"As I suspected, it's the Barrier move!"
Seeing Shellder instantly use the Barrier move, Ethan Black's eyes lit up, and he quickly gave the command: "Sandslash, use Sandstorm!"
Upon hearing the order, Sandslash generated a sandstorm in the field. Sand and dust flew everywhere, heading toward Shellder.
Crack!
Crash!
In the blink of an eye, Shellder was completely enveloped by the storm. However, just when the sand was about to hit it, an invisible barrier blocked it: Shellder had erected multiple barriers in a short time, fully enveloping its body and completely blocking the Sandstorm attack.
"What speed to use the Barrier move! Sandslash, test the thickness of those barriers with Crush Claw."
Ethan Black's eyes gleamed as he gave another command, wanting Sandslash to break the barrier and test Shellder's ability.
"Sha!"
Sandslash let out a growl and immediately charged. Its claws began to glow intensely.
But in the next instant, to the surprise of both Ethan Black and Rachel Blake, Shellder rose into the air, dodging the attack!
"Huh...?"
"Shellder is flying?"
Ethan Black opened his eyes wide in disbelief.
"It's the barrier! This Shellder has incredible psychic power! It's using the barrier as support to fly!"
After watching for a moment, Rachel Blake also showed astonishment in her eyes and quickly deduced the secret behind Shellder's flight.
"A flying barrier!"
Ethan Black's excitement reignited as he looked at Shellder.
"Sandslash, use Sand Whirl to knock it down!"
Ethan Black immediately gave the order, fearing Shellder would escape at any moment.
"Sha!"
Sandslash was also enraged to see its opponent dodging the attack by flying. It growled, began to use Rapid Spin, and then used Sand Attack, which became a whirlpool of sand that rushed toward Shellder.
Although Shellder could fly using psychic barriers, its speed in the air was quite low, so it was soon caught by the sand whirlpool.
Boom, boom, boom!
The whirlpool enveloped it completely.
Despite this, the barriers protecting Shellder turned out to be unexpectedly sturdy. For a while, they remained intact against the attack, until they finally shattered with a loud burst.
Crack!
The barriers around Shellder shattered, sending its body flying through the air until it fell heavily onto the sand.
The sandstorm, which was still dominating the field, also reached its body at that moment.
However, just when the sand was about to hit it, Ethan Black's eyes lit up again: a mysterious energy emerged from Shellder's body, completely blocking the sand, preventing it from touching Shellder.
"Overcoat ability!"
Seeing the space between the storm and Shellder, Ethan Black was ecstatic.
And what excited him the most was that the Overcoat ability was actually working exactly as he had theorized: it could form a protective barrier that completely blocked the damage from the Sandstorm.
That meant that if this ability were developed, Shellder could form a real Overcoat barrier that would block the effects of Sandstorm entirely.
"Sandslash, use Crush Claw!"
With the ability confirmed, Ethan Black gave the order immediately, fearing that something would go wrong and his "prey" would escape.
On the other side, Shellder also seemed surprised by the mysterious energy that was protecting it. But upon seeing Sandslash coming, it quickly shot a jet of water from its mouth.
Sandslash reacted immediately, dodging the attack with its control over the sand and quickly moving to position itself in front of Shellder, raising its sturdy claws.
Just when Sandslash's attack was about to land, streams of water suddenly appeared around Shellder, forming a ring of water as a defense: it was the move Aqua Ring!
But Sandslash showed no fear: its eyes became serious, and it didn't dodge. By now, it had overcome its fear of water.
Then, its claw came down forcefully: the Crush Claw move ripped through the Aqua Ring in an instant and struck Shellder with tremendous force, sending it flying through the air while still inside its shell.
"Good job! Finish it off with Sand Attack!"
Ethan Black clenched his fist tightly.
"Ethan, wait!"
"Shellder seems to have lost the ability to fight."
At that moment, Rachel Blake intervened. The lights in her Xatu's eyes flickered, and Shellder was lifted by an invisible force, placing it in front of both of them.
"Can it no longer fight?"
Ethan Black hesitated. Had Shellder been knocked out with just one hit from Crush Claw? With its incredible physical defense, was that possible?
"Indeed. This Shellder has a flaw."
Rachel Blake examined it and suddenly spoke.
Ethan Black jumped and ran over to take a look. As he got closer, he was shocked to see a deep crack running across Shellder's shell, from head to tail. It was almost split in half!
"What happened here?"
Ethan Black stood stunned upon seeing the crack.
Shellder's shell was as hard as diamond—could Sandslash have broken it with just one attack?
Impossible!
Since when was Sandslash this strong?
"It seems like a congenital defect. This type of damage doesn't regenerate like common wounds. It's like what happened to your own Sandslash," Rachel Blake said after a moment of silence.
Ethan Black rolled his eyes and thought: "My Sandslash doesn't have any flaws!"
Though he didn't say it out loud, he began examining Shellder carefully.
Clearly, by losing the integrity of its shell, Shellder's defense had been drastically reduced. Although its shell was still incredibly hard, the crack allowed energy to leak into its soft interior, so even a residual shockwave could cause severe damage.
Otherwise, Sandslash's attack wouldn't have been able to defeat a Shellder fully encased in its shell.
(End of chapter)