BOOM!
A sea of blazing fire swept outward.
This time, the mysterious bear Pokémon finally chose not to confront the attack head-on.
The previous Flamethrower had made it clearly realize that the intruder occupying its territory was no easy opponent.
Although its body was exceptionally tough, using Brick Break to split apart the Flamethrower had still left minor burns on its body.
A faint scent of singed fur lingered around the unknown bear Pokémon.
It bent its knees slightly and let out a deep breath.
THUD!
After a heavy explosion-like sound, two enormous footprints were left where it had been standing.
Silas's expression changed again.
Contrary to his expectations, this suspected regional bear variant was not lacking in speed or agility at all.
Despite standing nearly two meters tall and weighing well over a hundred kilograms, it could still dodge Blaziken's attacks with astonishing quickness.
Though its movements appeared somewhat strenuous, considering its size, that was already incredible.
"So, that means it's not particularly skilled at long-range energy attacks."
Watching the unknown Pokémon rapidly close the distance, Silas quickly guessed its intentions and drew a conclusion.
Based on everything he knew about Pokémon, even Legendary Pokémon had strengths and weaknesses, except perhaps for beings like Arceus.
When a Pokémon's physical strength and speed reached the highest levels, its special attacking ability was usually comparatively weaker.
Furthermore, this fit perfectly with Silas's earlier judgment regarding the bear Pokémon's typing.
Most pure Fighting-type Pokémon were not especially adept at ranged attacks.
Perhaps that was because most Fighting-type moves were physical attacks.
They generally lacked effective long-distance combat options.
If Silas remembered correctly, Vacuum Wave, Focus Blast, Aura Sphere, and Final Gambit were the only special Fighting-type attacks.
Among them, aside from Focus Blast, the other three were highly dependent on the Pokémon itself.
Aura Sphere required Aura abilities, which very few Pokémon possessed.
As for Vacuum Wave and Final Gambit, only a limited number of Pokémon species were known to learn them.
As a result, Fighting-type battles usually revolved around close-quarters combat.
Even Pokémon like Blaziken, which possessed respectable abilities in other attributes, were no exception.
Thus, facing the charging opponent, Silas's eyes burned with excitement.
His attitude mirrored Blaziken's perfectly.
"Show it our fighting spirit!"
"Use Swords Dance, then follow up with Low Kick!"
As his command rang out, Blaziken immediately ceased using Fire Spin and crossed its arms before its chest.
"Blaze!"
A cry filled with fighting spirit echoed through the cavern.
Its aura surged to an even higher level.
"ROOOAR—!"
The unknown Pokémon roared in response.
Without Fire Spin hindering it any longer, it accelerated even faster toward Blaziken.
In the blink of an eye, less than ten meters separated them.
For either Pokémon, that was a distance crossed in a single step.
Brilliant white light gathered around the bear Pokémon's claws.
The two combatants locked eyes.
Within those gazes burned the same intense desire for battle.
For Fighting-type Pokémon, few things were more enjoyable than growing stronger and testing themselves against worthy opponents.
Especially when the opponent was close in strength and shared a similar battle style.
BOOM!
Under the spectators' watchful eyes, the attacks of the two Pokémon, both moving so quickly that afterimages trailed behind them—collided violently.
A brief moment of silence followed.
Then came an earth-shaking explosion and a fierce blast of wind that swept through the cavern.
Both Ninetales and Gallade's eyes glowed with blue-violet light.
Under their Psychic protection, neither Silas nor Brock suffered any harm from the shockwave.
However, the shattered rocks flying through the cave testified to the terrifying force behind the clash.
Using the recoil from the collision, Blaziken flipped through the air several times before landing gracefully.
Its right leg trembled involuntarily.
"Its physical strength is at least one and a half times mine. Very strong."
Blaziken's Aura-transmitted voice echoed in Silas's mind.
"How's the right leg?" Silas immediately asked.
"Manageable. About thirty seconds before it's fully recovered."
After assessing its condition, Blaziken promptly reported back.
This was one of the greatest advantages possessed by Pokémon capable of using Aura or Psychic abilities.
Even during the fiercest battles, they could communicate perfectly with their Trainers.
Other Pokémon and Trainers could only rely on experience and mutual understanding.
While veteran partnerships minimized information errors, the convenience was incomparable.
Blaziken subtly shifted its weight onto its left leg.
Flames flickered around its body.
It was already prepared for the next exchange.
Meanwhile, the unknown Pokémon had fallen into a rather strange posture.
Its massive, muscular body was nearly pressed against the ground, yet it had not completely collapsed.
Upon closer inspection, its thick legs were continuously exerting force.
Its three-clawed feet dug firmly into the ground, creating numerous cracks.
"RAAAAH!"
With a strained roar, the bear Pokémon forcibly "lifted" its own body back upright in a manner that seemed to defy common sense.
"What incredible strength. What incredible body control."
Silas immediately understood what had happened.
Blaziken could accomplish the same feat if necessary.
Most of the time, however, there was no reason to.
Given its flexibility, Blaziken could simply perform a bridge and backflip to regain its stance.
For this massive bear Pokémon, however, such maneuvers were unrealistic.
Its heavily muscled frame inevitably limited its flexibility and agility.
The unknown Pokémon slowly exhaled.
Its breathing had become noticeably heavier.
Although it had avoided falling and suffering additional damage, the Low Kick empowered by Swords Dance had still dealt significant damage due to its massive weight.
Even though it had adjusted the angle of its Brick Break at the last moment to offset part of the attack's power, the damage remained substantial.
More importantly, it knew its own situation better than anyone.
Its resistance to Fighting-type moves was rather poor.
Its typing was not pure Fighting.
Instead, it was a dual-type Fighting/Dark Pokémon, exactly like Pangoro.
From that perspective, Silas's earlier speculation had actually been quite reasonable.
Silas narrowed his eyes and carefully observed his opponent's condition.
He hadn't directly confirmed the Fighting-type weakness yet.
He only had suspicions.
And suspicions alone weren't enough.
"Blaziken, use Aura Sphere."
His command rang out clearly.
Blaziken nodded.
A blue sphere of Aura energy instantly formed before it.
Unlike its opponent, Blaziken's weakness wasn't offense.
Whether physical attacks or special attacks, Blaziken excelled at both.
With a casual swing of its claw, the Aura Sphere shot forward toward the mysterious Pokémon.
A sharp glint flashed through the bear Pokémon's eyes.
Its fists flew out in rapid succession, creating waves of disturbed air.
Under this defense, the blue sphere continuously shrank until it completely dissipated.
Detect.
A Fighting-type move similar to Protect, used to prevent damage.
Its success rate followed the same rules as Protect, and the two moves affected one another.
In other words, using Protect immediately after a successful Detect would still result in a greatly reduced success rate.
For most Pokémon proficient with the move, however, the first use was almost guaranteed to succeed.
A smile appeared on Silas's face.
That reaction confirmed his suspicions.
The bear Pokémon truly feared Fighting-type attacks.
Otherwise, there would have been no reason to use Detect against Aura Sphere.
After all, when facing the more powerful Flamethrower earlier, it had simply countered with Brick Break.
The unknown Pokémon also sensed that things were becoming troublesome.
Its arms dropped to its sides as it charged straight toward the stationary Blaziken.
Blaziken's right leg was still partially numb.
Combined with the fact that it had just launched Aura Sphere, it could only watch as its opponent closed in.
"ROAR!"
Taking a large step forward, the bear Pokémon swung its massive paw toward Blaziken.
At the critical moment, Blaziken raised its recovering right leg and met the attack head-on.
After a brief stalemate, Blaziken spun gracefully through the air and switched positions with its opponent.
"Now!"
"Use Brave Bird!"
Silas immediately seized the opportunity.
Dense Flying-type energy engulfed Blaziken's body.
Against a Fighting/Dark-type Pokémon, a Flying-type move of this caliber would be devastating.
The bear Pokémon's expression turned extremely serious.
There was even a trace of anger.
Instead of dodging, it crossed its arms above its head defensively.
A metallic silver sheen flashed across its body.
The Steel-type energy rapidly concentrated into both arms.
CLANG—!
As Blaziken descended from above, wrapped in Brave Bird's power, its kick struck the bear Pokémon's crossed arms.
The sound resembled metal colliding with metal.
The massive Pokémon was forced back two steps.
Deep grooves carved into the ground demonstrated the force of the impact.
However, compared to what Silas and Blaziken had expected, the damage was significantly reduced.
That was thanks to the Pokémon's creative use of Iron Defense.
It had concentrated most of the Steel-type energy into its arms, dramatically increasing their durability.
Even so, its condition had worsened considerably.
Brave Bird possessed tremendous base power.
Iron Defense merely reduced the additional damage caused by its type disadvantage.
Had Blaziken been a Flying-type Pokémon and received STAB from Brave Bird, that single hit might have pushed the bear Pokémon to its limit.
Unfortunately, Blaziken's own condition wasn't much better.
In fact, it was about to become worse.
After using one of the strongest Flying-type moves available, it entered the vulnerable period caused by recoil.
Brave Bird's backlash had already inflicted damage upon it.
The moment the bear Pokémon regained its footing and charged with its fists swinging, Blaziken could only watch.
BAM—CRASH!
The fiery-red figure was launched backward.
Blaziken slammed into a cave wall, leaving a deep crater before sliding weakly to the ground.
"Blaziken!"
Silas cried out.
Because at that moment, the bear Pokémon wasn't finished.
It continued charging toward Blaziken.
"Blaze!"
Blaziken slammed both claws into the ground and forced itself upright despite the pain coursing through its body.
Then it accelerated into an incredible burst of speed.
During the earlier battles against the numerous pseudo-Elite opponents, its Speed Boost Ability had already reached maximum effect.
Now, afterimages appeared everywhere as it circled around the bear Pokémon.
The massive Pokémon gradually stopped advancing.
It once again assumed its martial arts stance.
"So fast..."
Brock couldn't help but exclaim.
He knew Blaziken possessed Speed Boost.
He simply hadn't realized it could become this fast.
His eyes were already struggling to follow its movements.
The bear Pokémon standing amidst the afterimages had it even worse.
Although its vision and reflexes vastly exceeded Brock's, it still couldn't pinpoint Blaziken's actual location.
Through speed alone, Blaziken had effectively recreated the effect of Double Team.
Of course, such movement consumed enormous stamina.
Silas knew they couldn't continue this indefinitely.
"Blaziken, use Flame Charge!"
Leveraging its incredible speed, Silas intended to strike even faster.
If the opponent couldn't react, counterattacking would be impossible.
Blaziken didn't attack immediately.
Instead, it patiently waited.
The instant the bear Pokémon turned its head slightly to one side.
Blaziken appeared behind it.
Directly within its blind spot.
Flames erupted across Blaziken's body almost instantly.
BOOM!
This time, it was the bear Pokémon that was sent crashing into a nearby wall.
Rocks rained down.
Blaziken panted heavily as it stared at the enormous figure slumped against the rubble.
What was astonishing was that despite suffering so much damage, the mysterious Pokémon still retained combat capability.
Yet the wounds covering its body clearly showed it was nearing its limit.
As Silas and Blaziken evaluated their opponent, the bear Pokémon suddenly dropped onto all fours like an ordinary bear.
Then it lunged.
Brilliant white light gathered around its head.
"Not good!"
"Blaziken, use Protect!"
Silas hadn't expected such a reckless attack.
He had assumed the Pokémon was still recovering.
Immediately, he ordered Blaziken to defend itself.
...
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