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Layne, providing commentary from the broadcast booth, watched the recent developments with fascination and showered both Wylder's Gengar and Jacob's quick strategic thinking with enthusiastic praise.
"This must be Wylder's ultimate secret weapon! That Sludge Bomb can only be described as incredibly devastating, truly worthy of a specialized Poison-type trainer's reputation. Of course, the most crucial element was the precise timing when the Taunt technique finally wore off."
"At such close range, Hypnosis becomes practically guaranteed to connect, and we all know that Wylder's Gengar's signature combination in previous matches involved Hypnosis paired with Dream Eater. Next, Wylder will certainly have Gengar use Dream Eater to restore its stamina completely."
"If that happens, Jacob would find himself in serious trouble."
"However, Jacob is demonstrating excellent tactical awareness. He immediately reached for a Poke Ball, preparing to switch Pokemon and prevent Gengar from recovering stamina through Dream Eater. A very intelligent decision under these circumstances."
… … … …
The sudden reversal of the battle situation caused Jacob's expression to grow more serious. This Gengar's strength exceeded his initial expectations by a considerable margin.
Unlike typical Gengar that focus primarily on Ghost-type techniques, Wylder's Gengar leaned heavily toward its Poison-type heritage. Its mastery over Poison-type energy far surpassed its Ghost-type capabilities. The Sludge Bomb attack just demonstrated had been incredibly powerful, with toxicity and corrosive properties that reached truly dangerous levels.
Meanwhile, Gengar's Hypnosis began gradually taking effect across the battlefield. Charizard felt an overwhelming wave of drowsiness washing over its consciousness, causing its massive body to sway unsteadily like a rocking toy, appearing as though it might collapse into sleep at any moment.
Jacob studied his Charizard carefully, holding a Poke Ball ready to recall his partner, when he suddenly noticed Charizard turning to meet his gaze just before succumbing to the sleep effect. The unspoken understanding between trainer and Pokemon made Jacob realize immediately that Charizard, that clever strategist, definitely had its own plan and tactical arrangements in mind.
"Thud!" Charizard dropped directly to the ground, apparently sinking into deep, peaceful sleep.
"Come back, Charizard!" Jacob shouted loudly, his voice echoing across the stadium, but his hand movements were deliberately slow as he only then began reaching for the Poke Ball.
Wylder on the opposite side naturally wouldn't allow Charizard to escape without consequences and immediately commanded, "Gengar, use Mean Look!"
Normal-type energy surged from Gengar's glowing eyes, instantly locking onto Charizard's sleeping form and preventing it from being recalled into its Poke Ball through supernatural bonds.
"Jacob clearly could have recalled Charizard directly just moments ago, but he was just a step too slow in execution. Now that it's been affected by Gengar's Mean Look, recall has become impossible."
"Could it be that he intentionally sacrificed Charizard to safely bring Sceptile onto the battlefield?"
"That seems like the only logical explanation for his timing. However, Wylder's reaction speed was also remarkably fast, immediately deploying Gengar's Mean Look technique to completely prevent Charizard's escape. Now everything depends on when Charizard can naturally wake up from its hypnotic sleep."
The audience in the packed stands now found themselves on the edge of their seats, anxiously worried for Jacob's chances. If Gengar truly managed to recover its stamina through Dream Eater, the remainder of the match would become extremely difficult for Jacob to navigate.
"Gengar, Dream Eater!" Wylder commanded with growing confidence.
Accompanied by surging Psychic-type energy, Gengar's eyes began glowing with an eerie purple luminescence. Psychic energy poured forth in waves, rushing directly toward Charizard's motionless form lying on the ground.
Gengar's Dream Eater technique activated as intended, attempting to penetrate Charizard's consciousness, but it encountered unexpected resistance. Despite its best efforts, it couldn't successfully enter Charizard's supposed dream state, no matter how much power it applied.
While Gengar puzzled over this strange phenomenon, Charizard suddenly opened its massive jaws wide, and a Flamethrower that had been secretly charging for an extended period erupted directly from its mouth with explosive force.
"Roar!"
The devastating Flamethrower attack shot forth like a raging fire dragon, its fierce flames completely engulfing the unsuspecting Gengar. The expanding sea of fire spread rapidly across the battlefield, dealing serious damage to the caught-off-guard Ghost-type.
At that exact moment, Jacob observed with satisfaction that Charizard's combat power had achieved a breakthrough to Overlord Class strength!
"How is this even possible? Charizard actually woke up? Or was it never truly hypnotized in the first place?"
Layne released an astonished cry of disbelief. He found himself genuinely confused about the situation, because he had clearly witnessed Charizard being directly struck by the Hypnosis attack. After thinking carefully, Layne regained his professional commentator's analytical judgment.
"Based on Gengar's demonstrated strength level, if Charizard had been truly hypnotized, it shouldn't have awakened this early under normal circumstances. Therefore, the only reasonable possibility is that Charizard was never actually hypnotized at all."
"Wait just a moment." Liliana, the female commentator beside him, sharply noticed three distinct puncture wounds on Charizard's arm, with fresh blood flowing freely. "Look quickly! Charizard has three blood holes pierced in its right arm, and there's fresh blood coating Charizard's left claw."
Following Liliana's observation, the broadcast's giant screen immediately provided a detailed close-up view of Charizard's condition.
The image clearly revealed Charizard's left claw gleaming with bright red blood, while three perfectly spaced puncture wounds marked its right arm. By this point, everyone in the stadium understood exactly what had transpired.
"I understand completely now! Jacob's Charizard, in order to prevent itself from falling into hypnotic sleep, used its own sharp left claw to pierce directly into its right arm, utilizing the intense pain to resist the overwhelming drowsiness."
"To avoid detection by both Gengar and Wylder, it specifically waited until after collapsing to the ground before acting, and during this entire period, it maintained a perfect pretense of being asleep. In reality, Charizard was never truly hypnotized throughout this whole sequence!"
"Absolutely brilliant." Layne couldn't contain his amazement and admiration. This marked the first time he had witnessed such an intelligent and ruthlessly determined Charizard in action. "Jacob's performance today has truly exceeded all our expectations. What surprises me most is that Jacob's Charizard executed this strategy entirely without Jacob's direct command, which demonstrates its exceptionally high intelligence and independent thinking."
"Compared to its remarkable intelligence, I actually find its decisiveness and split-second judgment even more impressive. Very few Pokemon would choose to resist an enemy's Hypnosis using such an extreme and painful method."
"Absolutely correct, and beyond that tactical brilliance, the unspoken understanding between Jacob and Charizard reaches truly remarkable levels. Jacob's slight hesitation in recalling Charizard just moments ago was very likely intentional, proving that he also anticipated Charizard's desperate tactic. This level of synchronized thinking and mutual trust is genuinely admirable. You must remember that Charizard doesn't possess an ability like Telepathy to facilitate such communication."
Layne continued praising Jacob's performance with unbridled enthusiasm. Jacob and his Pokemon's demonstration today had completely won him over as a supporter. "I hereby declare that from this day forward, I am Jacob's most dedicated fan!"
… … … …
On the battle arena, Jacob's eyes also reflected genuine surprise and pride. He hadn't expected his Charizard to display such ruthless determination, voluntarily creating three painful wounds in its own arm using its razor-sharp claws. This level of decisiveness and willingness to endure self-inflicted pain impressed Jacob tremendously.
He had clearly underestimated Charizard's capabilities and character. It had proven itself not only ruthless toward enemies but even more uncompromisingly harsh toward itself when victory demanded sacrifice.
In stark contrast to Jacob's amazement, Wylder's expression had become exceptionally grim and troubled. He also hadn't anticipated Jacob's Charizard pulling such an unexpected and cunning maneuver.
This Charizard behaved exactly like a calculating and devious human being, completely lacking the typical straightforward nature expected from most Pokemon. Precisely because of this unprecedented cunning, Wylder's chances of achieving victory in this match had diminished to extremely slim prospects.
"Charizard, maximum power Heat Wave!"
At this critical moment, Charizard's stamina reserves were being drained at an alarming rate. The Solar Power ability's constant energy consumption combined with the poison status condition caused Charizard's endurance to decrease rapidly with each passing second. Therefore, Jacob had no desire to prolong this confrontation with Wylder any further and decisively issued his command, determined to bring this intense battle to a swift conclusion.
"Gengar, use Sludge Bomb!"
Wylder also refused to engage in further prolonged exchanges with Jacob and likewise ordered Gengar to deploy its most powerful Sludge Bomb technique.
Victory or defeat would be determined by this final, climactic exchange of attacks.