"How terrifying...! Cacturne's roots practically do nothing to it!"
"And that armor layer covering Tyranitar's body is also a huge problem."
"Even though Tyranitar isn't a Steel-type, with armor that thick, it's impossible to find the right moment to use poison!"
Ethan scratched his head in frustration as he watched Tyranitar easily tear through the roots with its bare hands.
On top of that, Tyranitar's Dark typing was also a major nuisance for Slowking.
Since Dark-type is almost immune to Psychic-type moves, Shellder—who depended entirely on its mental powers—was practically out of the fight. Slowking also couldn't use his powerful telekinesis, being forced to rely on Water-type moves to face it.
Fortunately, Slowking's Water-type attacks were still very strong, allowing him to deal considerable damage to Tyranitar. This forced the colossus to be wary of Slowking's offensives, reducing its mobility.
If not for that, Tyranitar would have gone straight for Cacturne, who couldn't move due to using Ingrain. With Tyranitar's overwhelming strength, Ethan doubted Cacturne could withstand even a few hits.
Slowking stood firmly under the sandstorm. The dust that struck him was blocked by Shellder's psychic power. Although Shellder couldn't fight because of Dark-type immunity, it could completely defend itself using its mental energy.
Additionally, Slowking had the Regenerator ability, granting him an unusually high level of recovery. Combining that with his Heal Pulse move, he didn't fear confronting Tyranitar head-on. Thus, he positioned himself as the team's main shield, blocking most of the enemy's attacks thanks to Teleport.
Whoooosh—
Vibrava fluttered through the air. Its wings beat nonstop, generating sound waves that struck Tyranitar.
Though those waves didn't deal much physical damage, the shrill noise irritated the giant enough to cause it to lose focus. The purpose of Vibrava's Sonic Boom was fulfilled perfectly: interfere with Tyranitar's performance while adding some extra damage.
"Zzzt!"
However, the true protagonist of this battle was still Meltan.
Transformed into a long sword, Meltan delivered continuous slashes against Tyranitar's tough armor, leaving deep grooves with each strike.
"TYRRRAANN!"
Tyranitar roared furiously. Orange energy began to gather in its mouth, turning into a Hyper Beam fired directly at Slowking and Cacturne, who were in a straight line.
"Yadon!"
Seeing this, Slowking shouted a warning to Cacturne and instantly teleported away, disappearing from the spot. The massive blast hit directly in front of Cacturne.
But Cacturne reacted quickly, using Spiky Shield. A pale green barrier enveloped it completely, blocking Tyranitar's Hyper Beam head-on.
"Yadon!"
At that moment, Slowking reappeared right behind Tyranitar and unleashed a full-power Hydro Pump. The attack blasted the monster's body, and unable to move after using Hyper Beam, Tyranitar was knocked to the ground.
Swoosh!
From above, sword-Meltan compressed its repulsive energy to the limit—like a spring about to explode—and dove downward with a piercing whistle.
BOOM!
Like a meteor crashing to earth, the blow made the entire ground tremble.
Tyranitar was violently slammed into the ground, kicking up an explosion of sand and dust that scattered in every direction.
Crack!
Suddenly, a sharp sound echoed: Tyranitar's green armor had fractured!
With that final strike from Meltan, the thick carapace of the "Tyrant of the Desert" shattered into pieces.
The sandstorm slowly began to fade.
"We did it... we finally defeated this Tyranitar."
Ethan let out a sigh of relief. The end of the storm confirmed that Tyranitar could no longer maintain its climatic power.
Even so, the duration of the sandstorm had been surprisingly long. No wonder they called it the Tyrant of the Desert—it was as if the sandstorm climate had been created just for it.
Riding Absol, Ethan slowly approached the crater where Tyranitar lay. After examining it for a moment, he took out an empty Poké Ball.
The device opened, turning Tyranitar into a red beam of light that was absorbed without resistance.
At this point, after enduring the combined attacks of four Pokémon, it no longer had any strength left to fight. Even so, its endurance showed just how terrifyingly powerful it was.
"Phew... I finally caught it."
"But its strength is incredible. Fully taming it won't be easy at all."
Ethan shook his head. Even if he wanted to worry about it, he knew he wouldn't be able to use it freely yet: he first had to request authorization from the League.
"Forget it, getting that permit won't be simple."
He stored Tyranitar's Poké Ball in his backpack and looked into the distance.
Could what Tyranitar had been protecting be some kind of Rock-type treasure?
He wasn't in a hurry to find out for now. He gathered all his Pokémon and decided to rest before continuing.
He took several bottles of Shuckle Juice from his backpack and distributed them among everyone so they could recover their strength.
Glup.
Cacturne drank a bottle and showed an expression of pure bliss.
Seeing this, Shuckle quickly approached with a servile air, respectfully offering the juice stored inside its shell.
Thanks to its Gluttony ability and mastery of Hidden Power, Shuckle could now fully extract the energy contained in Berries. This had greatly increased the quality of its juice, already reaching Advanced level, with potential to improve even further.
For that reason, Ethan paid more and more attention to it, creating a rigorous training plan for Shuckle. In addition to its current moves, Shuckle had already learned Rock Throw and Rock Slide.
However, regarding the long-awaited psychic power Ethan hoped it would develop, Shuckle still showed no progress. Even after the ridiculous experiment of dropping it from a great height to "stimulate its mind", the attempt ended in complete failure.
(Naruto: Ero-sennin threw me from even higher and I managed to do it, dattebayo!)
(End of chapter)