"Roooar~"
Tyranitar let out a fierce, pained roar, its body driven backward involuntarily by the spiraling force.
It was pushed back more than ten meters before Dragonair's Horn Drill finally ran out of power, Dragonair's body ceasing to spin and collapsing limply to the ground.
Horn Drill's power was tremendous, but the energy it consumed was equally staggering.
Combined with the all-or-nothing gamble of the attack and the wounds it had already suffered, Dragonair's stamina had now reached its absolute limit.
Yet through sheer force of will, it did not immediately faint.
Tyranitar wasn't faring much better either. Right in the center of the belly armor — which was the same color as its shell — a huge gaping hole had appeared at some point.
It was a wound gouged out forcibly by Horn Drill.
The wound was large and deep, and had undoubtedly inflicted severe damage on Tyranitar.
Boom! Tyranitar, the desert tyrant as massive as a mountain, came crashing down, its eyes spinning as it collapsed to the ground.
"Drr~" Watching this, Dragonair let out a sigh of relief, then immediately fainted as well.
"Tyranitar and Dragonair have both lost the ability to battle." The referee immediately announced the result.
"Tyranitar!" "Dragonair!" The instant the referee announced the result, Albert and Caster both rushed forward to check on their Pokémon's injuries.
Dragonair's injuries weren't serious. It had simply exhausted all its energy and fainted from the strain.
After activating a few Energy Orbs to feed into Dragonair, and spraying medicine on its wounds, Caster returned it to its Poké Ball. "Dragonair, thank you for everything you gave out there. Now get some proper rest."
On the other side, Tyranitar's injuries were far more serious. With a hole that size in its belly, even the desert tyrant couldn't simply shrug it off; it needed immediate treatment.
Fortunately, the Trainer Tower was equipped with dedicated medical staff. They weren't Nurse Joy, but treating the wound was no problem for them.
Besides, in this world, Pokémon had astonishing recovery abilities. As long as treatment came in time, there wouldn't be any serious problems.
While the medical staff moved in to examine the Pokémon, the crowd who had watched the battle broke into excited discussion.
"That battle was incredible! First Dratini failed to seize control of the weather, then it evolved into Dragonair, and then, cornered and desperate, Dragonair broke the deadlock with Horn Drill as a finishing move. I haven't seen a battle with this many twists and turns in ages. Truly spectacular."
"Agreed! In terms of excitement, it even outdid some regional league championship finals. And the best part is that it ended in mutual destruction. Who would have expected that?"
"Dragonair may have only drawn, but there's honor in it. After all, it was fighting a stronger opponent."
"Just a small Luxury Ball, it's not much, but here's hoping Dragonair keeps it up and evolves into Dragonite soon."
"Streamer, charge forward for me!"
In Caster's livestream, the chat exploded like a riot, comments flooding across the screen one after another as gift after gift kept appearing.
But Caster had no attention to spare for any of it right now.
Watching the heavy rain still pouring down, he had only one thought: win this final battle, and clear the Tower!
"Both sides, please select your next Pokémon!" After Tyranitar was carried off, the referee waved his flag, signaling for both sides to take their positions.
Hearing this, Caster and Albert exchanged a glance, each drew out a new Poké Ball, and threw it at the same moment.
"Roooar~" "Roooar~" Accompanied by two thunderous roars, two heavyweight Pokémon appeared on the field.
On Caster's side, without question, was his ace Pokémon, Gyarados.
As for Albert, the Pokémon he had released radiated a presence that was in no way inferior to Gyarados's, and if anything, surpassed it.
It was a fierce-looking Pokémon covered head to toe in hard armor, its teeth thick and tough as axe blades, its body striped and mostly olive green in color.
The sharpest tips of its fangs, along with its fingers and toes, were red, while the rest was black. Spikes ran in segments down its neck, and its body formed jointed, segmented sections from head to tail, the tail itself thick and powerful.
"Haxorus!!!" Caster recognized the Pokémon across from him, and his expression turned instantly serious.
Haxorus might not be a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, but in terms of raw combat power it was every bit their equal, and in some respects even surpassed it.
Take Attack, for instance: Haxorus's base Attack stat reached a staggering 147, higher than that of every pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
According to the Pokédex, this was a Pokémon born for battle, one that used its proud, iron-cleaving fangs to launch attacks and challenge its foes.
Its fangs possessed extraordinary destructive power, unmatched in sharpness. Even a thick, hardened steel pillar could be split in two without effort.
The moment this Haxorus appeared, it radiated an overwhelming presence that made everyone present take it seriously.
Still, Caster's Gyarados was nothing to scoff at either.
In terms of sheer ferocity, it was every bit the equal of both Haxorus and Tyranitar.
"Roooar~" As the rain kept falling, the Royal Authority of the Sea within Gyarados activated. It was as if it had been injected with some kind of stimulant. Its body trembled faintly as it let out roar after roar.
At the same time, Gyarados's presence began climbing steadily higher.
"That's it!!!" At the edge of the battlefield, Lorelei's eyes lit up.
This was exactly what had drawn her to Caster in the first place.
But sharp as her eye was, Lorelei still couldn't make out what was actually going on.
She had no idea why Gyarados's presence had suddenly surged like that.
"Jynx?" Lorelei turned to the Jynx beside her.
"Jynxxx~" But to Lorelei's disappointment, Jynx only shook her head, indicating that she hadn't sensed any unusual energy fluctuations coming from either Gyarados or Caster.
"Even you can't sense it?"
"Then it's probably not some special ability like Viridian's Power."
"But then, what exactly is it?" Lorelei pushed up the metal frames of her glasses, the curiosity in her eyes deepening as she looked at Caster.
This young man carried far too many mysteries.
At that same moment, Gyarados's Royal Authority of the Sea boost finally finished taking hold.
"Roooar~" Gyarados opened its eyes once more, its massive eyes now filled with savagery and killing intent.
And it was in that very instant that the two Pokémon's eyes finally met.
Not a word was exchanged, but their gazes had already said everything.
Both knew: now was the time to unleash carnage.
Meanwhile, in Caster's livestream.
"This is the final battle. Both sides have heavyweight Pokémon. Who's going to win?"
"Do you even need to ask? Obviously blind-faith backing the old fish! If Dratini could fight Tyranitar to a draw, there's no way Gyarados loses to some Haxorus."
"Exactly, exactly! The streamer's Gyarados is a certified no-doubt Pokémon. Back when it was still a Magikarp, it could already one-shot three opponents. Now that it's evolved into Gyarados, it's basically unstoppable."
"Gyarados, charge in and grind that Haxorus into the dirt!"
This was the final battle of the Trainer Tower.
But in this moment, it seemed like everyone present was rooting for Caster.
Whether it was his fans or the trainers on that floor, none of them wanted to see Caster fall short at the very last step.
"Battle, begin!" At the referee's command, the fight resumed.
"Taunt!" "Taunt!" Almost in the same breath, Caster and Albert called out the identical command in unison.
Locking down the opponent's status moves first was the key to seizing the initiative.
In that instant, the two trainers were completely in sync.