Boom!
Sky-blue energy flames churned through black-gray smoke and dust.
A pale-gray ball spun out of the haze and rolled a long way before stopping, revealing Shelgon, scorched black in several places.
Who would have thought Skarmory's legs could drive it across the ground at such speed?
By comparison, when Gravity forced Drake's Altaria into a ground battle, it had been nowhere near as nimble as Skarmory.
That was why it had ended up trading blows with Dusknoir.
But Baimu knew that had nothing to do with any shortcomings in how Drake had trained Altaria. It was simply a difference between Pokémon.
As a Steel-type Pokémon, Skarmory had sturdier joints, claws, and other body parts than Altaria, enough to withstand the strain of explosive movement on the ground.
Steven had made excellent use of the physical strength its Steel typing gave Skarmory.
The silver-gray bird burst from the smoke.
Shelgon did not look at it. Instead, it stared toward the other side of the haze and fired an enormous, blazing fireball!
The fireball burst midflight into a brilliant character-shaped blaze, sweeping the smoke from its path.
Had it missed?
No!
The Skarmory that had burst out slammed into Shelgon, but without using a move, it barely budged its target. Only then did the spectators realize it might be a Substitute.
The real one was hidden somewhere, waiting to ambush Shelgon once it had been misled.
As the crowd erupted, Fire Blast tore into the rolling smoke and dust.
Suddenly, a silver streak shot upward from within. It spread wings lined with feathers like sharp arrows, evaded the flames, and dove at Shelgon!
It moved so fast that Shelgon did not dare shift its fierce, white-rimmed eyes even slightly.
Then, all at once—
Drake's calm expression changed. Shelgon whirled around, looking