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A powerful Bullet Punch struck Nidoking squarely in the face. With a resounding impact, Nidoking's body was knocked sideways.
"Use Sword Dance!" Although Nidoking was momentarily staggered, Ash didn't pursue the attack. Instead, he changed his strategy.
"Scizor!"
After hearing the command, Scizor crossed its pincers in front of its body, then suddenly began rotating. It looked as though a red twister had formed instantly around it.
Several ethereal swords materialized around Scizor's body, clashing together before transforming into light that merged into Scizor itself.
Sword Dance could greatly increase Scizor's attack power, and combined with its Technician ability, it would significantly boost Scizor's overall strength.
"Nidoking, Megahorn!"
Giovanni decided to end this quickly. He couldn't allow Scizor to continue building up its attack power, or else even resisted attacks would eventually cause massive damage.
"Double Team!" Faced with Nidoking's offensive, Ash employed the same tactic as before.
Scizor reacted swiftly upon hearing the command. With a flicker of its body, Double Team activated again, and red figures began appearing continuously across the field.
"The same move won't work twice. Nidoking, sense the temperature."
When Giovanni saw this, he spoke coldly. Having been an experienced Trainer for so many years, Giovanni naturally knew the weakness of Scizor's Double Team.
Although it was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, the heat that Scizor's body emitted as it moved was a problem it couldn't solve on its own.
"Scizor, Metal Claw!"
Even after hearing that Giovanni knew about the temperature weakness, Ash didn't back down at all and directly commanded Scizor to attack.
All the clones rushed toward Nidoking simultaneously. Nidoking carefully began sensing for temperature differences. However, as it attempted to detect the heat signature, its expression changed slightly, and it stood there without taking any action.
Giovanni's expression shifted when he witnessed this scene. That shouldn't be possible—it should have been easy to sense Scizor's body temperature.
BOOM!
Just as he was processing his surprise, a loud crash rang out. A figure had directly struck Nidoking's body. With the boost from Sword Dance, the power of Metal Claw had increased significantly. Under the assault, Nidoking was forced to retreat once more.
"What's happening?" Giovanni felt genuinely shocked.
He couldn't figure out what was going on. A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead unconsciously, though not from fear.
The hint of coolness on his forehead made Giovanni realize something was wrong. He instinctively looked up at the ceiling. There was a bright glare above—not from a light fixture, but as though there were a sun positioned directly above the arena.
"So that's the reason!" Looking at the dazzling light, Giovanni reflexively lowered his gaze back to the field.
No wonder he couldn't sense Scizor's temperature. The effects of Sunny Day were still continuing. Although the power of Fire Punch had increased, the surrounding temperature had also changed dramatically.
While Scizor's body naturally increased in temperature as it moved, under Sunny Day's conditions, the ambient temperature was exceptionally high.
Under such circumstances, Nidoking's senses were also affected, making it impossible to distinguish Scizor's heat signature from the background temperature.
Although he had paid considerable attention to his opponent, Giovanni had to reassess this young trainer at this moment.
Elements left over from the previous battle could still be utilized effectively.
At this moment, Ash's lips curved into a smile. Of course, he was also aware of this weakness of Scizor.
However, Sunny Day could still be exploited. Although the effect would disappear soon, Ash was now racing against time with his opponent.
Because at such an elevated temperature, it was also a test for Scizor. Its body temperature was higher than normal, and its stamina was being consumed much faster.
"Hmph! You'll have nowhere to hide next!"
"Nidoking, Ice Beam!"
Unexpectedly, Giovanni's Nidoking also knew an Ice-type move. Nidoking roared upon hearing the command and condensed a cyan Energy Ball on its horn.
The Energy Ball burst forth, but the branching beam didn't attack Scizor directly. Instead, it was released into the air. The light split after rising upward and fell in all directions across the field.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The light spread out like fireworks and struck the arena. The surrounding ground instantly froze over. The cold air from the Ice Beam gradually spread throughout the venue, and the temperature dropped immediately.
"Can you continue hiding like this?" Giovanni used the low temperature of the Ice Beam to offset the heat brought by Sunny Day. At this point, Scizor could no longer rely on the weather's temperature to mask itself.
"Did he think of a countermeasure in the blink of an eye?" Gary, who was watching the battle, was also somewhat surprised.
When Ash on the field saw this development, he didn't panic. Instead, he raised his head slightly and looked forward.
"Thanks to you, my Scizor has cooled down too. If I can't hide, then I won't! Scizor, Sword Dance!"
Ash chuckled. To avoid being detected by Nidoking, he hadn't allowed Scizor to use its wings extensively when attacking earlier.
Therefore, the accumulated body temperature had been quite high, and now that the surroundings were cooling down, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing for Scizor.
Following Ash's order, Scizor began performing Sword Dance again. Its body rotated once more as Sword Dance activated.
"Come on, kid! Let's decide the winner! Nidoking, use Focus Energy!"
"Roar!"
After Nidoking heard the command, it acted simultaneously. Opening its mouth wide, it drew in a deep breath as it roared, and its body emitted a burst of yellow light.
"Bullet Punch!"
"Fire Punch!"
When both sides had finished using Sword Dance and Focus Energy respectively, the sounds of their attacks rang out at the same time, and both Pokémon rushed forward simultaneously.
BANG! BOOM!
The attacks from both Pokémon connected at the same moment, and an astonishing burst of power created a deafening noise that rang in everyone's ears. Under the force of the explosion, both figures were sent flying backward at the same time.
They were launched out of the arena from opposite sides where Ash and Giovanni stood, crashing into the walls behind them. Large amounts of smoke billowed from both impact sites.
This scene startled Misty and Brock, and they looked anxiously in the direction of the smoke. As the smoke gradually dissipated, the figures of both Pokémon slowly emerged.
Both Nidoking and Scizor were embedded in the wall at this point. Their conditions showed they were already unconscious, and both had lost their ability to battle simultaneously.