Under the fierce charge of Flare Blitz, Annihilape was pushed all the way to the edge of the battlefield by the friction, while Arcanine kept up the stance of Flare Blitz against Annihilape's body, seemingly unwilling to stop until Annihilape's last ounce of physical strength was completely worn out.
"Now, Rage Fist!" Despite Annihilape's perilous situation, Ash remained calm and composed; everything was under his control.
At this moment, the real danger wasn't facing Annihilape, but Arcanine!
At this distance, while using Flare Blitz, it's practically impossible for Arcanine to dodge or use Protect to block Annihilape's Rage Fist, so this punch is bound to hit!
Annihilape kept one arm in front of him while the other was already at his waist, gathering energy, ready to punch!
"Boom!!" A terrifying shadow flew out from Annihilape's fist, transforming into a highly oppressive fist shape; the black fist shadow was even larger than Arcanine's size.
Still burning with flames, Arcanine was directly blasted away by the massive black fist, exploding halfway through!
"Boom!!" The Rage Fist hit directly, with a thick smoke filling the center of the battlefield. Annihilape maintained the punching posture, standing on the spot, and judging from his heavy breathing, he hadn't lost his fighting capability.
But within the smoke, the situation with Arcanine was unknown, and the sudden turn of events left Gary utterly shocked. Just moments ago, Annihilape was firmly suppressed by Flare Blitz, how did the situation reverse in the blink of an eye?
And what on earth was that punch? Why was its power even stronger than before!
When Annihilape last used Rage Fist to defeat Alakazam, Gary noticed that the punch seemed to have increased in power; while a slight boost might have been overlooked, the power's increase was almost double, making it impossible not to notice.
At that time, Gary didn't think much of it, assuming Annihilape was having a resurgence before falling, which allowed him to deliver such a punch.
However, he never expected that this resurgence would be lasting for quite a while longer!
The punch had significantly more power than when battling Alakazam, and it's not just a little bit stronger.
Is it that as the HP decreases, the ATK increases? But that doesn't seem right; during the battle with Alakazam, Annihilape's physical strength should've already been nearly drained.
If quantified, Annihilape's physical strength shouldn't exceed twenty points, and being hit by Flare Blitz, even if the damage was barely endured with Protect, it would lower from twenty points to just one.
With just a slight reduction in stamina, how does Rage Fist exhibit such a qualitative change in power?
If Rage Fist was previously an advanced skill, it's now reached the level of top-level skill, equivalent to the explosive burn tier.
The terror of a non-side effect explosive burn needs no elaboration; Annihilape currently unleashed a punch akin to it, possibly at the cost of his stamina dropping to the lowest point...
Could this skill be akin to Final Stand?
While Gary was full of doubts, the dust on the battlefield began to clear, revealing the figure of Arcanine inside. Arcanine was lying on the ground, seemingly unable to get back up.
With one single move, Arcanine was directly knocked out; Gary had actually anticipated this situation. If Arcanine hadn't lost combat capability, he would've certainly charged out of the smoke to deliver a fatal blow to Annihilape.
However, nearly ten seconds had passed with no movement within the smoke; if Arcanine still had combat ability, it would indeed be strange.
Nevertheless, when Gary truly saw Arcanine down, his gaze fell a little lost, and his heart experienced a huge sense of disappointment.
Why... it was just a tiny difference, yet why couldn't he defeat Annihilape?
If earlier there was no hope at all, now it was the greatest chance, but ironically during such major hope, Arcanine, with full stamina, was instantly knocked out by his opponent. He even employed the godspeed combo that he and Arcanine trained for ages.
The godspeed combo with Flare Blitz, this move is absolutely lethal at first sight level.
Yet ultimately, defeat was his end; Gary helplessly recalled Arcanine, and Ash saw Gary's state, his mouth moved slightly as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn't speak.
He believed Gary would pull himself together.
Gary didn't disappoint Ash; after the initial helplessness, he took a deep breath, his face once again full of fighting spirit.
He still had four Pokemon left, the outcome isn't settled yet, so why give up?
"The third one, it'll be you, Pidgeot!" Gary's third Pokemon, Pidgeot!
Normally possessing two Mach speed, after training it could reach three Mach, four Mach, equivalent to three to four times the speed of sound. In terms of speed, even across all Pokemon, Pidgeot's speed is quite impressive.