Dylan carefully analyzed his next move. Toxapex was a defensive counter-attacker, which meant if Giovanni refused to engage directly, things could get tricky.
"Stone Edge."
Giovanni gave the command.
Golem let out a deep growl, forming sharp, jagged stones in front of itself.
"Scald." Dylan didn't hesitate.
Toxapex raised its tentacle-like arms, gathering blue energy—a powerful Water-type attack.
"Dodge." Giovanni's deep eyes flickered slightly.
He didn't even need to think about it—he knew Dylan wasn't going to simply trade blows. Instead, Dylan would aim to misalign the attack trajectories, attempting a damage trade.
Golem was a high Attack Pokémon, while Toxapex couldn't afford a direct hit. Even though Water-types countered Rock, a Stone Edge from Golem would absolutely smash through Scald.
Dylan was clearly aiming to stagger the attacks, taking some damage while ensuring Golem suffered far more due to its quadruple Water weakness.
Golem aborted its Stone Edge attack, shifting its body to dodge the incoming Scald. As it moved, the Toxic Spikes activated once more, its poison seeping further into Golem's body.
"Impressive, Dylan. Against you, a standard battle approach won't gain much ground," Giovanni admitted. The battle had barely begun, yet it was already clear how well they both understood each other's tactics.
"Are you finally going to attack, then?" Dylan smirked.
"As you wish."
Giovanni's lips curved slightly. It was time to get a little more aggressive.
"Golem—Dig!"
Golem lowered its head, burrowing swiftly into the battlefield. Toxapex had no real counter to Dig.
"Iron Defense."
Dylan quickly adjusted his strategy.
Toxapex's body shimmered with a metallic sheen, boosting its Defense by two stages.
The ground beneath it suddenly cracked, and Golem burst out, slamming into Toxapex with full force—a Ground-type attack against a Poison-type!
Toxapex let out a pained cry, clearly feeling the super-effective hit.
But the problems didn't stop there.
As it was knocked backward, it collided with Stealth Rock, causing an explosion of sharp stone shards.
Giovanni had planned this perfectly—Dig's impact had pushed Toxapex right into the Stealth Rock trap!
"Earthquake!"
"Scald!"
Giovanni quickly followed up, while Dylan countered immediately.
As Golem raised its foot, a dark purple glow spread across its body—the poison damage from Toxic Spikes was intensifying!
Golem groaned, but endured it, slamming the ground hard—triggering a massive Earthquake!
The ground shook violently, sending shockwaves toward Toxapex.
At the same time, Toxapex hurled its Scald attack, launching a pressurized jet of boiling water straight at Golem.
Both attacks landed.
Toxapex shuddered in pain from the Earthquake, its defense barely holding up.
But Golem let out a deep roar, stumbling backward from the Scald.
The Water-type move was brutally effective, dealing massive damage despite Golem's bulk.
"Ha… not bad."
Giovanni chuckled. Though Golem had taken heavy damage, it had successfully dealt significant blows in return.
But Golem had now suffered three rounds of poison damage, meaning its time was limited.
"This is insane…"
Lillie watched in awe from the stands.
She knew Toxapex was one of Dylan's strongest defensive Pokémon, and yet, Giovanni's Golem was still forcing such an intense battle.
"Dig again!"
Giovanni opted for a repeat strategy—Dig was incredibly effective against Pokémon that lacked Earthquake resistance.
"Come back, Toxapex."
Dylan swiftly returned his Pokémon—there was no point staying in a battle where he had no good counterplay.
He grabbed a different Poké Ball.
"Salamence—let's go!"
A massive, winged dragon burst onto the battlefield, its wings stretching wide as it let out a mighty roar.
The moment it emerged, a Stealth Rock shard detonated, striking Salamence head-on.
Super effective!
Flying-types were weak to Rock, and Salamence winced from the impact.
But now Golem's Dig attack had nowhere to land—with Salamence airborne, Golem had no choice but to surface back up.
"Return," Giovanni said calmly, recalling Golem.
Fighting a Salamence in the air was a losing battle for Golem, especially when Salamence had Water-type attacks.
Giovanni retrieved a new Poké Ball.
"Gliscor—let's go!"
A large, bat-like scorpion materialized in the air.
It hovered menacingly, its sharp pincers clenching, ready for combat.
Rotom Pokédex beeped, displaying its stats.
Gliscor, Ground/Flying Type, Fang Scorpion PokémonAbility: Hyper CutterMoves: Swords Dance, Crabhammer, Earthquake, Night Slash, Acrobatics, Quick Attack, Ice Fang…
"This Gliscor is strong, too!"
Lillie's eyes widened as she read the Pokédex entry.
Dylan immediately called out, "Defog!"
Salamence roared, flapping its massive wings.
A powerful gust of wind swept through the battlefield, clearing away the Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes.
The hazards were completely removed.
A strong wind buffeted Gliscor, but it barely reacted—its gaze remained locked on Salamence.
"We'll need to watch out for Ice Fang."
Dylan frowned slightly.
He owned a Gliscor himself, so he knew how it worked.
Gliscor had access to Ice Fang, and Giovanni wouldn't hesitate to use it against Salamence.
"Hurricane!"
Salamence roared again, whipping up a massive tornado of wind, sending it straight toward Gliscor.
"Quick Attack."
Giovanni's eyes gleamed.
A burst of white light flared from behind Gliscor as it suddenly accelerated downward, skimming just above the ground.
With its Quick Attack boost, Gliscor dodged the Hurricane by mere inches before swiftly soaring back up.
Now, it was rapidly closing the distance to Salamence.
"Stone Edge!"
Salamence flapped its wings and pulled back, summoning sharp, floating stone blades in front of itself.
Stone Edge shot forward at high speed, but Gliscor once again demonstrated its incredible gliding technique, shifting sideways midair to dodge the incoming attack.
At this moment, Gliscor had already closed the distance to Salamence.
"Ice Fang!"
Gliscor bared its fangs, an eerie frosty mist spilling from its mouth as it lunged at Salamence.
An Ice-type move—quadruple effective!
"Giovanni, I know Salamence is 4x weak to Ice, but you do realize that Gliscor's raw power is nowhere near Salamence's, right?" Dylan smirked.
"Salamence—Dragon Rush!"
Salamence fully spread its crimson wings, its body engulfed in pure, violent draconic energy.
A dark, dragon-shaped aura roared around it, exuding a terrifying killing intent.
Dragon Rush!
Giovanni's sharp eyes flickered for a moment. This battle aura-infused Dragon Rush was extraordinary.
Salamence crashed head-on into Gliscor, a thunderous explosion rippling through the battlefield.
Gliscor's Ice Fang had no chance—Salamence overpowered it completely and drove its body downward at terrifying speed.
Gliscor simply wasn't strong enough to match Salamence's raw force.
With another earth-shaking impact, Dragon Rush slammed Gliscor into the battlefield. The ground cracked and shattered, deep fissures splitting across the floor.
Gliscor let out a painful shriek.
Although Dragon Rush wasn't super effective, the sheer brute force behind it was overwhelming.
"Pin it down—use Scald!"
Dylan didn't hesitate to follow up.
Salamence stomped down heavily on Gliscor's chest, preventing it from escaping. A bright blue glow gathered in its mouth.
Gliscor struggled violently, but Salamence's physical power was too immense.
"It can't even bite back now!"
Lillie's eyes widened in realization.
Salamence had pinned Gliscor's chest, meaning no matter how much Gliscor struggled, it physically couldn't reach Salamence to bite it.
Matori glanced at Lillie before shifting her gaze back to the battlefield, her brows furrowing slightly.
She hadn't expected Giovanni to be on the back foot this early.
This Dylan—he was this strong?
Giovanni's expression remained unreadable, his dark eyes staring ahead.
Salamence's Scald attack blasted downward, drenching Gliscor in scalding hot water.
Gliscor shrieked in agony, the steam rising from its body as the attack burned into its exoskeleton.
"Use Toxic."
Giovanni's voice was low and cold.
Dylan's brow arched slightly, his gaze locking onto Gliscor's long, segmented tail.
Despite the searing pain of Scald, Gliscor's tail still moved, shimmering with an ominous purple glow.
A split second later, the poisoned stinger plunged into Salamence's abdomen.
Toxic!
Dark purple toxins spread instantly, poison seeping through Salamence's body.
A sinister energy flashed across Salamence's scales, the first signs of toxic poisoning appearing.
Salamence roared in pain, staggering backward and flapping its wings to retreat.
It was badly poisoned!
"Scald!"
Dylan reacted instantly.
Salamence, ignoring the pain, charged up another powerful water jet and fired it straight at Gliscor.
"Quick Attack."
Giovanni's cold smirk sent a chill down Dylan's spine.
Gliscor forced itself forward, moving at blinding speed, narrowly dodging the Scald before taking to the skies once more.
Salamence and Gliscor once again faced off in midair.
But now, their conditions were vastly different.
Gliscor was heavily injured, clearly weakened from Dragon Rush and Scald.
But Salamence was now poisoned—and not just regular poison, but Toxic poison.
Toxic damage escalated over time, meaning Salamence was now racing against the clock.
"So, you planned this from the start, Giovanni?"
Dylan loosened his collar slightly, his eyes narrowing.
"I honestly didn't expect you to use Toxic."
Giovanni was supposed to be a Ground-type specialist, yet he had just landed a critical hit with a status move?
Dylan had overestimated Giovanni's sense of fair play.
He knew Giovanni was ruthless in underground battles, but this was supposed to be a formal match.
"Ground-type moves don't work against Salamence. Naturally, I had to come up with other solutions," Giovanni replied with an almost bored tone.
"And honestly? I learned this from watching you, Dylan."
Giovanni chuckled, his voice low and magnetic, exuding his usual charisma.
"I've watched many of your battles. They were… insightful."
"Dylan, your Salamence is a powerhouse, no doubt about it. If I fought you head-on, I'd need to waste too much effort. However…"
"No matter how strong the opponent is, once they're hit by Toxic, their fate is sealed."
Giovanni's hands remained tucked in his pockets, his gaze dark and calculating.
"After all, wasn't it you who said that once a Pokémon is badly poisoned, it's nothing more than a candle flickering in the wind?"
Dylan gave Giovanni a deadpan stare.
"…Excuse me?"