After deciding to battle, Terrance and Bruno both moved quickly.
Soon, the two had cleared out an open space to serve as a temporary battlefield.
"Troy, you'll be the referee. You know what to do, right?"
Once the two stood on opposite sides, Terrance looked toward Troy and called out.
"I know."
Troy responded quickly and ran to the center of the field.
With both the battlefield and referee ready, Terrance smiled and said, "Master Bruno, since you wish to test Onix's training results, let's set the battle rules to 1 vs 1."
"No problem," Bruno replied.
After confirming the rules, Terrance nodded toward Troy, who immediately announced the start of the battle.
Bruno and Terrance threw out their Poké Balls almost at the same time. However, while Terrance tossed his lightly, Bruno first struck a strange pose, as if praying, before hurling his Poké Ball with force.
"A special ritual, huh…" Terrance guessed after seeing the other man's movement.
Certain special schools of battling performed unique ceremonies before a match, similar to Trainers who kiss their Poké Balls before sending out their Pokémon, yet somehow different.
Bang!!!!
As Bruno's giant Onix appeared, Troy was startled. So big! When Onix's massive body landed, it sent many pebbles flying into the air, almost hitting them.
"Rooaaar~~"
With fierce eyes fixed on its opponent, Onix let out a mighty roar.
"What a huge body," Terrance said in surprise. He could clearly sense the tremendous strength hidden within that massive frame.
However, raising an Onix of this size must have been no simple task; an ordinary Trainer couldn't possibly manage it.
"Hahaha, but the Pokémon you sent out is quite the rare one," Bruno laughed, looking at Carbink whose entire body wasn't even the size of Onix's tail rock.
A Rock-type Pokémon from the Kalos region, Carbink. Bruno was naturally familiar with it.
"With such a great difference in size, this will surely be an interesting match," Terrance said with a faint smile.
A battle between Rock-types—one giant Onix against a small Carbink—it was bound to be interesting.
"It's not that Ninetales…" Troy murmured in surprise. Clearly, Ninetales would have been at much more advantage. He couldn't understand why Terrance chose Carbink instead.
Of course, Terrance had his reasons.
Bruno wanted to test the progress of the Onix he had caught less than half a month ago. Knowing this in advance, it would feel like bullying to use one of his main Pokemon.
Even if Master Bruno was strong, this Onix, trained for just half a month, couldn't be that powerful.
If Terrance used Altaria or one of his other main Pokémon, the victory would be guaranteed, but that wasn't what he wanted. Such a battle would be meaningless.
Among his current team, Carbink and Pupitar were the most suitable for this battle. A battle where the power gap wasn't too wide would be beneficial for both sides.
"Master Bruno, I won't hold back then."
With both Pokémon ready, Terrance gave the first command: "Carbink, use Stealth Rock!"
"Then we'll whip up a Sandstorm!"
Their commands came one after another. Almost immediately after Terrance's order, Bruno shouted his own. A sandstorm swept across the entire field. Seeing this, Terrance understood his opponent's intent, but Bruno spoke first—
"Then use Slam!"
Bruno's explosive muscles bulged as his eyes gleamed, fixed on the battlefield.
The move Slam wasn't aimed at Carbink; it was aimed at the Stealth Rock!
Terrance had planned to set up the field first and keep a move in reserve, but Bruno cleverly countered it. By observing the flow of the sandstorm, he and Onix were able to pinpoint the location of the Stealth Rock, and even intended to turn Carbink's own Stealth Rock into a weapon against it.
The giant Onix swung its tail, its huge body covering half the battlefield. The sheer force behind the Slam made Troy swallow hard.
"T-That… the Stealth Rock was broken so easily, and it's even being used as Onix's counterattack weapon now!"
Troy's scalp prickled as he looked at Carbink worriedly.
But his worry was unnecessary. Terrance had already come up with a countermeasure.
As Onix's wild tail lashed out, hurling the Stealth Rock toward Carbink, Terrance's expression grew focused.
From the previous round, he had already gotten a clearer sense of Onix's power. It had an excellent natural foundation and was stronger than Terrance had initially expected.
In the next moment, Terrance's clenched palm shimmered faintly with fairy light, signifying that he was activating the power of the Fairy Mark, establishing Telepathy with Carbink.
The Fairy Mark greatly enhanced Terrance's command ability, allowing him to instantly convey his thoughts to Carbink.
Faced with the rapidly descending Stealth Rock, Carbink could clearly sense its own move. However, now that the Stealth Rock had been imbued with Onix's immense power, trying to move it again telekinetically would take too much effort. It wasn't worth it.
Thus, Terrance and Carbink chose to dodge. But dodging on the ground would make Carbink an easy target for Onix. Terrance had already anticipated this. So, almost at the same moment Onix slammed the first Stealth Rock, Carbink controlled its magnetic force to use Magnet Rise, rising into the air.
In the vast, open sky, Carbink could dodge attacks more freely, and its offensive options would also increase.
"It flew up," Troy's expression froze for a moment, but he also saw that Onix reacted very quickly, immediately changing its attack trajectory, using Slam to knock the Stealth Rock toward the sky, and continuing to attack Carbink.
However, compared to when it was on the ground, the airborne Carbink was far more agile. And with its special awareness of its own move, the Stealth Rock being swung at it wouldn't be easy to hit.
When Onix struck the fourth Stealth Rock into the air, Bruno suddenly frowned, noticing that Onix's movements had become much slower. Glancing at the expressionless Terrance, he immediately realized this was the opponent's strategy.
"Gravity, huh…"
Onix's body was already enormous, and its weight was tremendous. It had only undergone less than half a month of training, and after suddenly being subjected to the effect of gravity, it was completely unable to move. Meanwhile, Carbink, which had enveloped Onix with a gravity field, was also subjected to the effect of gravity and suddenly fell.
As it plummeted, Carbink spun rapidly, executing the Steel-type move Gyro Ball, slamming hard into Onix's head.
"Rooaaar~~~!"
Bang! Onix let out a pained roar as it crashed to the ground, its massive body collapsing and nearly triggering a small-scale earthquake.
"Interesting," Bruno said again. "Use Bind."
No one had expected it, but despite its injuries, Onix suddenly moved. In an instant, it coiled its tail, sweeping the falling Carbink toward itself and clamping it tightly within its massive body.
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