Faced with Bagon's wide Flamethrower, Zorua simply leaped lightly to the side and avoided it with ease.
Bagon had not aimed the Flamethrower directly at Zorua to begin with, and combined with the little fox's natural agility, dodging the attack was no trouble at all.
Splat.
However, the moment Zorua landed, a soft, wet sound came from beneath its paws. It lifted one small foot and stared down at it. The paw was sinking into a puddle of muddy slush. A look of clear distaste crossed Zorua's face.
Bagon's Flamethrower had melted every last bit of snow that the Snowscape weather had built up across the battlefield. The water mixed with the soft dirt underneath, turning the entire arena into a wet, muddy mess — and dirtying the very paws that David had carefully groomed.
The Flamethrower had done something unexpected. The slippery mixture of mud and snowmelt was slowing Zorua down considerably.
Moving quickly across the soggy ground was much harder now. Every step was unsteady.
After sweeping the entire field with Flamethrower, Bagon panted once or twice and then steadied itself. Despite how much energy that move had consumed, it recovered quickly. Its large body, noticeably bigger than most Bagon its age, seemed to carry an equally large reserve of stamina.
"Roar!"
Seeing that Zorua's movement was now restricted, a sharp look entered Bagon's eyes. It paused, took a slow breath, and focused. A faint orange glow built up around it as it completed Focus Energy.
Then it dropped low and charged.
Bagon launched forward like a battering ram, its heavy footsteps splashing through the slush with every stride. A red light flashed in its eyes, and a faint psychic shimmer rippled along the hard, helmet-like ridge on its head.
David recognized the move immediately. Zen Headbutt — one of the few Psychic-type moves that worked as a direct physical strike.
Bagon's head had been hardened over years of hurling itself off cliffs. It could shatter boulders without flinching. Paired with the added force of Zen Headbutt, the destructive power behind this charge was hard to overstate. And on top of that, Bagon had the Rock Head Ability, which meant it would take no recoil from the hit. If that head connected with Zorua, the little fox would feel it badly.
Bagon closed the distance fast, splashing slush with each thundering step as Zen Headbutt bore down on its target.
"Double Team!"
Just before the hit could land, Zorua let out a soft, amused sound. Right in front of Bagon's eyes, one Zorua became two, two became four, four became eight — and in an instant, sixteen identical copies of the little fox stood spread across the field, each one looking just as real as the next.
If the attack couldn't be dodged cleanly, then making sure it couldn't land at all was just as good.
Bagon's Zen Headbutt tore through three of the nearest illusions in quick succession, but the real Zorua was untouched.
"Roar woof~"
However, Bagon did not stop. After the charge ended, it spun in place amid the ring of illusions, and a sudden violent gust spiraled outward from its body.
Twister.
The swirling wind ripped through the remaining Double Team copies one by one, scattering them instantly.
"Zorua~"
Even the real Zorua was caught by the edge of it, stumbling as it was pushed out from the group.
"Are you alright, Zorua?" David called out.
Zorua gave a small shake of its head.
Twister was not a powerful move on its own, and Bagon had spread it wide on purpose to catch all the copies rather than focus its force. So Zorua had only taken minor damage from the hit itself — but that was not the real problem.
The Twister had churned up the muddy slush from the ground and flung it everywhere. Clumps of dirty slush now clung to Zorua's fur — the same coat David had taken so much care to groom.
David could feel it almost immediately. The atmosphere in the arena seemed to shift.
Zorua was getting serious now.
"Roar woof~"
Bagon pressed on without giving Zorua a moment to recover. Dense Dragon-type energy began swirling in its throat, building steadily until a thick beam of pale blue light fired from its mouth.
Dragon Pulse.
"Zorua!"
This time, Zorua did not wait for a command. Without a word from David, it planted its feet in the mud and fired back — choosing not to dodge, but to answer the Dragon Pulse head-on.
Payback.
In that instant, a crushing wave of dark energy erupted from Zorua's body. The emotion behind it was almost tangible — a simmering, focused resentment that built and built before pouring out in a surging tide of deep purple flames. Faint, wailing sounds drifted across the arena as the dark fire rolled forward. For a moment, the battlefield looked like something out of a nightmare.
The two moves met in midair. It was clear at once that while Bagon could trade blows in raw physical power, special attacks were a different matter entirely. Zorua was far more skilled there.
The clash lasted only a moment. The tide of vengeful flame swallowed the Dragon Pulse whole and kept moving, crashing into Bagon before it had any chance to react.
"Roar woof~"
Bagon cried out. Even though Zorua had held back — this was a capture battle, after all, not a fight to the finish — the Payback still hit hard. The physical damage was one thing, but the concentrated resentment woven into the attack was something else. It pressed against Bagon's mind, sharp and persistent, setting its nerves on edge and filling it with a restless, rising agitation.
Its eyes burned a deep crimson.
Still, Bagon endured. It steadied itself on the slippery ground, and then, through the pain, it began to move. Its feet traced a slow, deliberate pattern — a rhythm that felt ancient and familiar to anyone who knew Dragon-type Pokémon well.
David recognized it at once. Dragon Dance — the most powerful stat-boosting move in any Dragon-type Pokémon's arsenal.
The Payback had lowered Bagon's Attack. Dragon Dance would let it restore what it had lost, and add more on top of that. It had no real choice but to use it.
David watched Bagon settle into the dance, then raised an eyebrow and said two words.
"Taunt."
Zorua had been waiting for exactly this. It pulled the corners of its mouth wide with both paws, twisting its face into a mocking grin aimed straight at Bagon mid-dance. Then it let out a string of short, teasing laughs.
The effect was immediate.
The fire inside Bagon flared up all at once. It completely lost its composure. Dragon Dance was forgotten. All it could see was Zorua's mocking face, and all it wanted was to wipe it away.
Furious Dragon-type energy surged up from deep within Bagon, so intense it tinted the air around it with a deep purple hue. A raw, crushing intent to attack radiated off its body.
Dragon Rush.
That was the name of the move — but under the influence of Taunt, it was something more than a technique now. Bagon threw everything it had left into a single, all-out charge. There would be nothing left after this. No stamina, no follow-up. It had already taken Icy Wind, absorbed Payback, and burned through enormous energy with its wide-range attacks. This was its last strike.
David looked at Bagon as it gave everything it had, and a quiet resolve settled in his expression.
"One move to end it. Zorua — Night Daze!"
He did not want to leave Bagon with lasting mental damage. That was not the point of a capture battle. Night Daze was a direct attacking move — no Same-Type Attack Bonus for Zorua, but the power was more than enough for what needed to be done.
Dark-type energy gathered rapidly in Zorua's hands, swirling and condensing into a dense black orb in front of it. The orb pulsed quietly, pulling the surrounding darkness in toward itself like a small black hole.
"Boom~"
The two attacks collided in the center of the field — Bagon's last desperate Dragon Rush and Zorua's Night Daze — and the battlefield erupted.