"Against an opponent like that, it really does come down to winning with status moves."
Wallace couldn't help but sigh emotionally.
"To think Hisuian Arcanine would fall like that."
If he'd been the one on the field, he'd probably have been steamrolled straight through by that Hisuian Arcanine.
Yet Selene had defeated it using only two Pokémon.
Sure, Iron Valiant had fought it briefly, but anyone who understood the matchup knew the truth—
Iron Valiant hadn't really done much damage to it at all.
Mega Gengar's Pain Split had dragged Hisuian Arcanine's HP down by half, and only then did Weezing finish it off with Toxic + Explosion.
"Mm. If you tried to take it head-on, beating that Hisuian Arcanine would be extremely difficult," Steven agreed.
"I wonder what Champion Dylan's next Pokémon will be."
Selene looked expectant.
It would probably still be a Hisuian Pokémon, right? After all, the first three had all been from Hisui.
"Looks like my teaching wasn't wasted, Selene. You did well."
Dylan recalled the fainted Hisuian Arcanine and praised her calmly.
"Hehe~ of course!"
Selene puffed out her chest proudly, hands on her hips.
"Then what about this one?"
Dylan chuckled and took out another Ultra Ball, flicking it forward.
"Ursaluna—prepare for battle!"
With a deep, heavy roar, an enormous, powerfully built brown bear landed in front of Dylan.
Its muzzle was pale yellow, gray fur covered its upper body and limbs, and a yellow ring marked its forehead.
"Ursaluna? …No, wait, not Bloodmoon."
Selene froze for a moment before quickly realizing this wasn't Bloodmoon Ursaluna.
Bloodmoon Ursaluna was easy to distinguish—the crimson mark on its forehead, and the different distribution of peat covering its body.
"That's right. This is standard Ursaluna," Dylan said with a smile.
"But it only appears on Hisuian land. Its typing is the same as the Bloodmoon form, but Ursaluna excels more in close combat."
Pokédex Scan
Ursaluna
Ground / Normal
Peat Pokémon
Ability: Guts
Moves: Headlong Rush, Hammer Arm, Earthquake, High Horsepower, Play Rough…
Research suggests that the wet peat soil spread across the Hisui region shaped its sturdy body and granted it new ways to wield peat.
A Ground-type…
Giovanni observed the massive bear closely.
Even while standing on all fours, Ursaluna was nearly three meters tall.
If it stood upright, it would probably reach four or five meters—easily a mid-to-large-sized Pokémon.
As for its strength…
Giovanni didn't even need to think about it.
If Dylan sent it out as his fourth Pokémon, could it possibly be weak?
"A Pokémon unique to the Hisui region?" Blue said with interest.
Unlike the previous Hisuian forms, this one truly existed only in Hisui.
"That's right. Ursaluna is Hisui-exclusive," Lillie nodded.
"Ursaring can only evolve into Ursaluna in the Hisuian environment."
That made several people pause.
"Wait—this evolves from Ursaring?"
"That's right. Ursaring evolves into it."
Giovanni looked surprised—no wonder it felt familiar.
His thoughts immediately started racing.
If I raise an Ursaring and let Dylan take it to Hisui… wouldn't that mean I could get an Ursaluna too?
As someone fond of Ground-type Pokémon, that was extremely tempting.
Blue was thinking the exact same thing.
After all—Hisui-exclusive Pokémon were hard to resist.
On the battlefield
"Incineroar!"
Selene decisively sent out Incineroar.
Since Ursaluna specialized in close combat, leading with Incineroar to weaken it was the right call.
The familiar combo began:
Intimidate lowered Ursaluna's Attack.
Fake Out chipped some damage.
Then Parting Shot, reducing both of Ursaluna's offenses before switching out.
However—
"Swords Dance."
As Incineroar used Parting Shot, Dylan immediately ordered Ursaluna to boost.
Swords Dance sharply raised Ursaluna's Attack, restoring what had been lowered.
As for Special Attack?
Even if it dropped to zero, it wouldn't matter.
Ursaluna's Special Attack was terrible anyway.
"Kartana!"
Selene frowned slightly as she switched.
As expected of Dylan—his timing with Swords Dance was perfect.
Right when she called out Parting Shot.
Otherwise, Incineroar could've stopped and attacked instead.
But fine.
She trusted Kartana in a close-range fight.
Kartana's Attack was terrifying.
The reason Kartana couldn't deal with Hisuian Arcanine earlier was simple—it couldn't keep up with Extreme Speed, and it was type-disadvantaged.
Against Ursaluna, that wasn't a problem.
The paper-bodied Ultra Beast floated in front of Selene, small in size, yet radiating razor-sharp killing intent.
"Kartana!"
To ensure dominance, Selene immediately Terastallized.
The black Tera Orb flew forward, crystalline light flashing brilliantly.
Steel-type Tera Kartana appeared.
She had no choice.
Losing Grass typing meant Ground now resisted it—but it also eliminated Kartana's deadly quadruple weakness to Fire.
And while Ursaluna wasn't Fire-type, Selene absolutely did not trust it not to know Fire Punch.
Too many physical Pokémon learned it.
Better safe than sorry.
"Kartana! Leaf Blade!"
Selene struck first.
Kartana's blade-like arms unfolded as it charged forward at high speed.
Grass-type Leaf Blade!
"High Horsepower!"
Dylan wanted to test Kartana's raw power as well.
Ursaluna roared and charged forward on all fours.
Kartana raised its right arm, green energy forming a razor-sharp blade, and slashed downward.
Ursaluna's body flared with earthen energy as it smashed forward.
Boom!
Leaf Blade vs High Horsepower!
Green and yellow energy clashed violently.
In the end, Leaf Blade forced its way through, pushing back the ground-type energy.
Selene's eyes lit up.
"Ursaluna loses in a head-on clash!" Blue noticed immediately.
"That's normal," Leaf said calmly.
"Kartana's Attack stat is absurd."
Ursaluna's physical attack was already extremely high—
But Kartana's was even higher.
"Yawn."
Dylan gave the command without hesitation.
Ursaluna opened its mouth wide, releasing a cloud of pale mist toward Kartana.
Because of the distraction, High Horsepower completely lost to Leaf Blade.
The slash landed cleanly, sending Ursaluna flying and crashing to the ground.
Grass beat Ground—this Leaf Blade dealt serious damage.
But Dylan grinned.
Because Yawn had landed.
Selene felt a headache coming on.
Yawn was delayed sleep—and it had already connected.
Soon, Kartana would fall asleep.
"Swords Dance."
Dylan ordered again.
Ursaluna rose, aura sharpening dangerously.
Another Swords Dance—its Attack rose even further.
"Leaf Blade!" Selene's expression shifted.
Kartana rushed in again, slashing hard.
The attack hit—
But this time, Ursaluna dug its claws into the ground.
It was pushed back only slightly.
"Come back, Kartana!"
Selene recalled it immediately.
If she waited any longer, Yawn would activate and Kartana would be finished.
Ursaluna's second Swords Dance had fully completed.
"Incineroar!"
Incineroar entered for the second time.
Intimidate activated, lowering Ursaluna's Attack again.
Even so, Ursaluna was still at +1 Attack—and its pressure was overwhelming.
"Tch… how annoying."
Ursaluna was clearly injured—
But it was still terrifying.
"Earthquake."
Dylan's lips curved upward.
Ursaluna raised a massive paw.
"Fake Out!"
Incineroar flashed forward, slamming a paw down.
Fake Out landed—Earthquake was interrupted.
"Flamethrower!"
This time, Selene didn't use Parting Shot.
A blazing stream of fire surged toward Ursaluna.
Its Defense should be high—so she tested it with special damage.
But just before the flames hit—
Ursaluna raised a claw.
The fire slammed into it—
And was torn apart.
With a single, brutal swipe, Ursaluna split Flamethrower in half.
Selene's expression changed.
That was ridiculous.
"ROOOOAR!!"
Ursaluna reared up and let out a savage, violent roar that echoed across the stadium.
"It looks… really angry," Rosa tilted her head.
"Well," N said with a strange expression,
"if someone slapped you, insulted you, ran away—then came back later to slap you again…"
"You'd be angry too."
(PS: Happy New Year, everyone! First day of the year—new beginnings.)