"Deino!"
Deino held the brilliant azure flames of Dragon Pulse in his jaws, but he didn't fire immediately. Instead, he charged toward Altaria, his short legs moving with surprising, aggressive speed.
Iroha was startled.
She couldn't tell what Kashiwagi was planning.
"Dodge it with Dragon Dance!"
"Altaria!"
Altaria took to the sky.
Though its wings were stiff with lingering fear from the Scary Face, the rhythmic movements of the dance began to take hold. A faint blue aura coated its body, and its speed returned in a flash of grace.
"What beautiful movement!" Vivian praised, before gasping.
"Wait! What's this? Deino has... laid down?!"
On the field, Deino had thrown himself onto his back. Using the back of his head and neck as a pivot point, he kicked off with a sudden, violent burst of strength, spinning his body like a high-speed top!
"Deino—!!"
With a guttural roar, the blue dragon-flame he had been suppressing exploded outward.
As Deino spun, the energy transformed into a spiraling, upward-coiling dragon of light, completely sealing off Altaria's escape routes!
In the waiting room, Dawn's face lit up with excitement.
"It's the Counter Shield! Deino pulled it off!"
"Pip-lup-lup!" Piplup cheered at the screen.
He certainly didn't want Mawile's teammate to lose here.
...
In the arena, Altaria was trapped. The massive waves of dragon fire formed a literal cage, shrinking its living space by the second.
"Use Feather Dance to the left to slip through—!"
Iroha clenched her fists, but her command was a second too slow. The energy dragon lunged like a living predator.
BOOM!
Dust exploded. Altaria, though a Dragon-type itself, let out a cry of pain as it was swatted out of the air.
Ding!
Iroha's point bar plummeted, losing a third of its length instantly.
Kashiwagi's bar barely budged; he was penalized only slightly for the long setup time.
"Roost!" Iroha shouted desperately.
Altaria wasn't out yet. It touched the ground, glowing with a soft white light as shimmering feathers drifted around it, rapidly mending its wounds. Its health was returning, but its points were gone for good.
Meanwhile, Deino stopped his rotation, flipped back onto his feet, and lunged again. His "mad dog" tenacity caught even Vivian off guard.
"What a relentless reaction speed!" she cried.
"Ice Fang!"
Bone-chilling frost leaked from Deino's mouth. Altaria desperately flapped its wings to cover its head.
Now! Iroha's eyes flashed.
"Cotton Guard!"
As Deino leaped forward to sink his frozen fangs into his target, Altaria's cloud-like plumage exploded in size, turning into a massive, fluffy white orb!
The cold snapped shut on a wall of dense, resilient down. Deino's teeth were stuck, and he couldn't immediately pull away.
Kashiwagi's points began to drain as his Pokémon was "trapped," but Iroha didn't stop there.
"Don't let go! Take him into the sky!"
"Altaria!"
Altaria let out a melodious cry and beat its oversized wings with incredible force, actually lifting the trapped Deino off the ground and high into the air!
Deino struggled, but the violent shaking and the sheer altitude made it impossible to regain his footing.
The audience gasped—for a flightless Pokémon, being dragged into the stratosphere usually meant game over.
"Toss him!"
At Iroha's command, Altaria shed the excess cotton, sending Deino tumbling into a freefall.
"Now! Finish it with Dragon Pulse!"
Altaria tilted its head back, beak aglow with azure energy, ready to blast the falling dragon point-blank.
But then, Kashiwagi—who had been silent for a long time—finally gave the signal.
"Now! Dragon Rush!!"
The crowd froze.
High above, the "helpless" Deino suddenly corrected his posture in mid-air. A deep indigo light ignited on his forehead, and blue flames erupted from his fur, enveloping his entire body!
"DEINO—!!!"
A terrifying, spectral dragon head formed from the energy, letting out a haunting roar. He dived like a meteor, smashing directly into the Dragon Pulse Altaria had just fired!
CRASH!
A shockwave of pale blue light rippled through the air. The impact vibrated in the chests of everyone in the stadium.
They watched in awe as the Dragon Rush didn't just break the enemy's move—it swallowed it.
The indigo dragon-head seemed to feed on the energy, growing a body, wings, and a monstrous, terrifying visage!
"ROAR!!"
The sound caused the very air to tremble. The spectral dragon submerged Altaria completely, driving it straight down into the arena floor like a hammer.
THOOM—!!
The ground cracked, and a thick veil of dust billowed upward.
Everyone looked at the scoreboard, but before they could process the points, a sharper, clearer roar echoed through the smog. A brilliant, celestial blue light began to pulse from within the crater.
The dust was blown away by a mysterious, phantom force, revealing the scene: Deino was standing firmly atop the fallen Altaria, surrounded by a halo of miraculous light and shimmering, crystalline embers.
Vivian's voice shook with disbelief.
"In the heat of battle... Deino is evolving!"
Kashiwagi remained perfectly calm. To those watching, it was clear: this evolution was exactly what he had been building toward.
The scoreboard finally reacted—Iroha's points dropped to zero. Three red X's appeared before the judges.
Altaria was knocked out.
Iroha stood speechless, her gaze locked on the transforming Pokémon.
His body widened, and sharp claws extended from his feet. Two tread-like patterns appeared on his belly. A pair of long, slender wings sprouted from his back. And his round head... it split.
A new head didn't grow from the neck, instead the original head dividing into two.
"Zwai-uh!" "Zwai-uh!"
The twin cries rang out as the light of evolution faded.
A jet-black, two-headed dragon stood in its new, majestic form—Zweilous had arrived!
The stadium erupted into a standing ovation for Kashiwagi and his newly evolved partner!