"Right now, Feng Che still has two Pokémon left, and none of his previous ones exerted much stamina. Even if I manage to win one round, I likely won't survive the onslaught of his remaining team. The outcome of this assessment is obvious: I've lost. But... I will keep fighting. I just want to win against him once."
Red gripped his Poké Ball and threw it. "Go, Gyarados!"
Feng Che countered with Flygon.
"A Ground-type like Flygon? I have a chance here," Red muttered. "Gyarados, Rain Dance!"
Red intended to use the rain to hinder Flygon's movement. Ground-types usually hated water. However, he was disappointed to find that the previous Solar Beam from Venusaur had cleared the sky so thoroughly that Gyarados struggled to gather even a small patch of clouds. Only a light drizzle began to fall.
That Gyarados must be the Magikarp Misty lost to Team Rocket, later evolved through their experiments, Feng Che thought. It should be skilled at manipulating air currents, just like mine.
"Flygon, use Sandstorm! Turn this field into your home turf!"
Flygon landed, and everywhere it touched, sand began to billow. Within moments, the arena was a sea of swirling grit.
"Gyarados, Hydro Pump!"
Red saw the terrain shifting and acted quickly. The water blasted into the sand, turning it into a sludge of mud. "Now, manipulate that mud! Use it to strike Flygon!"
"Flygon, Rock Tomb!" Feng Che commanded. Red, you're oversimplifying things. My Flygon was reinforced by the Earth and Dragon God Crystals. Its control over Ground energy is far beyond a Gyarados trying to mimic it.
Massive stone walls erupted from the earth, cutting through the mudslides. Flygon took to the skies, a ring of sand swirling around it like a protective belt. Suddenly, the ground beneath Gyarados collapsed into a Quicksand vortex.
"I've studied your Flygon, Feng Che! I know how to break the Quicksand!" Red shouted. "Gyarados, Hyper Beam at the center of the vortex!"
The massive white beam struck the sand, causing an explosion that sent the grit flying high into the air. The sky turned gray with dust.
"Now! Use a maximum power Flamethrower upward!"
The intense heat fused the airborne sand into molten glass and lava, which began raining down. Flygon immediately wrapped itself in a sphere of sand—a Sand Shield. The shield turned glowing red under the heat.
"Gyarados, prep Hyper Beam again!" Red screamed.
"Flygon, you too! Hyper Beam!"
As the flames ceased, both Pokémon unleashed their beams simultaneously. The collision in mid-air created a shockwave so violent that the psychic barrier protecting the audience developed spiderweb cracks.
"That's terrifying! I almost wet myself!" a spectator cried out.
When the smoke cleared, a charred, black orb floated in the sky. It crumbled away, revealing Flygon—entirely unscathed.
"No way... even that didn't take it down?" Red gritted his teeth. "Gyarados, Hydro Pump! Aim for the cracks in the sand!"
"Flygon, use the Dragon's power. Call the thunder!"
Flygon tapped into its deeper reserves. The dark clouds Gyarados had struggled to summon suddenly multiplied and turned pitch black. Lightning began to crackle. Flygon connected a thin line of sand from Gyarados to the storm clouds above, acting as a lightning rod.
CRACK-BOOM!
A massive bolt of golden lightning traveled down the sand line, engulfing Gyarados. The water-type screamed in agony. Before it could recover, Flygon fired a Solar Beam. Caught between the electricity and the heat, Gyarados crashed to the ground, defeated.
"This is it. My final Pokémon. Eevee!"
Red released his Eevee, a small, fox-like creature with brown fur and a cream-colored ruff. It looked fragile, its ears twitching nervously—a lingering trauma from the Rocket experiments it had endured.
"Go, Sirfetch'd!"
Feng Che released his final choice. The crowd gasped; the Pokédex showed only "???" for the bird with the massive leek sword and shield.
"This is a Sirfetch'd from the Galar region," Feng Che explained. "It's very strong. Red, do you want to evolve your Eevee now?"
Red reached for his Eternal Evolution Stones. "Go, Jolteon!"
The Eevee transformed instantly into the spiky, yellow Jolteon. "Jolteon, Pin Missile!"
A barrage of electrified fur needles flew toward Sirfetch'd.
"Sirfetch'd, Slash."
With a casual flick of its leek sword, Sirfetch'd swatted the needles aside, slicing them in half. Before Jolteon could fire a Thunderbolt, Sirfetch'd blurred into a white streak—Fake Out. The hilt of its leek struck Jolteon's throat, sent it tumbling back.
"Close combat is too dangerous! Switch! Vaporeon!" Red threw the Water Stone.
Jolteon shifted into the sleek, blue Vaporeon. Just as Sirfetch'd lunged, Vaporeon used Acid Armor, its body liquefying into a puddle on the floor. Sirfetch'd's sword struck nothing but water.
Rain began to fall—Vaporeon's Rain Dance. Hidden in the puddles across the arena, Vaporeon was immune to physical strikes and could attack from anywhere. It surfaced briefly to fire an Ice Beam.
Sirfetch'd leaped high to dodge. Vaporeon was proving to be a nightmare of a target.
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