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A tremendous explosion echoed across the stadium as thick clouds of smoke billowed upward from the battlefield.
Charizard's devastating Heat Wave and Gengar's precise Thunderbolt had collided with violent force, creating a spectacular blast that shook the entire arena.
Wylder's expression grew noticeably darker as he processed what had just occurred. In the recent exchange between Charizard and Gengar, his Ghost-type had actually found itself at a slight disadvantage despite its superior strength.
Although Charizard's Heat Wave benefited from its same-type attack bonus, the current Sunny Day weather conditions, and the significant boost from its Solar Power ability, Wylder's Gengar possessed genuine Gym Leader level raw power, making it considerably stronger than Jacob's Charizard under normal circumstances.
This unexpected result caused Wylder's expression to become even more serious and contemplative. This battle was proving far more challenging than he had originally anticipated. He studied Gengar carefully, then shifted his gaze to Jacob's determined Charizard, his mind racing to formulate an effective counter-strategy.
After Noibat's perfectly timed Taunt had successfully blocked Gengar's status-enhancing moves, Wylder's tactical options had become significantly more limited than he preferred.
"Gengar, use Shadow Ball to clear a path, then advance forward!"
Within moments, Wylder had developed a new tactical approach. He looked at Gengar with complete confidence, absolutely certain that his ace Pokemon could secure victory for him. After all, he and his Gengar had maintained an undefeated record throughout the entire tournament!
Regardless of what enemies they faced, his Gengar had always found a way to overcome them!
Following Wylder's command, several spheres of dark, shadowy energy materialized around Gengar's ghostly form. These protective orbs enveloped its body like a defensive barrier as it began flying directly toward Charizard's position.
Observing Gengar's unusual movements, Jacob's brow furrowed with concern and confusion. Everyone knew that while Gengar possessed access to numerous physical attacking moves including Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, and Focus Punch, its physical attack statistics were extremely poor, making it function exclusively as a special attacking Pokemon in competitive battles.
Wylder's sudden decision to have Gengar approach for close-range combat seemed highly suspicious. Having a special attacking Pokemon abandon its range advantage and move in for physical confrontation appeared strange regardless of how one analyzed the situation.
"Charizard, block its advance with Heat Wave!" Although Jacob couldn't fully understand Gengar's true intention, he cautiously ordered Charizard to maintain maximum distance from the Ghost-type and used Heat Wave to prevent Gengar from closing the gap.
Charizard drew another deep breath before violently exhaling scorching hot air in a wide arc, effectively sealing off a substantial area directly in front of its position.
However, Gengar completely ignored Charizard's defensive Heat Wave attack. Protected by its swirling Shadow Ball barrier, it charged directly through the intense flames without hesitation.
Shadow Ball and Heat Wave collided with tremendous force, instantly creating another explosion followed by a thick smokescreen that obscured everyone's vision. Using this concealing smoke as perfect cover, Gengar endured the fire damage and pushed straight toward Charizard's location.
When Gengar emerged from the dissipating smoke, the distance between the two Pokemon had closed dramatically. Gengar also displayed numerous fresh burn marks across its ethereal body, clearly inflicted by the scorching Heat Wave attack. Even with Shadow Ball's protective properties, it couldn't completely negate the damage from such a powerful Fire-type assault.
Watching the aggressively advancing Gengar, Jacob felt his anxiety increase substantially. The more desperately Gengar wanted to close the distance, the more determined he became to prevent it from succeeding!
"Retreat immediately, Charizard! Use Flamethrower!"
As Jacob's urgent voice echoed across the battlefield, Charizard had already begun beating its powerful wings to create distance. It had instinctively sensed the dangerous aura emanating from Gengar's approach, and while retreating, it gathered intense fire within its throat, releasing a concentrated stream of flames toward the pursuing Ghost-type.
Confronting the incoming Flamethrower attack, Gengar now demonstrated remarkable aerial agility and maneuverability. It dodged and weaved through the air with surprising grace, while Shadow Ball energy surged around its form once more. After successfully deflecting Charizard's Flamethrower, it forcibly closed the remaining distance between them!
"Gengar, deploy our secret weapon - Sludge Bomb!"
Seeing that the gap had finally been eliminated, Wylder's triumphant voice rang out across the stadium. Suddenly, disgusting purple sludge materialized in Gengar's hands, with concentrated Poison-type energy surging throughout the toxic substance. The black sludge bubbled and churned like a fermenting swamp, while simultaneously releasing a nauseating, pungent chemical odor that permeated the surrounding air.
At this crucial moment, every spectator remembered that Wylder specialized as a Poison-type trainer, and his true expertise lay in devastating Poison-type techniques!
Gengar hurled the Sludge Bomb with tremendous force directly toward Charizard's position.
"Charizard, ascend immediately! Dodge the Sludge Bomb, then counter with Solar Beam!"
Sludge Bomb represented an incredibly powerful Poison-type attack. Not only did it possess devastating raw power, but it also carried a significant chance to inflict poison status on target enemies. Jacob observed the purplish-black sludge in Gengar's grasp and realized that if Charizard suffered a direct hit, poison status would be virtually guaranteed.
Therefore, Jacob absolutely could not allow Charizard to be struck by this dangerous Sludge Bomb under any circumstances.
As Charizard climbed rapidly skyward, it simultaneously began gathering concentrated Grass-type energy for its signature attack. Within seconds, the energy reached full charge, and a brilliant Solar Beam erupted from its position, colliding directly with the incoming Sludge Bomb and instantly triggering another massive explosion.
The purplish-black Sludge Bomb detonated violently, splattering toxic sludge in all directions while releasing dense purple poisonous gas that quickly spread to cover the entire battlefield.
The referee immediately stepped in to manage the dangerous situation, directing nearby Pokemon to contain the poisonous mist within the battle area. Without this intervention, both trainers and spectators risked serious poisoning before the match could conclude.
During this chaotic moment, Jacob noticed with growing alarm that some purplish-black sludge had adhered to Charizard's dark scales, causing a burning sensation and emitting faint purple toxic vapors from the contact points.
Poisoned!
Despite Charizard's best evasive efforts, it couldn't completely avoid the Sludge Bomb's area of effect and had fallen victim to the dreaded poison status condition.
Witnessing this development, Jacob felt a wave of contemplative emotion as thoughts of his own Gengar surfaced in his mind.
Gengar functions as a Ghost and Poison dual-type Pokemon. His training of Haunter had focused excessively on developing its Ghost-type attributes while unfortunately neglecting its equally important Poison-type potential. Observing the devastating power of Wylder's Gengar's Sludge Bomb, Jacob realized that when Poison-type techniques were properly developed and trained, they could play an absolutely crucial role in competitive battles.
If the opportunity arose, he could request advice from Wylder regarding effective Poison-type training methods for Gengar.
While Jacob remained momentarily lost in these strategic thoughts, the poisonous mist gradually dispersed and cleared from the battlefield. To his shock, Gengar's form had completely vanished from its previous position.
Recognizing the immediate danger, Jacob instantly snapped back to attention and urgently called out his warning: "Charizard, watch your shadow carefully..."
At that precise moment, Gengar emerged dramatically from Charizard's own shadow, while Psychic-type energy surged powerfully from its ethereal hands, spreading outward in concentric waves of mental influence.
"Hypnosis!"
Jacob felt his heart sink as he witnessed this development. Had Noibat's Taunt effect already worn off so quickly?!
However, upon further reflection, Jacob felt somewhat relieved by the timing. Given that Gengar's strength far exceeded Noibat's capabilities, the fact that Taunt had lasted this long was actually quite impressive and exceeded his expectations.
Unfortunately, for the Taunt effect to expire at this exact moment - with Gengar emerging from Charizard's shadow and executing Hypnosis - represented an absolutely fatal blow to Charizard's chances of survival.
At this critical juncture in the battle, the scales of victory had clearly tipped in Wylder's favor. Once Charizard succumbed to hypnotic sleep, it definitely wouldn't survive long enough to wake up and mount any meaningful counterattack.
Jacob's mood grew heavy with the weight of impending defeat. He had already reached for Charizard's Poke Ball, preparing to recall his partner before the situation became completely hopeless.
If Charizard fell into deep sleep, Gengar would only need to use Dream Eater to not only end the battle immediately and defeat Charizard outright, but more importantly, Dream Eater would simultaneously restore Gengar's stamina and health. This meant that all the damage previously dealt to Gengar by Charizard's Heat Wave, Flamethrower, Solar Beam, and other powerful attacks would essentially be completely negated and healed.
After such an extended and intense battle, his Charizard would lose its ability to continue fighting, while Gengar would emerge at full strength and completely refreshed. Jacob could accept Charizard being defeated in honest combat, but he absolutely refused to accept Gengar recovering its stamina through such a technique.
Therefore, he had to recall Charizard immediately, even though this action would effectively eliminate Charizard from the battle without giving it a chance to fight back.