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Clear Smog!"
Under normal circumstances, Clear Smog might seem like an unremarkable move with limited practical applications. However, in situations like this, it transforms into an absolutely divine technique for eliminating battlefield hazards and clearing obstructive conditions.
Noibat beat its wings with tremendous force, instantly generating powerful gusts of wind that stirred up a fierce tempest across the entire battlefield. The swirling storm swept away every single Toxic Spike scattered on the ground and cleared all the floating Stealth Rock fragments from the air with remarkable efficiency.
"Clear Smog - what an incredible surprise! This marks my first time witnessing Jacob's Noibat execute this particular technique," Layne exclaimed from the commentary booth.
Jacob's Noibat had only demonstrated Clear Smog once before during its battle against Kyle, so it was perfectly understandable that other observers remained unaware of this capability.
Layne watched the spectacular scene unfold with genuine amazement, unable to contain his admiration. "I originally assumed Jacob's Noibat would represent the weakest link in his team composition, but after observing its comprehensive performance, I can confidently declare that Noibat is absolutely the most crucial member of Jacob's current roster."
"It functions as both a versatile offensive contributor and an incredibly reliable support foundation."
"It has mastered essential moves like Taunt, Tailwind, and Clear Smog, while also knowing U-turn and Sunny Day. Apart from being somewhat limited on the pure offensive side and slightly vulnerable on the defensive end, it possesses virtually no other weaknesses."
"If Noibat successfully evolves into Noivern and Charizard achieves a breakthrough to Overlord Class strength, Jacob definitely has legitimate potential to compete for this year's Frosthollow Province Championship... Runner-up position."
Originally, Layne intended to suggest that Jacob could contend for the Championship title itself, but then he remembered Ariana's presence in this year's competition and quickly modified his assessment.
Even if all three of Jacob's Pokemon reached Overlord Class strength simultaneously, a significant gap would still exist when compared to Ariana's overwhelming power. Ariana's abilities ranked among the absolute best in Frosthollow Province, and even on a national scale, she occupied an extremely elite tier of competition.
Numerous media outlets throughout Frosthollow Province had enthusiastically praised Ariana as the province's greatest hope in eighteen years, because the last time Frosthollow Province claimed the national championship was exactly eighteen years ago.
Ariana possessed truly extraordinary strength - her power was comprehensive and contained no exploitable weaknesses. Her dominance felt suffocating to opponents, representing strength with virtually no identifiable flaws.
Not only did each individual Pokemon in her team demonstrate exceptional capabilities when evaluated separately, but more importantly, Ariana's overall team composition was perfectly balanced, featuring strong defensive coordination and seamless tactical cooperation between all members.
Her formidable team, consisting of Gyarados, Excadrill, Hippowdon, Sylveon, Arcanine, and Zoroark, presented an nearly unsolvable challenge. She strategically selected different Pokemon combinations to counter specific opponents, adapting her approach based on their particular strengths and weaknesses.
"Jacob and Ariana aren't placed in the same tournament bracket, are they?" Layne asked Liliana, who sat beside him in the commentary booth.
"No, they're not," Liliana replied after a moment of consideration. "Jacob competes in the lower bracket, while Ariana dominates the upper bracket competition."
...
"Rock Slide, Drapion!"
While the commentators discussed tournament brackets, the battlefield situation evolved rapidly. Drapion executed its Rock Slide attack, launching countless stone projectiles toward Noibat's airborne position.
Confronting the incoming barrage of rocks, Noibat displayed absolutely no fear or hesitation. It seemed to recall vivid memories from its intensive extreme evasion training sessions. Its concentration reached peak levels as its Supersonic ability locked onto each falling rock, creating a detailed three-dimensional spatial map within its mind. This mental mapping allowed it to predict every rock's trajectory in advance and begin its evasive maneuvers accordingly.
Numerous rocks plummeted from above like a deadly meteor shower. If even a single one of these substantial projectiles struck the small Noibat, it could potentially inflict serious injuries or worse.
In such an extraordinarily dangerous situation, the purple Noibat moved like a Pokemon dancing gracefully along a razor's edge, weaving between the falling rocks with incredible precision. Although its movements appeared perilous to spectators, it consistently managed to dodge each rock using unusual flight patterns and acrobatic maneuvers, avoiding impact just moments before collision seemed inevitable.
After surviving the complete Rock Slide assault, Noibat had sustained only minor scratches and surface wounds.
"This is..." Layne stared at the incredible display from the commentary booth, momentarily speechless before finding his voice to praise the remarkable little Pokemon. "This represents Dragon King Maximus's Noivern's legendary signature technique - Extreme Evasion! I never expected Noibat to have already mastered such an advanced skill. Jacob truly deserves recognition as Dragon King Maximus's chosen disciple; his mentor has already taught him this exceptional technique."
Extreme Evasion combined with priority Taunt abilities, alongside various crucial support moves, established Noibat as a top-tier support Pokemon without question.
"Noibat, use Tailwind!"
Jacob's commanding voice echoed across the battlefield once again. Noibat spread its wings wide and successfully executed the Tailwind technique, filling Jacob's side of the field with concentrated Flying-type energy that created powerful supporting winds.
"Drapion, return now. Go, Gengar!"
Recognizing that Drapion couldn't effectively counter Jacob's versatile Noibat, Wylder made the decisive choice to recall his Pokemon and deploy his absolute ace - the formidable Gengar.
"Here it comes! Wylder's signature Pokemon has entered the battle - Gengar!"
"Throughout the preliminary rounds in Sunbreak City, Gengar has appeared in twelve separate matches and achieved victory in every single encounter, maintaining a perfect record of twelve wins and zero losses. It has never experienced defeat."
"The pride of Sunbreak City! Go Wylder!"
"To restore the glory of Poison-types, this is our sacred duty!"
...
Jacob's attention focused intently on the newly arrived Gengar. This particular Gengar possessed excellent potential, as its combat power had reached Quasi-Gym Leader level, meaning it stood just one step away from achieving true Gym Leader level strength.
Such impressive combat capability ranked among the top tier even in Frosthollow Province's main competition. Except for those few exceptional individuals who possessed genuine Gym Leader level Pokemon, no competitor would serve as a worthy opponent for this Gengar.
"Gengar, use Nasty Plot!"
After Gengar materialized on the battlefield, Wylder's eyes gleamed with renewed confidence. He immediately ordered Gengar to execute the powerful Nasty Plot technique.
Nasty Plot ranks among the most devastating status moves available, dramatically increasing the user's special attack capabilities. Gengar naturally excelled in both speed and special attack statistics, and if it successfully boosted its special attack by two full stages, its offensive power would reach absolutely terrifying levels.
Wylder's intention was crystal clear - he wanted Gengar to sweep Jacob's entire team single-handedly.
"Noibat, Taunt!"
Jacob refused to allow Gengar the opportunity to use any status-enhancing moves. If this Gengar managed to combine Nasty Plot with Substitute afterward, Jacob would face an extremely difficult situation, and it might genuinely sweep his entire team.
Therefore, Jacob decisively commanded Noibat to use Taunt. The Taunt technique serves as the perfect counter to all elaborate setup strategies.
Jacob had to admit he possessed a genuine fondness for moves like Taunt, Pain Split, and Destiny Bond. It was unfortunate that Noibat couldn't learn Destiny Bond; otherwise, its movepool would be absolutely perfect.
Noibat released precise Supersonic waves from its distinctive purple ears once more. The sound wave energy carried Dark-type power in perfect harmony, enveloping Gengar completely and directly interrupting its Nasty Plot while sealing away all of Gengar's status-enhancing moves.
Wylder observed the small Noibat with growing frustration, thinking for the first time that such a seemingly innocent Pokemon could prove so incredibly annoying to face in battle.
"Gengar, use Icy Wind!"
Wylder decided to eliminate Noibat immediately; this particular Pokemon had become far too irritating to tolerate any longer.
"Noibat, Protect!"
Jacob activated the defensive Protect move, causing a shimmering light barrier to materialize around Noibat, completely blocking Gengar's chilling Icy Wind attack.
"Continue with Icy Wind attacks!"
"Noibat, return!"
Jacob understood perfectly that Noibat's strength would never match Gengar's overwhelming power in direct confrontation, so he made the tactical decision to recall his support Pokemon immediately.
Rather than using U-turn for the switch, Jacob chose a direct recall because he worried that given Noibat's quadruple weakness to Ice-type moves, it could very likely be knocked out by Gengar's Icy Wind before completing the U-turn maneuver.
"Go, Charizard!"
After recalling Noibat safely, Jacob sent out Charizard once again to continue the intense battle.
"Roar!"
The moment Charizard appeared on the battlefield, it released a powerful roar of determination. However, frigid wind immediately swept over its massive form as Gengar's Icy Wind struck without delay, instantly covering Charizard's dark scales with a thin layer of crystalline frost.
Fortunately, Charizard possessed no particular weakness to Ice-type attacks, so enduring a single Icy Wind assault posed no serious threat to its battle readiness.
"Charizard, maximum power Heat Wave!"
"Gengar, Thunderbolt!"
Both Wylder's and Jacob's commanding voices rang out almost simultaneously across the battlefield. Charizard unleashed its Heat Wave technique with absolutely no restraint, committing its full power to the attack.
Intense flames erupted from its body with explosive force. Under the significant boost provided by its Solar Power ability, Charizard's entire form became wreathed in dancing fire. The flames within its mouth took brilliant shape before suddenly erupting outward, covering a massive area directly in front of its position!
Meanwhile, electricity crackled ominously around Gengar's ghostly form, with blue lightning flickering and dancing before striking directly at Charizard with devastating precision!
The violent collision between searing flame waves and crackling lightning instantly triggered a massive explosion that shook the entire stadium.