The Bubble Beam dissipated, and Lucario knelt on the ground, breathing heavily.
Just as Cynthia thought Lucario had withstood the attack, it struggled to stand up. But the moment it did, its vision went black, and it collapsed, losing its ability to battle.
"Roserade, Energy Ball!"
Cynthia quickly recalled Lucario, threw a Poké Ball, and out came Roserade. With a wave of its dual flowers, two Energy Balls shot towards Blastoise, one from the left and one from the right.
"Ice Beam!"
Blastoise's dual cannons fired a frigid beam, freezing and then detonating the two Energy Balls.
But at that moment, Roserade began to spin rapidly, with numerous pink petals rotating around it. As Roserade waved its arms, the petals swiftly flew toward Blastoise.
The Ice Beam swept through the petals, instantly turning them into shards of ice. However, Roserade's petals continued to attack Blastoise without end, subtly gaining the upper hand.
"Full power!"
Blastoise used every ounce of its strength, firing three Ice Beams in unison, which gradually managed to block the petal assault.
"Roserade, after so much special training, unleash your full power!"
Following Cynthia's angry roar, Roserade also let out a cry. In a flash, Roserade's figure was engulfed by pink petals, disappearing in an instant.
Ace's brow furrowed slightly as he watched the Ice Beam get suppressed once more and the disappearing Roserade. A bad feeling washed over him.
The next moment, the Ice Beam faltered, and the petals engulfed Blastoise. When the petals dispersed, Roserade was standing on the fallen Blastoise, looking confused. However, a large number of roots grew from Roserade's feet, piercing into Blastoise's body and absorbing nutrients, instantly restoring its stamina.
"You're very strong," Ace said, looking at Cynthia. "You've grown a lot. If you can't keep going, you can surrender."
With that, Ace recalled Blastoise, threw a Poké Ball, and his Crobat shot into the sky.
"Togekiss, Air Slash!"
Roserade was recalled, and Cynthia sent out Togekiss, preparing for an aerial battle.
"Poison Wing."
Ace said calmly. As Togekiss's Air Slash flew toward Crobat, a thick layer of toxic fluid coated Crobat's entire body.
Thump, thump, thump...
A dull sound echoed as the blades of wind struck Crobat. The toxic fluid quickly solidified, and the hard, solid poison blocked the wind blades' attacks, leaving only a small amount of impact to hit Crobat's body.
Crobat quickly crossed its wings, and a toxic crystal rapidly formed. With a spread of its wings, a single toxic crystal shot toward Togekiss.
"Dodge it!"
Seeing that the toxic crystal wasn't moving too fast, Togekiss flapped its wings and swiftly dodged it.
But was the toxic crystal really that easy to dodge?
The answer was no!
As the toxic crystal flew through the air, cracks suddenly appeared on its surface. It then exploded, and the splashing toxic fluid, carried by a strong gust of wind, spread out in all directions like raindrops.
"Safeguard!"
Cynthia anxiously shouted. But it was too late. Togekiss let out a cry of pain as its pure-white body instantly turned a shade of purple and black. The poison rapidly seeped into Togekiss's body.
"What's going on? Safeguard can't block the poison?"
Cynthia was at a loss, seeing that even with Safeguard active, Togekiss was still poisoned.
"If Safeguard could easily block Crobat's poison now, then I've trained Poison Wing for nothing," Ace thought silently. He had spent a tremendous amount of energy on enhancing Crobat's poison.
First, he had his Victreebel and Tentacruel secrete poison or powder for Crobat to consume almost every day. After that, he would buy a Toxic Orb from the system's store every so often to feed it.
With such an investment of resources, if the poison could still be easily neutralized by Safeguard, then there would have been no point in training Poison Wing at all.
Even so, Safeguard still managed to weaken a portion of the poison's damage. However, Togekiss was visibly weakening, to the point where it barely had the strength to flap its wings.
"Poison Jab!"
Crobat suddenly opened its mouth and spat out another stream of poison, aiming directly at Togekiss.
"Air..."
But it was too late. The powerless Togekiss couldn't resist. Under the Poison Jab, the poison in its body flared up once more, and Togekiss instantly fell, forcing Cynthia to recall it.
"Garchomp, Sandstorm!"
Cynthia took a deep breath. Her ace, Garchomp, had arrived!
As the sandstorm began, the toxic liquid in the arena was buried by the wind and sand. Garchomp looked up at the Crobat in the sky, its fighting spirit soaring!
"Come back, Crobat."
Ace recalled Crobat, then threw a Poké Ball. Larvitar appeared once more. Landing in the sand, Larvitar looked at its opponent, and a glint appeared in its eyes.
"Earthquake!"
"Earthquake!"
Both Pokémon started with Earthquake. However, it was clear that Larvitar's Earthquake was no match for Garchomp's. The two Earthquakes collided, and Larvitar's was instantly shattered by Garchomp's, which then surged toward Larvitar.
Buzz!
Larvitar did not retreat. Instead, it stood its ground and took the Earthquake head-on.
As the tremor ended, Larvitar's legs weakened. It was about to fall to its knees, but it stumbled, propped itself up, and gritted its teeth, refusing to collapse.
"Ace, Larvitar isn't strong enough to battle. You should probably recall it," Cynthia kindly reminded him, seeing that Larvitar was nearly out of commission after a single Earthquake.
"I know," Ace said. "I just wanted it to see the gap in power. And, it's been missing a key moment to evolve, and now, that moment has finally come."
As Ace's voice fell, the armor on Larvitar's body began to crack, and numerous fissures appeared.
"This is..."
Cynthia was a little stunned. Is this how Larvitar evolves?
Ace just smiled without a word. All the training he had put into it was finally paying off!
Crack!
As the armor on Larvitar's body shattered and fell away, a powerful evolution light burst forth from its body. The soft body beneath the old armor was covered by a new, even harder shell.
When the light dissipated, a shiny, smooth Pupitar with a shell as hard as iron appeared in the sand!
Ace smiled slightly. Phase one, complete!
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