"I've finally run into you. I've been waiting for this battle for a very long time."
Naira Cross looked at Ethan with a hint of excitement. A Poké Ball appeared in her hand, eager to enter battle.
Ethan rubbed his nose somewhat awkwardly. Without a doubt, Naira was the opponent he least wanted to face.
But since they had already met, there was no choice but to fight!
At the same time, the attack order of the battle was also decided by a draw on the giant screen, and the first turn went to Ethan.
"I attack first...?"
Ethan pondered for a moment.
For now, the only information he had about Naira seemed to be that Ninetales.
Unlike him, who had chosen to send out Charizard during the main stage, Naira, both in the preliminaries and in the main stage, had always sent out only Ninetales.
"A 550-point Fire-type attack..."
Closing his eyes slightly, Ethan made his decision.
The Poké Ball opened, and Litwick's figure appeared on the battlefield.
"It's that Litwick that got 526 points!"
The moment Litwick appeared, exclamations immediately rang out among the audience.
After its performance in the first round of the preliminaries, no one dared to underestimate that Litwick anymore.
It was hard to imagine that a Litwick could even step onto the stage of the Cross Cup; this was undoubtedly unprecedented!
"Litwick?"
Even the guests in the VIP area, including Champion Leo Cross, showed expressions of surprise.
It was obvious that this was also the first time they had seen someone send out a Litwick in an official match.
But... how was a Pokémon like Litwick supposed to fight?
"He really sent out Litwick..."
Naira was also somewhat surprised. After thinking for a moment, she opened the Poké Ball in her hand.
Immediately, a Pokémon appeared on the field with its entire body covered in light beige fur, a pair of deep crimson pupils, and nine tails—a fox-like Pokémon.
Facing the Litwick that had scored 526 points in the preliminaries, she directly sent out her 550-point Ninetales. It was a head-on confrontation, with no concessions!
"Just as I expected, she sent out Ninetales!"
A "just as I thought" expression appeared on Ethan's face.
In fact, he had already partly guessed why Naira was so interested in him. And precisely because he realized that, he decided to send out Litwick first.
"Then, the first attack is mine!"
"Litwick, hide in the air!"
As his voice fell, Litwick's figure suddenly vanished.
"Ninetales, Fire Spin!"
Clearly prepared, Naira immediately gave the order.
Fuuuum!
In an instant, Ninetales spewed blazing flames from its mouth.
While using the Fire Spin move, it also controlled the flames to spread in all directions.
When the fire had covered more than half of the field, Litwick's figure reappeared. Flames flowed over its body, and thanks to the Flash Fire ability, it began absorbing the surrounding fire.
"Psychic!"
Naira's eyes lit up.
Immediately, a blue glimmer flashed in Ninetales's eyes.
An invisible psychic force was released and, in the blink of an eye, controlled the Litwick suspended in midair.
Bang!
Just as Ninetales thought it had caught it, Litwick's figure suddenly exploded, turning into a ball of fire and disappearing.
"It's a substitute, Ninetales—be careful!"
Seeing this, Naira's expression changed slightly.
Just as she finished speaking, another ball of fire abruptly appeared behind Ninetales.
Ninetales reacted with great sharpness, detecting Litwick the instant it appeared.
Its nine tails were covered in a metallic sheen and lashed fiercely toward Litwick.
Boom!
Amid the explosion, that Litwick's figure was immediately destroyed.
Without a doubt—another substitute!
"What is this Ethan trying to do?"
"Creating substitutes consumes stamina, doesn't it?"
Not only the audience; even the guests didn't understand what Ethan was trying to do.
As a result, the VIP area fell into a rare silence; they didn't even know how to comment on the situation!
"Littwwiikk!"
At that moment, another Litwick figure appeared behind Ninetales.
Following the momentum, Ninetales once again used the Iron Tail move and lashed toward Litwick.
Just as Ninetales was distracted attacking the Litwick behind it, another Litwick figure suddenly appeared in front of it.
Then, before everyone's astonished gaze, that Litwick abruptly transformed into a mass of purple flames and charged straight at Ninetales.
Boom!
In an instant, Ninetales's body was engulfed in intense purple flames.
However, Ninetales also possessed the Flash Fire ability. Wrapped in the flames, it seemed not to fear them at all and began absorbing Litwick's purple flames.
But after absorbing part of those flames, the purple fire on Ninetales's body began to churn violently. Next, the purple fire could be seen continuously burning from its body, making Ninetales's appearance grow increasingly strange and demonic.
After that, another Litwick appeared. As soon as it emerged, its body was also covered in intense flames, and it immediately merged with the purple flames burning on Ninetales, making them even more ferocious.
Immediately afterward, a third Litwick appeared, which, after emerging, also quickly integrated into the purple flames on Ninetales's body.
Then, Litwick's figure could be seen flying within the purple flames, with fire rippling around it, and it began continuously absorbing the purple flames from Ninetales's body!
Boom!
Seeing this, Ninetales's eyes shone with blue light, and using the Psychic move once again, Litwick's body exploded within the flames, fusing all its energy into the fire and causing the purple flames to burn with even greater intensity.
"What is he doing?"
"Doesn't he know that Ninetales has the Flash Fire ability and doesn't fear fire?"
Seeing this scene, the spectators showed expressions of confusion. Was Ethan simply increasing the power of Ninetales's Fire-type moves?
"It's the Flash Fire ability."
"Litwick is using its own Flash Fire ability to increase the power of the flames!"
President Morgan of the Pokémon Researchers' Guild, upon seeing this scene, narrowed his eyes. He suddenly understood what Ethan was trying to do.
Just as he had surmised, Litwick began appearing one after another on the field, emerging from the void and all charging into the flames burning on the stage. This caused the already extremely concentrated Fire-type energy to be compressed even further, making the flames surge toward the sky!
It was clear that Ethan planned to use Litwick's Flash Fire ability to increase the power of the flames around Ninetales's body, thereby forcing the fire energy to condense to an extreme limit.
Then the question arises: does the Flash Fire ability really have a limit?
Here, the president of the Pokémon Researchers' Guild of Solaris City could say it with absolute certainty.
Yes, it does!
Although Pokémon with the Flash Fire ability can ignore damage from Fire-type moves and strengthen their own Fire-type moves by absorbing flames, during the process of absorbing and transforming fire through this ability, the Pokémon itself consumes an enormous amount of stamina. If the energy expenditure is excessive, the Pokémon will lose the ability to continue absorbing fire.
Moreover, the amount of fire that a Pokémon's body can contain also has a limit. If its body reaches that limit, it will not only be directly attacked by the flames, but may even suffer a backlash from the internal fire, taking severe damage.
(End of chapter)