On the battlefield, although Gyarados was completely bound by Leech Seed, Liu Qing remained utterly calm, searching for any opening. Suddenly, he noticed something strange about Ludicolo, who normally loved bouncing around, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Gyarados, Giga Impact!"
At Liu Qing's command, Gyarados endured another drain of his energy before a rapidly spinning purple aura appeared around his body. Its power instantly destroyed the thorny vines produced by Leech Seed, and his massive body hurtled toward Ludicolo.
"Protect!" Faced with this move, Reggie immediately ordered a defense.
On the battlefield, Ludicolo was about to use the move when yellow sparks suddenly flashed across his body, making him freeze.
"Oh no, he's paralyzed!" Reggie's expression abruptly changed.
But Giga Impact had already reached Ludicolo. The tremendous force carried him forward after the collision, stopping only after blasting a huge hole through one of the arena walls with a crash. Gyarados then returned to Liu Qing and became unable to move.
Fortunately, the stands were some distance from the wall, or Gyarados's attack would have injured someone.
"Ludicolo is unable to battle." The referee ran over to check before announcing his ruling.
"What a surprise! Who would have thought Reggie's Ludicolo would suddenly suffer paralysis...? That puts Liu Qing and Reggie back on even footing. What will Reggie's third Pokémon be? Can it defeat Liu Qing's powerful Gyarados?" While the commentator spoke, Reggie hurried over to Ludicolo and recalled him into his Poké Ball.
"Bibarel, I'm counting on you!" Once Reggie ran back to his position, he threw his third Poké Ball.
"Roar!" Gyarados had regained his mobility by now. Although Ludicolo had drained a considerable amount of his energy, his fighting spirit remained high, and he roared at Bibarel. Yet Bibarel had looked vacant ever since appearing, and even now he showed no reaction to Gyarados's roar. He simply sat on the ground, staring blankly at Gyarados as he scratched the back of his head.
"Hahaha!" Bibarel's vacant expression immediately sent the audience into fits of laughter.
Unlike the laughing spectators, Liu Qing looked grave. "Gyarados, Thunderbolt!"
"Roar!" Gyarados felt as though he was going to lose his mind today. First an incurable optimist, now an airhead—and neither was afraid of him. He decided to teach Bibarel a harsh lesson and show this airhead just how powerful he was. A massive golden bolt shot straight toward Bibarel.
"Defense Curl, Rollout!" Reggie gave his orders as Liu Qing issued his.
The vacant-looking Bibarel, who had still been sitting, immediately curled into a ball and began spinning rapidly. He dodged Thunderbolt and rolled toward Gyarados.
"Roar!" Seeing Bibarel dodge his attack, Gyarados was furious—truly furious. He unleashed an even stronger Thunderbolt, but this time it struck the battlefield first before surging along the ground toward the approaching Bibarel. The ground shattered everywhere it passed, leaving gouges so deep and wide that it was hard to imagine an Electric-type move had caused them. The spectacular display of power sent the entire audience into enthusiastic cheers.
But when Thunderbolt struck the rolling Bibarel, the spectators were stunned. That immensely powerful attack held against him for only a moment before being deflected, and he continued rolling toward Gyarados as though he had suffered no damage at all.
Gyarados froze briefly when he saw that his attack had done nothing. In that instant, Bibarel's Rollout slammed into him with a boom, and pain twisted his face. Rock-type moves dealt double damage to Gyarados.
"As Bibarel spins at high speed, all the water on his body gets flung off. That's why Thunderbolt isn't having much effect." Seeing that Electric-type moves were ineffective against the Water- and Normal-type Bibarel, Liu Qing immediately worked out the reason. He called to the enraged Gyarados, "Gyarados, calm down! Aqua Tail!"
"Roar!" Gyarados's eyes had already turned red, but Liu Qing's command abruptly calmed him. A ring of water formed around his enormous tail, and he swept it toward Bibarel as he continued rolling closer.
"He figured it out. Impressive!" Seeing Liu Qing change his orders, Reggie realized that he must have discovered why electricity was ineffective against Bibarel. He could not help admiring Liu Qing's quick reactions. Watching Aqua Tail sweep toward them, he immediately called, "Bibarel, jump!"
At the command, the rapidly rolling Bibarel leaped into the air, intending to dodge Aqua Tail before landing and continuing toward Gyarados. But Reggie had clearly forgotten that Gyarados's body was extremely long, and so was his tail. Even a slight movement could cover a considerable distance. Thus, just after Bibarel avoided the first sweep of Aqua Tail, another section of Gyarados's body appeared in front of him in midair and swept viciously toward him.
"Bibarel, grab Gyarados's tail!" Reggie called just as Aqua Tail was about to connect.
"Gyarados, slam him down!" Hearing Reggie's order, Liu Qing immediately shouted his own.
Upon hearing the command, Bibarel stopped spinning in midair. When Aqua Tail struck him, he somehow endured its tremendous force and clung tightly to Gyarados. As Gyarados slammed his tail toward the ground, Bibarel swiftly flipped himself onto its upper side and began running along Gyarados's body. His agility was utterly at odds with the vacant look he had worn when he first appeared.
"Gyarados, Thunderbolt!"
"Bibarel, Super Fang!"
Liu Qing and Reggie gave their orders almost simultaneously.
As Bibarel raced along, his front teeth suddenly shone white and extended. He bit down on Gyarados's body beneath him just as golden electricity burst from Gyarados.
Crackle—boom! Thunderbolt and Super Fang struck their targets at the same time, and moments later an explosion erupted. Its shock wave instantly threw Bibarel off Gyarados. Gyarados's body also tilted backward slightly, but he quickly recovered.
"Giga Impact!"
"Ice Beam!" At the very instant of the explosion, Liu Qing and Reggie once again gave their orders simultaneously.
Having just regained his balance, Gyarados roared, and a rapidly spinning purple aura formed around his body. He paid no heed to Bibarel's hastily fired Ice Beam, deflecting it outright before crashing into him. With a boom, he slammed Bibarel into the ground and raised a cloud of dust. Then he returned to Liu Qing, panting heavily.
"Bibarel is unable to battle." Once the dust cleared, Bibarel lay revealed, unable to continue. The referee lowered his flag and announced the result.
"Come back, Bibarel. You did very well." Although Gyarados was still able to battle, after enduring Mega Drain, Leech Seed, Rollout, and Super Fang—a move that directly cut its target's remaining energy in half—his stamina had undoubtedly reached rock bottom. He had almost nothing left to fight with.
"At this point in the match, Liu Qing has lost one Pokémon, while Reggie has lost two..." As the commentator spoke, Reggie took out another Poké Ball and threw it. "Empoleon, I'm counting on you."
A flash of white light revealed Empoleon's proud figure on the battlefield.
"Come back, Gyarados. Thanks for all your hard work." Gyarados was now at the end of his strength. After recalling him, Liu Qing took out a Poké Ball and threw it. "Arcanine, come on out!"
"Empoleon, Drill Peck!" Reggie gave the first command.
At Reggie's order, the crown on Empoleon's forehead shone with dazzling white light, and his entire body spun rapidly as he charged toward Arcanine.
"Arcanine, Thunder Fang!" This was the same move as back in Fuchsia City. Liu Qing knew it could break through a broad defense by concentrating its force on a single point, and it was extremely fast. Trying to dodge might only give the opponent an opening, so he immediately called for a direct response rather than a special attack.
At Liu Qing's command, Arcanine roared and opened his jaws, his teeth crackling with golden electricity, before biting down on the charging Empoleon.
After a series of strange grinding sounds, Arcanine suddenly exerted his strength and stopped being driven backward. Empoleon came to a halt, the crown atop his head caught between Arcanine's jaws. Streams of electricity flowed from Arcanine's teeth into Empoleon, whose face contorted in pain.
"How is that possible?" Reggie stared at Arcanine in disbelief, deeply shocked. Every spectator was likewise dumbfounded by Arcanine's overwhelming display of power. Only after a moment did thunderous applause erupt.
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