What kind of divine power Venusaur possesses, Ash certainly won't reveal. For now, he keeps his focus on the battle.
Morty takes a deep breath, pushing the shock in his heart deep down.
Now that he knows why Venusaur is so strong, he can't afford to go head-to-head with it anymore.
He must exploit the special characteristics of Ghost-type Pokemon.
"Banette, use Mean Look!"
Technically, Banette shouldn't be able to learn Mean Look, but his Banette used some special methods to finally master it.
This move is essential to pair with another skill; without it, the other skill would lose its significance.
Despite struggling to float up from a pit, Banette's stitched seams had split open in several places, revealing a dark hollow inside, but its momentum hadn't diminished much; the previous attack hurt, but wasn't lethal.
A black beam flew out from Banette's body, hitting Venusaur at a speed as fast as lightning.
This skill prevents the Trainer from recalling their Pokemon into its Pokeball.
Unless Venusaur is incapacitated, Banette becomes unable to fight or is recalled, Ash can't swap Pokemon.
Ash had no intention of letting Venusaur dodge Mean Look; this energy, once targeted, is unavoidable unless he retrieves Venusaur into its Pokeball before the opponent makes a move.
Otherwise, there's no dodging it.
"Banette, use Curse!"
Upon hearing Morty's command, a strange ghostly purple light suddenly flared up on Banette's worn body.
That light condensed into a twisted rune, emanating a chilling aura. Meanwhile, Banette's own strength visibly drained away.
A Ghost-type Pokemon performing a curse must sacrifice half of its life force, causing the opponent's health to continuously drop; this attack can't be blocked by any move, not Detect nor Protect!
Until the Pokemon is recalled into the Pokeball, its health will continually deteriorate!
"Ash, make Venusaur dodge it!" Misty shouted from the audience.
The combination of Mean Look and Curse is almost certain to take down a Pokemon.
If it gets hit by the curse, even Venusaur's vast vitality will be doomed!
However, Ash showed no sign of having Venusaur evade or brace itself. Watching the curse rune taking shape, he smiled faintly and said:
"Venusaur, use Frenzy Plant."
"Venusaur!!!"
Venusaur let out an earth-shattering roar, slamming its four sturdy feet onto the ground!
"Boom——"
The entire Gym floor trembled violently at the stomp. Countless thick green vines erupted from the earth, each vine covered with hardened scales like dragon scales, with metallic gleams at their tips.
These vines surged angrily towards Banette like raging pythons!
Almost simultaneously——
The ghostly purple rune on Banette severed, snaking like a sinister serpent through the gaps in the spiraling vines, and embedded itself into Venusaur.
Meanwhile, countless hardened vines struck Banette solidly!
"Boom!!!"
A deafening explosion echoed in the Gym.
Banette's already damaged body took a direct hit from countless hardened vines, like a rag doll hit by a giant hammer, was blasted away, striking the Gym's barrier, then bounced to the ground, creating another pit.
Its body was covered in striking cracks, and its scarlet eyes lost all their luster.
This move inflicted massive damage on it, and coupled with the curse's backlash, its endurance was just like a flickering candle.
At the same time, Venusaur's body jerked. A ghostly purple aura emerged from within, clinging to its body like a barnacle, and began voraciously devouring its life force.
The curse had taken effect.
"Good!" Morty clenched his fists, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes.
Losing face to face didn't matter, as long as the curse was effective, Venusaur would continue to lose its strength.
Given Banette sacrificed half its life force to cast the curse, even an Elite Peak Pokemon couldn't withstand for long!
He only needs to wait.
As for whether Banette can withstand Venusaur's subsequent assaults, Morty is confident.
Although Banette's strength now seemed like a flickering candle, Ghost-type Pokemon have plenty of unpredictable strategies; enduring a while against attacks isn't an issue at all.
By then, even if Venusaur hasn't lost the ability to fight, it can be heavily wounded, paving the way for the next Pokemon's appearance.
However, in the next second, Morty's expression froze.
The large flower on Venusaur's back suddenly bloomed with a soft, vibrant green light that mingled with the curse's ghostly purple, emitting a "ssss" sound as if water and fire met, negating each other.
Then, a scene unfolded that left everyone wide-eyed and open-mouthed——
The curse rune that had penetrated Venusaur was forcibly "expelled" by an invisible force!