"That makes two..."
Watching the Sealeo and Luvdisc, Ace picked up a Poké Ball, flicked it out, and Gengar landed before him with a wicked grin. Gengar immediately raised its hand, and a Shadow Ball instantly shot out.
Luvdisc steadied itself and quickly rotated its body. Whirlpool rapidly condensed into two water whips, which swiftly lashed out and shattered the incoming Shadow Ball.
The other water whip curled toward Aerodactyl, attempting to restrict its movement.
"Ice Beam."
Sealeo also targeted Aerodactyl, swiftly firing an Ice Beam at it.
The two attacks blocked Aerodactyl's escape routes. No matter how Aerodactyl tried to dodge, one of them would hit.
And if it stayed put, both attacks would land simultaneously!
"It looks like I'm being forced to use a third Pokémon."
Ace smiled, picked up a third Poké Ball, and tossed it out. Tyranitar landed heavily, and in an instant, yellow sand already blotted out the sky!
Tyranitar immediately raised its hands, and the yellow sand surged out, instantly engulfing Aerodactyl.
The water whip and Ice Beam struck, freezing the outer layer of sand, but the next moment, Aerodactyl burst out of the sand, completely unharmed!
"Wallace, Earthquake!"
Wallace's final Pokémon, Whiscash, appeared and slammed heavily onto the ground. The entire area instantly began to shake rapidly.
"Boom!"
Tyranitar also stomped down, sending a similar Earthquake radiating outward.
The two Earthquake shockwaves collided. The ground at their intersection instantly cracked open, sending large amounts of dirt and rubble flying into the sky. The ground instantly formed a massive crater, three meters in diameter and five meters deep.
"The yellow sand is absorbing the moisture..."
Wallace, a master of Water-type Pokémon, felt the water vapor in the air rapidly vanishing. His gaze was solemn as he looked at Tyranitar. He immediately raised a hand, and the three Pokémon converged.
"Surf!"
Luvdisc, Sealeo, and Whiscash exerted their combined strength, raising a tsunami that was no less realistic than a true ocean wave. A giant wave, over ten meters high, roared toward Ace!
"Heh heh."
Gengar instantly appeared in front of Tyranitar. Red light flashed in its eyes, and an invisible shockwave spread out from around Gengar, slamming directly into the giant wave.
Immediately following, Aerodactyl swooped down and picked up Ace. Tyranitar thrust its hands, and sand instantly gathered, enveloping itself.
"Boom!"
With a muffled crash, the giant wave exploded but failed to penetrate the defense. Gengar's eyes momentarily widened in surprise, then it grinned and spread its arms, welcoming the giant wave.
The giant wave instantly consumed Gengar and Tyranitar, submerging them underwater.
But immediately afterward, a gray light broke through the water surface and merged directly into the body of the unprepared Sealeo.
The next moment, Sealeo let out a cry of pain. The connection of Pain Split caused Sealeo's HP to surge frantically toward Gengar.
The water flow gradually dispersed. The sky-full of yellow sand was all washed away. The wet, collapsing sand revealed the slightly panting Tyranitar within.
But Gengar had vanished from the field.
"Finish it! Hydro Pump!"
Seeing only Tyranitar remaining, Wallace raised a hand. The three Pokémon opened their mouths simultaneously, and three streams of Hydro Pump shot toward Tyranitar.
"Heh heh."
Gengar suddenly reappeared, spreading its arms and lazily positioning itself as a meat shield for Tyranitar.
The Hydro Pumps slammed into Gengar, sending it flying backward the next moment.
Using the time Gengar bought for itself, Tyranitar quickly dodged, narrowly avoiding the Hydro Pump attacks.
Gengar rolled a few times after landing and was declared unable to battle.
But at the same time, Sealeo and Whiscash revealed looks of disbelief, suddenly collapsing and also being rendered unable to battle.
"What?!"
Seeing Sealeo and Whiscash faint, Wallace said in disbelief, "How is this possible?! Even with Destiny Bond, at most..."
At this point, Wallace paused, then realized something, looking at Ace in surprise.
"Just a little trick with Pain Split."
Aerodactyl carried Ace as he slowly descended. Ace spoke calmly: "The binding nature of Destiny Bond, combined with the averaging effect of Pain Split, and finally..."
Just as Ace finished speaking, a faint black aura slowly emanated from Luvdisc. The Curse placed by Gengar meant Luvdisc would inevitably faint soon!
Furthermore, the HP consumed to use the Curse was done by connecting to Sealeo via Pain Split, using Sealeo's HP to cast the Curse.
It was essentially Sealeo casting a Curse on Luvdisc. How frustrating is that?
Wallace felt a chill run down his spine. This defeated Gengar was terrifying, having single-handedly taken out all three of his Pokémon.
Now, he was left with only the cursed Luvdisc, while Ace still had a perfectly healthy Aerodactyl and a partially depleted Tyranitar.
From Wallace's perspective, with the two Pokémon joining forces, he was already in an utterly losing position!
"I... forfeit."
Wallace sighed, ultimately choosing to surrender.
If he hadn't underestimated his opponent from the start and had immediately used his full strength, it would have been hard to say who would win or lose.
But the initial carelessness, compounded by the loss of the initiative, meant that he was essentially led by the nose for the rest of the battle.
Most terrifyingly, his opponent's Pokémon were simply too well-trained. He had come to participate in a Pokémon Contest and hadn't brought his main battle Pokémon. The gap in experience was too vast.
Seeing Wallace surrender, Ace walked over to Gengar. Using the Viridian Forest Power, light glowed in Ace's hands.
As his luminous hands were placed on Gengar, Gengar shivered, then got back up.
Wallace watched in astonishment and instantly realized why his opponent had chosen an unofficial battle.
With this ability to heal Pokémon, the opponent was in an unbeatable position. Even if he brought out all his strongest Pokémon, once the opponent healed a few of theirs, it would become an endless battle of attrition!
Thinking of this, Wallace's gaze toward Ace changed somewhat.
But then he shook his head, having considered something. After recalling his Pokémon, Wallace walked over the large hole that had become a puddle, came up to Ace, and extended his hand: "Let's reintroduce ourselves. I'm Wallace, the Gym Leader of Sootopolis Gym."
"Oh, I'm Ace," Ace replied casually.
After recalling his Pokémon, Ace shook Wallace's hand and said: "I mainly wanted to battle you to see what level my current strength is at."
"...If you ever have time to visit Sootopolis City, I'd be happy to host you."
Wallace's mouth twitched. He then pulled a Rain Badge from his pocket and handed it to Ace.
Afterward, Wallace left without looking back.
It's likely he wouldn't want to see Ace again for quite some time.
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