Night Daze expanded outward from Zoroark as the center. Milotic, gracefully "swimming" through the air, furrowed its brow ever so slightly.
Just that single frame caused the audience to erupt in shouts, angrily yelling at Sato to take it easy… how could anyone hurt such a beautiful Pokémon?
Sato: (ノ#-_-)ノ┻━┻ Hey, I'm here for a battle, not a blind date!
…And besides, that's a Milotic -not his girlfriend- ahem, not even a girl!
Sato ranted internally, growing ever more aware of Milotic's terrifying charm.
Gender doesn't matter. Species doesn't matter.
Then, Milotic's whole body lit up with a mysterious white glow, making it appear even more ethereal.
Safeguard: calls upon a mysterious power to protect itself from status conditions.
And pain... arguably counted among them!
Right after, the glowing Milotic dove into the area affected by Night Daze and resolutely flew straight toward Zoroark.
Yeah… the fact that a fish can "fly". We're not even bothering to comment anymore.
"Zoroark, increase power!"
Sato's heart remained cold. Silently, he was already channeling his internal Dark Energy to clear the subconscious negative effects Milotic was causing him.
Zoroark, with eyes shut, ramped up the intensity of Night Daze without hesitation.
The boosted power immediately slowed Milotic's advance. After all, Safeguard wasn't a painless procedure, and Milotic involuntarily let out a beautiful… scream of pain.
"Milo~Lo~Lo~"
Zoroark: …?
Sato watched with indifference as red blush circles appeared on Zoroark's face. Without a word, he pulled out its Poké Ball and silently recalled it.
'Sigh… even heroes fall for beauty!'
Wallace didn't try to stop Sato's action. Of course, Milotic couldn't use Pursuit anyway.
"Sato-kun, isn't my Milotic beautiful~?" Wallace teased as he spoke, even lifting his brows with pride.
"…Tyranitar, prepare for battle."
--
To everyone's surprise, Sato didn't send out Kirlia but instead chose the only Pokémon on his team that hadn't yet appeared.
'Wait… could Kirlia also be male?'
With that thought, everyone glanced at the imposing and ferocious-looking Tyranitar.
'Yeah… that definitely fits the image of an emotionless, steel-hearted straight guy.'
--
But just then, Milotic was enveloped in red light and, to Sato's slight surprise, Wallace withdrew it.
"Milotic's job is to be dazzling and beautiful~ As for the battle… I'll leave that to her knight! Crawdaunt, enter the battle!"
Sato internally screamed: I fell for it!
According to the tournament rules, since Sato had just switched Pokémon, he couldn't swap again until defeating at least one of his opponent's Pokémon.
Which meant Tyranitar had to defeat Crawdaunt before he could go crush the elegant fish.
"Tyranitar, Rock Slide."
No more banter, Sato didn't even want to argue with Wallace. He simply gave the command.
A Sandstorm roared to life -Tyranitar's Sand Stream Ability activated- and massive boulders appeared in midair before crashing down in a cascade.
"Crawdaunt, Crabhammer!"
Wallace, on his side, didn't bother with flair either. He gave the order for a direct assault.
"Crawcracra!"
Crawdaunt laughed loudly as it charged straight at Tyranitar, who was easily three times its size, completely fearless.
Upon reentering the field, Crawdaunt realized its opponent had changed, now it was facing a massive behemoth. It could barely contain its excitement.
Battering away all the falling rocks, Crawdaunt charged straight at Tyranitar without stopping, and without hesitation, launched a direct Crabhammer.
Whoosh~
The sound of a strike cutting through the air rang out, yet Tyranitar didn't even lift a foot or step back… and Crawdaunt's Crabhammer whiffed entirely.
Tyranitar looked down at the little runt with contempt, thinking, 'Who in their right mind would stand still and let you hit them?'
With a sudden spin, Tyranitar's thick tail whipped across Crawdaunt's body without mercy, launching it into the air!
The next moment, the boulders continued to fall, burying Crawdaunt beneath them.
"Tyranitar, Rock Tomb."
Due to the puddles all over the battlefield, Tyranitar had used Rock Slide earlier to fill the water holes, not intending to deal much damage to Crawdaunt.
But since Crawdaunt had rushed in recklessly and got blasted into the rubble, it unintentionally saved Tyranitar the trouble of setting up its rock tactics.
"Tyran!"
Tyranitar let out a roar and stomped its right foot. The scattered stones around Crawdaunt began converging wildly, compressing the space around it and restricting its movements.
"Crawdaunt, break free with Crabhammer!" "Tyranitar, Earthquake."
Both sides issued commands simultaneously, but Tyranitar's Earthquake activated first. The entire battlefield trembled violently again, causing the rocks to collapse and inflicting additional damage on Crawdaunt.
Tyranitar was already well-versed in its three-stage Rock tactic. It executed it with seamless precision.
When the battlefield finally calmed, only the Sandstorm continued to roar.
Spectators stared until their eyes ached. Crawdaunt, buried underground, remained completely motionless.
Suddenly, Tyranitar slid backward in one swift motion; and in the exact spot it had just vacated, a glowing blue Crabhammer burst through the ground!
…But it missed.
Tyranitar had spent its unevolved youth buried beneath the ground. Its sensitivity to underground movement was unparalleled. If it had been any other Pokémon, they might have taken that hit.
"Tyranitar, Brick Break."
"Tyran!"
Tyranitar lunged forward, its massive fist swinging directly toward Crawdaunt.
Crawdaunt, panting heavily, looked up at the incoming punch and, without hesitation, responded with its own Crabhammer in a head-on clash!
BOOOOM!
The sound rang out like a bell strike. Shockwaves exploded from the collision point, scattering all nearby rubble in an instant.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The two Pokémon clashed again and again. Backed by immense stamina, Tyranitar continued striking even if the move's base power wasn't high.
Crawdaunt, however, was barely hanging on. The height difference meant it had to throw uppercuts in every clash, limiting its effectiveness to around 70%.
Worse still, Crawdaunt had already taken heavy damage from earlier battles. Every one of these head-to-head clashes pushed it to its limit.
After several more direct confrontations, Crawdaunt could no longer hold out. Tyranitar seized the opening and landed a fierce tail whip, sending it flying.
"Crawdaunt has lost the ability to battle. Trainer, please send out your next Pokémon!"
With this, Sato pulled ahead 3 to 1, putting the match into set point.
And Wallace… only had Milotic left.