"Psycho Shift!"
Sabrina's voice rang out, cold and unwavering. At that moment, her Alakazam unleashed a wave of psychic energy—its hypnotic power redirecting the poisonous venom coursing through its body.
With the help of the move Psycho Shift, the toxins were transferred directly into the body of Garchomp whose attack had just narrowly missed. Then, with a swift motion, Recover activated—Alakazam's body glowing faintly as it regenerated itself nearly back to full strength.
"Gaaaar~"
Garchomp, already drained from two high-impact bursts of offense, now found its remaining stamina rapidly eroded by the potent Toxic that had been transferred into its system.
"Keep the pressure on!"
Sensing the shift, Sabrina's eyes gleamed brighter. Her psychic energy surged through the field as she amplified Alakazam's powers and issued a crisp command.
"Zaaam~"
With a focused murmur, Alakazam poured its strength into suppressing the exhausted Garchomp, pinning the Mega Evolved Dragon-type to the ground using its overwhelming psychic force.
Despite being in its Mega Evolution form and reinforced with multiple buffs, Garchomp couldn't match the focused might of Alakazam's psychic restraint. Unlike how Drapion had once perfectly subdued its foes, Alakazam's suppression wasn't flawless. The land shark howled and thrashed against the invisible force that gripped it.
Yet even under suppression, Garchomp's eyes began to glow with a deep crimson light. Rage and battlelust boiled over its limit as primal instinct and raw power surged from within, igniting a deeper, more violent energy.
"Gaaaaar!!"
With a final roar, Garchomp shattered the psychic bind and lunged toward Alakazam with one last desperate strike.
But the moment it moved, Alakazam vanished. Teleport activated in an instant—blinking the Psychic-type away from danger with impeccable precision. Garchomp twisted and struck again and again, but no matter how it redirected its charge, it could not match Alakazam's speed.
Its strength spent, Garchomp finally collapsed—unable to rise again.
"Return."
Though it seemed Garchomp had been toyed with during the battle, the truth was far more impressive. Through this grueling exchange, it had achieved a new threshold of strength. Like Electivire and Torterra before it, Garchomp now stood just a single step below the Elite Four level.
Without hesitation, Paul called Garchomp back and sent out his fourth Pokémon.
"Torterra, prepare for battle!"
"Raaa!"
With a thunderous stomp, Torterra entered the field. The moment it landed, its roots extended into the earth, anchoring it as a miniature forest burst to life. Overhead, the harsh sunlight from Sunny Day created a blazing artificial sun, bathing the entire battlefield in broad daylight.
"Solar Beam!"
Once preparations were complete, Torterra opened its maw, firing a focused Solar Beam straight at its opponent.
But Sabrina already had Paul's battle style analyzed. She knew Torterra's nature—its defensive bulk grew stronger the more you hit it. That kind of endurance couldn't be allowed to build.
"Psychic! Shadow Ball!"
Torterra wasn't like the others she'd fought before. Suppressing it to unlock its potential would be a fool's errand. This tank of a Pokémon only grew more dangerous with time, it had to be worn down first.
With another blink of Teleport, Alakazam dodged the Solar Beam. Its mental force exploded forth once again, pinning the massive Torterra in place with oppressive psychic energy. Then, raising both arms, it began conjuring Shadow Balls one after another, dozens of dark spheres raining down like artillery shells.
The battlefield transformed into a war zone, filled with the thunder of exploding psychic blasts like a hailstorm of gunfire and magic.
"Protect!"
"Raaa!!"
Even Torterra had never experienced such a chaotic barrage of Champion-level moves before. Almost the moment Paul gave the command, Torterra crushed beneath intense psychic pressure, forced up a Protect shield around its body with all its might.
Unfortunately, if it had just been a single attack, it might have held out. But dozens of Shadow Balls amplified by Psychic Terrain's oppressive control, crashed down in unison. Within two seconds, the barrier shattered, and every follow-up attack landed directly on Torterra.
BOOM!
An explosion rocked the battlefield. When the smoke cleared, Torterra lay motionless on the ground, eyes still open—burning with frustration and unwillingness to accept what had just happened.
Ever since joining Paul, Torterra had never been suppressed like this.
Even against Cynthia's Garchomp, it had at least managed to inflict some damage before going down.
And now... it couldn't even land a hit?
That bitter unwillingness boiled within Torterra, and suddenly a vivid emerald light flared around its entire body. The radiance enveloped it in full.
Overgrow — activated!
Though Overgrow's power was modest under normal circumstances, for Torterra in this moment, it was like rain after a long drought.
Fueled by that fierce emotion, the ability's power surged wildly amplifying to the extreme. Torterra's inner strength gathered, consolidated and then burst forth, tearing through the bottleneck that had blocked its path for so long.
A breakthrough!
Torterra advanced to Elite Four class!
"Excellent—Frenzy Plant!"
With newfound strength coursing through it, Torterra rose from the dirt. Around it, hardened vines erupted from beneath the battlefield, transforming the terrain into a living forest. Under Torterra's control, every plant surged toward Alakazam in a frenzied assault.
"Psycho Cut."
Alakazam's floating spoons lit up with a violet glow, transforming into sharp blades that slashed through the air like psychic swords. In a storm of precision, the Psycho Cuts cleaved through the oncoming vines severing them instantly. Nothing could get close.
WHOOSH—
A sudden Leaf Storm swirled in, engulfing Alakazam in a tempest of foliage. But moments later, the storm was effortlessly shredded by those same psychic blades.
The assault didn't stop.
Solar Beam. Frenzy Plant. Leaf Storm. Magical Leaf.
Each Grass-type move came one after another, giving Alakazam no breathing room, driving it into a corner with wave after relentless wave.
Even a powerhouse like Alakazam couldn't hold out forever. Such high-intensity output rapidly drained its stamina and mental focus. And even with Sabrina providing external support, her psychic link subtly boosting its performance—it was beginning to falter.
"That's enough. Finish it."
Sabrina's cold voice rang out, and immediately a vast aura erupted from Alakazam, its terrifying psychic power forming a raging storm that shredded the surroundings and engulfed Torterra, battering it relentlessly within the psychic whirlpool.
At the same time, Alakazam's spoons continuously forged into Psychic Blades razor-sharp mental constructs that fed into the swirling tempest.
But Torterra didn't yield. It stubbornly held its ground by simultaneously activating Protect, Synthesis, Forest's Healing, and Ingrain—layering its regenerative and defensive powers to endure the storm through sheer force of will.
Only after a prolonged struggle—draining Alakazam of a considerable amount of stamina and psychic energy did Torterra finally collapse onto the battlefield.
It was clear: had the power difference between the two not been so stark, defeating Alakazam wouldn't have been so challenging for Torterra.
"You did well. Come back." Paul said.
Despite the loss, progress had been made—that was enough for him.
In a fairly good mood, he recalled Torterra and threw out his fifth Poké Ball.
"Electivire, Thunder!"
"Vireee~!"
The moment it appeared, lightning erupted from Electivire's body, crackling and branching out in a storm of electricity as bolts of thunder rained down toward Alakazam.
However, Alakazam merely raised a psychic barrier, calm and silent—and successfully deflected the incoming strike.
But in the next instant, a flash of electricity surged forward, Electivire's form had vanished and reappeared in front of Alakazam, its fist, larger than a clay pot, driving forward like a thunder cannon.
Spatial ripples shimmered—Teleport. Alakazam instantly disappeared, narrowly evading Electivire's freshly initiated Plasma Fist.
Even though the move missed, Electivire wasn't discouraged. The electricity coursing over its body surged more violently, and it launched itself once more toward the point where Alakazam had reappeared—this time, even faster.
At this lightning speed, Alakazam had barely rematerialized when Electivire was already upon it, swinging a crackling fist—this time, the pressure was real. Even Alakazam felt a rare tinge of strain.
"Psychic!" Sabrina commanded.
No longer willing to remain passive, Alakazam's spoons twirled, forming a barrier that intercepted the Plasma Fist. Then, with a sharp burst of psychic force, it seized Electivire mid-charge and slammed it into the ground.
"Hypnosis!"
Just as Electivire was recovering, it looked up only to be met with waves of hypnotic energy emanating from Alakazam's eyes.
Electivire reacted fast, countering with its own Psychic to block the influence. Yet even so, Alakazam's overwhelming psychic force smashed through the defense, forcing Electivire into sleep.
"Dream Eater."
Alakazam floated silently above the slumbering Electivire. A strange purple light descended over the Electric-type's body as Alakazam began feasting on its dreams.
But this wasn't a normal Dream Eater.
This one was laced with malicious nightmares, ones specifically designed to provoke fury. Even in its sleep, Electivire clenched its fists and gritted its teeth, overcome with rage.
(End of Chapter)
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