Small Explosion Shows Its Power

The flames rapidly gathered in Agumon's mouth, forming a fierce fireball that grew larger with every passing moment.

The familiar fireball, its vastly different size, and a move name that did not match what she remembered made Candice freeze for a moment.

He didn't use this move in the previous battle, and I never heard him mention it. Did Agumon just learn it?

Candice did not know, but she knew there was no turning back now.

If she let this opportunity slip away, knowing Qingliu's personality, he would never make the same mistake again. Winning the battle would become truly difficult then.

Besides, with Powder Snow and Icy Wind acting as a shield to weaken Agumon's move, even if it hit Sneasel, it probably would not knock Sneasel out outright.

I'll risk it!

"Sneasel, take it head-on and use Bite!"

"Snea!"

Sneasel was thinking the same thing.

Sneasel could accept taking a little damage. As long as Bite landed, victory would be assured.

Sneasel had absolute confidence in the power of that move!

But as the distance closed and Sneasel caught sight of the fireball Agumon had just launched, that confidence... wavered.

The searing heat and the fur standing almost completely on end across Sneasel's back were both warnings that this move was nothing like what Sneasel had imagined.

Candice, who had been watching the battle closely, also keenly sensed that this attack was far more powerful than she had expected. A thought suddenly flashed through her mind-taking it head-on could be fatal!

Her horror and fear at the thought of a Pokémon dying drove her to abandon the command she had just given. She quickly shouted, "Sneasel, cancel your attack! Dodge, now!"

Sensing the danger as well, Sneasel forcibly canceled Bite despite the falling momentum and the move's backlash. At the same time, white light appeared behind Sneasel, who tried to use Quick Attack to force a change of direction in midair and evade Agumon's attack.

But it was too late. Just as the light of Quick Attack flickered to life, the fireball in Agumon's mouth, several times larger than Pepper Breath, had already been launched.

The "snowstorm shield" Candice had planned to use to weaken the flames-the combined Powder Snow from Snorunt and Icy Wind from Snover-proved utterly useless. It melted away the instant it made contact.

The scorching heat and blazing flames lit up Sneasel's face. By the time Sneasel reacted, Small Explosion was practically right in front of it.

Then it exploded with a thunderous roar.

Boom!!

The force of the exploding, burning flames burst forth in an instant. Amid a chorus of hissing sounds and billowing smoke, waves of heat swept outward like ripples spreading across water.

The lingering Icy Wind and Powder Snow were blown away and melted. Snover and Snorunt were knocked to the ground by the blast of heat. Even Candice, standing beyond a safe distance, had to raise her hands to shield herself from the rolling heat.

But she had no attention to spare for herself. She stared into the center of the battlefield through the heat.

A charred-black figure flew backward out of the smoke, slammed into a nearby tree, and lost consciousness completely.

"Damn it!"

Seeing a single Small Explosion knock out the nearly unscathed Sneasel despite the cover provided by Powder Snow and Icy Wind, leaving Sneasel at death's door, Candice clenched her fists.

Previously, Pepper Breath had only achieved such a result against Snover, who had a quadruple weakness to it. Now the same thing had happened to Sneasel.

How could this move be so powerful?

Candice even suspected that if all three of her Pokémon had been standing together, Small Explosion could have wiped them all out at once.

But it looks like it takes a lot of stamina. Even without Sneasel, I still have Snover and Snorunt. There's still a chance.

Watching Agumon pant slightly, Candice's thoughts raced. But before she could speak, Qingliu's voice rang out ahead of hers.

"Use Pepper Breath on Snover to your left, then build up the power of the Razor Claw and charge at Snorunt."

Two fireballs flew through the air, piercing the smoke and waves of heat as they hurtled straight toward Snover.

Unsurprisingly, Snover's crippling weakness to Fire-type attacks meant that even after using a move to defend at Candice's warning, Snover only bought a little time before going down, exactly as expected.

"Snorunt..."

Seeing Snover knocked out in an instant, Candice hurriedly turned to warn Snorunt, only to discover that Agumon had somehow already reached Snorunt and raised an arm high.

Clang!

Agumon's claw struck the top of Snorunt's head with a crisp sound. A large bump immediately swelled up, and Snorunt's eyes rolled back before Snorunt slowly toppled over.

With that, all three Pokémon were unable to battle.

"How... is that possible..."

Candice stared at Agumon and the unconscious Pokémon lying around Agumon, her gaze gradually going blank.

All three were Ice-types, weak to Agumon's fire-based moves. But conversely, all three Ice-type Pokémon also had an advantage over Agumon's Dragon typing.

Three Pokémon against one. Losing was bad enough, but all three had actually been taken down by a single opponent. What was she even doing?

She had never heard of three Pokémon at roughly the same level fighting one opponent and getting wiped out.

She felt even more hopeless when she remembered how she had specifically come to challenge Qingliu after training, hoping to regain some dignity by sending out only Sneasel.

Even all three couldn't win, and I was so confident I could do it with just one?

At that moment, Candice felt more embarrassed than ever before, and she began to doubt her own abilities.

Maybe Qingliu was right when he provoked Snover at the start. Am I really too unskilled and unqualified to inherit the Gym?

Or... did he just happen to stumble onto the truth?

Candice did not know. Right now, she felt utterly lost.

Qingliu stood quietly beside her. Seeing her like this, he felt deeply relieved that he had decided to have Candice send out all three Pokémon at once.

If they had come at him one by one, she would have had to experience this despair three times, each time worse than the last. Now, Candice only had to go through it once.

Qingliu slowly crouched down, patted Candice on the shoulder, and said, "All right, stop sitting there in a daze. If you don't go treat Sneasel soon, Sneasel is going to die."