"Psychic!"
Seeing this, Stefan frowned and gave the order again.
Immediately afterward, Gothitelle was seen directly launching the move Psychic.
Boom!
In the air, the two attacks collided.
Right after that, the Psychic move pierced through the Dark Pulse move and struck Tyranitar head-on.
Once again, thanks to its own Dark typing, Tyranitar managed to withstand the Psychic move.
"What a terrifying Psychic move attack. Even the Dark Pulse move, enhanced after using the Payback move, was directly suppressed?"
At that moment, Ethan also narrowed his eyes. Tyranitar's Dark Pulse, after accumulating energy, had increased its power to more than double what it had before, which demonstrated just how frightening Gothitelle's attack was.
If Tyranitar had not mastered the ability to use Dark-type energy to remove the mark of the Miracle Eye move from its body, it really would not have been able to withstand many of Gothitelle's Psychic move attacks.
After seeing Gothitelle's attack, Ethan understood that Tyranitar's Dark-type moves would not be enough to defeat her.
If he wanted to defeat that Gothitelle, he could only rely on the sandstorm ability Tyranitar had developed since childhood by feeding on Smooth Rocks.
"Sand Tomb!"
With Ethan's order, Tyranitar raised its hand and clenched it tightly.
Suddenly, the ground in front of it collapsed and quickly began turning into sand.
In the blink of an eye, the quicksand transformed into a whirlpool that spread in all directions, devouring the terrain and turning it into sand.
Whoooosh!
The wind roared, lifting the sand from the ground and, combining with the Sand Tomb move, made the sandstorm even more violent.
"Gothitelle, control it!"
Seeing this, Stefan's expression became more serious.
Gothitelle's eyes shone, and its psychic power overflowed.
At that instant, relying on its terrifying mental power, Gothitelle began to seize control of the sandstorm, forming around itself a tornado of sand that spun endlessly and blocked all the storm's attacks.
The sandstorm that had previously seemed so terrifying was neutralized so easily that the spectators were stunned.
"Tyranitar, use Sandstorm!"
Seeing this, Ethan gave the order with a firm gaze.
"TYRAN!"
Tyranitar roared in a low voice.
It was very annoyed that Gothitelle had seized part of the control of the sandstorm.
After hearing the order, it released without restraint the sandstorm power contained within its body.
Under its control, a huge sand vortex formed in front of it which, thanks to centrifugal force, lifted even more dust and created a true tempest.
At the same time, the sand from the Sand Tomb move was absorbed by the storm, greatly accelerating the desertification of the terrain and increasing the destructive power of the gale.
"My God, what terrifying energy fluctuations!"
Seeing the sandstorm condensed by Tyranitar, the spectators were shocked.
Compared to that, the sand tornado created by Gothitelle with its mental power was insignificant. It was immediately crushed and absorbed by the storm, which continued advancing toward it.
Before the stunned gaze of the audience, the storm completely enveloped Gothitelle.
"Hey... it can't have been defeated just like that, right?"
The spectators of the Federal League were left speechless.
"I don't think so... Although this storm is absurdly strong, that's Stefan's Gothitelle..."
But even the one saying it sounded uncertain: the storm was brutal, and Gothitelle had taken it head-on. Moreover, defense and physical endurance had always been weak points of Psychic-type Pokémon.
"Did it end like that?"
Seeing the scene, Ethan frowned instead of relaxing.
That Gothitelle's previous performance was evident to everyone.
He didn't believe it would be defeated so easily.
"Tyranitar, maintain Sand Tomb, don't stop!"
He ordered it to continue desertifying the terrain.
As long as the referee had not declared the end, the battle was not over.
Moreover, even if Gothitelle had truly fallen, continuing to prepare the field would not be in vain. His team depended heavily on sandstorms and desert terrain.
Finally, when Tyranitar was already beginning to show exhaustion, the storm slowly dissipated.
The entire terrain had turned into sand.
"How is Gothitelle?"
When the wind calmed, everyone stretched their necks to look.
"That's... Gothitelle is unharmed!"
Its figure appeared floating in the air, completely unscathed.
The spectators of the Federal League burst into cheers.
"How is that possible?!"
"It took that attack and doesn't even have a scratch!"
The spectators of the Daleron League gasped in disbelief.
"Unharmed...?"
"Could it be... that?"
Ethan suddenly seemed to understand something.
"If it really was that... Tyranitar, return!"
He took out the Poké Ball and successfully recalled it.
"Tyranitar has been withdrawn!"
"Gothitelle's Shadow Tag ability has failed!"
The spectators were surprised.
Stefan narrowed his eyes and said, "It seems you figured it out."
Ethan smiled.
"If I'm not mistaken, it's an alternate space, right?"
Gothitelle can distort the space around it and expand it into a different dimension. That's how it avoided the storm.
Stefan shook his head slightly in admiration.
"As expected of a top-tier Pokémon Researcher. It's very uncommon knowledge. Most people only know that Gothitelle can perceive spatial fluctuations and distort space."
Ethan had managed the battle with precision: he exhausted Gothitelle and, after discovering its spatial ability, recalled Tyranitar in time.
Now the field was perfectly prepared for a sandstorm team, and Stefan's Shadow Tag strategy had been neutralized.
"Distort space and expand it into another dimension?"
The spectators were stunned.
On the field, Ethan closed his eyes for a moment and made a decision.
A new Poké Ball appeared.
It opened, and Meltan emerged, with its nut-shaped head and mercury-like body.
(End of chapter)