After releasing the Escuregot to heal the Anjanath, Zhang planned to head back to the bamboo forest.
Even if the Rathalos could fly, it had to sleep sometime. When it did, he could take the opportunity to cripple its wings, turning the King of the Skies into a grounded chicken. Then, they could fight. With the Anjanath on his team, it would be seven against one. The advantage was his.
"Gardevoir, take us back to the bamboo forest," he said after recalling the Anjanath and his other monsters. Only Gardevoir and Pidgeot remained by his side. The other monsters were too large and numerous; with her current strength, Gardevoir would struggle to teleport all of them at once.
"Voir." She nodded, and in a flash of light, she, Pidgeot, and Zhang were back in the bamboo forest. The bloodstains and craters were still there, but the Rathalos and Rathian were long gone.
"Arcanine, get the scent. Find the owner of this blood," he commanded, releasing the fire dog and pointing to the ground.
"Woof!" Arcanine nodded and began to sniff intently. "Woof! Woof!" a moment later, it had locked onto a trail.
"Keep up," Zhang said, beckoning for his other Pokémon to follow as they headed north behind the speedy dog.
After a winding journey, Arcanine led them to the mouth of a cave.
"It's in a cave. The heavens are on my side," Zhang thought, a grin spreading across his face. "Inside, the Rathalos can't fly. Even if the cave is large enough for it to get airborne, it will be low-altitude flight at best. It won't be a major factor."
With that, he decided it was time to slay the dragon.
"Come on out, everyone!" He released the Anjanath, Blood Orange Bishaten, Tobi-Kadachi, Great Izuchi, and Arzuros.
"Anjanath, six Dragon Dances. Bishaten, Arzuros, six Bulk Ups. Tobi-Kadachi, Great Izuchi, three Agility uses," he ordered, having his team stack their buffs.
"Go!" Once they were powered up, he mounted the Anjanath and led his gang of "thugs" into the cave.
Inside was a massive chamber, roughly the size of a football field and thirty meters high. The Rathalos, which had been licking its mate's wounds, suddenly turned its head.
THUD! THUD!
The towering Anjanath stormed in with Zhang on its back.
"Brothers, shoulder to shoulder!" Zhang pointed at the Rathalos and gave the order to attack.
"ROAR!" The Rathalos opened its maw and let out an enraged roar. The creature that had injured its mate had dared to come to its home. It was furious.
FWOOSH! It spat a massive fireball at Zhang.
Swoosh! The Anjanath leaped to the left, dodging the projectile. After six Dragon Dances, its Speed and Attack were now four times their original values. Even though it wasn't a particularly agile monster, it could now easily evade the Rathalos's attacks.
"AWOOO!" Arcanine let out a long howl, its Intimidate ability activating. The power difference was too great, so the effect was minimal, weakening the Rathalos's attack by only 5%. But even that was enough for Zhang.
"Hiss!" The Tobi-Kadachi, the fastest of the group, shot past the Anjanath and appeared before the Rathalos in a crackle of lightning. Its electrified claws slashed at the Rathalos's right eye.
The Rathalos, however, didn't panic. It hopped backward, avoiding the attack. Seeing this, the Tobi-Kadachi changed its target, leaping toward the injured Rathian sleeping nearby.
Flying Tail Slam!
Its massive tail came down, smashing the Rathian's head even flatter, sending a spray of red and white from its orifices. The wound that had just begun to heal was violently reopened. The Rathian went limp, completely unconscious.
"ROAR!" Seeing its mate attacked, the Rathalos became enraged. It tucked its wings and charged the Tobi-Kadachi like a heavyweight knight.
"Hiss!" The Tobi-Kadachi leaped backward, launching itself to the ceiling of the cave, where it clung upside down like a gecko.
THUD! THUD!
The Rathalos charged to a stop directly beneath it. It wanted to halt and launch a few fireballs, but stopping a full charge was not so easy.
CRACKLE! A blue-white light erupted around the Tobi-Kadachi as terrifying arcs of lightning danced across its fur.
Discharge!
It unleashed the Pokémon move. One after another, bolts of lightning rained down, striking the Rathalos. The king of the skies had a weakness to Thunder, so the attack was more damaging than the Tobi-Kadachi had expected. The lightning strikes blackened its scales and roasted some of its flesh. If not for its higher level, the Discharge would have severely injured it.
Hurricane!
The moment the Rathalos managed to turn around, it was blasted by a powerful vortex of wind from Pidgeot. Sharp wind blades scraped against its scales with a harsh, grating sound, like a saw on iron, carving a series of shallow wounds across its body.
"ROAR!" Almost simultaneously, the Anjanath's nasal vents flared open. It opened its mouth and unleashed a massive pillar of flame.
The Rathalos could only tilt its head back sharply in response.
BOOM! The three-meter-wide pillar of flame slammed into its chest, scorching a large patch of its flesh and even setting it alight. Despite its natural resistance to fire, the attack dealt significant damage. The Anjanath's attack power was simply too high.
With its Nasal Vents active, its Special Attack matched its physical Attack. And its physical Attack was now six times its original value a four-times boost from Dragon Dance and a 1.5-times boost from Anger Point. Its power was now approaching the Elite Four tier. This was the true strength of Dragon Dance.
In the era of Pokémon games before the Fairy type, there was a saying: there are only two kinds of Pokémon in the world, those that can use Dragon Dance, and those that can't.
"ROAR!" The pain drove the Rathalos into a complete frenzy. It spread its wings, leaped into the air, and spat a sweeping wave of flame at the Anjanath.
Fwish! Gardevoir raised her hands and used Teleport, moving the Rathalos directly in front of the Anjanath. Before the king of the skies could even react, it was engulfed by its own flames. This was the infuriating power of Teleport. Against a Pokémon that could use it, you were practically helpless.