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For the first time, Lance's expression turned ugly.
That face, which always wore a look of confidence and composure, was now tight with tension, as if pulled by invisible strings.
In his expectations, Suicune might have taken damage, but this group of people should have been blown to pieces, or something similar...
He had imagined countless outcomes, even thinking the opponent might have some trump card to barely withstand the blow, but he never expected it would be in such an almost humiliating manner.
His enemies were completely unharmed.
It felt like a full-force punch landing on a ball of cotton, only to have mud splash back all over himself.
An unprecedented sense of frustration welled up in his heart.
Lance's fury was ignited.
He spoke no more, merely waving his hand again with a crisp, decisive motion that carried an aura of slaughter.
"Let's see how you take this one!"
"Gyarados! Dragonite! Go!"
Before his voice had even faded, Lance flipped himself onto Charizard's broad back.
Charizard let out a low draconic roar and beat its wings to take flight, carrying him to an absolutely safe high point.
He had changed his tactics.
Long-range bombardment had given the opponent a chance to exploit the rules and the terrain.
In that case, he would use absolute power to crush them.
In close-quarters combat, he wanted to watch their defensive line be torn to shreds with his own eyes and see what else they could use as a shield!
"Roar—!"
Two distinct yet equally oppressive roars echoed through the skies.
The red Gyarados was like a bolt of crimson lightning, its massive body twisting in the air, churning the airflow into visible turbulence.
Dragonite, meanwhile, was like an orange heavy-duty shell; with a flap of its wings, it dove down at a staggering speed.
The gale howled, blowing sand and stones upward on the ground, making it impossible for anyone to keep their eyes open.
That pressure wasn't just physical; it was mental.
It was the peerless might belonging to top-tier Pokémon.
Viper's expression changed. She subconsciously moved a few steps closer to Ariel and lowered her voice, an urgency she hadn't even noticed herself tinging her tone:
"Little brother, what do we do now?"
Ariel's gaze was dead-set on the two rapidly approaching figures in the sky, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.
His answer was only one word.
"Stall!"
The voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear.
Dar was the first to react. Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately ordered the Froslass beside him: "Ice Beam!"
Froslass's ghost-like body floated up, and extreme cold instantly condensed in its mouth. A thick pillar of icy blue light shot into the sky, aimed directly at the diving Dragonite!
Moisture in the air instantly froze into ice crystals, rustling as they fell.
However, Dragonite simply gave a graceful tilt in mid-air to adjust its flight angle. That Ice Beam, capable of freezing steel, grazed past its thick scales and flew off into the distance, tracing a brilliant but useless arc across the night sky.
The gap in strength was obvious at a glance.
On the other side, Viper also gritted her teeth and commanded her remaining Pokémon.
"Drapion, Sludge Bomb! Scolipede, Poison Tail!"
Drapion slammed its claws into the ground, firing rounds of deep purple, foul-smelling sludge like mortar shells at the red Gyarados.
Scolipede swung its long body, its purple-black tail stinger tracing a lethal curve in the air.
Faced with these attacks, the red Gyarados didn't even bother to dodge.
Its massive body directly smashed through the Sludge Bombs. The purple liquid burst against its hard red scales but failed to cause any substantial damage.
Immediately after, it opened its maw, which was large enough to swallow a car.
"CRUNCH!"
A tooth-aching sound of snapping.
Scolipede's hard carapace was as fragile as a cracker before Gyarados's sharp teeth.
It didn't even have time to let out a cry of sorrow before it was bitten in half at the waist, its juices and broken body falling helplessly from the sky.
Having dealt with one, Gyarados didn't even give it a second look, swinging its thick tail in stride.
"BANG!"
Drapion was like a baseball swatted away, letting out a muffled thud as it smashed heavily into a distant rock wall, its life status unknown.
In an instant, Viper's defensive line collapsed.
She looked at her two main Pokémon, one dead and one injured, but there wasn't much heartache on her face; deep in her eyes was only a cold calculation.
To her, these Pokémon were nothing more than tools, products of a culling process like raising venomous insects.
Their deaths were a pity, certainly, but as long as she was still alive, she could train stronger ones at any time.
Pokémon were merely consumables to her, and even her main Pokémon were just slightly more expensive consumables.
Her own life was what mattered most.
Ariel took all of this in, gaining a clearer understanding of the strength of these two temporary teammates.
His gaze passed over those two unstoppable Pokémon and looked higher up, at the man riding on Charizard's back, overlooking the battlefield like a god.
This guy Lance really values his life to the extreme; from beginning to end, he never thought about personally entering the fray.
He was either on Gyarados's head or on Charizard's back.
However, this was also the most troublesome part.
As a Quasi-Elite Four Level Trainer, even when facing a group of Superior level Trainers like Ariel's, he was steady to the ultimate degree!
Dragonite's target was very clear—not Krookodile, nor anyone else, but him, the Trainer.
To catch the bandits, first capture their leader; Lance's tactical choices were always so precise and efficient.
Watching that orange figure get closer and closer, Ariel took a deep breath, his brain working at high speeds.
"Krookodile, Sandstorm!"
Krookodile moved upon hearing the command, roaring as it slammed its claws fiercely into the ground!
The earth began to shake, and with it as the center, a yellow sand tornado rose into the sky, instantly enveloping the area.
Vision became blurred, the air filled with the harsh sound of grinding sand, and even breathing became difficult.
"Mix Rock Slide into it!"
Ariel ordered again.
Within the Sandstorm, countless rocks were swept up, dancing along with the wild sand to form a chaotic and dangerous domain.
This was the only method he could think of at the moment to effectively interfere with flying units.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of rocks striking Dragonite's body was constant.
As it turned out, this move worked, but its effect was limited.
Dragonite's speed only slowed slightly; it pushed through the impact of the Sandstorm and rocks, forcibly breaking through this obstacle.
When it appeared before Ariel again, there were several shallow scratches on its body, but the fire of anger in its eyes burned even brighter.
The distance was now right in front of him.
Dragonite's massive fist lit up with a blinding orange-red light, and the air was distorted by the high temperature.
Fire Punch!
The scorching wind from the punch blew against Ariel's face, pushing his hair back; even his eyebrows seemed about to be ignited.
That sense of oppression even caused him to feel a momentary suffocation.
No escape!
This punch was aimed right at him!