Alex immediately resummoned Umbreon and sprayed her wounds with a Hyper Potion, making sure all of her injuries had been treated.
Meanwhile, the referee looked toward Alex and announced, "Participant Alex, you have thirty seconds to send out your next Pokémon."
After finishing the treatment, Alex acted as though he weren't under any time pressure at all.
Looking at Umbreon with a serious expression, he said, "Umbreon, what you just did was incredibly dangerous, and I am very disappointed that you were willing to risk your health for something so insignificant."
Umbreon had already expected to be scolded. Through their telepathic link, she immediately replied, "How can you call it insignificant? Every member of our family wants to win this tournament at all costs."
Alex's expression remained cold as he answered, "Oh? Then tell me this. How valuable is winning this tournament compared to the health—or even the life—of one of your family members?"
Umbreon opened her mouth but couldn't answer. Deep down, she already knew the answer.
Every member of their family would choose the life of another family member over a tournament victory without the slightest hesitation.
Alex's expression softened slightly, although sadness remained visible in his eyes.
He said quietly, "You're only thinking about your own feelings right now. You don't understand how the rest of us feel when you do something so reckless. Umbreon... I'm very disappointed in what you did today. We'll talk about this again after the tournament."
Realizing he was running out of time, Alex ended the conversation and gently returned Umbreon to her Poké Ball.
During their exchange, the poison continued eating away at Tropius's remaining strength. Unable to endure it any longer, Tropius finally collapsed unconscious onto the battlefield.
Umbreon's final Payback had dealt just enough damage for the poison to finish Tropius during the thirty-second interval.
However, that victory did absolutely nothing to lessen Alex's anger or disappointment.
What frustrated him most wasn't only Umbreon's aktion herself.
It was the fact that Gardevoir and Scizor had made similarly reckless decisions in the past, yet apparently none of them had truly learned from those incidents, or at least it feel that way to him so.
Alex silently resolved that, once the tournament was over, he would have a serious conversation with every member of his team.
He wanted to make absolutely certain that none of them would ever try to gamble with their own safety so carelessly like these 3.
Taking such a risk was acceptable only if another family member's life was in immediate danger and there was no safer alternative.
Anything less than that simply wasn't worth it.
Still distracted by those thoughts, Alex barely considered his next choice. Almost instinctively, he threw his Poké Ball.
A crimson flash erupted onto the battlefield.
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Pokémon: Scizor
LV: 58
Type: Bug / Steel
Abilities: Technician
Gender: Male
Potential: Shallow Diamond (0%)
Moves:
- Leer, Quick Attack, Focus Energy [E], Double Team, Feint, Fury Cutter, Wing Attack, Agility [E], Slash, Razor Wind, Iron Defense, X-Scissor [E], Night Slash, Bullet punch, Double Hit, Iron Head, Brick Break [E],
- (Perfect Talent) Roost [M], (Perfect Talent) Metal Claw [M],
- (TM) Protect [E], (TM) Swords Dance [M], (TM) Toxic, (TM) Thief, (TM) Facade, (TM) Giga Impact [E], (TM) U-turn [M], (TM) Sandstorm [M], (TM) Substitute, (TM) Safeguard, (TM) Light Screen, (TM) Return, (TM) Aerial Ace [E], (TM) Acrobatics,
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Since Winona had only one Pokémon remaining, she wasted no time.
After fully healing Tropius and returning it to his Poké Ball, she immediately released her final Pokémon.
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Pokémon: Dragonite
LV: 59
Type: Dragon / Flying
Ability: Inner Focus
Gender: Male
Potential: Shallow Diamond (0%)
Moves:
- Wrap, Leer, Thunder Wave, Twister, Dragon Rage, Slam, Agility, Dragon Tail, Aqua Tail [E], Dragon Rush, Safeguard,
- (Perfect Talent) Extreme Speed [M], (Perfect Talent) Wing Attack [M]
- (TM) Protect [E], (TM) Toxic [E], (TM) Roost [M], (TM) Thunderbolt [E], (TM) Ice Beam [E], (TM) Flamethrower [E], (TM) Earthquake [M], (TM) Brick Break, (TM) Steel Wing, (TM) Dragon Dance [M], (TM) Rock Slide [E], (TM) Substitute, (TM) Facade [E], (TM) Hyper Beam, (TM) Giga Impact
------------
The moment Alex saw that Dragonite's Flamethrower had reached the Expert Rank, he immediately realized that Scizor was in an extremely dangerous matchup.
Fortunately, he had already prepared a strategy specifically designed to reduce the effectiveness of that move, so he still remained relativ calm.
The referee raised his hand and shouted, "Three... two... one... Go!"
Neither trainer issued any verbal commands.
both Pokémon immediately began following the instructions they had received before entering the match.
Scizor sprinted away from Dragonite while simultaneously preparing his next move.
Dragonite, possessing a clear advantage in speed, had no difficulty keeping close enough to be in move range.
However, instead of running toward the edge of the arena, Scizor headed directly for the large pool of water in the center.
Without slowing down, he dove into the water and swam downward as deeply as he could.
Fire-type attacks such as Flamethrower were more or less affected by their surroundings in this world.
When the flames traveled through a large volume of water, they lost a noticeable portion of their energy before reaching their target. The reduction in power wasn't enormous, but against a Pokémon with a four-times weakness to Fire, every bit mattered.
Dragonite didn't hesitate for even a moment. He dove into the water after Scizor.
His body cut effortlessly through the water, allowing him to swim with surprising speed and agility.
Dragonite and especially its evolutionary line were naturally excellent swimmers, moving through water almost as comfortably as many Water-type Pokémon.
Before Dragonite could close the distance completely, Scizor finished preparing his move.
Deep beneath the surface, he unleashed Sandstorm.
Instead of creating a storm of wind and sand, countless grains were stirred up from the bottom of the pool, rapidly mixing with the water to create an enormous cloud of mud.
Within seconds, the once-clear water became so murky that visibility dropped to only a few meters.
Alex had experimented with Sandstorm in all kinds of environments during training, so he already knew this interaction would occur.
Although the move dealt no damage underwater, reducing visibility to almost nothing was more than enough to justify using it.
Dragonite, however, was already close enough that his excellent underwater vision still allowed him to barely distinguish Scizor's outline through the muddy water.
Without slowing down, he continued pursuing his opponent.
At that very moment, Dragonite finished preparing his move. He immediately unleashed Flamethrower.
Scizor, unable to maneuver nearly as freely underwater, failed to evade the attack. The weakened flames still struck him head-on.
Despite being reduced by the surrounding water and possessing only Expert Rank mastery, the Fire-type attack inflicted devastating damage.
When the flames finally dissipated, Scizor had already lost more than half of his remaining HP.
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