"…KANGASKHAN, YOUR BABY'S GONE!"
For a brief moment, Kangaskhan dazedly heard "Edward" shouting in its ear.
'The baby's… gone?'
Kangaskhan instinctively looked down at its pouch, only to find the little Kangaskhan curled up quietly inside, doing its best not to interfere with its mother's battle.
'Phew… all good, all fake.'
Kangaskhan let out a long sigh of relief, then suddenly remembered it was still in the middle of a battle. It looked up…
Houndoom was nowhere in sight!
"KANGASKHAN, REVERSAL!"
Edward's shout rang out abruptly, and Kangaskhan immediately sensed danger approaching from behind.
Counterattack, fast!
Kangaskhan grew urgent, quickly launching into Reversal.
But in the next moment, eerie purple flames silently rose around Kangaskhan and transformed into mimetic chains, binding it tightly.
Inferno!
At that moment, Kangaskhan's entire body began to glow red. Reversal had activated, and a hidden force was quietly gathering strength.
Inferno continued to burn around Kangaskhan. With its guaranteed Burn effect, Kangaskhan's Attack was instantly halved, drastically weakening the threat.
Fortunately… Reversal had finished charging!
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Kangaskhan twisted its massive body, snapping the chains of Inferno one by one, then whipped its tail and hurled its whole body forward, straight at Houndoom.
This long-planned strike was nearly impossible to dodge, and Houndoom didn't believe that Confide would work on Kangaskhan a second time.
'In that case…' Let's fight!
Houndoom's flame-colored eyes suddenly turned crimson. A scorching heat surged from within and rose to its throat, casting an orange-red glow beneath its black fur.
In the next moment, flames hotter than magma erupted violently, blasting straight into Kangaskhan as it charged forward.
Fire-type ultimate move, Overheat!
Wherever Overheat passed, massive steam clouds formed and billowed upward, eventually blasting straight into Kangaskhan's face. The heat was so intense that its head swelled up visibly.
But… that was it. A Pokémon's defense could sometimes be unbelievably absurd.
Finally, Reversal exploded with power. The furious Kangaskhan charged at Houndoom with a reckless, all-or-nothing strike.
…Bang-
A muffled thud sounded. The twice-as-large Houndoom was knocked flying, spinning twice in the air before regaining posture and landing firmly on all fours.
However, Sato could clearly see that Houndoom's body was trembling slightly. It had taken serious damage from that Reversal.
"Kangaskhan, Mega Punch!"
Edward's counterattack finally began. Kangaskhan, with its face still swollen red like a pig's, swung its tail and lunged again at Houndoom!
But Houndoom had no intention of dodging. Once more, blazing flames gathered inside it, lighting up its throat before it unleashed them again at Kangaskhan.
Overheat… Round Two!
As Overheat bore down on Kangaskhan again, Edward frowned but still gave no new command.
After all, the first Overheat was undoubtedly its strongest. Subsequent uses would weaken it, possibly falling below even Ember in power.
Overheat rushed in fast. Kangaskhan, aside from raising its arms slightly to shield itself, charged straight at Houndoom without hesitation.
Seeing this, the corner of Sato's mouth lifted slightly. Through synchronized resonance, he had already passed on a new command to Houndoom.
{Detonate}
At some point, Houndoom's Overheat had already condensed into a massive fireball, which suddenly compressed and then expanded violently!
BOOOM!
…Boom! Boom… Boom…
The explosion's smoke easily engulfed the entire battlefield, swallowing both Houndoom and Kangaskhan in the chaos.
Yet neither Sato nor Edward stopped giving commands. On the contrary, they continued directing their Pokémon to attack!
"Fire Blast."
"Drain Punch!"
"Dark Pulse, scatter."
"Use Mega Punch…"
In the audience stands, everyone was completely confused listening to Sato and Edward's commands, but somehow still found it all extremely impressive.
After all, normal people couldn't possibly see what was happening through all that smoke. But those two onstage seemed to have x-ray vision or something.
No… Houndoom and Kangaskhan could also see clearly!
Turns out Pokémon really do mirror their Trainers; not just in personality, but even in special abilities?
While the audience's thoughts began to wander, the smoke didn't fade at all. In fact, it grew thicker and even started to spread toward the stands.
The reason? The continuous, unrelenting explosions!
No one knew how long it went on. When the booms finally ceased, silence fell over the smoke-covered battlefield.
The referee glanced between Sato and Edward. The former had furrowed brows, the latter wore a stern expression and remained silent.
Understanding the situation, the referee immediately signaled the staff to clear the smoke from the field.
Soon, a crater-filled, battered battlefield was revealed to all.
Houndoom and Kangaskhan both lay collapsed on the ground, with only the faint rise and fall of their chests proving they were still alive.
"Kangaskhan is unable to battle. Trainer Edward, please send out your next Pokémon!"
The referee declared loudly, and Edward quickly recalled his Pokémon.
On the other side, Sato also retrieved his heavily injured Houndoom to let it rest for a while.
"An endless stream of explosive attacks… Your Houndoom must have absorbed the Heart of Earthflame."
Edward didn't immediately send out another Pokémon. Instead, he spoke with unusual certainty.
Sato raised an eyebrow, wondering why he was bringing this up now.
Trying to throw off his focus…?
Or just showing off how much he knew?
Sato simply nodded, then shook the Poké Ball in his hand to signal Edward "Cut the chatter and let's keep battling".
Edward's mouth twitched at Sato's unmoved expression, his heart filled with frustration.
"Even if things didn't go exactly as planned… as long as I reach a 0:1 final score, that's still acceptable…"
Edward muttered to himself, then his eyes gleamed as he confidently pulled out his second Poké Ball, certain he was still in control.
"Both sides, send out your next Pokémon!"
The referee swung the flag, and two beams of light flashed simultaneously onto the field.
Soon, the Pokémon appeared.
Edward sent out a Heracross with a glossy, gleaming horn that practically shone. After appearing, it calmly stood atop a large boulder.
On Sato's side, a colorful spider-like Pokémon lay quietly coiled atop another boulder, its dual-toned purple and black eyes locked onto the Heracross across from it.
No one had expected both sides to send out a Bug-type Pokémon at the same time.
"This… was part of your plan too?" Sato raised an eyebrow at Edward, speaking deliberately.
Edward's face darkened. Heracross's Fighting-type moves probably wouldn't do much at all against the Poison/Bug-type Ariados.
"There's still a chance… still a chance… Heracross has other strengths…" Edward muttered to himself.
Like a total fool…