Twenty-four gleaming rock spikes were enough to make anyone's heart tremble.
At last, Sato and the others clearly saw the three Pokémon on the opposing side: Infernape, Torterra, and Empoleon.
The Sinnoh starter trio!
Sato's brows furrowed. If it had been just one of them, he wouldn't have thought much of it. But all three starters appearing together? That could only mean trouble.
"Fire Pledge!"
"Water Pledge!"
"Grass Pledge!"
The next second, the three commands rang out one after another. Sato's bad feeling immediately came true. He didn't hesitate, while ordering Tyranitar to use Protect, he also woke up Ralts from his backpack.
…And then came the unique combination move only possible with the starter trio!
When the three Pledge moves were combined, they could unleash massive power, and the order of execution was crucial.
Fire Pledge came first, erupting from the ground like flowing magma, surging straight toward them.
Just as Infernape's Fire Pledge reached the halfway point, Empoleon's Water Pledge followed up immediately. Instead of canceling each other out, the two fused rapidly and unleashed a terrifying energy wave.
Then came Grass Pledge. It intercepted the unused portion of Water Pledge, forcefully absorbing and transforming it into another horrifying stream of bluish-green energy.
Fire + Water → resulting combination energy wave becomes Water-type, super effective against Tyranitar…
Water + Grass → resulting combination energy wave becomes Grass-type, also super effective against Tyranitar…
In other words, the opponents had, in one synchronized strike, unleashed two attacks equivalent in power to Hyper Beam… with STAB bonus, type advantage against Tyranitar, and no side effects to themselves…
No matter how strong Tyranitar's armor was, it couldn't withstand repeated barrages of that scale… for now.
So, without hesitation, Sato had Tyranitar use Protect to forcibly block both attacks.
At the same time, he prepared to have Ralts use a lesser-known move to break up the enemy's combination strategy.
"Disable, target Empoleon."
Ralts had just opened its eyes when it saw the massive Tyranitar standing firm behind its shimmering Protect barrier.
Sensing the immense energy fluctuations outside the shield, Ralts immediately realized how dire the situation was.
Using its psychic power, Ralts quickly locked onto Empoleon among the three Pokémon.
The red glow under its fringe flickered -Disable activated- and Empoleon suddenly froze, not understanding what had just happened.
"Again, Stone Edge: full assault."
Tyranitar resumed its unfinished attack. As Protect dropped, the twenty-four rock spikes shot out with a sharp whistle straight toward the enemy.
Ordinarily, a High Ace Tyranitar should have no trouble crushing other Pokémon of the same tier.
Unfortunately, luck wasn't on their side. Of the three opposing Pokémon, both Empoleon and Torterra had decent resistance to Rock-type moves.
And the remaining one -Infernape- was absurdly fast, dodging behind its teammates in a single bound.
Still, a perfected full-assault Stone Edge wasn't that easy to deal with. Even at reduced effectiveness, it made Empoleon and Torterra howl in pain.
"Fire Pledge!"
"Water Pledge!"
"Grass Pledge!"
The same exact commands rang out again. Sato gave a mocking smile… 'Did they really think a single trick would work every time?'
Once again, Infernape's Fire Pledge launched first. But the expected follow-up Water Pledge never appeared.
Half a second later, Grass Pledge followed behind with a delay.
Fire + Grass → resulting combination energy wave becomes Fire-type, creating a blazing field that deals continuous damage to enemies.
…But since Sato already knew what was coming, how could he not have prepared a countermeasure?
"Tyranitar, [Rock Tomb: full coverage]."
"Tyran!"
Tyranitar stomped its right foot hard into the ground, and massive boulders rose from the ground. Not only did they easily block the enemy's attack, but they also spread quickly, trapping all three Pokémon in between the rocks.
The full-coverage Rock Tomb was like a jagged wall of fangs, completely churning the entire battlefield in front of Tyranitar.
The blazing field? It couldn't burn!
Because the ground had turned entirely to rock; and wherever there was rock, that was Tyranitar's domain.
"DAMN IT, what happened, Empoleon?! Where's your Water Pledge?!"
Curses erupted from behind the enemy Pokémon. Their side hadn't expected a mistake like this.
"Infernape, Mach Punch to break free!"
"Empoleon, Aqua Jet!"
"Torterra, Razor Leaf!"
All three commands rang out simultaneously. Even though Empoleon had messed up, their coordination remained intact. Their first priority was to break out of Rock Tomb.
"That's enough, Tyranitar, charge in and use Brick Break on Empoleon first."
With its Water/Steel typing, Empoleon posed the greatest threat to Tyranitar. And without Water Pledge, the remaining Fire-type combo was no threat at all.
Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom…
The heavy footsteps echoed like hammers pounding directly on the hearts of the enemy grunts.
Tyranitar, massive in size, dashed forward in a few quick strides and reached Empoleon. The Water-type Pokémon was wrapped in surging currents, but no matter what it did, it couldn't break free from the surrounding rocks.
Though Empoleon didn't have Mega Evolution like the Kanto starters, its Water/Steel typing gave it excellent resistances, one reason why it remained so popular.
But ironically, due to its body structure, Empoleon wasn't very agile to begin with. Add to that its Steel typing making its body extremely rigid, and compared to Infernape and Torterra, it was now even more tightly wedged in.
Aqua Jet just didn't have enough force to break it free from Rock Tomb, and Tyranitar's literal sandbag-sized fist was already coming down.
Dong~
The sound echoed like a bell as Tyranitar landed Brick Break. It successfully helped Empoleon break free from the Rock Tomb…
Unfortunately, while it did break free, Empoleon also collapsed.
'Tch… so violent…'
"Infernape, Close Combat!"
"Torterra, Leaf Storm!"
Even in a 1v3, Tyranitar wasn't at a disadvantage. It had already defeated Empoleon with overwhelming force. But that only drove Infernape and Torterra's Trainers into a frenzy of rage and desperation.
"Gogoat, Leaf Blade!"
"Lucario, Bone Rush!"
Joseph and Mark's voices rang out suddenly, startling the opposing grunts who finally realized Sato wasn't alone.
While Tyranitar had been dominating the battlefield, the other two had been silently standing by. But now that Tyranitar was "truly" facing danger, they charged forward without hesitation.
It was also worth noting… Joseph's Gogoat had, at some point, advanced to Mid Ace level!