"It's Substitute! That wasn't the real Litwick!"
The battle on the field was so fast-paced that the audience could barely keep up.
"Will-O-Wisp!"
At the same time, Ethan gave another command.
The demonic shadow raised a hand.
A flame appeared in its palm and was launched directly toward Gallade.
Gallade responded quickly, using the Psycho Cut move again.
From its fighting style, it was clear that Gallade particularly excelled in slashing attacks.
The fact that it had been able to split the demonic shadow with a single strike proved just how powerful its cutting technique was.
"Litwick, use Substitute!"
Seeing that Gallade, thanks to its speed and sharp cuts, kept breaking Litwick's attacks, Ethan decided to stop holding back.
The flames around the demonic shadow began to stir violently.
Suddenly, three masses of fire separated, transforming into three new demonic fire shadows that lunged toward Gallade.
This time, Gallade had nowhere to escape.
It was forced to use the Teleport move to evade. But in its vital-energy-burning state, Litwick had extremely sharp life perception.
It quickly detected Gallade's position and rushed straight toward it.
The four demonic shadows merged into one, leaving Gallade with no chance to escape.
In an instant, it was devoured by the blazing flames!
"It devoured it again!"
"Is Gallade also going to be defeated just like that?!"
Seeing this, many spectators' faces turned grim.
"Gallade's aura is weakening."
In the competitors' spectator area, Stefan had released his Gothitelle.
According to Gothitelle's perception, Gallade's presence was rapidly diminishing.
It was obvious that Litwick's strange fire was absorbing its physical energy.
If it were not for the rule that in competitions it is forbidden to use attacks that directly absorb a Pokémon's life force, it was possible that Gallade would have already been reduced to ashes and its entire life absorbed by Litwick.
"That Litwick is a bit broken..."
The expressions of the other competitors also became serious.
Judging from the situation, even if James sent out all his Pokémon, he might not be able to defeat that Litwick.
"That's true. That Litwick can instantly absorb a terrifying amount of vital energy. There must be some special breeding technique."
"It's even possible that it hasn't evolved precisely because of that ability. Because even if it were a Chandelure, without sufficient strength it wouldn't be able to absorb that much vital energy."
"Besides... the amount of vital energy it has absorbed now is enormous. I don't know where so much energy comes from."
Stefan also nodded, with a thoughtful expression.
Vital force, just like psychic power, was an extremely mysterious type of energy.
Without a doubt, whoever managed to understand the essence of these forces would gain enormous power.
"O... it lost again..."
On the field, the battle had already ended.
Facing the demonic fire shadow formed by Litwick burning a massive amount of vital energy, Gallade had barely been able to resist.
Although it managed to escape once using the Teleport move after being caught in the flames... when Litwick launched a gigantic burning dark sphere, Gallade was defeated with a single strike.
The spectators were left dumbfounded.
When Litwick first appeared on the field... who could have imagined something like this?
What was happening now had completely shattered the image everyone had of Litwick.
"It's way too strong. How the hell did Ethan train it?"
"A Litwick that barely reaches the professional level... now possesses strength like this!"
Seeing its performance, Lucas and the others could not help but sigh.
Even within the realm of masters, this kind of technique was among the most advanced.
"Shuck!"
Shuckle looked at the demonic fire shadow on the field and raised its head proudly.
The reason Litwick could display such power was simple: it had absorbed an enormous amount of vital-energy Pokéblocks all at once.
This move, the Demonic Fire Shadow, was the result of the combination of Shuckle's and Litwick's abilities.
Shuckle could manufacture Pokéblocks, while Litwick could absorb vital energy and convert it into more powerful energy.
By consuming the vital-energy Pokéblocks, Litwick instantly increased its Fire-type and Ghost-type energy, transforming into that terrifying demonic shadow.
It was a move created jointly by Shuckle and Litwick!
Compared with Shuckle's ultimate attack, which used the Hidden Power move to absorb all the Pokéblocks and launch a maximum cannon blast...
Litwick could make much better use of that energy, transforming it into this terrifying demonic fire shadow form.
That was why, at the beginning of the battle, Ethan had also released Shuckle.
In this battle, Shuckle was participating as well!
"How am I supposed to face that demonic fire shadow...?"
On the field, James stared at the terrifying flaming figure while cold sweat ran down his forehead.
The simplest method he had imagined to defeat Litwick was to ignore the demonic shadow and attack the real Litwick directly.
But Ethan had already anticipated that.
He had prepared a clone in advance, neutralizing the decapitation tactic and defeating Gallade.
Now, facing that demonic shadow...
James had no idea how to counter it.
"Poliwrath... I'll leave it to you."
After thinking briefly, James gritted his teeth and released Poliwrath.
Since he had no clear method to counter the technique... he decided to rely on the type advantage and face it head-on.
"Shadow Ball!"
After transforming into the demonic shadow form, the Shadow Ball move had also undergone a transformation, becoming extremely powerful.
"Poliwrath, use Water Pulse!"
Poliwrath also attacked.
Water-type energy condensed between its hands forming a sphere. But it did not throw it immediately. Instead, it began enlarging it by spinning it between its hands, as if kneading a ball.
The Water-type energy swirled, and the sphere grew until it reached the size of Poliwrath's own body.
Then it hurled it forward with force!
In the air, the two enormous spheres collided with each other.
Fire-type energy against Water-type energy. Ghost-type energy against Fighting-type energy.
The four energies began to collide violently, and finally exploded.
A thick white mist covered the entire battlefield.
"It stopped it!"
"What's happening in the field?!"
Seeing this scene, the spectators stretched their necks trying to clearly see what was happening in the arena.
Little by little the smoke dissipated. The silhouettes of the two Pokémon faced each other, and terrifying energy fluctuations emanated from their bodies.
Suddenly, Poliwrath's body moved. A huge wave suddenly condensed around it; the gigantic mass of water rose violently.
(End of chapter)