The heavy, forceful Dragon Tail collided head-on with the fiercely surging Extreme Speed!
A ring of compressed air rippled outward in all directions, and in the very next moment, both Dragonair and Dragonite were blown back at the same time.
"Evenly matched?"
Mei, who had deliberately rushed over from Unova to watch the battle, exclaimed in surprise.
From that single exchange alone, in a direct close-range confrontation, Dragonite had actually failed to suppress this Dragonair?
How was that even possible?
It wasn't that Mei didn't want Lucas to win, but no matter how you looked at it, the fact that a Dragonair could clash head-on with a Dragonite without falling behind was simply absurd.
"As expected of Mr. Lucas's starter Pokémon."
Touko sighed softly from the side. It really was unbelievably strong.
"Dragon Claw!"
Lance wasn't surprised at all. He barked the order sharply to Dragonite once more.
Since they were already in close combat, there was no way he would allow Dragonair to pull away again.
Dragonite forcibly steadied its body, its wings flaring as it surged toward Dragonair once more. A sharp cyan glow shimmered over its claws.
"Dragon Pulse!"
Dragonair gathered a dense, brilliant draconic light in its mouth, then fired a powerful Dragon Pulse straight at Dragonite.
But Dragonite showed not the slightest hint of fear, meeting the Dragon Pulse head-on with its Dragon Claw.
The draconic light was continuously torn apart by the claws, and Dragonite closed the distance again.
"Dragonair, Thunder!"
Lucas stared intently at the two dragons and shouted the command.
Dragonair retreated continuously, but its backward speed was clearly slower than Dragonite's charge. The distance between them kept shrinking.
Crackle, crackle—golden arcs of electricity began flashing wildly around Dragonair's body.
"Dragonite!"
Dragonite's claw slammed down viciously toward Dragonair, even shredding the howling wind and rain apart as it fell.
The Dragon Claw struck Dragonair squarely, pain flashing across Dragonair's face—yet in the very next instant, a massive bolt of Thunder descended from the sky.
Golden lightning struck Dragonite head-on!
Dragonite gritted its teeth and endured the Thunder attack. Due to its Flying type, Dragonite did not resist Electric-type moves, so Thunder was far from ineffective against it.
"This level of attack is nothing!"
"Dragonite, Dragon Claw!"
Lance shouted in a deep voice. It was only a single Thunder, after all.
Dragonite's entire body was engulfed in golden lightning as Thunder continuously eroded it, but Dragonite roared loudly, forcibly dispersing the electricity around itself as it raised its Dragon Claw once more.
"Dragonair!"
Lucas called out without hesitation.
Dragonair's serpentine body shot forward like a long snake. At the instant Dragonite's claw came down, Dragonair twisted its head aside, narrowly evading the attack.
"What?!"
Lance's pupils shrank. The Dragonair that had dodged Dragonite's claw immediately coiled around Dragonite's body—two full loops!
A standard Dragonair measured about four meters in length, while Lucas's Dragonair was nearly five meters long.
Wrapping Dragonite tightly twice over was more than enough!
"Dragonite!"
"Thunder!"
Lance immediately shouted. Dragonite had to break free from Dragonair's bind as soon as possible.
But Lucas's voice was even faster!
Zzzzt—zzzt! The sound of electricity crackled nonstop as Dragonair's entire body burst into dazzling golden light. Thunder!
And with Dragonite bound so tightly, there was no way it could possibly dodge.
Golden lightning continued flashing relentlessly, the hair-raising electric current assaulting Dragonite without pause. Dragonite's face twisted in pain.
This was nearly point-blank, sustained Thunder—an extremely heavy blow even for Dragonite.
Yet Dragonite did not give up. Enduring the agony of being electrocuted, it continued to struggle and exert force, trying desperately to shake Dragonair off.
However, Dragonair's strength was also formidable. In such a short span of time, trying to break free while tanking Thunder was nothing more than wishful thinking.
"So, it can be used like this…"
Seeing this scene, everyone was stunned. Iris's eyelids twitched nonstop.
She never imagined that this battle, one destined to be extraordinarily fierce would develop in this way.
"But this is undoubtedly extremely favorable for Dragonair. Dragonair's body traits are being used perfectly by Lucas. Right now, it's incredibly difficult for Dragonite to even land an attack on Dragonair."
Leon spoke calmly. Though unexpected, there was no doubt that Dragonair currently held the advantage.
Once you were wrapped up by a serpentine Pokémon, it became an extremely troublesome situation. Any Trainer who had fought such Pokémon knew this all too well.
Especially when Dragonair could continuously use Thunder—Dragonite's situation was truly grim.
"Dragon Rush!"
Lance's expression was extremely ugly, but he forced himself to calm down and shouted loudly.
Dragonite let out an enraged draconic roar and suddenly dove toward the ground, ferocious dragon-shaped energy swirling around its body.
Dragon Rush!
Since you refuse to let go, then don't let go at all!
"You think you can defeat my Dragonite with such cheap tricks? Don't be naïve, Lucas!"
Lance declared coldly to Lucas. He admitted that the sudden turn of events had surprised him—but this kind of tactic alone could never defeat his Dragonite!
"I'll be watching."
Lucas chuckled softly, not taking Lance's harsh words to heart.
Dragon Rush plummeted from the sky, and through the dragon-shaped energy, faint flashes of lightning could still be seen.
Thunder never stopped for even a moment!
Under everyone's gaze, Dragonite dove at high speed and slammed heavily into the battlefield.
Under that terrifying force, the entire stadium seemed to tremble, and the point of impact instantly cracked and burst apart.
"It switched positions!"
Blue stared intently at the center. With his sharp observational skills, he noticed it immediately.
At the last moment, Dragonite had flipped its body, smashing into the ground with its back—
Or rather, with Dragonair on its back!
Red said nothing, his crimson eyes fixed on the rising smoke and dust.
Heavy rain continued to pour down, quickly dispersing the dust and revealing the situation within.
Dragonite slowly stood up, while the Dragonair that had been wrapped around it had already fallen to the ground.
Dragonite panted heavily, its ferocious gaze locked onto Dragonair before it. Dragonair met its stare without fear.
"Dragon Claw!"
"Dragon Tail!"
Dragonite let out a low growl as its claw swung straight toward Dragonair.
Dragonair raised its long tail, slamming it down with force.
Dragon Claw and Dragon Tail collided violently—but the clash did not end in a single exchange.
"Dragonite! Grab it!"
Suddenly, Lance shouted coldly.
As his words fell, Dragonite's claw accelerated sharply, seizing Dragonair's tail just as it was about to retract.
Dragonair was startled and tried to yank its tail back, but Dragonite's grip was like an iron vise, refusing to loosen.
"Thunder!"
Lucas frowned slightly.
Lightning flared across Dragonair's body, electricity surging along Dragonite's claws and spreading throughout its entire form.
Dragonite bared its teeth in pain, clearly suffering greatly.
"Dragonite!"
Lance's eyes were icy. He had to counterattack now.
Dragonite endured the lightning and exerted its full strength, twisting its body violently. Dragonair felt an overwhelming force and was flung uncontrollably.
BOOM!
Dragonite slammed Dragonair brutally into the ground, causing the entire surface to shake violently.
Dragonair let out a pained whimper. Though not a finishing move, the blow was still extremely heavy.
"Earthquake!"
"Dragon Pulse!"
Dragonite's face twisted savagely as it raised one foot and stomped down with all its might.
Dragonair lifted its head, firing a beam of draconic light straight at Dragonite. The Dragon Pulse reached Dragonite in the blink of an eye and exploded on impact!
Dragonite roared in pain—but the Earthquake followed immediately!
Rumble—!
The ground shook violently as shockwaves spread outward. Dragonair, being at point-blank range, was hit first.
Dragonair squeezed its eyes shut in pain. While Ground-type moves didn't counter it, Earthquake's raw damage was undeniably massive.
"So intense…"
Watching Dragonair and Dragonite continuously injure each other, everyone couldn't help but gasp in awe.
Although this battle wasn't as dazzling or spectacular as the previous two, this relentless exchange of brutal blows was even more shocking.
"Dragonite, Dragon Rush!"
Lance did not let up, ordering Dragonite to continue the pursuit.
Dragonite's condition was actually worse than Dragonair's. After enduring Thunder for so long, it was far from unscathed. Even though Thunder didn't counter it, taking it repeatedly for such a long time had taken a severe toll.
Now that Dragonair had been caught, the best course was to seize this moment and finish it in one decisive push!
Dragonite lifted its body slightly, pure Dragon-type energy condensing and transforming into a ferocious dragon-shaped aura.
"Ice Beam!"
Lucas ordered without hesitation.
Dragonair endured the intense pain and raised its head, icy-blue frost gathering rapidly.
A twisting beam of icy-blue light tore through the air and struck Dragonite directly.
Even with Dragon Rush's energy protecting it, Ice Beam still dealt tremendous damage to Dragonite.
Dragonite let out a painful groan, then roared furiously as it dove downward.
BOOM!
Dragon Rush smashed heavily into Dragonair, a violent explosion erupting as the ground shattered continuously.
Though the charge time was short, Dragon Rush's power was still terrifying.
"It should be about enough."
Lance stared intently at the dispersing smoke, his sharp eyes seeming to pierce straight through it.
It should be nearly over. Dragonair's stamina had to be at its limit by now.
But at the same time, Dragonite was also just about spent.
As the smoke slowly cleared, Dragonair lay on the ground, while Dragonite stood upright, panting violently.
"Dragonite, Dragon—"
Lance was about to order the finishing blow—
But Lucas's voice was faster!
"Cousin, I'll be taking the victory now!"
"Draco Meteor!"
Lucas grinned widely.
The Dragonair that had been lying on the ground suddenly sprang up. At point-blank range, it opened its mouth and fired an incredibly condensed sphere of energy.
Draco Meteor!
"Dragonite!"
Lance's pupils shrank sharply. It had deliberately stayed down, leaning against Dragonite to gather energy?!
Damn it!
Dragonite's claw lashed out like lightning, striking Dragonair's head and knocking it away—but it was already too late to dodge.
Draco Meteor slammed into Dragonite, driving it upward into the air.
Lance's expression darkened to the extreme, his eyes locked onto Dragonite.
"It's over."
Seeing this, Steven shook his head.
Dragonite was already at the brink of its limits—how could it possibly endure this?
BOOM!
A brilliant, beautiful explosion blossomed in midair, and Dragonite, at the very center of it, fell helplessly toward the ground.
Thud—
Dragonite crashed onto the battlefield, unmistakably sporting spinning eyes.
"Dragonite has lost its ability to battle. Dragonair wins."
The referee stepped forward to check on Dragonite, then glanced at the exhausted Dragonair lying on the ground before announcing the result.
"WOOOOOO—!"
Thunderous applause erupted throughout the stadium.
Although the battle ended quickly, it was unquestionably spectacular.
Lance's gaze remained fixed on the defeated Dragonite, his expression unreadable.
"Cousin, you're not giving up already, are you? I know it hurts, but your defeat couldn't be helped."
"After all, your cousin is just that outstanding."
Lucas raised his eyebrows and teased him lightly.
Lance's face darkened. He shot Lucas a look and withdrew Dragonite into its Poké Ball.
"Hmph! I haven't lost yet. Don't get so smug."
Lance snorted coldly.
Dragonite's defeat did affect him, but after everything he had experienced, his mindset had subtly changed.
He was still the proud Dragon Master Lance Blackthorn—but no longer as arrogant and conceited as before.
Though it was complicated to accept that his Dragonite had lost to Lucas's Dragonair… it wasn't quite as unbearable as he had imagined.
"Actually, it won't take long. Lance, you only have two Pokémon left."
Lucas blinked, offering a very "kind-hearted" reminder to his dear cousin.
"You—!"
Lance's face instantly turned pitch-black. Damn it, this guy was really infuriating beyond belief!
(End of Chapter)