Young Man, I've Eaten More Salt Than You've Eaten Rice

Heiduo looked up at Dragonair's miserable state and couldn't help curling his lips. The white fin beside the light-blue serpentine Pokémon's ear had been burned away by half, while the remaining half was charred black, giving off the faint stench of singed feathers.

If Dragonair relied on its "ears" to fly, then its ability to fly had now been crippled.

Clair had noticed this as well, but she wasn't surprised. At first glance, she seemed to have been slacking off throughout the battle, mostly just talking to lecture Heiduo. In truth, her communication with Dragonair had never stopped, even while it was in the sky.

She knew perfectly well what kind of injuries Dragonair had suffered.

For Top Trainers, many things simply didn't need to be said aloud. She and Dragonair were in perfect sync; one glance was enough for them to know what the other was thinking.

With a light flick of Clair's whip, Dragonair could practically write a hundred-word essay, and every word would precisely reflect Clair's intentions without any embellishment or exaggeration.

"Truly impressive, your Garchomp." Clair shook the dust from her cloak. Dragonair had indeed given it everything it had, both offensively and defensively, yet Garchomp had still taken away the ear fin it relied on for flight.

Of course, not being able to fly didn't matter much. The important thing was that in the aerial clash, Dragonair hadn't gained anything at all.

It had taken one of Garchomp's legs, but if Garchomp took to the air, one leg was practically expendable.

—If that was really all there was to it.

Crackle.

The hiss of surging electricity.

The Garchomp in front of Heiduo suddenly dropped to one knee, its expression pained. Its injured leg trembled, and faint, nearly imperceptible sparks flickered across its body.

There were