He slowly recalled Feraligatr and turned his gaze back to Ariel and the Krookodile beside him, which was wiping its mouth with its claws as if savoring something.
"I lost."
Juan admitted frankly.
"Your Krookodile's training has exceeded my imagination. Its speed, power, and especially... that moment of transition from lurking to bursting out, its grasp of timing is practically instinctual."
"It is exceptional."
Ariel patted Krookodile's head, his words filled with heartfelt pride.
"Exceptional?"
Juan shook his head, the look of inquiry in his blue eyes deepening.
"It can no longer be described as just exceptional."
He gave Ariel a deep look, as if trying to see right through him.
"It seems that using only Superior-tier Pokémon won't allow me to truly understand your strength."
Juan's tone changed; it was no longer the testing of a senior toward a junior, but the seriousness between opponents of equal level.
From the other side of his waist, he took down a Poké Ball that looked somewhat old.
"Well then, next, let one of the partners I've personally raised have a taste of your skills."
As his voice fell, the Poké Ball was thrown.
Amidst the red light, an aura far more ferocious and violent than Feraligatr's descended with a boom!
Crawdaunt!
More importantly, the powerful energy fluctuations radiating from it were...
Gym Leader Level!
The atmosphere inside the training room froze to the breaking point at this moment.
Juan crossed his arms over his chest, a faint, non-existent smile on his lips as he looked at the dark red Pokémon that had just appeared on the field.
"This Crawdaunt is one I captured recently and trained personally. You'd better be careful."
His voice wasn't loud, but it reached Ariel's ears clearly, like a stone cast into a calm lake.
Ariel's gaze instantly froze.
Elite Juan... a Pokémon he trained personally.
The weight of those words was so heavy it made his breathing hitch.
At the other end of the field, the Crawdaunt's size wasn't exaggerated, but the color of its shell was as deep as congealed blood. As its two massive pincers opened and closed, they created gusts of wind, and a cold metallic light glinted on the pincer blades, as if they could easily shear through steel.
Its gaze wasn't agile or fierce like an ordinary Pokémon's, but a pure, cold ruthlessness born for battle.
This fellow was a true killing machine.
Ariel's heart began to beat faster involuntarily, a thrill mixed with excitement and wariness surging from his spine to the top of his head.
He glanced at the Krookodile beside him.
On the field, Krookodile had just finished an exhilarating battle, and not even a decent scar could be found on its body.
After defeating Feraligatr, the "Moxie" ability had already activated. A black-and-red aura swirled around it, a sign that its physical attack had increased by one stage.
At this moment, it was at its peak.
"Roar!"
Krookodile felt the pressure from its new opponent. Instead of fearing it, it bared its large mouth and let out a Taunting roar, its thick tail sweeping heavily to kick up a wave of sand.
Its fighting spirit was higher than ever before.
"Then let's continue, Krookodile!"
Ariel had no intention of switching Pokémon.
Firstly, Krookodile was in top form with soaring momentum.
Secondly, he also wanted to see where the limits of himself and Krookodile truly lay.
A Pokémon personally trained by an Elite-level powerhouse would have a potential of at least Quasi-Elite Four Level, and its combat power would surely be among the best of its tier.
Seeing this, Juan simply nodded slightly without saying much.
The battle was about to erupt.
There was no referee and no verbal commands; when the gazes of the two Trainers met in the air, that was the signal.
"Wuga!"
At almost the exact same moment, Crawdaunt moved!
Its movements were the complete opposite of its seemingly clunky body. Its six legs exerted force, keeping its body almost pressed to the ground as it turned into a dark red afterimage, charging straight ahead.
So fast!
Ariel's pupils constricted.
What alarmed him even more was Crawdaunt's high-raised right pincer.
Rings of deep blue water appeared out of thin air, like a high-speed rotating vortex, quickly gathering and compressing until they enveloped the entire giant pincer.
That water wasn't a soft liquid; instead, it seemed like a high-density energy body, radiating heart-palpitating fluctuations.
Crabhammer!
And it was a Crabhammer condensed to the extreme!
"Evade it, use Dig!"
Ariel's command practically blurted out. Simultaneously, a surge of psychic power flowed through the invisible link and into Krookodile's mind.
Danger! You can't take that hit head-on! Cut in from the underground on the left!
This was the tacit understanding between him and Krookodile, a seamless cooperation brought about by Telepathy.
Krookodile's massive body twisted abruptly, narrowly avoiding Crawdaunt's linear charge at an incredible angle.
BOOM!!!
The Crabhammer slammed solidly into the spot where Krookodile had been standing.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only an extremely muffled, heavy thud.
With the impact point as the center, the solid ground instantly collapsed, and a deep pit over two meters in diameter appeared. The ground at the edges of the pit was compressed by the immense force, becoming as hard as rock.
Wisps of white steam rose from the bottom of the pit, the result of moisture being instantly evaporated.
A drop of cold sweat seeped from Ariel's temple.
The power of this strike...
He could even feel, through the mental link, the fierce wind that had brushed past Krookodile and the terrifying power contained within it.
Is this the "Adaptability" ability?
It increased the power of Same-Type Attack Bonus moves from 1.5 times to 2 times.
A seemingly small numerical change could turn into a terrifying qualitative transformation in the hands of a Trainer of Juan's caliber.
"Wuga!"
Having missed the strike, Crawdaunt didn't pause for a second. Its other giant pincer swept out, kicking up a screen of sand in an attempt to block Krookodile's movement.
But Krookodile had already plunged into the sandy soil under Ariel's instruction.
Above the sand, only a rapidly extending trail remained.
Juan watched Krookodile moving at high speed underground, his face still maintaining that calm expression as if everything was under control.
"Aqua Jet."
He spoke plainly.
Crawdaunt immediately stopped its pursuit and slammed both pincers into the sandy ground beneath it.
The next second, a powerful stream of water jetted from its tail, propelling its body like it was sliding on water, moving at high speed across the sand.
Its movement trajectory was completely irregular, yet it always maintained a subtle distance from Krookodile's underground trail.
It was predicting Krookodile's emergence point!
Ariel's heart skipped a beat.
This Crawdaunt's battle intelligence was frighteningly high.
It knew Krookodile was underground and that it lacked effective means of attack, so it simply used the high mobility of Aqua Jet to kite, giving Krookodile no chance for a sneak attack while simultaneously searching for a weakness.
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