The commentators and guests spoke with an air of finality; they didn't hold a shred of hope for Kashiwagi's victory.
Among the spectators, a wave of regret washed through the stands. After all, when one combatant possessed the Ground typing and the gift of flight, while the other was not only weak to Ground but tethered to the earth, the outcome seemed written in stone.
Even Kashiwagi himself was acutely aware of the staggering gap in power.
But he had no intention of giving up.
The proud Mawile had endured the searing pain in her organs and the numbness in her feet—suffering through the accumulated agony of trade after trade with Slowbro—just to shatter the arena floor at the final moment. For what?
The timid Chansey had allowed herself to be tossed through the air, narrowly dodging jagged rocks while her back took heavy blows, all to struggle out one last move. For what?
—Victory.
As long as the final second hadn't ticked away, as long as a single companion remained standing, and as long as there was the slightest flicker of a chance to survive...
Victory was still right there in front of them, waiting for him to reach out and seize it!
"Dodge it!"
The moment Kashiwagi released Lairon, he let out a guttural roar.
Lairon hit the ground and charged forward without a moment's hesitation. An instant later, a terrifying, rhythmic explosion thundered from the spot he had just occupied.
There was no need to look back; one glance at the glowing arms of Claydol confirmed it: the creature had just dropped an Earth Power right on his original position.
With Lairon's Special Defense, taking that hit would have meant kissing any hope of victory goodbye.
Lairon panted heavily, his breath thick and labored. He knew all too well that he was walking a tightrope over a bottomless abyss.
But for the sake of that paradise ahead called "Victory," he would keep walking—even if the wind and rain battered his steel hide, even if the lightning trailed his every step.
"It's coming from the front! Keep moving and use Rock Tomb!"
"Lai-ron!"
Lairon manipulated the earth as he ran, causing jagged pillars of stone to arch up and smash forward. They collided with the searing, swirling sands erupting from Claydol's arms. Instead of shattering the attack, the rocks were actually pushed back by the sheer force of the onslaught.
Fortunately, Lairon was quick enough to swerve, avoiding being crushed by the high-pressure sand and returning boulders.
Scorching Sands.
A Ground-type Special move that could leave the opponent with a burn. Claydol's overwhelming power had effectively suppressed the Rock Tomb.
Of course, the fact that Lairon was firing while running also weakened the move's momentum. Using moves on the move—much like "mobile casting"—increased flexibility but took a massive toll on power and accuracy.
However.
Lairon had no intention of getting into a move-for-move trade with Claydol right now. His true goal was to roam the field and stall for as much time as possible.
He wasn't fast, but he could use his moves to disrupt the rhythm of the opponent's attacks.
To win, he had to drag this out. Drag it out until Claydol grew weary of the hunt; drag it out until the very last drop of elemental energy was spent. That was when the opportunity would arise.
"Psychic!"
Yamamino seemed to see right through Kashiwagi's intentions. He stopped playing around and opted to forgo the 4x effective Ground moves in favor of the direct, unavoidable lock-on of Psychic energy.
No matter how tanky your Lairon is, it won't have any tricks left after a few hits of this, right?
—Oh, he had tricks.
"Dig!"
Kashiwagi was committed to pushing the stalling tactic to its absolute limit. In his past life, he had played plenty of "stall teams" that relied on the philosophy of attrition; he felt no moral burden whatsoever.
There was no rule saying a Pokémon battle had to be a head-on collision.
Lairon rapidly clawed through the earth and dove underground, causing the invisible wave of psychic energy to wash over nothing but empty air.
Yamamino's expression hardened.
"Power Trick—then Earthquake!"
"Run toward me! Use Iron Defense!"
Claydol's body erupted in a brilliant cerulean light as its Defense and Attack stats flipped in an instant.
Then, like a falling meteor, it slammed into the ground. The hardened earth shattered like a brittle cracker, fragmenting inch by inch. Countless plumes of sand and stone surged into the air as a brownish light manifested into a shockwave, radiating outward with the terrifying force of a missile detonation.
BOOM—!!
The deafening roar battered everyone's eardrums.
In the nick of time, Lairon managed to burst out from the ground. Enveloped in a silver halo, he curled his body into an impenetrable wall of steel. Even so, he was caught by the shockwave and sent flying, tumbling across the ground in a ragged heap.
Though he had fortunately escaped the "epicenter" of the Earthquake's massive damage and used Iron Defense to mitigate the blow, Lairon still took a significant amount of damage.
"Lai... ron!"
He stumbled, forcing his legs to support his weight. Not far away, Kashiwagi also picked himself up from a prone position.
Both trainer and Pokémon had been caught in the periphery of the Earthquake. Claydol was already powerful; flipping its massive Defense into Attack made its offensive output nothing short of astronomical.
Most crucially, Claydol possessed an arsenal of versatile, high-powered moves that were relentlessly grinding down Kashiwagi and Lairon's nerves.
"Can you keep going?"
"Lai-ron."
Trainer and Pokémon shared a brief exchange of looks, and then, in unison, they both let out a small smile.
Holding on was indeed grueling, but compared to the things they had faced in the past, this was nothing. They had survived far worse situations—so what was this?
Across the field.
Seeing the smile on Kashiwagi's face, Yamamino's brow furrowed deeper. "Again! Psychic!"
He wanted to see exactly how much longer this Lairon could last!
Inside the broadcast booth.
The commentator's voice had lost its fire. Instead, they began to discuss the logic behind Kashiwagi's actions and what his next move could possibly be.
"In your opinion, what is Kashiwagi's goal in continuing to stall like this?"
"It's simple: he's waiting for an opening," the guest expert said composedly. "He's waiting for Claydol to tire. Even for a Pokémon like Claydol, continuously firing off high-tier moves will eventually lead to fatigue."
"And how will he counter-attack?"
"Most likely with Endeavor. However, since Endeavor is a contact move, it's normally very difficult for a Lairon to touch a Claydol hovering in the sky. I'm quite curious to see what kind of tactic he'll use."
The guest smiled. "But more than that, whether Lairon can even hold out is the real question. Yamamino is playing it very smart by keeping his distance; he's giving Lairon zero opportunities."
"You're right... so, what are the odds that Kashiwagi has no tactic at all, and is just stalling for the sake of it?"
"Highly unlikely," the guest chuckled. "Given Kashiwagi's prior performance, he doesn't seem like the type to do something meaningless."
While the guests theorized, the stands had descended into chaos.
Most of the vitriol came from the gamblers who had bet on Yamamino. They were hurling insults at Kashiwagi for refusing to give up, claiming he was wasting everyone's time.
Why drag out a match you can't win?
Those who had bet on Kashiwagi shouted back just as fiercely. They were still dreaming of a massive payout and were certainly not ready for Kashiwagi to throw in the towel.
The shouting matches grew louder and louder until they sparked several physical altercations, ending only when security stepped in to haul the brawlers away.