As the blue light faded, Rudy's first Pokémon appeared on the field.
Natsui looked and saw that it was a Ninetales!
Ninetales had the appearance of a fox, with shimmering golden fur and nine long tails. Although it had crimson eyes, they didn't look menacing; instead, they gave it a noble and elegant appearance.
Looking at it, Natsui immediately recognized it as one of the many Pokémon he had just seen dancing in the gym.
Compared to others of its species, Rudy's Ninetales looked no different. He wondered if the special training method would make it perform in any unique way.
But he figured that since Rudy dared to use it against a Charizard, he must be fully confident in its strength.
However…
Given how much Rudy had hyped up the match, Natsui had actually expected him to send out a Charizard of his own to face his.
After all, Charizard is a Fire/Flying type, while Ninetales is a pure Fire type. This meant that while they shared the Fire typing, Ninetales lacked the Flying type.
It seemed that Rudy's collection of Pokémon wasn't large enough to ensure a perfect type match for every battle.
But this wasn't a major issue.
After all, if it were truly a battle between Pokémon of the exact same type, while it would show whose Pokémon was stronger and whose command was superior, it would lack a certain degree of spectacle and unpredictability.
On the hot-air balloon, one of Rudy's subordinates acted as the referee.
Sabrina and Mahri also leaned over to watch the battlefield from above. The view from here was better, giving them a complete panorama of the entire field.
One of them had absolute confidence in Natsui, while the other blindly worshipped her older brother.
In their eyes, the person they were rooting for would absolutely not lose.
Once everything was ready, at the sound of the referee's whistle, Natsui was the first to give a command.
"Charizard, use Wing Attack!"
Charizard flapped its wings and soared high, circling in the air to build up speed.
Natsui didn't directly use a Fire-type move to attack Ninetales. Firstly, because moves of the same type would only deal half damage. Secondly, he needed to first see what Ninetales's ability was.
Generally, Ninetales's abilities were either Flash Fire or Drought.
The Flash Fire ability was tricky. When hit by a Fire-type move, it would absorb the flames, and its own Fire-type moves would become stronger.
As for Drought, when a Pokémon with this ability entered the field, its own power would change the weather to bright sunshine.
However, the sky was currently dotted with a few clouds, partially blocking the sun. If Ninetales's ability were Drought, it should have dispersed these clouds and made the sky clearer.
Since there was no change, this Ninetales's ability was undoubtedly Flash Fire.
On the other side, seeing that Natsui didn't use a Fire-type move, Rudy's expression didn't change.
This was both unexpected and within reason.
His Ninetales did indeed have the Flash Fire ability, giving it a natural advantage when battling against Fire-type Pokémon.
The fact that Natsui considered the ability proved he wasn't some hot-headed rookie who only knew how to spam moves without understanding how to strategize based on a Pokémon's ability.
"Ninetales, use Flamethrower!"
Compared to Natsui, Rudy could act without any reservations.
Regardless of whether Charizard's ability was Blaze or Solar Power, the former was now completely useless against him, and the latter was severely hampered.
Therefore, even though it would only deal normal damage, Ninetales could freely use its flames to wear down Charizard's stamina from a medium to long range.
At that moment, Charizard began its dive. Facing the incoming flames, it tilted its body slightly and easily dodged them.
Like the wind, Charizard charged toward Ninetales.
Seeing this, Rudy quickly commanded, "Ninetales! Dodge it!"
It had to be said that years of dance practice had at least made Ninetales's movements very agile. It leaped to the side with a nimble jump, dodging the attack.
As their figures crossed, Charizard's back was wide open, and Rudy seized the fleeting opportunity.
"Good chance! Quick Attack!"
Hearing the command, Ninetales lunged forward like an arrow released from a bow, crashing into Charizard!
Charizard was hit squarely. It took a step back and was about to slash at Ninetales with its claws, but Ninetales dodged again with its agility.
Rudy exclaimed happily, "Excellent! Now, use Confuse Ray!"
Confuse Ray, a Psychic-type move, could cause the opponent to become confused for a certain period of time after it hits.
Like other Pokémon, besides Fire-type moves, Ninetales could also use a few moves of other types.
And in addition to common Normal-type moves, it could also use a small number of Ghost-type moves.
Natsui was well aware of this and wasn't surprised at all. In fact, he knew clearly that besides Ghost-type moves, Ninetales could also use Psychic-type moves!
Although Charizard had taken a hit, he remained calm. "Charizard, use Dragon Rage!"
Just before the Confuse Ray could reach it, a shockwave erupted from Charizard's mouth!
BOOM!
When the two energies met, a violent explosion occurred!
Thick smoke billowed out instantly. Because the explosion was so close, the smoke completely enveloped Charizard, and Rudy couldn't tell if it had been caught in the blast.
Just as he was craning his neck, trying to find Charizard, it flew out of the smoke on its own, and several crescent-shaped blades of air struck Ninetales hard!
It was Air Slash!
Ninetales cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground, unable to withstand the force.
This is bad!
Rudy's face changed, and he quickly shouted, "Ninetales! Get up!"
As soon as he spoke, Charizard flew out of the smoke, heading straight for the rising Ninetales.
"Well done!" Natsui shouted loudly. "Charizard, use Seismic Toss!"
Charizard flew up to Ninetales, wrapped it in a 'bear hug,' and clamped its two massive claws around Ninetales's joints, immobilizing it. At the same time, it flapped its wings and soared high into the sky!
As they climbed higher and higher, they soon reached the same altitude as the hot-air balloon.
Mahri could even clearly see the extreme panic in Ninetales's eyes.
Just then, Charizard's body turned, and it began to plummet downwards. The Ninetales in its grasp seemed to sense what was coming and struggled desperately, but with its strength, it was clearly futile.
"It's over."
Sabrina said softly. Hearing her words, Mahri covered her eyes in fear.
As Charizard's body spun continuously, its speed increased.
They were getting closer and closer to the ground, but Rudy was completely helpless, able to do nothing but watch as Ninetales was slammed hard onto the rocky mountain surface!
BOOM!
For a moment, the ground shook, and it seemed as if the entire small mountain trembled along with it.
------------------------
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