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Dragonite's counterattack came with incredible speed. Its massive Dragon Claw, formed from pure Dragon-type energy, swung forward with a sharp whistling sound as it charged fiercely toward Drakloak.
At such close range, Drakloak naturally had no way to dodge and could only choose to fight back.
"Will-O-Wisp, Drakloak!"
As Jacob's voice rang out, Drakloak spewed eerie purple flames from its mouth. The ghostly fire floated toward Dragonite like a specter, attaching to its body and inflicting a burn.
Burned!
Although the Will-O-Wisp move wouldn't cause any immediate damage to Dragonite, it would leave it in the burned status condition, causing it to continuously lose stamina over time.
At the same time, Dragonite's Dragon Claw connected with Drakloak, sending it flying backward with a powerful strike.
Though Drakloak already possessed considerable speed and offensive capabilities, its defense was still somewhat lacking since it hadn't yet evolved into its final form.
"Dragonite, don't give Drakloak any breathing room! Press the attack with continuous Dragon Claw!"
A fter successfully landing a hit, Julia naturally wouldn't give Drakloak another chance to use Phantom Force. She immediately ordered Dragonite to launch an all-out assault.
The relentless Dragon Claw attacks came like a violent storm, giving Drakloak no opportunity to rest. Julia intended to overwhelm Drakloak completely with a wave of fierce strikes!
Facing Dragonite's onslaught, Drakloak could only retreat while desperately trying to evade.
Dodging left and right, the situation was extremely precarious.
At this moment, if Drakloak made even a single mistake, it would be struck by Dragonite.
No, constantly defending is just asking to get beaten down!
I need to counterattack! I have to find an opening to strike back!
"Drakloak, use Hex!"
Hearing Jacob's command, Drakloak's Ghost-type energy immediately surged outward as it prepared to launch a counterattack.
Meanwhile, Dragonite seized the opportunity during Drakloak's move execution, fiercely striking at Drakloak with its Dragon Claw, as if trying to tear its body apart.
"Whoosh!"
...
"Did it connect?"
"It must have hit!"
...
Everyone's eyes were fixed on Drakloak as they watched Dragonite's Dragon Claw strike its body, sending Drakloak flying with a single blow.
However, in that instant, the Drakloak that went flying transformed into a doll-like decoy.
At the same time, the real Drakloak's form had already appeared on the opposite side of the battlefield.
"That's the Substitute move!"
"It used Substitute!"
"What a brilliant Substitute! The timing was absolutely perfect."
...
Drakloak had used Substitute in that critical moment, sacrificing a portion of its stamina to create a decoy that absorbed the damage. It also seized this opportunity to launch a sharp counterattack.
Ghost-type energy surged toward Dragonite from all directions, mysterious and eerie, latching onto Dragonite's body and continuously attacking the burned areas, causing significant damage.
Hex itself wasn't particularly powerful, but it dealt double damage to opponents suffering from status conditions—which was exactly why Jacob had ordered Drakloak to use Will-O-Wisp earlier.
The Will-O-Wisp and Hex combination was also a classic strategy for Drakloak. When paired with U-turn, Drakloak could serve as an effective hit-and-run pivot for the team.
"Drakloak, Phantom Force!"
After successfully landing a hit, Jacob's voice rang out again. Drakloak, wrapped in Ghost-type energy, instantly vanished into another dimension.
Almost simultaneously, an interdimensional portal opened behind Dragonite, and Drakloak, cloaked in Ghost-type energy, launched a fierce attack, crashing heavily into Dragonite!
The continuous assault left Dragonite severely injured, though Drakloak also took some recoil damage from the Rocky Helmet that Dragonite was holding.
"Dragonite, Roost!"
Seeing her Dragonite's injuries worsening, Julia once again had it use the Roost move.
Dragonite, surrounded by a faint glow, descended to the ground and slowly began recovering its stamina.
Jacob naturally couldn't allow Dragonite to restore its health at this point. He'd just managed to wear down Dragonite's stamina—if it recovered now, all his previous efforts would be wasted!
"Drakloak, use Dragon Pulse!"
With Dragonite having landed on the ground and lost its aerial mobility advantage, there was no need to worry about Dragon Pulse's accuracy at this moment.
Dragon-type energy burst forth from Drakloak's body, forming a powerful shockwave that flew toward Dragonite!
"Protect, Dragonite!"
Facing Drakloak's Dragon-type energy attack, Julia didn't dare let Dragonite take the hit directly and could only have it use Protect!
"Boom!"
The Dragon Pulse struck the protective barrier created by Protect, being completely blocked by the shimmering shield!
"Drakloak, use Phantom Force!"
Listening to Jacob's command, Julia's brow furrowed in frustration. This was extremely troublesome.
Drakloak's unusual version of Phantom Force was putting immense pressure on both her and Dragonite.
It appeared and disappeared like a phantom, impossible to guard against, with virtually no means of defense.
Unless someone could predict its movements in advance—but only Psychic-type Pokémon could manage that kind of foresight. Other types of Pokémon could only rely on luck.
Since it couldn't be defended against, then she would take a gamble!
"Dragonite! Use Outrage!"
Outrage—one of the most powerful moves available to Dragon-type Pokémon. It unleashed an extremely powerful attack on opponents, but afterward, the Pokémon fell into a confused state. Usually, unless it was the final deciding moment, no one would choose to use Outrage.
It wasn't hard to tell from Julia's command that Dragonite had been pushed into a desperate situation by Drakloak! In her urgency, Julia had made the worst decision of this entire match.
"Roar!"
Dragon-type energy erupted from Dragonite's body. Its eyes turned blood red as it entered a frenzied, enraged state, its gaze locking onto Drakloak as it flew toward it at extreme speed.
At the same time, Drakloak's Phantom Force was executed one step ahead. It vanished into another dimension, and in the blink of an eye, Drakloak reappeared in the far corner of the battlefield!
Seeing Dragonite use Outrage, Drakloak reacted with incredible speed, immediately abandoning its attack and creating distance from Dragonite.
Drakloak watched Dragonite from afar, like a patient hunter silently observing its prey. It quietly watched Dragonite rampage with Outrage, calmly waiting for the move's duration to end and for Dragonite to fall into confusion—that would be the perfect moment to counterattack.
It had to be said, Drakloak's variant interdimensional ambush technique was simply a god-tier ability among god-tier abilities, capable of both offense and defense!
Watching Drakloak disappear from its sight, the fury in Dragonite's eyes intensified. It let out a roar and changed direction, lunging toward where Drakloak had reappeared.
"Drakloak, continuous Phantom Force!"
Jacob's voice rang out, and Drakloak's form flickered before disappearing once again into another dimension. In the blink of an eye, Drakloak materialized on the opposite side of the field.
This is cheating!
That was the thought running through everyone's minds. Although Dragonite's Outrage was incredibly powerful, it still had to actually hit Drakloak. Drakloak's strategy of completely avoiding combat was the very definition of unfair play.
All Drakloak needed to do was continuously use Phantom Force, evading Dragonite's Outrage and stalling for time.
Once Dragonite's Outrage ended and it fell into confusion, that would be the perfect moment to strike!
Despicable! Shameless!
Those two words were muttered by Raya—partly on behalf of Julia, and partly for herself.
From this replicated interdimensional ambush technique, she was 99.99% certain that Hoopa's Prison Bottle was definitely in Jacob's possession!
"Ding."
Just then, Raya received a message on her device.
"Jacob and Nina went to Cloud Village once last year."
...