When the Shiny Ninetales saw Mega Gengar charging at the front and the other Pokémon rushing in behind—Tyranitar, Honchkrow, Weavile, among others—it did not show the slightest trace of fear.
Its elegant bearing was fully revealed.
It let out a soft whimper once more, and a multicolored energy shield enveloped it; the Strange Light that Mega Gengar used as it lunged forward had no effect at all.
Immediately afterward, Tyranitar aimed at it and used the move Earthquake, but it could be seen that its four legs, ethereal as if they did not belong to this world, barely touched the ground, effortlessly dodging the attack.
Right after Earthquake, Tyranitar prepared to use the move Precipice Blades against the Ninetales that had leapt into the air, clearly emboldened after having tasted success when facing Tomas's Arcanine.
Unfortunately, this time it was facing a Champion-level Shiny Ninetales, a Pokémon capable of using psychic powers.
When Precipice Blades erupted violently from the ground and was about to reach Ninetales, its two hind legs lightly tapped the air, propelling its body even higher.
From Tyranitar's perspective, it looked as though she had lightly touched the tip of Precipice Blades and, with complete calm and composure, jumped even higher.
The cracked ground began to twist, and four enormous vines burst violently toward the sky, aiming at the Ninetales that was rising again. After two consecutive jumps, it seemed to be running out of momentum, and Florges, under Cain's orders, seized the opportunity.
The four vines attacked from different angles to restrain her, but from her nine silvery tails, golden flames suddenly burst forth, transforming into a massive fire vortex that completely enveloped her and reduced the vines to ashes in an instant.
The ability of this Shiny Ninetales was Flash Fire: Fire-type moves not only failed to harm her, but instead further strengthened her flames.
Thus, although she was surrounded by fire, it not only caused her no damage, but actually increased her fiery power even more.
Seeing how relaxed this Ninetales remained in the face of his Pokémon's attacks, Cain's eyes shone with intense curiosity.
Her strength was immense, but it still did not exceed the limit of what Cain could endure.
However, watching her fight did not feel like a battle at all, but rather like an elegant classical dance, akin to enjoying a harmonious symphony— from her head to the tip of each tail, there was not the slightest abrupt or uncoordinated movement.
Cain deeply admired this Ninetales, but the battle continued; he could not lower his guard just because she was beautiful and elegant.
The Pokémon summoned later, Weavile and Honchkrow, joined the fight.
Noticing that Ninetales was in the air, Weavile leapt and landed on Honchkrow's back.
Understanding instantly, Honchkrow beat its wings powerfully and carried Weavile straight toward the Shiny Ninetales.
Sky Attack!
A blue, flame-like aura completely enveloped Honchkrow. On its back, Weavile crouched low and clung tightly, becoming wrapped in the energy of the attack as well.
No matter how agile Ninetales was, and no matter how strong her psychic control, since she was not a Flying-type Pokémon and lacked wings, there was nothing she could do against Honchkrow.
In the end, with no other choice, Ninetales spat a fireball toward Honchkrow, which condensed in midair into the character "大".
Fire Blast!
However, Honchkrow did not stop and charged straight into the attack; not only did its speed not decrease, it increased instead.
At that moment, Slowking, who had been protecting Cain, suddenly vanished from his spot and reappeared higher up in the sky. Before Honchkrow collided with the Fire Blast, the move Water Pulse struck first.
Boom!
The collision between fire and water, due to the difference in temperature, caused an explosion that produced a large amount of mist, concealing Honchkrow and Weavile.
Ninetales watched the cloud of steam, unsure whether her attack had hit its target.
But she soon got her answer: Honchkrow burst out of the mist wrapped in an even more intense Sky Attack energy and slammed straight into her.
Bang!
Sky Attack landed successfully, and at that very moment, the Safeguard that Ninetales had activated at the beginning dissipated completely.
Weavile, already prepared, seized the opportunity and leapt from Honchkrow's back toward Ninetales, whose balance had been disrupted by the impact. Crystals of ice formed around its claws.
Its target was clear and direct: Ninetales's two front legs.
Thinking that Weavile would attack her body, Ninetales defended accordingly, never imagining that the real target was her legs.
Ice Punch combined with Metal Claw!
Bang!
Bang!
Both strikes hit. Weavile rolled as it landed, evading Ninetales's counterattack.
The injuries were not severe, almost negligible, but because they directly affected her legs, they seriously compromised her mobility.
Just as she was about to land, two pillars of rock charged with searing magma erupted from the ground, forcing her to try to propel herself upward.
However, when she exerted force with her legs, the Ninetales—who until then had shown no change in expression—furrowed her brow in pain.
That instant of pain and hesitation was seized by Cain.
Under his control, Tyranitar's Precipice Blades, which was already near its limit, rose another ten centimeters and struck Ninetales squarely, who had been unable to gain enough distance because of the pain.
Boom!
The explosion of Precipice Blades echoed.
Ninetales's silvery fur was finally stained with dust, dragging her down from her ethereal, immaculate, deity-like appearance into harsh reality.
Blaziken, who had been building up power for some time, appeared above her. Its black legs were wrapped in red-gold flames—the move Blaze Kick enhanced by Swords Dance and the move Sacred Fire.
Ninetales glanced sideways at Blaziken's kick, and upon sensing the special nature of those flames, deep surprise appeared in her eyes.
As a fire expert, she immediately recognized that those flames were not ordinary.
Even so, Sacred Fire was still fire, and Blaziken had not completely stepped beyond that category.
And as long as it was fire, she was not afraid.
However, her psychic power erupted instantly, and a mysterious psychic force shot toward Blaziken.
Fortunately, Slowking reacted quickly and used Teleport to appear in front of Blaziken, taking the attack in his stead.
Blaziken raised its eyebrows like blades, and the flames on its body surged even higher.
Ninetales, on the other hand, showed a carefree expression.
But in the next instant, her expression changed drastically, because directly beneath her, Mega Gengar's eyes shone with a red light: its ability had been swapped with Ninetales's, replacing Ninetales's Flash Fire.
"Blaaazk!" roared Blaziken, raising its leg with a force capable of splitting an island.
(End of chapter)