Under Dragonair's Extreme Speed, Salamence crashed straight into the ground, creating a massive pit about seven or eight meters wide. Yet, Salamence wasn't down for the count; in fact, the impact only seemed to fuel its inner rage.
"Roar!"
With bloodthirsty eyes, Salamence glared at Dragonair, who floated gracefully in the air above.
"Extreme Speed... your Dragonair actually inherited that?" Ian said, disbelief clear in his voice.
Extreme Speed was a rare move, and while it didn't give Dragonair a huge advantage yet, once it evolved into Dragonite, it would be a game-changer.
Dragonite was already known for incredible speed, but adding Extreme Speed would eliminate its only real shortcoming.
The thing about Extreme Speed was that Dragonite couldn't learn it through normal means—it had to be passed down genetically.
And the odds of inheriting it were slim, almost like hitting the lottery.
In the wild or among most Pokémon, only a few species could even use Extreme Speed, like Arcanine or Lucario.
Both of them were just as rare as pseudo-legendaries.
So for a Dratini to inherit such a move? It was a jackpot.
Researchers were even studying more about these types of genetic moves.
Ian knew very well how powerful a Dragonite with Extreme Speed Move would be in the future.
How had a family known for Steel-type Pokémon like the Walkers ended up with a Dragonair so superior even to those raised by dragon-specialist families like his own?
For a moment, he doubted whether Julian was a child of the Drake family.
"Dragonair, use Dragon Rush!"
Julian, unfazed by Ian's comments, gave his next command calmly.
"Salamence, Protect!" Ian shouted, quickly reacting.
A green shield enveloped Salamence just in time, blocking Dragonair's rush. The two Pokémon's energies clashed violently, sparks flying as the force of the impact sent shockwaves through the air.
"Crack, crack..."
Salamence's protective shield began to fracture under the pressure.
"Hyper Beam!" Ian called out just as Salamence's shield shattered.
A glowing beam burst from Salamence, colliding with Dragonair's Dragon Rush mid-attack.
Protect had already consumed some of the move's energy and The force of the Hyper Beam canceled out the remaining energy from Dragon Rush, leaving both Pokémon momentarily drained.
"This Dragonair is something else"
Ian muttered, realizing Salamence had needed two moves to block one of Dragonair's attacks—one of those moves being a lifesaving Protect.
The sheer power behind Julian's Dragonair was astounding.
"Dragonair, Ice Beam!"
Julian seized the moment.
Salamence was left frozen in place, reeling from the exhaustion of using Hyper Beam.
The stronger the Pokémon the less time it needed to reel in after a Hyper Beam, some really powerful ones might even ignore the effect all together.
But Salamence as of now couldn't do anything.
As the icy blast shot out from Dragonair's horn, the air filled with cold, jagged energy. Icicles formed wherever the beam passed.
"Salamence, dodge!" Ian yelled in desperation.
Not all Trainers were Ash, shout and Pokémon will fight back.
Salamence: I can't move my body, you should have thought this through before letting me use Hyper Beam, you idiot.
But Salamence was still recovering from Hyper Beam, unable to move. Ian could only watch as the Ice Beam struck true.
Ice-type moves were especially devastating to Dragon-types, 4x damage, and Salamence took the full brunt of the attack.
A moment later, Salamence was frozen solid, encased in ice like a statue.
"Salamence is unable to battle! Dragonair wins!"
Seeing that Ian lose, Tyler and Yanis were so happy that they gave each other a high five. After reacting, they felt something was wrong.
"Of course he had to lose, If Ian had won, wouldn't it make us look even worse?" Luis muttered.
The two nodded in agreement.
"It's Evolving"
Someone shouted from the crowd.
In mid-air, Dragonair's slender body was suddenly enveloped in a brilliant white light. Its elegant, serpentine form started to grow rounder, bulkier, as it transformed.
When the light faded, a large, orange dragon with tiny wings and a broad belly appeared—Dragonite.
Gone was the sleek and graceful Dragonair, replaced by a chubby, friendly-looking Dragonite.
Julian couldn't help but laugh at the sight of his newly evolved Pokémon. He gave Dragonite's round belly a playful pat, and it jiggled in response.
"Better watch what you eat, or you'll get even fatter," Julian teased with a grin.
Dragonite:((;???;))
Pokémon: Dragonite (Dragon/Flying)
Level: 55
Qualification: Purple
Ability: Inner Focus
Item: Dragon Fang
Gender: Male
Moves: Hurricane, Wing Attack, Roost, Wrap, Leer, Dragon Tail, Twister, Thunder Wave, Aqua Tail, Dragon Rush, Safeguard, Slam, Rain Dance
Move Disc: Protect, Thunderbolt, Hyper Beam, Icy Wind, Hydro Pump, Flamethrower, Substitute, Iron Tail, Breaking Swipe
Genetic Moves: Extreme Speed, Dragon Breath, Dragon Dance, Outrage
Ian's face fell as he withdrew his Salamence, his mind racing with disbelief. He had not only lost, but he had been completely outclassed. His Salamence, higher in level and a true dragon-type, had been defeated by Dragonair. To make things worse, Dragonair had evolved into Dragonite at the very moment of victory.
It was simply rubbing salt in the wound.
'If Julian's Dragonite becomes famous in the future, some people might say that when it was still Dragonair, it defeated someone named Ian and then evolved into Dragonite.'
"That Dragonite is incredibly strong and its strength should be no less than that of the Metagross. Maybe Dragonite is his real Trump Card," Ian said with a serious face after the match.
Even though Salamence was higher in level, and Ian was from a prestigious dragon family, he had still been soundly defeated. The thought stung.
"Cut the dramatics, Ian," Luis said with a knowing smile. "Lucario is his trump card, not Dragonite."
After all, losing to someone's ace was definitely different from losing to just any Pokémon.
"Actually, it's Metagross"
Tyler and Yanis corrected.
All of them exchanged glances, feeling the weight of their losses.
Even though there was one more challenger who hadn't battled Julian yet they could see what was coming. Each one of them had been defeated with ease, as if Julian was just warming up.
They all looked towards the last challenger.
"Why bother?" Luis said, patting them on the shoulder. "You're going to lose anyway. Might as well save yourself the embarrassment."
*****
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