"Clack, clack, clack..."
Ace walked unhurriedly into the depths of the Dragon's Den. At this moment, compared to a month ago, he felt even more confident. Aside from other things, his Trainer Level had increased by one, and most of his Pokémon had reached around Level 58.
Once again reaching the stone platform, Ace's arrival caught the attention of the three Pokémon. They quickly approached, stopping about five meters from Ace.
"Last time, we lost." Ace looked at the three Dragon-type Pokémon and said seriously, "After so much special training, it's time to challenge you again!"
With that, three Poké Balls flew from his hand, and Crobat, Lapras, and Blissey reappeared before the three Dragon-type Pokémon.
"Gravity! Blizzard!"
Right from the start, taking advantage of the current weather conditions, a condensed and compressed Blizzard erupted from Lapras's mouth, shooting directly towards Salamence. The three Dragon-type Pokémon felt the suppressive force on them and were slightly helpless. However, they were perfectly coordinated. Seeing the Blizzard approaching, they immediately opened their mouths to gather Flamethrower, intending to help Salamence block it together.
But this time, Blissey charged forward. Before Noivern could use Flamethrower, a Light Screen appeared in front of it. At the same time, Blissey rushed behind the Light Screen, extending its arms to brace against it.
Salamence and Garchomp's combined Flamethrower managed to block the condensed Blizzard, while Noivern looked frustrated as the Light Screen blocked its Flamethrower, feeling helpless about this fighting style.
But the three Dragons clearly forgot that this was now a three-on-three battle! Lapras and Blissey had blocked their attacks, but what about Crobat?
A black shadow swooped down like an arrow. While Noivern was still frustrated, Crobat had already crashed into its back. Crobat opened its mouth and took a fierce bite out of Noivern's back. Immediately after, a large amount of Toxic was injected into Noivern's body!
Noivern shrieked in agony as the poison rapidly spread through its body. At the same time, its ears glowed white, and Boomburst spread indiscriminately in all directions. Noivern wanted to finish off that bastard bat that poisoned it in one go!
But Noivern was fast, and Blissey was even faster! The moment Boomburst touched Crobat, an Egg Bomb struck Crobat's body. After Noivern's Boomburst, Salamence and Garchomp were forced back, but Crobat remained firmly on Noivern's back.
At this moment, it was frantically absorbing Noivern's blood. Combined with Blissey's Soft-Boiled healing, Crobat continued to inflict damage on Noivern at the cost of being almost critically injured itself!
"Just as I thought, it forced back the other two Dragons." Ace's eyes flashed with brilliance, and he roared, "Focus fire on Noivern!"
The next moment, Ice Beam and Ice Punch directly slammed into the isolated Noivern. Crobat immediately disengaged from Noivern. Noivern was blasted away, violently hitting a nearby rock wall, slowly falling after a long pause. When it stood up again, it realized that Ace and his Pokémon were no longer paying attention to it.
After all, having suffered so much damage consecutively, plus the Toxic injected by Crobat still in its system, Noivern was close to its limit and had no stamina left to rejoin the battle. Noivern also sensed its body's weakness, gave a helpless wry smile as the Toxic damage took its toll, and then simply collapsed to the ground, losing its ability to battle.
On the other side, the three-Dragon combination, now missing Noivern, had its balance broken. Salamence and Garchomp immediately fell into a tough fight.
Battles rely on timing, terrain, and teamwork. The timing was the current cold temperature, which greatly enhanced the power of Lapras's and their Ice-type moves. The teamwork was Noivern being focused down and defeated. Ace held two of these three advantages, and the scales of victory gradually began to tip in his favor!
"Lapras, Blissey, Dual Ice Beam!"
Lapras and Blissey joined forces. Both Pokémon simultaneously opened their mouths, and their Ice Beams converged into a single stream, shooting towards Garchomp. Salamence wanted to provide support, but Crobat desperately blocked it. When Cross Poison sliced out, if Salamence tried to support, it would have to endure Crobat's attack head-on!
Helpless, Salamence raised its Dragon Claw to block. It could do nothing to help Garchomp. Garchomp also understood the current situation, crossing its arms and blocking with its hardened fin-like appendages in front of it.
The Ice Beam struck the fin-like appendages, instantly freezing them. But then, the ice on the appendages began to melt, with rising wisps of steam.
Ace's eye twitched. This Garchomp was truly ruthless; it used Flamethrower to defrost itself. Even if it was injured in the process, it absolutely would not allow itself to be frozen!
"Blissey, Heal Pulse!"
Ace was observing everything. Garchomp was already suppressed, and on Salamence's side, Crobat, which already had low HP, had entered a critically injured state after several clashes with Salamence.
Blissey immediately understood Ace's intention, quickly raised its hand, and a healing pulse flew towards Crobat. Seeing this, Salamence suddenly forced Crobat back, then charged directly into the Heal Pulse itself. This was the only downside to Heal Pulse; if the angle was wrong and it hit the opponent, healing them, it would be a counterproductive move.
But how could Ace not have considered this? Why did he choose Heal Pulse instead of the more stable Soft-Boiled?
"Thud!"
Heal Pulse hit Salamence and shattered immediately. Crobat, which had been forced back, instead crashed head-on into an Egg Bomb from a different direction.
That's right, Heal Pulse was just a feint. When Salamence and Crobat were clashing earlier, it would have been difficult to hit Crobat with a healing move if used rashly. Only when the two Pokémon separated could they ensure Crobat received healing. If Heal Pulse was used, the experienced Salamence would definitely force Crobat back to heal itself.
As for defeating Crobat? Impossible. If Crobat was defeated, who would heal Crobat?
This time, Salamence fell victim to its own experience!
Crobat instantly healed a good chunk of its HP and immediately re-engaged Salamence. Meanwhile, Lapras began to charge up its attack, and the sub-zero temperature of Sheer Cold slowly began to spread outwards.
Garchomp suddenly burrowed underground, digging at an incredible speed towards Lapras. It knew very well that if Lapras unleashed that move, even if it wasn't instantly killed, it would definitely be severely injured. Their defeat would then be inevitable!
"Blissey!"
However, Ace had already anticipated Garchomp's plan. Without Ace needing to remind it, Blissey had already charged up and then fiercely slammed a punch onto the ground!
"Crack!"
The ground shattered, forcing the burrowing Garchomp out. Still panting, it hadn't even caught its breath when it saw Lapras opening its mouth, firing an intensely cold beam of light!