Arcanine's speed was incredibly fast, boosted by Extreme Speed. Even Ash and the others, who were seeing Extreme Speed for the first time, could hardly react!
"Haunter, dodge the attack!" Ash subconsciously issued an order to Haunter. In that moment, he even forgot that Normal-type moves had no effect on Ghost-type Pokémon and simply shouted out his subconscious thoughts.
"Gastly!" Haunter's pupils contracted suddenly, but it couldn't see Arcanine's figure. It simply left its spot, following Ash's order, trying to avoid Arcanine's attack.
But its movements were too slow for Arcanine, who had used Extreme Speed. Arcanine had already appeared in front of it, opened its massive mouth, and, with Dark-type energy condensed into fangs, bit down hard on Haunter!
"Boom!" The energy exploded, and Haunter was sent flying fiercely. The Dark-type energy affected Haunter's body, and the double damage from the type disadvantage significantly reduced Haunter's stamina!
It wasn't until this moment that Ash and the others realized Gary's strategy. He had Arcanine use Extreme Speed not to attack Haunter directly but to close the distance and then use another move!
"This style..." Misty and Brock looked at Ash with worried faces. This tactical style was very similar to Ash's own, using certain moves to confuse or approach the opponent and then launching a surprise attack.
"How about it, Ash?" Gary placed his left hand on his back, raised his right hand slightly, and looked at Ash with a mocking smile. "I learned this from you. How does it feel?"
"It just shows that you're still far behind me!" Ash remained unfazed, knowing that Gary's words were meant to disrupt his thoughts and composure.
"Hmph." Seeing that Ash wasn't affected, Gary scoffed lightly, feeling that even if Ash remained calm, he had already grasped the key to victory in this duel.
"Arcanine, Encore, use Extreme Speed, and then Crunch!" Thinking this, Gary swung his right hand, giving Arcanine another attack order.
However, he didn't realize that Arcanine's physical exertion was unusual at this point. After using Extreme Speed and Crunch, it felt a sense of breathlessness.
"Wind Speed!" But Arcanine, having received the order, acted again. Normal-type energy surged, and a white, translucent aura enveloped its entire body!
Like a gust of wind, Arcanine vanished from its spot, reappearing on its path, rapidly approaching Haunter. This was the speed that only gods could achieve... Extreme Speed!
"It won't be so easy to hit you this time, Haunter! Phantom Force!" While Gary was giving orders to Arcanine, Ash was also giving orders to Haunter, and the commands from both sides were issued almost simultaneously!
"Gastly!" Ghost-type energy was activated, a black channel opened behind Haunter, and it jumped back. Haunter entered a different space just as Arcanine arrived, its fangs snapping at the air where Haunter had been!
"What?!" Gary's expression changed slightly. Arcanine, blessed with Extreme Speed, had failed to hit Haunter before it used Phantom Force, which was somewhat beyond his expectations.
"Be careful, Arcanine!" Gary immediately warned Arcanine. He wasn't sure where Haunter would attack from, so his eyes kept scanning, searching for Haunter's figure.
Arcanine also raised its vigilance, panting slightly as its eyes swept around, not even overlooking the sky, remembering that Haunter had launched its previous attack from above.
"Shadow Ball!" But Ash smiled. He had practiced this Phantom Force routine with Haunter many times. It wouldn't be easy for Gary to guess where the attack would come from!
From the shadow beneath Arcanine, Haunter emerged, condensing a Ghost-type energy ball with both hands, firing it, and bombarding Arcanine's abdomen at close range. The unsuspecting Arcanine was blasted by the Shadow Ball.
Under the power of Shadow Ball, Arcanine was pushed into mid-air.
"Boom!" The Shadow Ball carried Arcanine's body for some distance before exploding, causing damage and blasting Arcanine back ten meters. It fell to the ground in front of Gary.
Gary wore an expression of disbelief. He had tried to guess where Haunter might appear but hadn't expected it to emerge from beneath Arcanine. He had never seen this kind of fighting method before.
"Cheer up, Arcanine!" Gary gritted his teeth slightly and shouted at Arcanine, wanting it to use Extreme Speed again, but when his eyes fell on Arcanine, he showed a look of astonishment.
"Arcanine has lost the ability to fight, Haunter wins!" At the same time, Brock's voice sounded, announcing that Arcanine had lost the ability to fight.
"How is it possible..." Gary looked at Haunter with a look of surprise. Only two attacks, and his Arcanine had lost the ability to fight? Was Haunter's damage that powerful?
"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Ash saw Gary's expression and immediately understood what he was thinking, shaking his head slightly.
"Figured out what?!" Gary frowned, looking at Ash in confusion, but in the next moment, he had a flash of inspiration and was stunned, as if he understood what was going on but couldn't grasp the key point.
"This kind of attack consumes a lot of stamina. Extreme Speed itself is a move that consumes a lot of energy. On top of that, Arcanine used a completely different Dark-type move. The stamina consumption isn't one plus one equals two, but greater than two," explained Ash.
"Not to mention, my Arcanine isn't familiar with this method, and the physical consumption is even worse... On the other hand, your Haunter is already familiar with this offensive method, which can minimize physical consumption..."
"Not only that... The Phantom Force and Shadow Ball you let Haunter use are both Ghost-type moves, which further reduces energy waste, thus achieving the purpose of saving stamina..." The more Gary thought about it, the more horror appeared in his eyes.
A seemingly simple way to attack, but there were so many key points. Ash... How far had he grown?
Ash didn't answer, but this silent appearance showed his acquiescence.
Apparently, Gary was right.
The real world was different from the game.
The moves in the game had limited PP and didn't consume physical energy.
But for Pokémon in the real world, using moves required stamina.
How to make Pokémon reduce physical energy consumption when using moves in battle was a subject of study.
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