Above a battlefield bristling with stone blades, Latias's red figure faltered for an instant. Then she unleashed a Solar Beam concentrated to its limit at Tyranitar behind the rock barrier—a beam that promised destruction and victory!
Every spectator in the arena watched with bated breath as her red figure vanished into the white blaze...
Could Tyranitar withstand it?
No!
The Trainers in the crowd shook their heads in silent answer.
Even Tyranitar, after enduring Solar Beam after Solar Beam, could not possibly survive this Calm Mind-boosted strike!
Without question, this was the deciding blow—the sword of victory, just as the announcer had called it!
The sword of victory held by Latias and Chinatsu!!
Dian watched, lowered his head, and smiled faintly. Then he snapped his fingers.
Yes, Tyranitar could not withstand that blow. And the attack carrying Latias and Chinatsu's conviction that they would win had struck home. It had even destroyed the Tyranitar behind the rock barrier!
But...
Among the countless stone blades rising from the ground, one was thicker than all the rest and closest to Latias high above. At the crisp, low sound of the snap, a pair of crimson eyes slowly opened...
Boom!!
Suddenly, as the rock around the blade's edge shattered, Tyranitar emerged.
"Substitute?!" Takeshi stared at the glassy ground scorched by Solar Beam, then at the red Tyranitar that had appeared atop the stone blade. A move immediately came to mind. "That figure just now was a Substitute!!"
Even so, Tyranitar had to be on its last legs. It should have been no match for Latias now.
Takeshi was about to shout when he saw something astonishing...
Tyranitar,
Tyranitar,
was flying?!!
Dian drew a deep breath as Tyranitar leaped into the air like a Flying-type Pokémon. He knew the deciding moment had finally come!!