Hit by Dragon Breath, Articuno fell from the air again, plummeting toward the ground.
Seeing this, Ash hurriedly ordered Charizard forward to catch Articuno, but Articuno was no pushover either. It reacted the instant Charizard approached, dodging both its claws with a nimble turn.
This certainly caught Ash by surprise.
After all, Articuno had only just been hit, yet it had recovered in such a short time, showing just how tough its body was.
That was also something watching the earlier battle could not convey. Only by actually fighting it could one appreciate just how astonishing a Legendary Pokémon's stamina was!
Otherwise, Xia You's Articuno would not have fought Dara's Articuno for so long earlier.
And while Ash was still surprised, Dara gave the order to counterattack.
Articuno used Ice Beam and struck Charizard head-on. However, the unfavorable type matchup meant Charizard endured the Ice Beam head-on, then charged at Articuno again, exchanging attacks with it once more.
This time, however, not only did Articuno dodge Charizard's Flamethrower, it seized the opportunity to close in and strike Charizard with Steel Wing!
With the change in attack type, Charizard could no longer withstand the blow. It fell straight from the sky and crashed heavily into the ground.
Boom.
Watching Charizard fall, Max frowned and turned to ask Xia You, "Why does it suddenly feel like Charizard can't beat Articuno anymore?"
"It's not that it can't win. Its patterns have been figured out." Xia You shook his head gently. "Ash has been using Flamethrower ever since the battle began, and Dara saw through it long ago. He did try to use Seismic Toss in between, but it didn't succeed. If he still wants to rely on Charizard's type advantage, I'm afraid things will only get worse for him."
"Then doesn't that mean