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After seeing Mimikyu, Ivy quickly decided which Pokemon to use.
The Poke Ball was thrown, and light shone forth.
What came into view was a massive canine Pokemon with fluffy golden fur and tiger-like black and orange stripes across its body. It was extremely handsome and radiated incredible majesty.
A full three meters tall, far surpassing others of its species.
—Arcanine.
As mentioned before, Growlithe was once a Pokemon unique to China, but spread to various regions with the passage of time.
Back then, many Pokemon evolution methods remained undiscovered, and Growlithe was no exception.
Therefore, many people once regarded the incomparably majestic Arcanine as a member of the Legendary Pokemon.
The reason it was considered Legendary wasn't unrelated to Arcanine's extremely high base stat total.
There was no referee—after Ivy called out her Pokemon, it served as the signal to begin battle.
"Awoo—!"
Arcanine let out a majestic howl full of authority.
From the previous battle, the Inferno released by Ninetales swept toward Arcanine.
Arcanine bathed in the Inferno flames, her momentum rising steadily.
This was the Flash Fire Ability!
When attacked by Fire-type moves, Pokemon with this Ability absorb the fire and strengthen themselves.
Using Inferno as a 'Baton Pass'... Roy admired internally, though his reaction wasn't slow.
"Phantom Force."
Mimikyu escaped into the spirit world and disappeared.
Arcanine showed no fear, flames flowing across her body from head to toe. The terrifying heat became her best defense while continuously absorbing power from her partner's lingering Inferno.
The attack couldn't possibly succeed.
Roy was well aware of this.
But his goal wasn't to attack.
Instead, he wanted Mimikyu to create clones.
The next moment, three passages from the spirit world appeared around Arcanine, and the real Mimikyu plus two clones emerged simultaneously.
Three dark flame ghost claws slashed down from different directions!
Swoosh—!
The ghost claws penetrated Arcanine's body but caused no damage.
Because this was a phantom.
The real Arcanine had appeared high in the sky.
—Move: Extreme Speed.
Extreme Speed was a move that Arcanine instinctively learned, which was also the source of its reputation.
In the sky, Arcanine had digested the 'Inferno' energy and spat out her own flames.
It was a pure, extremely high-temperature flame.
Not mixed with any other energy, purely refined for maximum heat, the flames covered the entire battlefield in a cross pattern and crashed down.
—Move: Fire Blast!
A terrifying heat wave swept across, and even though the arena's safety systems blocked it, Roy still felt scorching air against his skin.
This was the hottest flame among all he had ever witnessed.
The explosive flames mastered by Bruno's Emboar paled in comparison.
The flames dissipated.
All three Mimikyu clones, along with their disguises, were burned to ash.
This Arcanine's speed and flame release rate were too fast—there was no time to react.
Arcanine stood majestically in the arena, like a blazing king.
Ivy chuckled and said, "Arcanine is the core Pokemon of my team—her strength shouldn't be underestimated. Little brother, as an examiner, I also want to save face. I lost the first round, but I'll win this one back... A woman's competitive spirit is terrifying."
As if agreeing with her Trainer, Arcanine let out a howl, signaling for Mimikyu to stop hiding. The main body lurking in darkness while only sending clones to fight—what kind of warrior was that? Come out and fight properly!
Hearing this, Roy pouted.
My Mimikyu is female...
And you're obviously the type who excels at direct confrontation, yet you want others to face you head-on—what a strategy!
This Arcanine's flames were comparable to four-times optimized energy, reaching mid-level Master class standards. Not only that, but she had also absorbed Inferno to strengthen herself, raising the temperature even higher.
However, the probing phase was nearly complete.
The light of aura flashed in Roy's eyes as his intentions were conveyed. Mimikyu suddenly burst into action.
An incredible scene unfolded.
Passages to the spirit world emerged, and Mimikyu kept running out, densely packed like common electric mice, appearing in groups.
At a glance, there were hundreds of them.
"What—" Ivy was stunned for only a moment before immediately realizing it was impossible to control so many clones simultaneously.
It was Double Team!
Most were Double Team illusions, with only a few being real.
"Shadow Ball!"
Hundreds of Mimikyu condensed shadow spheres and hurled them toward Arcanine.
False and real mixed together—it was impossible to judge where the actual attacks would come from.
"Sweep them all!" Ivy decided.
Arcanine once again released her pure high-temperature flames, turning her head to let the flame beams sweep across every Shadow Ball.
—Move: Flamethrower!
With an indiscriminate sweep, three Shadow Balls were detonated.
But at that moment, Arcanine suddenly cried out in pain, as if struck by some invisible attack, sweating profusely and gasping from exhaustion.
What was happening?
Ivy couldn't understand immediately.
"Awoo!" Arcanine growled, and their understanding made her instantly grasp the meaning.
A 'clone' had run into the flames and died.
It was Destiny Bond!
—Clone Destiny Bond Flow Tactics!
The last time Roy's Mimikyu appeared publicly was at the European Championship six months ago.
Appearing again, they had improved the clone Destiny Bond strategy, adding Double Team's mix of real and fake.
Before Ivy could think of countermeasures, her exchange with Arcanine, though lasting only a second or two, was enough for Mimikyu to attack again.
Hundreds of Shadow Balls attacked once more.
Among these, only a few were real.
And among them, there would inevitably be a Mimikyu incarnation serving as a 'suicide bomber.'
But Arcanine had no choice but to use flames again to sweep everything away.
Sure enough, another clone threw itself into the flames, and Destiny Bond's curse descended upon Arcanine, draining her vitality.
Arcanine let out a pained growl, growing weaker—she couldn't understand where this Mimikyu's life force was coming from.
The Ghost-type itself wielded netherworld power that devoured life force.
After being sublimated into mystical arts, Mimikyu transformed natural energy into life force through 'curses.'
It could be said that while not skilled at direct confrontation, she was the type that gave all enemies headaches.
So underhanded!
"Sunny Day!" Ivy suddenly shouted.
Arcanine's eyes lit up as she ignited flames, making the scorching sun blaze overhead!
Under the burning sun, twisted solar flames rose from the ground, and hundreds of Mimikyu were suddenly 'revealed.'
Yes, like melting cake.
The scene looked like hundreds of Pikachu oozing... substance.
The surrounding Trainers were startled and strongly condemned Pikachu for having its likeness stolen by Mimikyu.
Brilliant...
Roy was impressed.
In just a few breaths, Ivy had devised a solution.
Double Team created light-based illusions.
If that was the case, then using intense heat to distort light was sufficient.
With Double Team distorted, real and fake could be distinguished immediately.
With the death of two Mimikyu clones, only two final clones remained on the battlefield.
Finding where the sneaky one was hiding, Arcanine roared and her entire body burst into flames.
—Move: Flare Blitz!
Unfazed, Mimikyu slammed into Arcanine to activate "Destiny Bond"!
Destiny Bond's anticipated effects gave her a taunting quality.
The enemy couldn't easily cancel their attack.
Moreover, Arcanine was in 'charging' mode.
Like a moving sun, after Arcanine tore through one clone, before Destiny Bond could take effect, she rushed toward the second clone without stopping.
As long as I run fast enough, Destiny Bond can't catch me!
After tearing through both clones in succession, two 'Destiny Bonds' descended upon Arcanine.
The massive life force drain caused her huge body to stagger and nearly collapse, but she stood up resolutely.
"Such strong vitality..."
At this moment, countless Trainers expressed admiration, Roy included.
"Your Mimikyu is almost at her limit?" Ivy observed.
Clone Destiny Bond flow tactics, while keeping Mimikyu safe by hiding in the spirit world for remote manipulation, still had a fatal flaw.
The energy consumption was too great.
Mimikyu had created seven clones, manipulated them in battle, split into hundreds of Double Team copies at once—the energy consumption increased exponentially.
Transforming natural energy into life force also required consumption.
If Arcanine's health bar was nearly empty, then Mimikyu's energy bar was nearly depleted.
Both sides were in poor condition.
But when a warrior faced a mage who was almost out of mana, as long as they could reach them, victory was assured!
Mimikyu silently emerged from the spirit world, staring at her tenacious opponent.
—This was the final blow!
Both Trainers and their respective Pokemon realized this simultaneously.
"Burn Up!"
"Dazzling Gleam!"
As soon as both finished speaking, Ivy's heart sank.
Dazzling Gleam?
Why Dazzling Gleam?
A Mimikyu proficient in advanced Ghost-type energy suddenly switched to Fairy-type moves?
Could it be that...
The next moment, Ivy's ominous premonition was fulfilled.
Mimikyu emitted a burst of colorful light, and the extremely powerful Fairy-type energy made Arcanine, who was condensing 'Burn Up,' suddenly freeze!
Like Freezing Glare using 'line of sight' as its medium, Dazzling Gleam using 'light' as its medium was also an instantaneous move.
In other words, this move also had an interrupt effect.
The flames within Arcanine suddenly went haywire, and she fell into a stunned state. Mimikyu burst forward, radiating lovely 'magical girl' light all over.
—Move: Play Rough!
With the help of a TM, Mimikyu, who already had deep foundations, raised her 'Play Rough' proficiency to Master level in just half a month.
The Mimikyu transformed into a pink light ball, bouncing continuously on Arcanine's body, each collision creating pink hearts.
Decorated with cute magical girl pink, it delivered the terrifying lethality of Fairy-type power.
Suddenly, Arcanine collapsed.
Mimikyu's energy was also depleted, and her disguise drooped weakly like a Pikachu with a stiff neck.
Ivy was silent for a while, feeling slightly embarrassed.
Well, which Trainer hadn't lost before?
Subconsciously ignoring the existence of an anomaly like 'Roy,' she quickly adjusted her mindset and exclaimed, "Even Fairy-type energy has reached the advanced domain, hidden until the last moment. Amazing. Your Mimikyu is simply..."
"A puppeteer lurking in the netherworld."
Roy froze.
Earlier, Ninetales had been called the "Ice Magician," and he hadn't thought much of it, but now even Mimikyu had been given a nickname.
Sister Ivy, do you have a habit of giving Pokemon nicknames?