A four-headed Weezing's Belch…
It was a highly acidic gas produced after stomach acid digested food. It could even corrode the bodies of Steel-type Pokémon.
Earlier, while Arbok was underground using Dig, its body had already been corroded by this gas, leaving it covered in wounds. Now the gas had been sprayed directly onto Arbok's face, causing it to inhale several mouthfuls of the poisonous fumes.
Arbok let out a hoarse cry. Both its face and belly had been corroded.
Arbok no longer cared about keeping Weezing restrained and immediately abandoned Wrap, rushing out of the area covered by the Belch gas.
Arbok's body was covered in wounds. It rolled across the ground in agony, and even its mouth had been corroded. It could no longer make a sound!
"What terrifying toxicity… As expected of a four-headed Weezing. The records in the tome were indeed correct. It genuinely deserves the title of Poison King…" Asea muttered to herself as she recalled the information she had read about the four-headed Weezing.
Sabrina and the Sensational Sisters now watched the battle in silence. Such an exciting match was enough to dissolve the grievances between the four of them, because all of their attention had been completely drawn into the battle.
Freed from the influence of Arbok's eerie belly pattern, Weezing gradually returned to normal.
It was finally time to counterattack!
"Fire Blast, Flamethrower!" Tetsuya immediately commanded.
---◓---
...Boom!!!
A violent explosion rang out, and Arbok finally lost consciousness. The wounds that had already been corroded were now scorched black, and the aroma of roasted snake meat drifted through the air…
"""Gulp~"""
Asea quietly recalled Arbok. Its performance had been remarkable, but what made a battle truly exciting was its unpredictability.
"My last Pokémon… is this one."
After speaking, Asea threw a Poké Ball, and a Gengar floated into the air.
"This Gengar is very strong!"
The voice echoed through Tetsuya's mind. It was the Gengar bound to him by the [Shadow Contract], sensing the immense psychic power of this Gengar and warning him.
"How does it compare to you?" Tetsuya asked through his thoughts.
"I'm confident I can beat it," Gengar replied.
"Good. Then I know what to expect."
Tetsuya immediately recalled Weezing. The previous battle had already left it seriously injured, and Arbok's Glare still haunted it. It simply could not concentrate on battling. In that condition, defeating a Gengar with such elusive movements was virtually impossible.
"It's your turn, Golurk."
Tetsuya sent out his absolute strongest Pokémon at present, Golurk. Standing imposingly, its height alone reached the level where Gengar was floating. The two faced each other, and neither showed the slightest hint of fear.
"There it is… that Golurk."
Sabrina quietly muttered to herself. She had personally experienced Golurk's might. Even the combined psychic force of her and Abra had been unable to stop its advance.
Its raw power was simply monstrous!
Now, more than anything, Sabrina hoped Tetsuya could defeat Asea.
Among the Gym Leaders of the Kanto Region, Asea was one of the most representative figures. Only four or five Gym Leaders, such as Blaine and Flint, were stronger than her, while the majority of Gym Leaders were weaker.
If Asea could defeat Tetsuya, then Sabrina knew she would have to work even harder. Compared to the veteran Gym Leaders, there was still a gap in her capacities. But if even Asea could not defeat Tetsuya, then Sabrina would have much greater confidence in her own abilities and believe she could firmly establish herself in Kanto.
"Shadow Ball!"
Asea launched the attack. With a wave of Gengar's chubby hand, five Shadow Balls were fired in an instant, surging toward Golurk with tremendous force.
"Shadow Punch."
Tetsuya responded with only two simple words. Golurk swung both fists in an impenetrable barrage, smashing every Shadow Ball out of the air.
"High Horsepower, charge." Golurk excelled at physical Attacks, so closing the distance was its primary objective.
Upon receiving Tetsuya's command, the moment Golurk finished smashing the Shadow Balls, its legs retracted into its body, and with rocket propulsion, it instantly arrived in front of Gengar!
It unleashed Shadow Punch once again. This time, it was a close-range attack, but Gengar's body flickered, and it had already escaped Golurk's attack range.
When Golurk looked again, there were already more than a dozen Gengar surrounding it. Their overlapping figures completely encircled Golurk, and every one of them unleashed Dark Pulse.
The streams of dark energy intertwined to form a massive network. Golurk had no way to escape, and Dark-type moves were especially effective against it. Combined with this Gengar's terrific Special Attack, Golurk was certain to suffer significant damage.
"Phantom Force!"
Tetsuya had already formulated his strategy. Gengar was undoubtedly faster than Golurk, and it would certainly capitalize on that advantage. However, Golurk's greatest strengths were its power and impulse. As long as it could bring those strengths into play, one hit would be enough to deal with Gengar.
The carefully woven web of Dark Pulse was unexpectedly escaped by Golurk with such ease. Although Gengar could also disappear into another dimension, not every Pokémon could launch attacks from within it.
Because Gengar was a "shadow" Pokémon, an intangible existence, if its concentration wavered while inside another dimension, it could very well disappear from this space-time altogether. That was why Gengar did not use Phantom Force.
"Hex."
Asea's Gengar had dominated every one of its moves to perfection. The one thing it had to guard against now was Golurk suddenly appearing.
Gengar's chubby arms suddenly stretched into elongated shadows, whipping around to form a gigantic ring of phantoms. Anything entering this ring would inevitably suffer repeated damage from Hex.
Golurk's fists were already charged with Shadow Punch, but it still appeared outside the perimeter of Hex, unable to get any closer.
If this stalemate continued, there would be no victor, no matter how long the battle lasted. Fighting conventionally, neither side could gain the upper hand.
In that case, there was nothing that absolute power could not overcome!
"Golurk, charge, Heavy Slam!"
The stance was the same as when using High Horsepower, except this time Golurk was shrouded in Steel-type energy. Tetsuya had two reasons for choosing this move. High Horsepower, a Ground-type move, was ineffective against Gengar because of its Levitate Ability and could only be used to close the distance.
Heavy Slam, however, was no weaker than High Horsepower, and more importantly, it could directly damage Gengar, avoiding the awkward situation where Gengar would escape the moment Golurk got close enough to attack.
Golurk shot toward Gengar once more like a rocket, its entire body shrouded in a silvery metallic sheen. Now was the perfect moment to test Golurk's raw strength and see whether it could break through Gengar's Hex barrier.
"It's about to happen…" Sabrina murmured to herself, becoming increasingly nervous. She knew Golurk's power had been enough to break through the combined psychic force of both herself and Abra.
Now it depended on just how much power Asea's Gengar truly had.