"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The roar of explosions filled the air.
As the smoke cleared, Altaria was seen struggling to stand, while Annihilape lay on the ground, unable to battle. The injuries Annihilape sustained during its earlier clash with Gyarados were simply too severe.
"Return, Annihilape. You did your best. Now it's your turn, Sylveon."
"Altaria, Moonblast!"
The moment Sylveon returned to the field, Taishi Utsunomiya ordered his Altaria—which was reaching its limit—to attack, hoping to drain as much of Sylveon's stamina as possible.
"Hyper Voice! Disarming Voice!"
Sound waves, almost physical in form, rippled out to block the Moonblast.
Immediately after, Disarming Voice was unleashed. Unable to dodge, Altaria was forced to take the hit. The super-effective damage from the Fairy-type move caused Altaria to collapse, finally losing its ability to battle. Having endured three hits from Annihilape's Rage Fist, this Altaria's strength was evident even with the defense boosts from Cotton Guard.
"It's up to you to turn this around, Dragonite! Hurricane!"
Recalling Altaria, Taishi Utsunomiya released his final Pokémon. A draconic roar echoed as Dragonite beat its wings, rapidly conjuring a massive storm.
Unnoticed by most, Misty Terrain began to spread across the field once more.
Facing Dragonite's onslaught, Gu Yuan did not have Sylveon counterattack immediately. Instead, he ordered it to use Calm Mind. It wasn't until the Hurricane closed in that the buffed Sylveon retaliated with Hyper Voice.
The expanding sound waves were not enough to completely dissipate the storm at such close range. Seizing the moment while the remaining winds trapped Sylveon, Dragonite followed Taishi's command and used Aerial Ace to vanish and reappear behind its opponent, unleashing a Fire Blast.
"Now! Turn around and use Hyper Beam!"
With the help of Calm Mind, Sylveon's Special Defense had increased, meaning the residual power of the Hurricane wasn't enough to cause significant interference.
An orange-yellow beam erupted, shattering the Fire Blast. Dragonite skillfully blocked the remaining force with its Dragon Claw.
"Aerial Ace! Pierce her with your Dragon Claw!"
With a burst of speed, Dragonite lunged at Sylveon, its sharp claws thrusting forward. However, it was met with Sylveon's furious gaze.
"Hyper Beam!"
As Gu Yuan's voice echoed in Sylveon's mind, the orange beam began to condense again. Sylveon was determined to crush this lecherous dragon that dared target its chest.
With Pixilate augmenting the move, the Hyper Beam blasted Dragonite backward instantly. Due to the Fairy-type effectiveness, the damage was devastating.
"Expert Mastery of Hyper Beam!?"
Taishi Utsunomiya couldn't help but cry out in shock at Sylveon's offensive prowess.
"Sylveon, Hyper Voice!"
Ignoring Taishi's surprise, Gu Yuan seized the opportunity to press the attack. However, Dragonite's raw power was equal to Charizard's. As a pseudo-legendary, it recovered quickly and took to the skies, narrowly avoiding the sound waves.
"Sylveon, Calm Mind."
"Dragonite, Thunderbolt!"
Orange-yellow electricity crackled and fell like a rain of lightning, leaving Sylveon with no room to dodge.
"Sylveon, Hyper Voice!"
After two boosts from Calm Mind, the power of Hyper Voice had increased significantly. The sound waves were so dense they physically crushed the falling lightning. Dragonite countered with another Hurricane.
Having learned his lesson, Taishi stopped trying to finish Sylveon quickly and settled into a more methodical pace. His opponent had Ace Rank strength, and the typing and abilities were extremely disadvantageous for a Dragon-type like Dragonite. Rushing would only lead to more mistakes.
Facing a Dragonite armed with a vast array of moves, Sylveon easily neutralized them with just Hyper Voice. The combination of Pixilate and two stages of Special Attack boosts was enough to compensate for the gap in raw power. However, in terms of pure stamina, Dragonite still held the edge, and Sylveon was beginning to show signs of exhaustion.
Just as Gu Yuan was about to have Sylveon fire off consecutive Hyper Beam attacks, Dragonite launched a sudden charge. Taishi knew that he had little hope of winning a prolonged battle; his only chance for victory lay in Dragonite's Outrage.
A flash of fury crossed Dragonite's eyes as draconic energy surged through its entire body.
"Roar!"
With a deafening cry, Dragonite's power surged again. Misty Terrain lingered on the field as Gu Yuan ordered Sylveon to use Hyper Voice to keep the beast at bay.
At this point, Dragonite no longer needed Taishi's commands. Overwhelming draconic energy poured out as it initiated Dragon Rush, tearing through the sound waves to reach Sylveon. Sylveon blocked the impact with a Double-Edge.
Under the influence of Outrage, Dragonite felt no pain. It stabilized its body and lunged again with Dragon Claw.
Baton Pass triggered. Sylveon returned to its Poké Ball, and Charizard took the field, inheriting the Special Attack and Special Defense boosts from Sylveon's earlier Calm Mind sessions.
Watching the charging Dragonite, Charizard surged forward without fear. Although it lacked the Dragon typing, Charizard was still capable of learning Outrage. Gu Yuan had spent a massive amount of League contribution points to acquire this move and used his own points to raise Charizard's mastery to the limit.
Unlike the version in games, a real-life Outrage significantly boosts the user's physical power and greatly enhances their fighting spirit.
With Outrage active, Charizard clashed with Dragonite. Flames swirled and roars echoed continuously. During their fierce battle, the already battered arena was further pulverized. The meteors left over from Altaria's Draco Meteor were reduced to dust and scattered across the ruins of the battlefield.
Through the smoke, two figures lunged at each other, their Dragon Claw attacks clashing repeatedly and leaving deep gashes on one another. Finally, Charizard found an opening and slammed its tail into Dragonite, sent it crashing into the ground.
Dragonite struggled to stand. Because it had not mastered Outrage to the expert level, its mind was already beginning to descend into confusion. For Charizard, however, the fight was just beginning.
Blast Burn descended. Just like Sylveon's Hyper Beam, Charizard's mastery of Blast Burn had reached the expert level. Exploding flames instantly engulfed Dragonite.
In the next moment, wreathed in draconic energy, Charizard transformed into a great dragon and dove into the inferno.
Everyone in the stands knew Taishi Utsunomiya had lost. As the flames dissipated, Dragonite lay powerless on the ground, having lost the ability to fight, while Charizard looked as though it hadn't yet had its fill of battle.