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Not only had Carracosta successfully defended against Mega Sceptile's attack, but it had also pinpointed Mega Sceptile's real location through careful observation of the assault pattern. Understanding that its Water-type moves would be less effective, it had wisely chosen to attack with Rock-type techniques instead.
Grass-types are super effective against Rock-types, meaning Grass-type moves deal double damage to Rock-type Pokémon. However, when Rock-type moves attack Grass-type Pokémon, the damage isn't reduced at all—making it a strategically sound choice.
Whether Carracosta had battled Grass-type Pokémon before or was simply relying on pure combat instinct, it had immediately selected the optimal attack method. Either way, such tactical awareness made it a truly impressive opponent.
"Excellent, truly excellent. A Pokémon of this caliber deserves my full effort in battle," Eddie declared, nodding with satisfaction as he studied Carracosta.
As he had mentioned before, even though he wouldn't use these captured Pokémon extensively, that didn't prevent him from appreciating genuinely powerful creatures when he encountered them.
Besides, this battle would give Eddie—who had been overwhelming weaker opponents recently—a chance to engage in a proper, serious fight for once.
He had grown somewhat bored with easy victories lately. Having a skilled opponent to test his abilities against was exactly what he needed.
"Alright then, let's begin in earnest!" Eddie announced, his entire demeanor shifting as he became completely focused.
"Mega Sceptile! Use Leaf Blade to slice through their attack!"
Mega Sceptile seemed to sense Eddie's intensified fighting spirit and roared with excitement in response.
The forest gecko Pokémon raised both arms, manifesting glowing energy blades from its wrists, then systematically sliced through each incoming boulder, cutting them into multiple fragments with precise strikes.
After deflecting Carracosta's Rock Slide attack, there was already a substantial pile of neatly divided stone pieces scattered around Mega Sceptile's feet.
Carracosta was initially stunned, seemingly unable to accept that its assault had been rendered completely ineffective.
However, it quickly made a decisive tactical adjustment. Recognizing that ranged attacks wouldn't succeed, it immediately launched a different offensive strategy.
The ancient turtle Pokémon curled its body into a tight ball, then leaped lightly into the air while spinning rapidly. Upon landing, it began rolling forward at tremendous speed, charging directly toward Mega Sceptile.
"That's Rollout! Clever—when it realized long-range attacks weren't working, it switched to close-quarters combat," Eddie observed with interest.
"And it's using this move to compensate for its naturally poor speed. Quite impressive tactics."
Eddie was genuinely impressed by this Carracosta's adaptability, but even though he admired its skills, he still intended to defeat it decisively!
"Unfortunately for you, speed happens to be Sceptile's greatest strength! Using that move is just playing right into our hands!"
Indeed, Sceptile's most outstanding attribute was its incredible velocity, and after Mega Evolution, that speed had increased even further.
Against such a swift Mega Sceptile, Carracosta's choice to use Rollout was clearly a tactical error!
"Mega Sceptile! Use Agility to evade, then exploit its weakness and counterattack!"
With its already exceptional natural speed, after Mega Sceptile used Agility to boost its velocity even higher, it moved so fast that it became nearly invisible to the naked eye.
Carracosta's Rollout was certainly rapid, but it could only chase after Mega Sceptile's afterimages.
If it couldn't even catch the afterimages, how could it possibly reach the real body that was always one step ahead?
While Carracosta continued pursuing Mega Sceptile relentlessly, it suddenly struck a large boulder protruding from the cave floor, causing it to stumble and halt its rolling motion.
"Now's our chance! Mega Sceptile, Focus Blast!"
"Scep-tile!" Mega Sceptile cried out as it stopped moving and faced the now-stationary Carracosta.
The Grass-type gathered its fighting spirit, concentrating tremendous energy into its fist before launching a powerful Focus Blast—a sphere of pure fighting energy—directly at the struggling turtle Pokémon.
Carracosta, which was attempting to regain its footing, saw Mega Sceptile's incoming attack and immediately sensed danger.
Without hesitation, it fired a Water Pulse, attempting to counter the assault with its own offensive move.
Carracosta could actually use Hydro Pump, but in this emergency situation, Water Pulse was more practical than the more powerful technique.
The latter required significant time to gather energy, while the former could be executed almost instantly.
Rather than gambling on whether it could charge up Hydro Pump before the attack arrived, it was safer to choose the quicker Water Pulse.
Even though Water Pulse was less powerful and couldn't hold out for long, it would at least weaken the incoming Focus Blast's impact.
Events unfolded exactly as Carracosta had anticipated—the Water Pulse was quickly overwhelmed by the Focus Blast.
However, the previously overwhelming Focus Blast was indeed weakened, and Carracosta had achieved its goal.
Since taking damage was inevitable, minimizing that damage was the logical priority!
Everything happened in a split second. While Carracosta was calculating its defensive strategy, the Focus Blast had already struck.
The ancient Pokémon cried out in pain as it was knocked backward several meters.
However, this impact also helped it regain its footing, and it immediately prepared for the next round of combat.
"This creature truly lives up to its status as a Fossil Pokémon—it fights with the tenacity of a warrior," Eddie remarked, having observed every aspect of Carracosta's tactical response.
A fierce smile crossed his face at that moment. Since Carracosta was proving to be such a capable opponent, he could enjoy this thorough battle for much longer.
"Mega Sceptile! Seize this opportunity! Use Earthquake!"
Rock-types are weak to Ground-type moves, and while Water-types resist Ground attacks, Ground-type moves don't deal reduced damage when hitting Water-type Pokémon.
Therefore, this Ground-type Earthquake would deliver an effective blow to the Water/Rock dual-type Carracosta.
Upon hearing the command, Mega Sceptile raised its foot and stomped forcefully on the cave floor, causing the entire underground chamber to shake violently.
Normally, this move wouldn't be advisable in such a location, as it could easily cause a cave-in.
However, since only Eddie and Carracosta remained in the cave now, a potential collapse didn't matter—he had already captured all the other Fossil Pokémon anyway.
Carracosta was shocked by this development, never expecting Mega Sceptile to use such a devastating move, nor anticipating that Eddie would actually give such a dangerous command.
But the attack was already underway, and there was no way to avoid such a wide-area assault.
The cave wasn't particularly spacious, so even rolling away would be useless.
However, being an experienced battler, Carracosta gritted its teeth and decided to take a calculated risk.
It used Protect once again.
Protect was indeed an excellent defensive technique, but it was typically only used once per battle under normal circumstances.
Each successive use of this move reduced the success rate by approximately one-third. The first use had a 100% success rate, but the second attempt would only have about a 67% chance of working, with the probability continuing to decrease with each additional use.
Therefore, most trainers and wild Pokémon rarely attempted to use Protect a second time in a single battle, as it represented significant uncertainty.
When a Pokémon resorted to this move, it usually meant the enemy's attack would deal substantial damage.
Carracosta had used Protect earlier when facing Mega Sceptile's Giga Drain, and that usage had been absolutely necessary.
After all, if it had suffered serious injuries at the beginning of the battle, it wouldn't have been able to hold out this long.
And now, it had to use the move again—there was simply no way to escape. If Earthquake connected, Mega Sceptile could potentially finish it off with just one more attack.
So Carracosta had no choice but to gamble on Protect's reduced success rate.