"Kulo!" The Toxicroak's hands glowed with a ghostly purple light once again, then it slashed fiercely at the incoming flames!
The blazing pillar of fire was directly split in two by the ghostly purple energy, and the Toxicroak was rapidly closing in on Charizard along the Flamethrower!
This scene immediately reminded Ash of the time in the battle against Venusaur, using a method to seize the gap in Charmeleon's attack.
Are these Gym Leaders only capable of using this method to trap someone? Unfortunately, the same move will not work on him a second time.
The biggest difference between Charizard and Charmeleon back then is that he now has wings!
With a thought from Ash, Charizard swiftly flapped his wings, allowing his huge body to ascend into the air, while the flame in his mouth continued to blaze, even more intensely!
"Flying up? Sludge Bomb!!" Seeing the airborne Charizard, Koga switched his attack move.
The energy in Toxicroak's hands suddenly intensified, slashing the flames apart directly, and before the subsequent flames could arrive, Toxicroak opened its mouth, spraying out dark purple energy resembling sludge.
The Sludge Bomb moved incredibly fast and covered a wide area, surrounding all possible evasion spots for Charizard in an instant.
Charizard, in mid-air, was completely surrounded by the Sludge Bomb with no room for escape.
Ash's Aura Power was used to its fullest, yet he couldn't find an opening to dodge within the encircling barrage of bombs.
This is the impact of the skill inequality, with the opponent's attacks being fast and wide-ranging; even with Aura, which is akin to a precognitive radar for detecting attacks, there's simply no way to evade.
'Fire Spin!' Ash's calm voice echoed in Charizard's mind, and Charizard ceased the Flamethrower, then reopened his maw, spinning his body fiercely!
An intensely hot flame transformed into a vortex, wrapping layer upon layer around Charizard.
"Oh? Using Fire Spin as a barrier to fend off Sludge Bombs? It's useless; the difference in power is too great." Koga was slightly impressed by Ash's strategy.
Though he couldn't hear Ash's command, he knew it was definitely Ash directing Charizard to use such a move.
Since the battle began, Charizard had been using moves without the Trainer's orders; one could only imagine Ash was using some special way to transmit commands into Charizard's mind, akin to the telepathy of a superpower user.
This type of command indeed allows for some advantage in battle, but for an experienced Trainer like him, it only creates a marginal information gap of mere fractions of a second.
And the power differential is too vast; against absolute power, these minor strategies are ineffective.
The Fire Spin illuminated the entire sky, while the dark purple Sludge Bombs battered against it, and not even a second passed before the dazzling flames were entirely eroded!
As Koga said, the power disparity was indeed enormous.
However, Koga didn't notice that Ash had already closed his eyes, clenching his fist with a very serious expression.
In the sky, as the Fire Spin was corroded away, countless Sludge Bombs charged towards Charizard; if hit, even a full-health Charizard would be rendered incapable of battling immediately!
The next moment, Ash suddenly opened his eyes, and Charizard faced the incoming Sludge Bomb head-on, both claws igniting with fierce flames!
"Fire Punch, is it? Useless." Koga shook his head, his tone somewhat disappointed.
Originally, he thought Ash might have a method to counter Toxicroak, but his big talk was just that, and his methods were nothing outstanding.
Using Fire Spin for defense was somewhat interesting, but too weak power-wise. As for breaking through Sludge Bombs with Fire Punch... ha, the power gap is such that even if Charizard used ten Fire Punches, it wouldn't be able to break through the sludge's encirclement.
The sun in the sky was obscured by the Sludge Bombs, its brilliance gradually fading, as if even the sun had dimmed at this moment.
"Boom!!"
A tremendous roar echoed in the sky, with wild winds sweeping out, causing ripples across nearby barriers, while a sinister smile appeared on the Toxicroak's face on the ground.
It's over.
"Chhh!!"
Within the smoke, a sound suddenly arose, but neither Toxicroak nor Koga paid it any mind, assuming it was the sound of the defeated Charizard falling from the sky.
Unexpectedly, a dazzling rainbow light tore through the smoke, temporarily blinding everyone present!
"Fire Punch." A steady voice echoed as the light from the sky descended like a meteor!
"Boom!!" Toxicroak and Koga hadn't anticipated that Charizard would still have the ability to fight.
So when Charizard descended from the sky, Toxicroak had no time to react, and even if it did, with Charizard's speed, escape was impossible.
The deafening collision echoed across the field, sending visible shockwaves impacting the surrounding barriers, causing deeper ripples than the disturbance created by the Sludge Bombs earlier!
The field was filled with smoke as a fiery silhouette shot out from it, landing on the other side of the arena.
This silhouette was Charizard, who, despite bearing numerous wounds, exuded a vibrant and uplifting aura!
The smoke started to dissipate on the other side, revealing Toxicroak's form; the once-dominant Toxicroak now lay like a defeated dog, with a massive burn on its back, its inner flesh faintly visible.
This inflicted damage was on a whole different level than the earlier Flamethrower from Charizard!
If earlier was just a scratch, this time it had struck a major artery of Toxicroak!
Koga was baffled, unable to comprehend what had just transpired even with his vast experience.
Charizard, who was at a disadvantage moments ago, had suddenly reversed the situation completely in an instant.
Not only did the Sludge Bomb fail to take down Charizard, but Charizard also retaliated, severely injuring Toxicroak.
What exactly happened in those few seconds?
Beside them, Misty and Brock couldn't help but swallow hard; Misty instinctively asked, "Do you know what just happened?"
Brock shook his head, expressionless, "I didn't see anything. Ash, this guy, was hiding his skills again!"
Though Brock didn't know what had happened, he knew Ash must have been hiding something once again, which left him puzzled.
Even though they were almost always together, whether training, eating, or sleeping, perhaps Ash just trained a bit earlier than the rest.
How is it that Ash can always reveal a power in a battle they thought impossible to win, which he had never shown before?
Who taught him to conceal his abilities like this?
Besides Misty and Brock, the surrounding spectators were also dumbfounded; just earlier, it was Koga who had the upper hand, Charizard seemingly on the verge of being defeated, and how did the situation suddenly reverse?
Perhaps the most shocked were those watching the live broadcast on televisions and computers, as they knew a bit more than the live audience, that Toxicroak was Koga's main Pokemon.
This was an Elite Level Pokemon!!
Charizard's strength was only Elite Level, just Elite Level!!
How could an Elite Level Charizard manage to defeat an Elite Level Toxicroak to such a state?
Were cheats involved?
Koga's sister, Aya, who was acting as the referee, was now completely stunned; Toxicroak had been down for almost ten seconds, should she declare Toxicroak's defeat?
But this fact, she still can't completely accept!
Her brother was clearly about to win, how could this happen?