Being scrutinized at such close range by Tyranitar, Dragonair felt as though it had been fixed in the sights of some primordial beast from a bygone age. A strange sensation crawled over its entire body.
Tyranitar's pressure was simply too immense.
"Grrraahh~"
Just then, blue-green energy rapidly gathered around Tyranitar's thick, powerful claws. It took aim at Dragonair and swung down hard, as though the blow carried the weight of ten thousand pounds.
Dragon-type move: Dragon Claw!
Even without the boost of a sandstorm, Tyranitar fully lived up to its title as the Desert Tyrant.
Tyranitar's Dragon Claw was both vicious and fierce. It felt as if, even if a mountain stood in its path, the claw could tear straight through it with ease.
"Dratiiii~"
But at that very moment, a great surge of water abruptly welled up around Dragonair.
The next instant, it slammed into Tyranitar's chest with startling speed, forcing Tyranitar backward step after step.
Water-type priority move: Aqua Jet!
"Aside from Extreme Speed, this Dragonair actually has a second priority move mastered."
Albert felt a flicker of alarm inside.
"Grrraahh~"
The Water-type attack was devastatingly effective against Tyranitar. A deafening roar tore from its throat, and the attack building in its claws was forced to a halt.
But at the same time, the wound seemed to stoke Tyranitar's ferocity. Its eyes turned bloodshot, and the air around it grew even more savage, as though it had become a Godzilla-like monster ready to devour whoever crossed its path.
With a furious roar, Tyranitar renewed its assault, pressing both claws against the churning water that enveloped Dragonair. A chill mist began spreading from its gaping jaws, its fangs growing sharp and jagged as it lunged, biting straight at Dragonair.
Ice-type move: Ice Fang!
"Dratiiii~"
Tyranitar might be slow on its feet, but the speed at which it moved and unleashed its attacks was startlingly fast.
Dragonair barely had time to react before Tyranitar's jaws clamped down on its body.
"Dratiiii~"
The sharp, freezing fangs pierced into Dragonair's flesh, and the cold spread through it relentlessly, drawing cry after cry of pain.
In a single move, Dragonair had already taken severe damage.
Yet Tyranitar showed no sign of letting go. Even as the attack from its jaws continued, the Dragon Claw energy in its hand began gathering once more, clearly intent on ending the match in one decisive blow.
"Dragonair, Supersonic!"
At Caster's command, Dragonair forced down the pain and let loose a burst of high-frequency sound from its mouth.
"Grrraahh~"
Disrupted by the Supersonic, pain flashed across Tyranitar's face, and it hastily broke off both the Dragon Claw and the Ice Fang attack, releasing Dragonair.
However, Tyranitar did not fall into confusion from the Supersonic.
Because the instant it released Dragonair, an even louder and more powerful sound wave than Supersonic burst from Tyranitar's mouth, sending Dragonair reeling backward, two dim lights flickering on its body in succession.
"Screech?"
Caster's brow furrowed slightly, but at the same time he felt a measure of relief.
At the very least, Dragonair had managed to break free.
"Taunt!"
Albert's voice rang out.
Dark-type energy gathered at Tyranitar's fingertip, and it crooked a finger tauntingly at Dragonair, which was hovering in midair.
Under the influence of that Dark-type energy, Dragonair's eyes suddenly went bloodshot, as if it had lost part of its reason.
Dragonair's status-altering moves had been sealed off by Tyranitar!
"Stone Edge!"
Albert's next command came at once. He clearly had no intention of giving Caster and Dragonair any chance to catch their breath, determined to settle the match in one stroke.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
More than a dozen massive, jagged spires of rock formed instantly, streaking forward like a volley of missiles.
"That kind of power..."
Caster swallowed hard, a bead of cold sweat forming on his forehead.
It could only be said that Tyranitar truly lived up to its name as the Desert Tyrant. Rock-type moves were its specialty, and the power behind them far exceeded what other Pokémon could manage.
More than a dozen rock shards launched at once, covering a wide area and moving at blistering speed. Dragonair, suspended in midair, had almost no room to dodge.
Never mind that Tyranitar had already sealed off Dragonair's status moves ahead of time. Even without that, Caster doubted he could weather this attack and come out unscathed.
In that moment, it seemed Dragonair's defeat was all but certain.
"Dratiiii~"
As the jagged spires closed in, helplessness flashed across Dragonair's eyes.
It had given everything it had!
But right then, Caster's voice rang out beside its ear, firm and resolute: "Dragonair, use Horn Drill!"
Horn Drill?
What was Horn Drill?
Dragonair froze for a moment.
Then it suddenly remembered: Caster had once explained the move "Horn Drill" to it, describing it as some kind of top-tier, devastatingly powerful ultimate technique.
But the problem was, I don't know how to use it!
Yet in the very next instant, a flood of knowledge about the move "Horn Drill" suddenly surfaced in Dragonair's mind.
Almost on instinct, Dragonair began channeling energy according to the knowledge and steps now unfolding in its head.
Its body spun violently, and in an instant its long, slender serpentine form transformed into a spear.
The tip of that spear was none other than the sharp horn atop Dragonair's head, now gleaming with a blinding white light.
"Dragonair, put more power into it!"
Caster roared silently in his heart, and without missing a beat, his hands moved, activating two more Horn Drill skill-training devices and feeding them straight into Dragonair.
Instantly, Dragonair's proficiency with the move "Horn Drill" surged up to the "Proficient" tier.
Whrrrrr!
As Dragonair's mastery of the skill continued to rise, the speed of its spin increased in kind.
At the same time, the white light around the horn on its head grew ever more intense, giving off a piercing, high-pitched whine that set teeth on edge.
In the blink of an eye, Dragonair had completely transformed into a spinning drill, hurtling straight toward the wall of jagged rock spires.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
The rock spires, once hard and razor-sharp, crumbled like soft tofu the instant they made contact with Dragonair, shattered to pieces and sent raining down as debris.
Without losing even an ounce of momentum, the drill that was once Dragonair surged straight toward Tyranitar not far away, as if intent on piercing straight through it.
This was Horn Drill!
Nothing was too hard to break, and nothing was too solid to pierce!
"How can this be?"
Albert was stunned, his voice tinged with disbelief. "This Dragonair, it's been hiding an ultimate move like Horn Drill all along!"
In that instant, the tide of the battle turned completely, attacker and defender reversing roles entirely.
"Grrraahh~"
Facing Dragonair's unstoppable Horn Drill, Tyranitar finally felt a genuine sense of threat.
It could sense it clearly: the hardened rock armor it took the most pride in would likely never withstand an attack of this magnitude.
In that moment, it no longer dared to be careless, and hastily thrust both hands upward.
Whmm!
A translucent barrier of light shimmered into existence, the defensive move Protect.
But this time, Protect could not offer Tyranitar enough security.
Boom!
Like a meteor slamming into the earth, Dragonair's Horn Drill struck Tyranitar dead on.
Tyranitar's Protect barrier, cast with everything it had, was remarkably tough, and Dragonair's Horn Drill wasn't something to scoff at, either. Though the forward momentum of the attack was momentarily held back, the speed of its spin did not slow in the slightest.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
After only a brief moment of resistance, deep fractures began spreading across the surface of the Protect barrier, radiating rapidly outward.
Crack!
The next instant, the Protect barrier shattered completely, dissolving into the air.
And then Dragonair's Horn Drill kept driving forward, boring mercilessly straight into Tyranitar's rocky body.
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