"Oh no, the burner..." Liu Qing looked up and saw black smoke pouring from the burner, flames spraying everywhere. He had barely raised his Aura barrier when the entire burner exploded. Shards of metal struck the protective shield with sharp cracks. Togekiss struggled to gain altitude, but under the combined force of the whirlwind and the balloon's weight, they still began to fall.
"What happened? How could Liu Qing's burner break?! Was it him..." Xinghui and Xiao Yu both looked shocked and turned toward Xiao Rui. He was watching Liu Qing with a sinister smile on his face. The Skarmory pulling his balloon opened its mouth and fired a metallic beam at Liu Qing, turning their shock into outrage.
"Hyper Beam!" Liu Qing looked calm, his gaze deep and unreadable. Anyone who had known him in Unova would have recognized that he was truly furious. At his quiet command, Togekiss opened its mouth and gathered the energy for Hyper Beam. A brilliant yellow beam collided head-on with Flash Cannon and erupted in a thunderous explosion. Before Xiao Rui could launch another attack, the remaining power of Hyper Beam pierced the smoke and struck his balloon. With a loud bang, it shattered and plunged downward in flames.
"Liu Qing, watch out! You're going to hit the mountain! Hurry and use a Fire-type Pokémon to heat the air! It can replace the burner!" Immobilized by the aftereffects of Hyper Beam, Togekiss could no longer pull the balloon upward. As it continued to lose altitude, a whirlwind swept it toward a mountain peak. Xiao Yu and Xinghui shouted anxiously together.
"Chandelure, I'm counting on you! Hurry and heat the balloon!" Knowing how urgent the situation was, Liu Qing immediately threw Chandelure's Poké Ball. Chandelure appeared where the burner had been, and the flames