The Dragon-type energy erupting from Hydreigon transformed into a massive draconic shape and flew directly toward Lapras.
Similarly, golden lightning began flashing and crackling around Mega Gardevoir's form, tearing through the sky as it streaked toward Lapras.
While these individual attacks were unlikely to severely injure Lapras on their own, small amounts accumulate over time. As long as the attacks remained continuous and relentless, the accumulated damage would eventually reach a critical threshold and become the final straw that overwhelmed Lapras.
Facing the coordinated assault from several powerful Pokémon, Lapras's injuries gradually worsened with each passing moment. At this point, its primal ferocity was thoroughly ignited. Its gaze fixed intensely on the small figures darting around the battlefield.
The Ice-type energy surrounding its massive body began surging dramatically, and frigid air billowed outward in waves. Lapras raised its head high and released a resounding roar!
"Sheer Cold!"
A devastating cold wave swept across the area. The Ice-type energy, thick and dense like an impenetrable fog, spread outward in all directions, freezing everything in its path. It expanded like a massive spiderweb of ice.
In the games, Sheer Cold is a one-hit knockout move and also ranks among the most powerful Ice-type moves available.
However, when used by Lapras in reality, this move doesn't function purely as a one-hit knockout attack. Instead, it manifests as an incredibly powerful, wide-range Ice-type move with truly astonishing destructive power.
This was Jacob's first time witnessing such a terrifying manifestation of Sheer Cold in real life—thousands of miles of ice and snow, exactly like the apocalyptic scene unfolding before his eyes.
The sea itself appeared to be freezing solid, and the cold air showed absolutely no signs of weakening. It continued spreading outward relentlessly.
"Charizard, Mega Evolve! Retreat and use Heat Wave!"
Seeing the sweeping cold air approaching rapidly, Jacob didn't dare let his Gym Leader-level Charizard face it head-on in its base form. He could only command Charizard to Mega Evolve immediately.
As Mega Charizard Y's Drought ability activated, changing the weather to harsh sunlight, it flew backward rapidly, trying to create as much distance as possible from the source. Then it used Heat Wave in an attempt to dissipate the overwhelming chill.
"Togekiss, use Protect!"
Raya also commanded Togekiss to use Protect, creating a protective barrier to block the endless wave of freezing cold.
… … … …
The cold air raged violently, and snow mist swirled chaotically, eventually engulfing all three trainers within the icy blizzard.
Raya and Zion, protected by their Heavenly King-level Pokémon, emerged relatively unscathed and didn't suffer significant damage.
However, Jacob's situation was quite different. Even after Mega Evolution, his Charizard was only considered Gym Leader Level in terms of raw strength. When facing the Champion-level Gigantamax Lapras, it remained at an absolute and severe disadvantage.
Even maintaining such a considerable distance, Charizard's body had still become covered in a thick layer of frost. Jacob's own body was similarly covered in frost, with bone-chilling cold penetrating deep through his skin.
His entire body trembled violently from the intense cold.
In the presence of such overwhelmingly powerful Pokémon, humans seemed so utterly insignificant and fragile.
"Jacob!" Raya noticed Jacob's deteriorating condition and hurriedly directed Togekiss to approach him quickly.
"I… I'm… fine," Jacob managed to say through chattering teeth as he hugged Charizard tightly, using its body heat to dispel the cold from his own body.
The natural warmth radiating from Charizard's body somewhat alleviated the freezing cold affecting him.
"Let's go check on Iron Valiant and the others first," Jacob said with concern.
If they were this far away and could barely endure the attack, the Pokémon positioned much closer to Lapras must be in far worse condition.
"Okay," Raya nodded in agreement.
The two trainers rode their Flying-type Pokémon, cautiously approaching Gigantamax Lapras again while carefully observing the condition of the Pokémon scattered across the ice.
Due to their extreme proximity to the attack's origin point, almost all the Heavenly King-level Pokémon had been severely frostbitten and injured, their bodies covered in dangerously thick layers of ice.
Among the main battling Pokémon, Hydreigon, being doubly weak to Ice-type moves, had also sustained considerable injuries despite its power.
Mega Gardevoir had reacted with impressive speed, using Teleport to create distance the very moment the freezing mist began approaching. As a result, it hadn't suffered much damage at all.
As for Darkrai and Cresselia, although they weren't critically injured, they had both sustained some moderate damage.
Iron Valiant, having been positioned closest to Lapras, suffered the most devastating impact from the cold air. Its body was already frozen nearly solid, and even the twin blades gripped in its hands were covered in alarmingly thick ice.
"Cresselia, use Lunar Blessing!"
Seeing the dire situation, Raya decisively commanded Cresselia to use its signature healing move.
Lunar Blessing, Cresselia's exclusive move, recovers a substantial portion of HP for all allies present on the battlefield and cures their status conditions simultaneously.
In this type of large-scale group battle, Cresselia functioned essentially as a mobile healing station.
Accompanied by surging Psychic-type energy, brilliant purple light erupted from Cresselia's form as it began gracefully performing the Lunar Dance within that radiant glow.
Psychic energy spread outward in healing waves, mending the injuries of all nearby Pokémon and curing their afflicted status conditions.
This restorative move also positively affected Jacob. The painful coldness pervading his body was mostly dispelled, leaving him feeling pleasantly warm and remarkably comfortable.
Witnessing this, Jacob suddenly felt a pang of regret. He should have chosen Cresselia for himself instead of Darkrai. What an ineffective Darkrai—it couldn't even successfully hypnotize Gigantamax Lapras. Go eat dirt, he thought with mild frustration.
Of course, this was merely an exaggerated joke. Darkrai's Dark Void move was actually an extremely powerful group hypnosis technique, and its effectiveness was surprisingly excellent when dealing with weaker opponents. It only appeared ineffective when facing something as powerful as Gigantamax Lapras.
"Iron Valiant, continue your assault! Use Brick Break!"
"Alakazam, use Close Combat!"
"Darkrai, keep using Dark Void!"
… … … …
Jacob's commanding voice rang out clearly. He refused to believe that Darkrai's Dark Void was completely useless. As long as it produced even the slightest effect, accumulating those minor effects over time could eventually impact Gigantamax Lapras meaningfully.
Following Jacob's strategic commands, the three Pokémon once again launched a coordinated offensive against Gigantamax Lapras.
Simultaneously, Raya directed Mega Gardevoir and Hydreigon to continue their relentless siege of Gigantamax Lapras, while Cresselia continuously provided support by using Lunar Blessing.
With Cresselia serving as their reliable healing support, Jacob and the others finally glimpsed the genuine possibility of victory.
As several Champion-level Pokémon maintained their coordinated siege, Gigantamax Lapras's accumulated injuries steadily increased. It gradually began falling into a disadvantageous position.
At this critical moment, Gigantamax Lapras finally experienced a genuine sense of crisis. If this battle pattern continued, it would very likely be defeated here.
Gigantamax Lapras raised its massive head high. The Ice-type energy current surrounding its enormous body accelerated dramatically. At the same time, it gathered Water-type energy within itself.
Its fierce gaze locked onto Cresselia, who was flying through the air providing continuous support. It had to eliminate Cresselia first!
"G-Max Resonance!"
This time, the G-Max Resonance that Gigantamax Lapras unleashed wasn't aimed at Iron Valiant. Instead, it targeted Cresselia, who had been providing invaluable healing support throughout the battle.
The extremely fast G-Max Resonance gave no time whatsoever for anyone to properly react. The devastating Hydro Pump-based attack tore through the sky like a rainbow piercing directly through the sun, striking Cresselia head-on and blasting her backward with tremendous force!
Cresselia, having already endured damage from the previous Sheer Cold attack, was in absolutely no condition to withstand a full-power, same-type attack bonus G-Max Resonance.
Cresselia was directly blasted away by the overwhelming force, finally crashing heavily onto the ice surface below, completely unable to continue battling.
"Return, Cresselia," Raya said sadly, recalling her fallen partner.
… … … …