"Gliscor, use Stone Edge!"
"Houndoom, use Roar!"
"Ursaring, use Swords Dance!"
Clem hurriedly issued his commands.
With Stone Edge, he wasn't expecting to actually stop the Gyarados, he just hoped to slow its advance.
And if Roar connected, the Gyarados would be forced back into its Poké Ball.
That would erase every single stat boost it had accumulated.
As for Ursaring, it was the last line of defense.
If the plan failed, Ursaring would have to go toe-to-toe with Gyarados head-on.
This was Clem's final trump card.
But if the plan succeeded, Ursaring would become the blade that cut Clem's path to victory.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Massive stone pillars materialized and shot forward like missiles in a relentless barrage.
Unfortunately, Gyarados had already reached its peak, and Gliscor's attack barely slowed it at all.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Where the waves swept through, the stone pillars shattered on impact, scattering into a shower of debris.
"Aooo~"
At the same time, Houndoom opened its jaws and let out a ferocious howl.
But at that very moment, the ground beneath Houndoom split open without warning. A yellow rat burst out and drove a palm straight into Houndoom's soft belly.
It was Pikachu, arriving as backup.
Gyarados wasn't fighting alone.
"Aooo~"
With a pained cry, Houndoom was sent flying and crashed hard onto the ground. Clem's Houndoom was no weakling, but its physical defense was simply too low, and on top of that, the Ground-type move Dig was super effective against it. It struggled on the ground, unable to rise.
But more critically, Roar had failed.
Then everyone watched as Gyarados crashed into Gliscor with unstoppable force, crushing the loyal defender beneath it.
No question about it, another one-hit KO.
But at that very moment, as the shadow of the light-blade faded from before Ursaring, its presence began to surge dramatically.
Swords Dance had successfully activated.
Ursaring's Attack had been sharply raised.
At the same time, a strange dark-violet tinge crept across Ursaring's face, accompanied by a grimace of pain, and blood-tinged foam even appeared faintly at the corners of its mouth.
"Is that... poison?" Caster murmured, eyes narrowing. But why?
He had no time to dwell on it.
Because Clem had already roared out his command: "Ursaring, use Facade!"
Facade, this wasn't a recovery move. It was a special offensive technique.
When a Pokémon was afflicted with a status condition, Facade dealt double damage to its opponent.
Caster's expression turned grave. So this Ursaring's Ability is Guts.
First, Swords Dance, raising Attack by two stages.
Then, poison triggering the Guts Ability, raising Attack once more.
Finally, a STAB move with doubled power from the poison status, Facade.
With all three stacked together, Ursaring's Attack had reached an almost inconceivable level, fully matching, and perhaps even slightly surpassing, Gyarados, which had stacked Rain Dance, Aqua Dominion, and multiple Attack boosts.
Fortunately, Caster's Gyarados had also been buffed four times by Moxie.
At this moment, speaking of Gyarados's raw Attack power alone, calling it godlike would not be an exaggeration.
So after a brief moment of surprise, Caster snorted coldly and barked: "Gyarados, keep pushing forward!"
"Awooo~"
"Awooo~"
After a brief moment of charging up as the two glared at each other across the field, Ursaring and Gyarados collided, like an asteroid smashing into the earth.
The sheer force seemed to shake the very ground beneath them.
The shockwave from the impact was more terrifying than a typhoon, sending both Caster and Clem tumbling through the air. The surrounding trees were uprooted entirely, carving out a small circle of absolute devastation.
"Ursaring!"
Clem scrambled to his feet and looked desperately toward the center of the battlefield.
Using a special chemical to poison Ursaring and trigger its latent potential, this had been his absolute last resort.
Of course, the method took a heavy toll on the bear. A Pokémon could only use it once in its lifetime.
But even now, Clem couldn't feel at ease.
Because the boy across from him, and that Gyarados of his, were completely beyond his comprehension.
This was a feeling of dread that Clem had never experienced, not even when he'd been hunted down by Gym-affiliated trainers.
"Awooo~"
Just then, the two colliding Pokémon finally produced a decisive outcome.
With a wailing cry from Ursaring, its massive body was completely engulfed by a crashing wave, being forced steadily backward.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
It was impossible to count how many trees were smashed apart. A deep trench, over a hundred meters long, was gouged into the earth before Gyarados, still pinning Ursaring down, finally ground to a halt.
When the waves receded, Ursaring wasn't spinning its eyes dizzily.
Instead, blood was seeping from its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.
Its life force was draining away rapidly, and before long, it had drawn its last breath.
"Awooo~"
That said, Gyarados wasn't in great shape either. It was dizzy, its breath ragged and labored, clear signs that its power had been pushed well past its limits.
In principle, the boosts from Aqua Dominion and Rain Dance didn't drain Gyarados's own energy or cause any physical burden.
But consecutively defeating four Pokémon had triggered Moxie four times, boosting its Attack four times, and that inevitably overtaxed Gyarados's stamina, even causing significant damage to its body.
According to Clair's assessment, Gyarados could barely endure two uses of Dragon Dance without lasting side effects.
Three was already pushing it.
And four would certainly cause bodily harm, possibly even draining its life potential.
Fortunately, Moxie was passively triggered rather than actively used like a boosting move, so in theory the side effects would be somewhat lighter.
Even so, Caster didn't dare let Gyarados attack again. Instead, he continuously activated Energy Orbs and fed them into its body in large quantities, easing the internal damage and alleviating the side effects.
On the other side of the field, a Surf attack had already taken out Clem's Houndoom, leaving it unable to battle.
At last, this sudden wild battle came to a close.
"I lost."
Clem knelt on the ground, his expression blank.
But soon he raised his head again, staring at Caster in bewilderment. "You... who exactly are you?"
This age.
This level of strength.
There was no way he was some nobody.
And most puzzling of all, the other party already knew his identity.
"Someone who's going to beat your ass."
Caster naturally wasn't about to reveal his own identity. He let out a cold laugh and snapped: "Pikachu, knock him out!"
If they were already throwing down in a wild battle, Caster wasn't about to worry about anything like civil rights.
Just handle it.
"Pika~"
Pikachu's eyes lit up. Sparks crackled and leaped from its cheeks, discharging in an instant.
"AAAAAH—"
Clem let out a scream and collapsed, twitching, smoking from head to toe, completely unconscious.
Only then did Caster have a moment to retrieve Dratini, his eyes full of concern.
Fortunately, Pokémon were remarkable creatures. As long as you didn't keep attacking them after they'd lost the ability to battle, their recovery was extraordinarily fast.
After spraying Dratini with a Potion, Caster channeled a few more Energy Orbs into its body and let it rest.
Looking at the utter wreckage around him, Caster fell into a brief daze.
"Should I call the police? Rotom!"
His phone Rotom floated over and suggested, "You were attacked by a member of an evil organization. You can report it to the police. I have a complete video record of your encounter and battle, which can serve as evidence. The police will keep you safe, Rotom!"
"The police?"
Caster remained noncommittal.
In the world of Pokémon, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny were undoubtedly trustworthy figures.
But that didn't mean the police force as a whole was entirely reliable.
Especially in Kanto, this was Team Rocket's home turf. Planting their people inside the police department would be trivially easy for them.
And Caster clearly had no interest in exposing his identity and letting Team Rocket latch onto him like a stubborn plaster.
"I'll make a call first."
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