"Roar!"
As Geeta tossed out her Poké Ball, an ethereal dragon cry that seemed to echo from the spirit realm instantly captured Nemona's and Ursaluna's attention.
It was a Dragon-type Pokémon with a strikingly bizarre appearance. Its head was triangular, with horns extending sideways like the wings of a fighter jet.
These horns featured four launch-port-like holes, inside which two smaller dragons—miniature versions of itself—resided. Its long tail faded into near-transparency at the tip, swaying with its movements.
It looked like a ghostly fighter jet given draconic form.
Moreover, judging by the two small dragons chattering energetically with "Hee-ya!" cries from those launch ports, this was one of those rare communal single-entity Pokémon!
Nemona had studied this topic before. She recalled that her teacher's pair of Tandemaus or Falinks were the same type. Although they consisted of multiple life forms, the Poké Ball treated them as one whole. Sending them into battle wouldn't violate the rules.
"Dragapult."
The moment her gaze met those narrow, slit-like dragon eyes filled with a chilling aura, Nemona couldn't help but shiver. She had reached her conclusion:
This thing was no pushover.
In fact, Dragapult truly wasn't easy to deal with.
If the Pokémon Geeta had sent out earlier each possessed irreplaceable utility in some aspect or a special specialty—like Glimmora, which excelled at setting up trap-filled terrain, or Avalugg with its defense specialization and counter-damage, or Espathra preventing setups with its Magic Bounce—then Dragapult was pure power. High Attack, high Speed, smashing through every tactic with raw strength.
As the main firepower carrier in Geeta's team, Dragapult was undoubtedly a near-perfect Pokémon.
Even Lucas would give extremely high praise to the Dragapult that Geeta had raised.
"Shadow Clone."
The instant Dragapult appeared, Geeta issued her command.
What manifested as an evasion boost in the games appeared here as Dragapult leaving numerous afterimages at high speed to confuse Ursaluna's judgment.
Breaking this move was simple enough—just sweep the field with a wide-range attack—but that would inevitably drain a lot of the Pokémon's stamina and energy reserves. Most trainers would often choose to conserve energy and gamble, hoping to hit the real body and avoid the extra effort.
Nemona's Ursaluna held mostly close-range moves in reserve. Its only standout area-of-effect attack was Earthquake, but the highly airborne Dragapult wouldn't be affected by it at all.
All it could do was follow Nemona's orders and gamble with Shadow Claw, which was super effective against Ghost-types.
A Hisuian Ursaluna could have roared it all away with one Hyper Voice, but this Ursaluna wasn't completely clueless in that department—it just wasn't anywhere near proficient.
Lucas remembered how Dragonite had dealt with Shadow Clone back then with a simple, brutal Blizzard AOE clear. His impression of the move was rather shallow.
When Ursaluna faced the same situation, however, it got completely locked down.
"Opening with Shadow Clone… looks like she has something in mind."
Lucas watched the battlefield as Ursaluna repeatedly swiped Shadow Claws through one afterimage after another, roaring in frustration at failing to touch the real ghostly Dragapult. He felt the timing was just right—Geeta should be revealing her intentions soon.
Just as he expected, when Ursaluna's Shadow Claw swung through empty air once more, Dragapult's phantom-like figure silently appeared behind it.
Even though Nemona warned it immediately and Ursaluna reacted right away, twisting its body to attack the Dragapult behind it…
It was too late. Dragapult, which had quietly used Dragon Dance once, unleashed its long-charged attack.
"Dragon Tail."
The dragon tail formed from extended emerald scales struck Ursaluna's back like a whip.
The power was decent, but not enough to make Ursaluna lose its ability to act.
Ursaluna fiercely turned its head, as if wanting to grab Dragapult in a bear hug and make it feel its strength.
But before it could act, there wasn't a trace of panic in Dragapult's narrow dragon eyes—only a hint of mockery.
Just as Ursaluna's rage flared even hotter, it was suddenly pulled back into the Poké Ball in Nemona's hand by a strange force, turning into a red beam.
At the same time, another Poké Ball at Nemona's waist opened.
With a flash of red light, a bewildered Ribombee appeared in mid-air above the battlefield.
The additional effect of the Dragon Tail move: forcibly switch out the opponent's active Pokémon!
"Got you."
Geeta smiled meaningfully and flicked her gloved right hand in the same direction.
"Infestation!"
After the Dragon Dance boost, Dragapult's already impressive speed increased even further.
Ribombee hadn't even reacted yet. It only sensed a ghostly figure flash by before translucent greenish bug threads tightly wrapped around its body.
Not only did these threads restrict its movement, they kept tightening, as if unwilling to let it escape.
"Not good!"
Nemona instantly realized the effect of Infestation and immediately understood Geeta's goal.
Just like Decidueye's Spirit Shackle, during the duration of Infestation, Ribombee couldn't be switched out. Although its Shield Dust ability prevented additional effects from moves, the binding from Infestation wasn't included.
Meanwhile, Geeta could switch freely. If Ribombee showed any signs of setting up, Nemona had no doubt the opponent could predict it and send out Espathra to use Tailwind, perfectly suiting Ribombee's Quiver Dance.
If Ribombee didn't set up, then when facing a Dragapult that had used Dragon Dance to boost itself and struck at every opening, even with the Fairy-type advantage, it would naturally be at a disadvantage.
After all, Dragapult wasn't just Dragon-type.
On the contrary, even the noble ruler of the Reverse World, Giratina, had been called little Dragapult before Lucas's transmigration.
Dragapult was equally dominant in the Ghost department.
Geeta had originally planned to use Dragapult's Dragon Tail repeatedly to force Nemona's Pokémon in and out of the field, maximizing the damage from Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes.
Unfortunately, before she could carry it out, Nemona had already used Ursaluna to destroy both the Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock completely.
But that wasn't a catastrophic failure. If Plan A didn't work, there was still Plan B.
"In that case… Dragapult, Shadow Ball!"
Sighing that her luck was pretty good—landing the switch on the very first Dragon Tail—Geeta immediately issued the next command.
"Roar!"
With the two Dreepy in the launch ports cheering it on, Dragapult opened its mouth to gather a sphere of energy crackling with purple arcs, then whipped its tail to launch it toward Ribombee, whose flight agility had also been somewhat impaired.
"Moonblast!"
Seeing that Ribombee couldn't dodge immediately, Nemona had it use an AOE move that didn't require movement and could cover 360 degrees around itself.
Ribombee hurriedly stirred the Fairy-type energy stored in its body, forming a dazzling multicolored light wave around itself. With an explosion, it barely intercepted the Shadow Ball.
But Dragapult's silhouette followed like a shadow.
"No sign of setting up yet? Then I'll provide you with a catalyst."
"Phantom Force."
As Geeta's voice fell, within the rising smoke, Dragapult's figure appeared out of thin air behind Ribombee. Its slender tail, wreathed in ghostly light, slammed heavily into Ribombee's back!
With Ribombee's tiny frame, how could it withstand such a blow? It let out a cry of pain and was smashed straight to the ground by Dragapult.
Compared to the earlier back-and-forth, after Dragapult entered the field, Nemona had almost completely fallen into Geeta's rhythm.
This was the value of a fully raised late-bloomer Pokémon—one capable of becoming the tactical core of the entire team.
Nemona, now caught in a dilemma, tried to buy time with her commands. Moonblast was easily dodged by Dragapult's Phantom Force. Even if Substitute could stall, Dragapult's ability wasn't Infiltrator, so it yielded no meaningful results.
In the end, even though Ribombee successfully used Protect against Dragapult's Shadow Ball, the follow-up Phantom Force pierced through the double Protect. Before losing consciousness, Ribombee could only leave behind a small clump of pollen on the spot.
Dragapult, which didn't want unnecessary damage, wouldn't touch the pollen clump. However, when Nemona sent out Goodra next, it ended up eating this echo from its teammate.
The injuries left behind earlier by Espathra healed rapidly, giving Goodra the confidence to Rest even in front of a Dragapult that had used Dragon Dance twice.
Geeta seemed perfectly happy with this outcome. Instead of having Dragapult attack and waste stamina, she continued stacking Dragon Dance.
After one full sleep, Goodra's stamina returned to peak condition, and the Toxic on its body was completely cleared.
But what it now faced was a Dragapult that had stacked a full four layers of Dragon Dance and was already beginning to gain sweep potential!
"Lock-On, Dragon Darts!"
Geeta went straight for the kill. For safety's sake, a cross-shaped light even lit up in front of Dragapult's eyes, with a corresponding mark appearing on Goodra.
The next moment…
Dragapult aimed its launch ports at Goodra. Flames burst forth with a bang-bang!
"Hee-ya~"
The two Dreepy, which had barely had any presence until now, shot out like missiles trailing gray-white smoke, charging fiercely toward Goodra.
The move Dragon Darts could only be used when Dragapult's launch ports housed two Dreepy.
In the games, its base power was 100. After four Dragon Dances, this move's power was undoubtedly an unbearable weight for the bulky special-wall Goodra.
"Hold on, Goodra! Acid Armor!"
Nemona could only use Acid Armor once more to raise Goodra's physical defense, trying to take the hit.
The next moment…
As red energy waves rose across Goodra's body, the two Dreepy turned into Dragon Darts whistled in.
Two successive red lights exploded on Goodra's body.
The super-effective Dragon Darts, boosted by Dragon Dance, nearly blew away half of Goodra's life in one go.
Still, it endured with sheer willpower.
Lucas, whose heart had leaped into his throat, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Good thing this wasn't the games. Otherwise, with Dragapult's Attack after four Dragon Dances, Goodra would have been OHKO'd before it could even finish Acid Armor.
Enduring hits was Goodra's specialty. Even after taking the super-effective Dragon Darts barrage, its condition had only dropped a bit lower than right after it entered and used Rest.
The Pokémon world really was magical, wasn't it?
"It can probably tank one or two more pairs of Dragon Darts…"
Observing Goodra's state, Lucas made his judgment.
He then looked at Nemona, who was fully focused on the battlefield. How Goodra would break the deadlock now depended on Nemona's performance as a trainer.
At that moment…
After firing one round of Dragon Darts, the two excited Dreepy returned to Dragapult's side and eagerly dove back into the launch ports.
Just from their thrilled expressions, it was clear they wanted to experience that attack again.
Geeta and Dragapult obliged. With two more "bang-bang" sounds and bursts of fire, another round of Dragon Darts shot toward Goodra, which had no evasion capability at all.
Nemona knew trying to take the hit was the best choice, but the Dreepy flew too fast, and the power of Dragon Darts under four Dragon Dance stacks was far beyond what Goodra could match head-on.
Rather than leave life and death to an uncertain future, she decided to trust Goodra's greatest strength.
"Acid Armor to tank it, then Rest!"
"Did she misjudge out of nervousness?"
Geeta frowned slightly upon hearing Nemona's command.
In her view, Nemona might as well have tried her luck blocking the Dragon Darts' flight path. This command was basically the same as giving up.
But soon, Geeta realized why Nemona had chosen this.
It was the familiar Acid Armor sequence again. After stacking physical defense to +4—matching Dragapult's Attack—Goodra did not immediately Rest. Instead, it made a swallowing motion.
A faint purple glow, almost indistinguishable from Goodra's skin color unless examined closely, flashed and vanished. Goodra then fell into slumber.
Yet when the Dragon Darts exploded on Goodra's body, Geeta still noticed the change.
"It used an item…"
When the smoke cleared and she saw that this round of Dragon Darts had greatly reduced effect on Goodra, Geeta instantly realized what the item Goodra had just swallowed was.
Haban Berry—when consumed, it temporarily reduces damage from super-effective Dragon-type moves!
Geeta glanced sideways at Lucas, who guiltily looked away. No need to ask—it was obvious who had calculated this exact moment and set it up in advance (or provided assistance).
This Haban Berry was like a stroke of genius, giving Goodra more breathing room.
But even so, it was still useless!
With Dragapult's speed, it could easily empty Goodra's stamina during the time Goodra spent sleeping to recover!
"Dragon Darts!"
It was still the signature Dragon-type physical attack, gambling on a critical hit.
But the instant the Dragon Darts exploded on Goodra's body and kicked up thick smoke…
Nemona, who had been hiding this move from the very beginning in search of this very opportunity, issued a brand-new command without hesitation.
"Goodra, Sleep Talk!"
Whether it was total defeat or a slim chance at survival all depended on what Sleep Talk rolled!
…