"Have a good rest for a while, Rhydon."
Ethan shook his head, somewhat amused. It seemed that Rhydon's ability to withstand pressure still left something to be desired.
After giving him an antidote, Ethan also had him eat some Pokéblocks, then let Rhydon lie down on the ground to rest peacefully.
Now that Rhydon's final position had already been determined, there was nothing more for him to do. He could calmly remain as a spectator.
"Alright, who will be the next to challenge?"
After taking care of Rhydon, Ethan looked at the remaining Pokémon and asked.
"Charrzz!"
This time, as expected, the first to step forward was Charizard.
As soon as he appeared, Charizard announced that he wanted to challenge Cacturne, who was in second place.
Unlike Rhydon, who had just joined the team, Charizard had long known Cacturne's strength. If he was proposing the challenge now, it was because he was full of confidence.
"Cacturne, do you want to rest a bit?"
Ethan looked at Cacturne; after all, it had just finished a battle.
Cacturne shook its head and walked straight onto the battlefield, indicating that there was no problem. The fight against Rhydon had barely consumed any of its energy.
Rhydon, who had slightly opened his eyes, broke into silent tears.
"Alright, then let the battle begin."
Upon hearing Ethan's order, Charizard immediately rose into the air.
Facing an aerial opponent, Cacturne's close-combat ability couldn't be fully deployed, so it used the move Ingrain at the very first moment.
"Charrzz!"
From the air, Charizard opened his mouth and spat out flames, launching a probing attack.
Swish, swish, swish!
Several whistling sounds echoed in the air. Just as the flames were about to reach their target, several roots emerged around Cacturne, forming a defensive barrier of roots in front of him.
A watery sheen flowed across the roots. In the face of the Fire-type attack, Cacturne deliberately activated his Water Absorb ability, filling the roots with moisture.
The Flamethrower descended abruptly, striking directly against the defense formed by the roots.
Boom!
A loud explosion resounded.
The roots managed to block the Flamethrower completely.
The flames burned for a brief moment and then slowly died out, revealing roots whose surfaces were slightly scorched.
Facing Charizard's Flamethrower, Cacturne's roots had withstood it head-on.
Seeing this, Charizard's pupils shrank sharply. Immediately after, several roots glowing with green light shot up from below, rushing straight toward him.
Whoosh, whoosh!
A strong gust of wind arose. Charizard flapped his wings and rapidly ascended to evade the attack.
Evidently, Charizard still didn't fully understand Cacturne's Magical Roots. If he had known that they contained the energy of the move Magical Leaf and could automatically track their target, he might not have chosen to evade by flying, but instead face the attack head-on.
Swish, swish, swish!
The Magical Roots whistled through the air, glowing with energy as they pursued Charizard, and firmly ensnared the unprepared Charizard.
Charizard's reaction was not slow. In the very first instant, his entire body was enveloped in flames, and the Sunny Day Dragon state activated, turning him into a blazing sun in the sky.
Fwoom!
Almost immediately, the roots restraining him began to burn and turned into ashes that fell from the air.
Upon seeing Charizard in the Sunny Day Dragon state, Pokémon such as Cacturne, Slowking, and Kingdra, who had never witnessed this form before, showed astonishment in their eyes. The aura emanating from Charizard was truly overwhelming.
"Cac!"
On the ground, Cacturne also sensed the threat.
At once, he pushed the move Ingrain to its limit. A large number of roots surged out of the underground, completely surrounding him and forming a true domain of roots.
At the same time, Charizard in the air began to gather power. He raised his long neck, opened his mouth, and spat out an extremely scorching flame that descended like a gigantic pillar of fire from the sky.
Boom!
The flames set the sky ablaze. With the reinforcement of the Sunny Day Dragon, the roots on the ground began to ignite one after another. The fire spread rapidly, transforming the entire root domain into a sea of flames.
Amid the sea of fire, Cacturne abandoned the use of Ingrain and dashed out from within, looking quite battered.
In the air, seeing that Cacturne had already escaped from the sea of fire, Charizard dove down from the sky and plunged into the flames.
Afterward, the sea of fire churned, and little by little all the flames were absorbed by Charizard, leaving behind only completely scorched ground.
"Alright, let's stop the battle here. Charizard obtains the victory, so Charizard and Cacturne swap positions in the ranking."
Seeing this, Ethan announced it immediately. When Cacturne emerged from the sea of fire, Charizard did not attack right away, which clearly showed that he had held back. Otherwise, if Charizard had used the move Flare Blitz, Cacturne would not have been able to withstand it.
Throughout the battle, it was clear that Charizard, with his ability to fly and his command of powerful flames, was an opponent who completely countered Cacturne, preventing his strengths—close combat and root control—from coming into play.
Therefore, although Cacturne lost this battle, that didn't mean he was weaker than Charizard; he had simply lost due to a type disadvantage.
"Cac!"
After hearing Ethan's words, Cacturne nodded, showing his acceptance.
The disadvantage against Charizard was something he himself had clearly perceived, and continuing the battle would have been meaningless.
With the end of the battle between Charizard and Cacturne, Charizard replaced Cacturne in second place, while Cacturne fell to eighth.
"Now we continue with the next round."
"Who else wants to issue a challenge?"
After giving some Pokéblocks to Charizard and Cacturne, Ethan looked at the other Pokémon present.
This time, after witnessing two battles, all the Pokémon became more cautious, and none stepped forward immediately to challenge.
After a brief stalemate, the one in ninth place, Kingdra, stepped forward.
Kingdra swept his gaze across the field, skipping directly over Cacturne, Slowking, Charizard, and Meltan—Pokémon whose strength was clearly far superior—and fixed his eyes on Shuckle.
Shuckle occupied fourth place. Kingdra was confident he could defeat it with ease, and moreover, fourth place fit quite well with his current level of strength (at least in his own opinion).
"So Kingdra is going to challenge Shuckle..."
Ethan nodded, clearly understanding that Kingdra intended to "pick on the weak." But would the current Kingdra truly be able to face Shuckle?
(End of chapter)