Sand danced and flew wildly within the domain of Tyranitar's Sand Stream ability, where Aoki was gradually securing a dominant position in the battle.
His opponent had sent out an Alolan Marowak in a bid to seize the offensive initiative, but Aoki's speed proved to be superior. His Blaziken engaged the Marowak only briefly before disengaging and charging toward the rear of the opponent's formation.
Marowak's attack was effectively blocked by Aggron. Simultaneously, because Aoki had correctly anticipated his opponent's core strategy and found a method to counter their Mega Gardevoir, the opponent's offensive and defensive coordination was disrupted, leading to a temporary stalemate.
As a result, Aoki, who held the advantage in the number of active Pokémon, began to unleash a relentless series of assaults.
He strategically bypassed the Mega Gardevoir, which was clearly positioned to intentionally absorb damage, and instead directly targeted the highly flexible Delibird.
Faced with a choice between Jynx and Delibird, Aoki committed to a focus-fire strategy.
In an instant, his team locked onto Delibird.
Florges used Grass Knot to ensnare the target, while Gengar's Mean Look, combined with Slowking's masterful manipulation of the surrounding space, prevented Delibird from either flying away or using Teleport to escape. This coordinated effort also thwarted any attempt by Mega Gardevoir to use Ally Switch as a rescue maneuver. Blaziken positioned itself to intercept Jynx's Icy Wind, ensuring no opposing Pokémon could interfere with the assault on Delibird.
Tyranitar and Aggron then launched a relentless barrage of Stone Edge attacks, which struck the thoroughly restrained Delibird one after another.
Having landed from its initial charge, Blaziken now surged forward to meet the approaching Alolan Exeggutor, while Drapion moved to replace it, appearing directly before Jynx with its fangs already wreathed in fire, ready to unleash a Triple Fire Fang attack.
The Alolan Muk moved sluggishly, wanting to help its allies alleviate the mounting pressure but unable to maneuver with any freedom.
In a death match of this nature, one Pokémon was always required to remain near the Trainer to guard against direct sneak attacks, which limited its mobility.
The man's face contorted into a grimace. He had never anticipated that his carefully honed tactics and fighting style would be so thoroughly seen through by his opponent.
His strategy of using Gardevoir as a sacrificial defensive pawn had failed to deceive Aoki.
Not only had Aoki refused to target Gardevoir, but his Slowking was also focusing entirely on spatial disruption.
While Slowking's raw power was inferior to that of the Mega Evolved Gardevoir, its dedicated efforts to warp and control the space around the battlefield rendered Gardevoir's support efforts largely helpless.
If he did not make immediate adjustments, Delibird would be knocked out, and his position would become even more passive.
However, he did notice one critical detail: although Aoki's Pokémon were numerous and their teamwork was impeccable, their individual raw strength was somewhat lacking.
In its moment of crisis, Delibird wrapped itself in a barrier of psychic energy, desperately enduring two separate volleys of Stone Edge attacks from both Tyranitar and Aggron.
The Marowak, which had been sent flying by a powerful strike from Aggron's tail, did not press another attack. Instead, using the momentum from the repulsion, it swiftly changed direction and rushed toward the beleaguered Delibird.
Pale green flames erupted from the bone club it wielded, engulfing the entire weapon as it hurled it directly at the Grass Knot vines binding its ally.
"Ban!!!"
But just as the spinning bone was about to sever the constricting vines, Tyranitar roared, and a dense shield of sand, intermixed with sharp crystals, materialized instantly in the attack's path.
The bone club shattered the sand shield to pieces, and the eerie green flames clung to the debris, completely corroding it.
These were flames with a potent corrosive effect!
After impacting the shield, the bone automatically reversed its spin and returned to Marowak's waiting hand, its rescue attempt having failed.
Gengar, seizing the opportunity, threw a small, shimmering orb of light that struck true, successfully putting Delibird into a state of confusion just as its psychic barrier finally shattered. This particular Delibird's ability was Synchronize, but the confused status condition was not something the ability could reflect back onto its inflictor.
Now confused, Delibird was left vulnerable. Gengar chuckled darkly, a giant red ghostly eye appearing above its head from which rings of malevolent blue-purple energy radiated outwards.
The Ghost-type move, Hex, was unleashed. Given Delibird's current impaired state, the damage would be severe, as Hex deals double damage to a target afflicted with a status condition.
"Ah!!!"
A sharp, piercing sound immediately followed. The Mega Gardevoir, which had been grounded, was now suddenly hovering behind Gengar, a massive ball of condensed psychic energy already formed in its hands. It had forcibly torn itself free from Slowking's spatial restraints and hurled the psychic attack directly at Gengar!
But Gengar completely disregarded the threat from Gardevoir. It knew the attack would likely inflict significant damage, but as long as Florges remained on the field, it could be healed. Delibird, however, would not get a second chance!
Boom!!!
Boom!!!
Two violent explosions rang out almost simultaneously.
The vines Florges had manifested snapped instantly, and a figure was sent flying from the epicenter of one blast, looking utterly disheveled—it was Delibird!
From another point of impact, Gengar was also blasted backward by the force of Gardevoir's attack, but its injuries were not as severe as they might have been. At the last critical moment, Tyranitar had once again conjured a sand shield, successfully absorbing a portion of the damage meant for Gengar.
Gengar, upon hitting the ground, immediately sank into the shadows and vanished from sight.
Delibird, surprisingly, had not yet fainted, though it was teetering on the brink.
It lay at the man's feet, barely conscious.
The man merely glanced down at it, and his Alolan Muk immediately understood his unspoken command, its eyes flashing with a mixture of cruelty and excitement. A multicolored, foul-smelling orb of toxic energy materialized in its grasp.
The man chuckled softly, a cold, dismissive sound. "Make your final contribution."
To Aoki's grimace of disgust, the Alolan Muk hurled the toxic blob directly onto the incapacitated Delibird. The Muk's expression, one of faint excitement and satisfaction, coupled with its practiced motion, clearly indicated this was not the first, nor even the second, time it had performed such an act.
Aoki could only watch, helpless and angered, as the opponent callously abused his own Pokémon, powerless to intervene.
Seeing the abilities and moves of the opponent's team, he now fully understood their tactics: a ruthless strategy of trading self-inflicted harm for a tactical advantage, executed even more thoroughly and repulsively than Aoki himself had ever contemplated.
Delibird was now badly poisoned. In the moments before it completely lost consciousness, its Synchronize ability activated, synchronizing the poison status onto the Aggron that was still rushing across the battlefield.
A faint hint of purple suddenly bloomed across Aggron's metallic face, and its charging speed noticeably decreased.
"Tch, useless. Only managed to synchronize once? And you transferred it to the Aggron," the man grumbled in dissatisfaction as he recalled the fainted Delibird back into its Poké Ball.
He had invested significant resources into training that Delibird, and it had not yet reached a level of expendability where he could simply discard it without a thought.
However, Delibird had ultimately managed to play its final, twisted role.
The moment Delibird was recalled, the Alolan Marowak, showing no hesitation or any discernible emotional reaction to its ally's fate, immediately turned and charged toward Blaziken, which was now maneuvering to engage the Alolan Exeggutor.
While Blaziken held a type advantage against the Alolan Exeggutor, the disparity in their levels was significant. It could only harry and entangle the much larger Pokémon, not confront it directly.
Seeing Marowak now charging toward it as well, Blaziken decisively began to retreat. It could not hope to withstand a one-on-one assault from Marowak, let alone a combined one-on-two attack from both opponents!
But it was one thing to charge in, and quite another to disengage so easily. Extricating itself from this escalating situation was proving to be troublesome.