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"What a sharp opponent. It's been a long time… I haven't encountered such a passive situation in quite a while."
When Sato thought about the precarious situation currently unfolding on the battlefield, he didn't feel discouraged at all. Instead, a smile appeared on his face. It had been a long time since he had faced such a powerful opponent, and a trace of excitement began to rise within him.
"Come back, Pikachu. With your current ability, you can't break this situation. Let your other companions handle it."
Sato knew very well that if Pikachu continued fighting under the current circumstances, the only outcome would be a crushing defeat. Without hesitation, he took out a PokeBall and recalled Pikachu, then released it again so that it could return to its usual spot on his shoulder.
"Please, Tentacruel. Take the stage and meet the enemy."
Then Sato took out an Ultra Ball from his belt and released Tentacruel.
"A wise choice. But thanks to your Pikachu's powerful Electric-type attacks, my Absol has already raised its Special Attack to a very high level through its Lightning Rod ability. Unless you still have a Pokémon that knows Haze, it will be very difficult for you to turn this battle around."
Seeing Sato withdraw Pikachu, Hughes smiled faintly, thinking with confidence.
Although there was no water on the Grass battlefield, Tentacruel stood steadily on the grass using its many tentacles. Its eyes were fixed firmly on Absol ahead—the Pokémon that was exerting tremendous pressure on it.
As the referee blew the whistle, the battle resumed.
Without waiting for Sato's command, Tentacruel immediately used Aqua Ring. Then it rapidly fired a large number of Acid Spray attacks from its mouth.
"Dodge it, then use Thunderbolt to finish it!"
Seeing Tentacruel smoothly execute Aqua Ring and launch Acid Spray, Hughes' expression changed. He immediately ordered Absol to evade while counterattacking with Thunderbolt.
Absol instantly leapt to the right, successfully avoiding the barrage of purple globules. At the same time, a massive surge of electricity burst from its body.
But Tentacruel had no intention of letting Absol attack freely. It twisted its head to the right, continuing to fire numerous Acid Spray projectiles toward Absol.
Although Acid Spray had modest base power, its effect of lowering the opponent's Special Defense by two stages made it extremely dangerous. Once struck by those seemingly harmless purple spheres, the target would suffer devastating consequences.
Unwilling to let the projectiles hit it, Absol had no choice but to redirect its newly released electricity to intercept them.
Immediately, the Acid Spray barrage collided with Absol's Thunderbolt, producing a series of explosive energy blasts.
With its Special Attack greatly boosted, Absol's Thunderbolt was incredibly powerful. Even though Tentacruel released a large number of projectiles, they barely managed to cancel out the electric attack.
The numerous explosions filled the battlefield with thick smoke. Before the smoke could clear, however, Tentacruel continued its offensive under Sato's command.
The distance between the two Pokémon was only about three meters—well within the reach of Tentacruel's tentacles.
In an instant, four tentacles glowing with purple light shot out like lightning, piercing into the smoke and striking precisely toward Absol's position.
After long training and extensive combat experience, Tentacruel had finally mastered the technique of controlling four tentacles simultaneously in battle. Now it was even beginning to work toward controlling five at once.
This time, it attacked with four tentacles simultaneously, each executing Poison Jab. If Absol were struck, the damage would be severe—and there was a high chance it would be poisoned.
"Use Psycho Cut to slice them off, then jump back and widen the distance!"
From the way Hughes had earlier maneuvered Absol to push Sato's Pikachu into a disadvantageous position, it was clear how sharp his judgment was. At a glance, he saw both the strength and the flaw of Tentacruel's attack and issued the correct countermeasure.
Absol had already recovered from its earlier clash with Pikachu. Hearing Hughes' command, the sickle-shaped horn on its head shone brightly again, transforming into a massive white blade of energy.
With a powerful swing of its head, Absol released a large white energy slash. Immediately afterward, it leapt backward with all four limbs.
However, Tentacruel's tentacle attacks were not so easily avoided.
Although the white slash was powerful, its range was insufficient. Combined with the strong force behind Tentacruel's Poison Jab, it managed to sever only two tentacles before its energy was exhausted.
The remaining two tentacles continued forward like relentless predators. Just as Absol leapt into the air, a sharp gleam flashed in Tentacruel's eyes.
One tentacle suddenly doubled its speed, successfully wrapping around Absol's right foreleg.
With a forceful pull, Tentacruel dragged Absol out of the air. At the same time, another tentacle charged with Poison Jab lashed down like lightning, striking Absol squarely on the head.
In that split second, Absol suffered a heavy blow.
Hughes had never expected Tentacruel's tentacle attacks to be so swift and flexible. When he saw Absol struck on the head and additional tentacles rushing in, his face instantly turned pale.
He knew the decisive moment had arrived. If he didn't react immediately and allow Tentacruel's tentacles to completely bind Absol, the balance of victory would quickly tilt toward Sato.
"Absol, use Thunderbolt!"
At this critical moment, Hughes remained calm. His mind raced as he devised a potential comeback strategy and shouted the command.
"Use Reflect Type on that Numel near the spectator stands. Keep wrapping it with your tentacles while using Giga Drain."
Hearing Hughes' command, Sato remained expressionless. A flash of blue light appeared in his eyes as he used telepathy to issue instructions to Tentacruel before Absol could act.
Tentacruel immediately locked its gaze onto a Numel beside a spectator in the audience and used Reflect Type.
Instantly, its own typing temporarily changed to Ground and Fire.
Having taken a heavy hit to the head, Absol inevitably fell into a brief daze. By the time it attempted to execute Thunderbolt, Tentacruel had already completed its type transformation.
At the same time, numerous tentacles extended outward, tightly binding Absol while draining its strength through Giga Drain.
Because Tentacruel had temporarily become Ground/Fire-type, Absol's Thunderbolt—even with its greatly boosted Special Attack—had absolutely no effect.
"When did he make Tentacruel use Reflect Type?"
Seeing Thunderbolt fail completely, Hughes immediately sensed something was terribly wrong.
His sharp eyes quickly noticed the mixture of yellow-brown and crimson light surrounding Tentacruel. Instantly recalling Tentacruel's possible abilities and moves, he realized what had happened—Tentacruel must have secretly used Reflect Type on a nearby Ground-type Pokémon without his knowledge.
But there was no time to dwell on that now.
"Not good! Absol, quickly use Dark Pulse!"
Watching Absol become increasingly entangled by the tentacles, Hughes grew anxious. Without further hesitation, he ordered Absol to attack with its mouth to break free.
Unfortunately, just as Absol tried to open its mouth to unleash Dark Pulse, Tentacruel's numerous tentacles instantly wrapped tightly around its head, leaving it no opportunity to attack.
This was the terrifying aspect of Tentacruel.
Once its many tentacles successfully bound an opponent, escaping was almost impossible unless the Pokémon possessed extraordinary strength.
Moreover, with Tentacruel now transformed into a Ground-type, Absol's most threatening Electric-type move was rendered useless. As for Psycho Cut, Absol could no longer use it because its head was completely restrained.
For Absol, it had already fallen into Tentacruel's unavoidable killing trap.