Ninetales's 'Protect' wasn't able to block all of the incoming damage.
Seeing this, Kirlia didn't relent, repeatedly distracting and harassing her opponent with feints. This ultimately caused the collapsing ice pillars to break through Ninetales's defences.
The battlefield was engulfed in a blinding white haze. Neither Luther nor Candice could make out what was happening inside the cloud, but judging by the sounds, the two Pokémon were still fighting fiercely.
A sharp, crackling sound rang out: 'Thunderbolt!' That was Kirlia attacking.
Then came the purple-black flash of Dark Pulse, cutting through the mist-- Ninetales was countering with everything she had left.
By this point, neither trainer could issue commands; both Pokémon were fighting purely on instinct and their own battle senses.
Kirlia was the first to be blasted out of the white fog. She slid across the ice before struggling to her feet and panting heavily.
She hadn't managed to dodge the Dark Pulse: Ninetales had closed the distance with a Quick Attack, landing the hit at point-blank range.
When the haze finally cleared, Ninetales looked just as battered: her body was covered in shards of ice, and she was surrounded by flickering arcs of electricity; her face was twisted in pain.
At that distance, she hadn't been able to avoid Kirlia's Thunderbolt either. Even as she was being thrown back, Kirlia had released the lightning strike in midair.
Both Pokémon had reached their absolute limits, standing only through sheer willpower.
"Psychic!"
"Quick Attack!"
Luther and Candice made their final calls simultaneously, both choosing to end the battle there and then.
Kirlia knew this was her last chance. She poured out every ounce of her remaining stamina. Even before the psychic wave was released, the fragments of ice around her were scattered by the immense pressure of her power.
Just as 'Trick Room' dissipated, Ninetales's 'Quick Attack' cut through the lingering distortion and hit Kirlia squarely, propelling her upwards in a powerful collision.
At the instant of impact, Kirlia's 'Psychic wave' hit Ninetales in return. Ninetales froze for a moment, then let out a painful howl and stumbled backwards. It wavered, trying to get up several times, but finally, slowly, it collapsed to the ground.
Meanwhile, Kirlia had lost consciousness in mid-air the moment she was hit, landing in a heap and fainting completely.
The referee, visibly tense, repeatedly checked both Pokémon before finally confirming that they had both lost the ability to battle.
Having served as the stand-in referee at the Snowpoint City Gym for years, he couldn't recall a match that had drained him so much.
Each time he thought it was over, the Pokémon on both sides clawed their way back into the fight somehow, forcing him to stay constantly alert.
The gym fell into utter silence. Everyone's hearts were pounding in their chests.
With both Ninetales and Kirlia out of the fight, it all came down to a final one-on-one.
For the students of the Pokémon Trainer Academy, this was their first experience of witnessing a battle at this level, where trainers sometimes directed every single move with surgical precision and at other times trusted their Pokémon to act purely on instinct.
From weather control and terrain adaptation to timing switches, move selection, information gathering, and concealment, every aspect was a discipline in itself. For the students, it was far beyond anything they had learned.
Their brains had probably shut down when the fight for weather advantage began. Since then, they had just been cheering instinctively after every fierce exchange. Looking back on it now, they realised that they hadn't understood what was happening at all.
Neither Candice nor Luther said a word. Their hearts were pounding and adrenaline was coursing through their veins as they gripped their Poké Balls tightly.
Candice's Spheal came bouncing happily onto the ice.
Meanwhile, Luther's Marill hurried to finish its cookie, grabbed Espurr's water bottle for a quick drink, and then waddled onto the field, giving its belly a satisfied pat.
From the sidelines, Darkrai stared intently at Marill.
Judging by Spheal's powerful performance earlier, Marill didn't stand much of a chance. Darkrai didn't have much faith in the oddball winning.
Of course, when it came to oddballs, Spheal wasn't far behind. The moment Marill entered the field, Spheal started bouncing around again, completely forgetting that this was supposed to be a tense, high-stakes battle.
Candice had to call out twice before he snapped out of it and rolled obediently into position, waiting for the battle to begin.
The two round, blue, chubby Pokémon now faced each other across the ice, and somehow this intense, nerve-wracking match had suddenly turned a little comical.
"Blizzard."
The referee froze for a moment; he hadn't said 'Begin!' yet and Candice had already given the first command.
Luther didn't bother complaining. The instant Candice made her move, he shouted his own order in response.
'We'll use Blizzard too!'
Two massive blizzards collided in the middle of the field, the wind and snow howling so fiercely that even Mai, sitting far back in the stands, couldn't help but pull her coat tighter around her.
At her feet, Chikorita trembled, and her teeth chattered as she quickly grabbed Milcery, trying to burrow into Mai's arms for warmth.
"The power…"
"About even, huh?" Luther muttered, frowning.
Spheal had already used Blizzard multiple times in this battle, as well as the stamina-draining Sheer Cold, yet its output hadn't weakened at all. That level of endurance and control was seriously impressive.
Candice tugged awkwardly at the jacket tied around her waist. She really wanted to put it back on, but after bragging to Luther earlier that she was "used to the cold," doing that now would just feel… embarrassing.
Spheal had already revealed three moves so far: Sheer Cold, Blizzard, and Encore.
What Luther needed to watch out for most was that Encore.
Candice's whole strategy revolved around combining Encore with Spheal's high mobility, locking the opponent into a move, then using Sheer Cold to deliver an instant knockout.
That meant Luther couldn't afford to use any support or setup moves, it had to be an all-out offense, blow for blow!
Spheal began rolling rapidly across the field again, moving with surprising agility. Marill stared, a bit dumbfounded, as the blue, white-bellied puffball sped past like a runaway wheel.
She had never seen a Pokémon roll that well.
Out of sheer curiosity, she flopped down and tried rolling along the same path.
Unfortunately, after just a few turns, she grew dizzy and nauseous, crouching with her back to Luther, looking like she was about to throw up.
"Why do you have to copy him!?"
Luther groaned, sometimes it really felt like something in Marill's brain was just… missing. What should have been a tense, high-stakes showdown was instead turning into a comedy sketch. He couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry.
Darkrai just sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.
Even Spheal paused mid-roll to look at the dizzy Marill, then stuck out a stubby flipper and mocked her, before immediately blanketing her in another Blizzard.
Marill's eye twitched furiously. Her expression darkened as she glared across the field at the grinning Spheal.
"Brick Break!"
Knowing Marill's temper all too well, Luther shouted the command before she did something reckless.
Marill charged straight through the Blizzard, full of fury.
Candice's eyes widened, what kind of move was this!? Taking a Blizzard head-on like that?
The frost that had built up across Marill's body was shaken off in an instant as she burst out of the storm, sprinting straight for Spheal. Before Spheal could react after ending its Blizzard, Marill brought her paw down in a devastating Brick Break, smashing Spheal's head and driving him halfway into the ice.
Spheal's usual nimbleness wasn't enough to dodge that hit, the Brick Break had nailed him cleanly.
"That strength… Huge Power?"
Luther watched Spheal struggle to pull himself free, then chuckled.
"Actually, I've always thought my Marill's ability was more like 'Full Belly to Hungry Again.'"
(End of Chapter)
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