The moment Mawile appeared, the entire venue erupted with excitement.
"..."
Drew felt a faint tremor run through him.
He rarely saw a Pokémon greeted more enthusiastically than its Coordinator. It was clear he was in for a tough battle.
Honestly, he had expected Mawile to appear in the finals at the earliest. The morning's match had barely taxed Shiny Milotic, so why switch Pokémon already?
Had he guessed wrong?
Drew was displeased. At least in a Contest Battle, even a move rendered completely ineffective by type matchups could still reduce an opponent's score if used well.
Besides, Flygon knew more than Dragon-type moves.
He had to seize the initiative!
"Use Sandstorm!"
"Raoo~"
Flygon gave a shrill cry, spread its broad wings, and shot skyward.
On an open-air stage, a sudden climb could draw an opponent's gaze into the sun and make them miss their chance to attack.
Drew had long since mastered that little trick.
But he had underestimated Baimu and Mawile. Baimu loved gathering information; of course he knew this trick. "Fairy Wind!"
"Rao!"
From high above, Flygon looked down at the stage with the sun at its back, only to find Mawile already spinning into the Water Field like a nimble little deer.
Yet she did not sink.
As her toes touched the surface and sent out a ripple, a pink current of air burst upward from beneath her!
"Chido~"
Her delicate cry rang out like a little silver bell.
In an instant, the calm water surged upward. Drawn by Mawile's spin, it wound around the pink current and formed a blue-and-pink Water Tornado!
Boom!
With a thunderous roar, the Fairy Wind Water Tornado shot skyward and slammed into the Sandstorm tornado Flygon had raised by spinning and beating its wings!
Thud!
In an instant, Mawile's Fairy