The referee stepped forward.
"Claydol versus Banette! Let the battle begin!"
Pheobe felt the immense pressure emanating from Claydol and dared not waste a moment.
"Banette! Phantom Force!"
"Heeheeheehee~!!!"
Darkness swelled, and shadows spread!
Banette's gray body instantly merged into the shadows and vanished.
Purple Psychic Power suddenly surged in Claydol's eyes. Its gaze snapped to its side, toward an empty patch of the field. Yong smiled slightly.
"Pull it out! Use Psybeam!"
Miss Pheobe's expression changed. Before her eyes, a purple curtain of light suddenly enveloped the entire Battlefield! Confusion snared a distinct black shadow within a narrow gap, and as the Psychic Field surged violently, Banette was dragged into view!
Claydol had actually seen straight through the cover of its Shadow Power and forcibly pulled it out!
At that moment, Banette was undoubtedly a little bewildered.
More importantly, a nearly solid purple energy field wrapped around its body, steady as a rock. Even with all its strength, it could not budge it!
It was a Ghost-type Pokémon, for crying out loud!
How could mere Psychic-type power restrain it?!
Yet before it could grasp its predicament, a dazzling, rainbow-bright energy beam rippled through the air and slammed into its body in an instant!
"Heeheehee~!!!"
Indescribable pain filled its strange, low cry! The invading Psychic Power felt like muffled thunder exploding inside Banette's head! Even its senses seemed to have been disrupted. Stripped of its Shadow Power, Banette felt as though its mind had been imprisoned, its thoughts drifting farther and farther away...
Gradually, a distinctly vacant, bewildered look appeared in its scarlet eyes...
Banette was confused!
Miss Pheobe hurriedly called out.
"Banette! Snap out of it! Hurry, use Destiny Bond..."
But the boy's voice cut in without yielding, giving her no further chance!
"Claydol! Use Hex!"
"Clay~"
Held within