Wide Guard must be fully deployed before the attack lands — the brief activation delay makes it impractical in one-on-one battles where no ally can buy time.
Now Silas could only hope Gigalith had mastered the move enough to complete it before Onix's next Earthquake wave hit.
"Onix, increase power!" Shizuo's eyes flashed as he commanded sharply.
He also knew Wide Guard's weakness,the delay between command and barrier formation would decide the match.
In the end, Silas had lost his composure.
"Roooaaaar!!"
Onix bellowed as its massive stone body thrashed violently. The battlefield, which had briefly stabilized when Gigalith stopped its Earthquake, began shaking wildly again.
Chunks of rock flew skyward, and waves of dirt surged toward the unmoving Gigalith like a crashing tide.
Under Silas's tense gaze, just as the aftershock was about to strike, a brilliant sand-colored light flared from Gigalith's body.
"Yes!" Silas punched the air in excitement.
That glow meant Wide Guard had successfully activated.
Sure enough, as the Earthquake waves hit, Gigalith stood firm as if on solid ground, completely unaffected.
Silas wiped the sweat from his forehead in relief — that was close.
Luckily, Gigalith had inherited Wide Guard through breeding and had trained it extensively. Otherwise, it would've been impossible to time it so perfectly.
He might have panicked, but the result was good.
"Now, Solar Beam—charge it up!" Silas commanded confidently, sweeping his arm forward.
Normally, the charging time for Solar Beam and the duration of Wide Guard were roughly the same.
That meant Gigalith could safely gather sunlight without worrying about incoming attacks.
Brilliant solar energy gathered on Gigalith's body, the fiery light gradually tinged with a faint green hue, the mark of Grass-type power.
Despite the unfavorable situation, Shizuo remained calm.
After silently counting a few seconds, he ordered, "Onix, Flash Cannon!"
This time, Onix didn't roar. Silver light flowed along its long, segmented body and converged at its massive jaws.
Both Pokémon stood still, charging their attacks.
The field fell silent again, the calm before the storm.
Everyone knew the next clash would decide everything.
Seconds ticked by, each one feeling like an eternity. The glowing barrier of Wide Guard began flickering, its energy rapidly depleting.
"Flash Cannon, fire!" Shizuo suddenly yelled, his face flushed with intensity.
The timing was perfect, the moment the barrier faded, the attack would land.
A loud crack echoed as the steel energy burst forth—
Snap!
At that exact instant, Silas snapped his fingers.
The glowing orb in front of Gigalith instantly turned into a beam of radiant energy — Solar Beam fired forth.
Silas's Gigalith didn't use Solar Beam like others did — it was much faster.
Two entirely different beams of light clashed head-on.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted as smoke and energy waves filled the arena.
"Bzzz—"
Even amid the haze, the clash between the two moves continued to rage.
"Fall back—Rock Tomb for defense!"
Silas and Shizuo shouted almost simultaneously, both choosing to defend.
Both Solar Beam and Flash Cannon were explosive, energy-based moves. If the two didn't cancel each other out immediately—
BOOM!!!
A far stronger blast thundered through the field.
"Whoosh—"
A violent wind swept debris in all directions. Silas grabbed the railing with one hand, shielding his face with the other from flying fragments.
When the wind finally died down, he squinted through the dust, ignoring the danger, urgently searching the spot where Gigalith had been.
"Ahh…"
He exhaled helplessly.
His Gigalith lay before him—fainted.
"Gigalith and Onix have both lost their ability to battle!
Both trainers, please send out your next Pokémon!"
Even as Silas felt a pang of regret, the referee's voice rang in his ears.
He glanced across the field and saw that Onix, too, had collapsed.
His and Shizuo's eyes met instinctively.
"An evenly matched and spectacular exchange!
In the fierce collision between Solar Beam and Flash Cannon, both Silas's Gigalith and Shizuo's Onix have fainted!"
The announcer's voice carried disbelief.
Without paying attention to the commentary, both trainers immediately threw their next Poké Balls.
Every second mattered.
"Soar, Pidgeot!"
"Honchkrow, strike them down!"
The enormous Pidgeot and the menacing Honchkrow appeared in bursts of red light, taking to the skies above the battlefield.
Compared to the massive Pidgeot, the smaller Honchkrow looked almost like a Pidgey—but its strength was anything but ordinary.
"Honchkrow, use Sucker Punch!"
"Pidgeot, use Agility!"
Both commands rang out at once.
But upon hearing the other's strategy, the trainers reacted in completely opposite ways.
Silas felt a mix of relief and lingering fear, while Shizuo could only sigh in regret.
"Thank goodness I went with speed and air maneuvering instead of close-range combat," Silas thought, a cold sweat trickling down his back.
Against an all-out offensive Pokémon like this, one mistake could be fatal.
The Dark-type move Sucker Punch allows a Pokémon to strike first but only if the target is about to use an attacking move.
Its priority is similar to Quick Attack, but with a condition attached.
Essentially, Sucker Punch lets the user move just before the opponent's attack, rather than always guaranteeing priority.
Statistically, both moves share the same priority level; whether damage lands depends on the Pokémon's stats and the situation.
But Silas didn't want Pidgeot taking a hit from Honchkrow—not even a possible one.
While Pidgeot specialized in speed and balance, Honchkrow's stats were much more extreme: overwhelming Attack power—both physical and special but weaker defenses.
It also excelled at landing critical hits.
By contrast, its defenses were relatively frail, a trade-off to maintain its speed as an aerial Pokémon.
For both Pidgeot and Honchkrow, given their defenses and endurance, neither could withstand more than two solid hits from the other.
"Pidgeot, use Double Team!"
Thus, while Honchkrow's Sucker Punch failed and left it momentarily open, Silas didn't rush to attack—instead, he stuck firmly to his game plan.
Unlike the fierce brawl between Gigalith and Onix earlier, aerial battles between Flying-types relied on speed, precision, and one decisive strike.
Fighting in the sky was like dancing on a knife's edge—any greed or hesitation meant defeat.
In an instant, more than a dozen Pidgeot illusions filled the sky.
"Honchkrow, use Psych Up!"
Shizuo, abandoning pure offense, chose to have his Pokémon copy its opponent's stat boosts instead.
A faint muttering escaped Honchkrow as it cast Psych Up, synchronizing its boosted stats with those of Pidgeot.
"Guess that gave him a little edge," Silas thought calmly.
...
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