The Four-headed Weezing floated in midair. Its unusual body alone was enough to make people wonder what made it so extraordinary. Even Lorelei found herself pondering this question.
"Glalie, I'll leave this to you!" Lorelei said after thinking it over carefully before making her decision.
Both Pokémon floated in midair. If not for Weezing having a few extra heads, the two of them actually looked somewhat alike… right?
"Avalanche!"
Lorelei struck first. This move was practically a legendary tactic against Flying-types and Levitate Pokémon. A massive snowball came crashing down from above. If it struck its target, it would surely send it crashing to the ground.
Tetsuya had not expected Lorelei to open with such a fierce move. Weezing indeed had a difficult time dealing with an attack like this. Even if it attacked upward, it would still be injured by the exploding snow. In short, avoiding this move without taking any damage was extremely difficult.
"Fire Blast!"
At Tetsuya's command, two of Weezing's heads faced upward and unleashed Fire Blast. The snowball exploded instantly, but the shattered chunks of snow still came crashing down onto Weezing.
"Flamethrower."
To avoid taking damage, Tetsuya had Weezing use Flamethrower. The scattered chunks of snow were all swallowed up and melted by its flames.
However, striving for perfection often produced the opposite result…
Just as Weezing focused all of its energy on dealing with the falling snow, Glalie swiftly charged and slammed into it with Headbutt, sending Weezing flying!
Originally, those falling chunks of snow would not have caused much damage to Weezing. Instead, it ended up taking Headbutt head-on.
Tetsuya shook his head. He had indeed been careless. Lorelei was certainly no the average Pokémon Trainer. Victory was not something he could obtain so casually.
"Gyro Ball, Sludge Bomb."
Tetsuya was ready to turn up the pressure. Weezing spun its body, a metallic sheen flashing across it. Then all four heads fired Sludge Bomb simultaneously as it rapidly closed in on Glalie.
With the power of Gyro Ball behind it, the force with which the Sludge Bombs were launched was several times greater than usual. If Glalie were hit… well, Lorelei, naturally, understood very well what would happen.
At this moment, Lorelei did not dare hold anything back.
"Glalie, [Sheer Cold • Armor]!"
The moment Lorelei gave that command, Tetsuya was already prepared to have Weezing give up the attack. This was one of Lorelei's signature tactics, and its defensive power was practically impregnable.
Glalie revealed a ferocious expression as all the moisture in the surrounding air condensed into ice. Although Glalie's current control was still limited, and the range of Sheer Cold was not very large, this level of defense was already more than sufficient.
Layer upon layer of thick ice armor seemed to cover Glalie's body. The Sludge Bombs struck the ice with a series of crackling sounds as layers of ice were stripped away. However, Glalie continuously maintained Sheer Cold, causing the ice to reform time and time again to withstand Weezing's assault once more.
The four-headed Weezing and the one-headed Glalie remained locked in a stalemate for quite some time, and Weezing was unable to break through Glalie's defense.
---◓---
Eventually, Weezing stopped attacking after spinning for too long, while Glalie was left slightly out of breath from expending so much energy.
The instant Glalie paused to catch its breath and failed to withdraw its Ice-type energy in time…
"Smog!"
Mixed within the purple gas were the acidic gas from Weezing's Belch and the poisonous gas from Clear Smog. Anyone who came into contact with this gas would suffer invisible damage.
At that moment, Glalie was still catching its breath within its ice armor, but Weezing's gas had already shrouded it. The moment it emerged, it would inevitably be engulfed by the toxic gas.
With Weezing's toxicity, inhaling even a single breath would certainly result in poison. Once poisoned, Weezing would win without another fight.
"Glalie, use Icy Wind to break through!"
Since Lorelei dared to use Sheer Cold as a defensive tactic, she naturally had a way to overcome its weaknesses.
While Glalie was still encased in ice, air currents had already begun swirling around it. Suddenly, Glalie converted the Ice energy of its ice armor into Icy Wind, shattered the ice surrounding itself, and emerged with Icy Wind circling its body.
Weezing's poisonous gas was torn open(?) by the Icy Wind, allowing Glalie to successfully escape the area covered by the gas.
'Just as I expected…' Tetsuya silently praised her in his heart.
Lorelei's counterattack did not stop for even a moment. The Icy Wind carried the poisonous gas back toward Weezing.
"Inhale it."
Tetsuya gave the order. The two heads that favored the cold turned around and opened their mouths, swallowing both the gas and the Icy Wind. Although the force of the Icy Wind pushed Weezing backward, it did not interfere with its absorption of either the poisonous gas or the Icy Wind.
Ever since before they were born, these two heads had absorbed poisonous miasma and the frigid aura of Icy Wind. That was precisely why they were so adept at dealing with Glalie's attacks.
"Blizzard!" Lorelei continued her assault.
"Bear it."
Even Lorelei could not understand Tetsuya's decision. Weezing knew many moves, and any one of them could have held off Blizzard for a while. Why was it simply sitting there and taking the attack?
However, Tetsuya had already formed his plan. Because Glalie knew too many airflow-based moves, Weezing had no opportunity to use its own moves effectively. Using the poisonous gas just now had merely been a test, yet Lorelei had easily neutralized it.
Now that Lorelei had followed up with Blizzard, using those moves had become even more impossible. The only option was to endure a powerful move like Blizzard, then seize the brief moment when Glalie was left catching its breath after using such a demanding move to launch the final offensive.
Within the Blizzard were chunks of ice, snow, and raging winds, all crashing into Weezing. Its four heads huddled tightly together with their eyes firmly shut. The Blizzard slicing across its body brought piercing pain.
Such power was far beyond what Icy Wind could compare to, especially with the addition of the hard ice chunks!
Weezing was driven backward again and again. At this point, it was enduring through sheer willpower alone…
At last, Glalie stopped using Blizzard, panting heavily after consuming too much energy.
"Now!"
Tetsuya practically roared. Weezing immediately released Poison Gas. It then unleashed Icy Wind, wrapping the Poison Gas within it and driving it toward Glalie.
Glalie wanted to resist, but it was too exhausted to move. Besides, the two moves seemed completely ordinary. At most, it would only inhale a couple of breaths of Poison Gas, while Icy Wind posed almost no threat to Glalie.
The Poison Gas finally engulfed Glalie. At that moment, Weezing turned its heads, while Tetsuya used his psychic powers to keep the Poison Gas from being dispersed by the surrounding air.
The four-headed Weezing successfully turned its heads, then unleashed Fire Blast followed immediately by Flamethrower!
What would happen when Poison Gas, Fire Blast, and Flamethrower were combined…?
Lorelei pondered silently.
"Oh… noooo…!"
Lorelei suddenly cried out in alarm, her face filled with fear and shock.