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Two Shadow Balls.
Dusknoir was down.
The battle sequence was straightforward—a simple combination of Teleport plus Shadow Ball, used twice in succession. Dusknoir had been defeated without being able to mount any real resistance.
Victor and Tate, who were watching the battle from above, immediately fell silent.
If they had doubted Chris's chances at the beginning, now they could only swallow their earlier words and shout "Chris is amazing!"
Regardless of this Gengar's performance in the rest of the match, even if it was immediately defeated by Roy's second Pokémon, it had at least achieved a one-for-one trade. No one could criticize its performance afterward.
As his opponent, Roy appeared calm—the defeat of his first Pokémon couldn't shake his composure.
This first Pokémon, Dusknoir, had just been a test.
Roy raised his hand and picked up his second Poké Ball, releasing it onto the field.
His second Pokémon was Spiritomb.
A strange stone formation... Well, to be more precise, it was a rock with its surface covered by mysterious gas. The flowing gas formed patterns like a bouquet of flowers, and a confused face could be seen within the swirling vapors.
Spiritomb was a Ghost/Dark-type Pokémon. Unlike pure Ghost-types, it had no major weaknesses, but it also possessed both Ghost and Dark-type advantages that could trouble Gengar—making it indeed a smart choice.
Actually, Spiritomb was an excellent choice against most Ghost-type Pokémon.
Chris studied Spiritomb carefully. This kind of Pokémon seemed to have no significant weaknesses except for slow speed and relatively low physical endurance. He remembered that Sinnoh Region champion Cynthia also had a Spiritomb on her main team.
However, what Chris cared about most wasn't the Pokémon Roy had sent out, but the surrounding environment.
The Z-Move "Never-Ending Nightmare" that Roy had used through Dusknoir hadn't disappeared even after Dusknoir's defeat.
It seemed this had become a field effect similar to Electric Terrain or weather conditions like rain.
Thinking of this, Chris activated his handheld device and checked Gengar's current status.
In its condition display, something unexpected appeared:
[Spirit World: In the spirit world, all Ghost-type Pokémon receive a 20% boost to all stats and a 50% increase in move power]
"Spirit world?" Chris raised his eyebrows.
So Roy had used "Never-Ending Nightmare" to create a spiritual battlefield. No wonder there hadn't been any follow-up ghost hand attacks—all that energy was being used to maintain this special battle environment.
He had turned "Never-Ending Nightmare" into a field-type condition.
"Interesting." This was another technique Chris wanted to learn.
Roy really was full of surprises!
However, creating a spirit world battlefield when facing a Ghost-type rival was a double-edged sword.
After all, Ghost-types could hit each other for super effective damage, and with the 50% power increase from the field effect, combined with the type advantage multiplier, the results could be devastating.
Either you defeat your opponent quickly, or they defeat you.
Knowing that Chris had sent out Gengar, Roy had still had Dusknoir use "Never-Ending Nightmare" to set up this field. Chris had to admit that Roy was quite confident in himself.
And why shouldn't he be? As a master of Ghost-types who had secured an Elite Four position, he was facing Chris, a trainer with only one Ghost-type Pokémon.
Wasn't it natural for Roy to be confident?
"Spiritomb, Shadow Force!" Roy launched the first attack again.
Immediately, a phantom emerged from the black shadow behind Spiritomb and gradually took solid form!
Unlike the "warrior" and "minotaur" that Chris had seen before, Spiritomb's shadow didn't even have a humanoid shape.
It was a black "sunflower"!
The dark sunflower didn't turn toward the sun in the sky, but instead drooped its head downward. Actually, Chris thought it looked more like a showerhead in a bathroom.
Chris couldn't help but wonder—if his Gengar could also create a shadow, what would its shadow look like?
"Shadow Ball!"
The black sunflower immediately raised its head and aimed at Gengar. Dark energy began gathering at its center, and in the blink of an eye, it had created a rectangular Shadow Ball large enough to destroy an entire football field.
But before the Shadow Ball could be launched, the dark sunflower suddenly lost its target.
Without anyone noticing, a faint gray mist had filled the battlefield, blocking everyone's vision. This made it difficult for the black sunflower to lock onto Gengar.
Of course, it didn't rely solely on sight. The shadow was controlled by Spiritomb, so when Spiritomb lost track of Gengar's location, the shadow naturally became blind as well.
Chris put his hands in his pockets—this was naturally Gengar's doing.
The item Gengar currently carried was its exclusive held item, the "Stealth Barrier."
Stealth Barrier (★★): When entering battle, automatically activates "fog" weather. If no damage is received within 1 minute, automatically generates a shield based on the user's level. When weather is "fog," shield strength is doubled and evasion rate increases by 3 levels. (Exclusive to Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar—ineffective when carried by other Pokémon)
The mist spread, and an invisible shield appeared around Gengar's body within the fog, completely enveloping it.
"Ominous Wind!" Roy sensed something was wrong with the fog and immediately took action to break the situation.
Spiritomb's body swayed slightly, and an icy wind from the depths of the spirit world swept forward, dispersing the mist that was about to engulf the battlefield.
At that moment, the empty space behind Spiritomb trembled slightly.
It was the little purple creature again—Gengar had used Teleport once more, dodging the Ominous Wind while simultaneously appearing behind its opponent to attack. This time it was even bolder, choosing not to use its more powerful Shadow Ball but instead attacking with its small chubby fists in rapid succession.
"Shadow Punch!"
"Excellent technique!"
"Drop it!" Roy shouted suddenly.
The Shadow Ball that had been gathering on the black sunflower shadow suddenly plummeted downward.
Chris's Gengar wouldn't have time to escape now.
Spiritomb had used "Shadow Sneak" at the perfect moment.
Two thick black vines emerged from the shadows at Gengar's feet, binding it firmly in place. Under these conditions, it couldn't even use Teleport.
Gengar could only watch as the massive Shadow Ball fell from above until it was completely engulfed.