But the Fire Spin unraveled on its own, twisting in from the flank!
In nearly an instant, the Fire Spin wrapped Annihilape and bound it, a bright blaze coursing over its body while the heat gnawed away at its stamina!
Fiery threads tightened around it; Annihilape's sprint began to slow!
Even a starving camel is still bigger than a horse.
With Annihilape's speed pushed to the limit, this bind was little more than an annoyance—hardly enough to matter!
"Hraaah!"
Arms crossed into an X, Annihilape stepped in and, with a harsh shout, stamped down!
The floor split with a boom; the shockwave made the flames around it flicker and dim.
In that heartbeat of weakness, Annihilape flashed to Houndoom's face—its crossed forearms dropping like a guillotine!
"Heh…"
Watching the heavy chop posture hold, Karen lifted an arm, lazily twirled a lock of hair with one finger, and let out a cold chuckle. "Flamethrower!"
Firelight climbed her ice-calm face; the chill in her eyes melted for a heartbeat into a warm gleam.
"Awooo-ooo!!"
Houndoom braced and threw back its head with a sky-rending howl.
Fire welled wild in its throat; a storm rose between its teeth.
At the peak, the blaze speared into a terrifying orange-red line—like a lance through the air—crashing into Annihilape's descending strike!
Sparks detonated and scattered. Annihilape's inky-black forearms hit the flaming beam, Fighting energy sheathing them in brown light and parting the fire cleanly!
Split in two!
In Karen's eyes, Annihilape was forcing the flames apart with overwhelming strength, chopping down inch by inch—only a few fists' distance left to Houndoom!
"Has this Annihilape's raw strength already crept right up on Elite level?"
The shockwaves blurred Karen's gaze. Staring at Houndoom's back, for just a moment she saw it as a Houndour again.
Back then…
Wasn't it like this, too?
"Grr…"
Houndoom rumbled, embers pattering to the floor.
It craned hard, squeezing every bit of output it could—
but against Annihilape's Cross Chop, it still wasn't enough.
"Ms. Karen, strictly speaking, Houndooms aren't suited to straight-up brawling, are they?"
Grey rested a finger on his chin and asked the soul-cutting question: "What makes you think Houndoom wins a face-to-face slugfest against Annihilape?"
"Eh?"
Karen's eyes flickered; she couldn't answer at once.
"It's a bit of a stereotype, sure—but Houndoom's game is flanking and striking second, right?"
Grey's reminder slid into her ears and sent her thinking.
He was right—her Houndoom didn't excel at head-on fights. So why force it?
"Ms. Karen, you're trying too hard to prove Dark-types."
One short line—and Karen froze.
He'd nailed it.
"Think it through after the match. Give your Pokémon time alone with you and talk it out. It'll help down the line."
Grey smiled lightly and tapped the air. "If you don't call something now, Houndoom's getting sent flying. I don't think it wants to go down that easy, right?"
The words snapped Karen back. Seeing the incoming blow, she shouted, "Foul Play!"
"Awooo!"
In an instant, scarlet light flashed in Houndoom's eyes; its throat stopped forcing fire and its forelegs slammed up to meet Annihilape's strike!
KRA-BOOM!!!
Two equal forces collided. Houndoom's forepaws bowed, strength straining—
—but it was enough!
"Houndoom—Shadow Ball!"
Karen's cold voice cut through. Houndoom's jaws yawned; a ghostly gleam bloomed!
A huge sphere of energy swelled between dog and ape; Houndoom snapped its jaws and hurled the Shadow Ball forward!
The rhythm was clean—Grey's nudge had pulled Karen back on track before she went too far down the wrong road!
[Shouldn't have backseat-coached—now the monkey's getting wrecked, right?]
[Streamer's occupational hazard—he can't help giving pointers.]
[He is a Gym Leader. Coaching challengers is part of the gig. Also, can't wait to see him eat crow, hehe~]
[Umm… what makes you think a couple of tips = instant reversal?]
"Rage Fist!"
"Hraaah!!!"
Even with a Shadow Ball screaming in, Annihilape didn't think of dodging. Its arm muscles corded tight; a deep ghostly glow poured down its fists!
Rage spiked to the ceiling; veins throbbed on its brow, its scarlet eyes turning feral!!
Rage Fist—its power grows the more hits you take!
After Fire Spin, Flamethrower, and Shadow Ball, Rage Fist's base power had climbed to 200!
Stack that with its huge Attack boost, and just seeing the wind-up put a flash of alarm in Houndoom's eyes!
Run.
Move or die!
With that, Houndoom rode the Shadow Ball's back-blast—legs pumping hard—to throw itself clear!
BOOM!!!
Rage Fist smashed into the floor instead, and with the earlier damage, there was almost nowhere left to stand in the dojo!
Houndoom skittered back onto one of the few intact patches of wood left!
"Houndoom—now! Our last trump card! Abyssal Flames (Inferno)!"
In a breath, Houndoom's black coat filmed over with deep red light; searing flame erupted, the heat turning the dojo into a living hell!
"Encore."
Before Houndoom truly let Inferno loose, Grey slid in an opening, and Annihilape fired off the unorthodox choice.
[Wait, what did Grey just call?]
[En! core! it! again!]
[Hahaha—looks like there's another victim besides yours truly!]
[Yeah yeah, THIS is what I came to see!]
In full view of everyone, Annihilape grinned—and started clapping!
Clap, clap, clap!
Thunderous applause.
And because Houndoom hadn't fully released Inferno, it was forced to cut the move short on the spot!
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