Sandstorm Purgatory

The second Hyper Voice struck, but Greninja leaped up, gathering the force of a punch in one hand.

It punched out with tremendous force. Amid the violent tremors around it, Greninja, controlling its Protean Ability, flipped back down to the ground, a trace of gravity in its eyes.

This Mega Salamence's destructive power exceeded its estimates. Even though it had prepared in advance by changing to the appropriate type, the attack had still left it somewhat uncomfortable.

As that powerful sound wave struck, a thick layer of sand and dust covered Gary and Eevee, shielding them from the outer reaches of the sound wave. Although his ears hurt terribly, Gary knew someone had saved him.

"It's King Gongping!"

Gary naturally recognized the Sandstorm King who had made such a splash during the Indigo League exchange tournament. He also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, facing that Yin-Yang-Faced Freak had put him under immense pressure.

"Thank you, Gary. Without your efforts, Seafoam Islands would probably have faced a deadly crisis this time."

Gongping walked up to Gary and thanked him sincerely. If Gary had not risked his life to destroy the device, all of Seafoam Islands would have faced being swallowed and destroyed by the Distortion World. The thought sent a chill through Gongping, and his gaze toward the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak grew even more hostile.

This was not Gongping's first encounter with the Reverse World's dark energy. He looked at the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak opposite him. "What's your relationship with the Kamiya Foundation?"

At the mention of the Kamiya Foundation, the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak chuckled, tapping his folding fan lightly, seemingly unwilling to answer Gongping's question.

Anger flashed in Gongping's eyes. The Poké Balls at his waist flashed with light, and Tyranitar, Swampert, Scizor, Lucario, Lileep, and Mega Salamence high overhead surrounded the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak.

The Yin-Yang-Faced Freak showed no fear at being surrounded. Since Sandstorm King Gongping had pursued him here, today's battle was naturally unavoidable. He simply had to fight with everything he had. What was there to fear?

The Pokémon he had positioned earlier suddenly appeared. An invisible, icy wave of Confusion swept out, instantly whipping up a storm across the ground. Gongping looked up to see a pale blue Gardevoir coldly surveying everything before it.

"Gardevoir, use Trace to copy Greninja's Protean."

The instant the Gardevoir with Trace fixed its eyes on its own side's Greninja, its entire body gave off the same faint glow as Greninja's. With just one meeting of their eyes, it copied Greninja's Protean.

"Scizor, stop it."

Scizor attacked first, countless red flashes of Bullet Punch roaring out. Yet in a split second, savage flames erupted from the ground and rushed toward Scizor!

Gongping looked up. Incineroar, a Pokémon from the Alola Region, suddenly charged straight at Scizor. At that critical moment, Swampert spat a Water Gun from behind, swiftly blocking the flames.

Swampert unleashed its Water Gun so quickly that even Greninja almost failed to react. At that moment, Greninja finally focused its attention on the Swampert whose eyes looked vacant, yet seemed to see through everything.

Powerful!

The freak with the two-toned face let out a creaking laugh. He spun rapidly, swirling Erika's bathrobe, and flicked the folding fan in his hand, releasing several Poké Balls onto the field at once!

After the Poké Balls flashed, a multicolored Muk from the Alola Region, the Dark- and Fighting-type Pangoro, and a giant Drapion appeared on the field, helping shore up the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak's defensive line.

The pale blue Gardevoir stood suspended in midair. Countless strands of Confusion turned into silk, swiftly connecting to the four Pokémon.

Like Gongping's Tyranitar, this Gardevoir was the very heart of his tactics.

With his formation complete, the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak gave Gongping a suggestive look. "King Gongping, thank you for coming all this way from the Johto Region."

"You look quite good dressed like that, too."

"Oh, Gongping, are you complimenting me?"

Gongping watched the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak, his eyes dark and utterly devoid of emotion. "This way, I won't have any reservations about attacking. Even if I slip up and accidentally kill you, certain people in the Pokémon League will have nothing to say."

Ordinary Pokémon could accomplish nothing in a King-level battle. Gongping's current six Sandstorm Pokémon were the members best suited to this group battle. At Gongping's signal, Gary quickly withdrew from the battlefield with Arcanine.

"Haha, that declaration has me so frightened."

Despite his relaxed tone, the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak knew very well that although the youth before him had only just become a King, the strength he displayed was standard King-level combat power.

A King and King-level combat power were, in fact, two different concepts. The former was a position; only the latter represented strength.

King-level combat power meant that a trainer's Pokémon could coordinate and cooperate, fighting as one powerful whole. They were unlike those trainers who believed themselves to possess a King's strength, who were formidable in one-on-one battles but became a disorganized mess in an all-out team clash, picked off one by one.

The Pokémon League had not tested Gongping in group combat back then entirely because the composition of his team and Tyranitar's position as its tactical core were far too obvious. That was why they had skipped the assessment. Otherwise, a group combat test was another requirement for becoming a Regional King.

Simply put, Tyranitar and Mega Salamence could cover Scizor's weakness to Fire-type attacks. In turn, Scizor could block Ice-, Fairy-, and Dragon-type attacks for Tyranitar and Mega Salamence. Lucario, Lileep with Water Absorb, and Swampert provided defense in other areas, closely binding all six together.

As for the trainer, they stayed at the center of the battle alongside their core Pokémon. Like the brain in a game of chess, once that position was breached, the battle was over.

The movements and positioning of the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak's Pokémon likewise carried deeper meaning, clearly beyond what an ordinary trainer could accomplish. At that moment, Gardevoir floated at the head of the formation, its whole body releasing a faint glow.

Unlike ordinary trainer battles, true life-and-death combat rarely involved calling out move names directly. But based on his own judgment, Gongping quickly guessed that Gardevoir was using Misty Terrain.

Misty Terrain prevented Pokémon on the field from suffering status conditions and also reduced the damage of Dragon-type moves.

Was it guarding against Lileep's control through Toxic and weakening Mega Salamence's Dragon-type moves?

Scizor and Lucario attacked, Bullet Punch targeting Drapion and Aura Sphere aimed at Pangoro. The two Pokémon responsible for surprise attacks began the first probing exchange between the two sides.

A cold gleam flashed in Gardevoir's eyes as it used Skill Swap, instantly transferring Protean to Pangoro. Light flashed over Pangoro's body as it changed color, becoming a Ghost-type and completely ignoring Lucario's Aura Sphere.

In the other direction, as Bullet Punch struck, Drapion and Incineroar switched positions. Amid a sky full of firelight, Incineroar blocked the Bullet Punch attack.

Misty Terrain, Skill Swap, Ally Switch, and Trace together established Gardevoir's central role!

Ingenious tactics, a traditional King-level style, and intricate, delicate coordination. After Gongping quickly analyzed his opponent's general tactics, Tyranitar and Lileep on his side also began to move.

At some point, Lileep had appeared on Tyranitar's shoulder. Its Water Absorb Ability activated fully as countless tentacles rooted themselves in the ground. As the land withered, grains of sand were continuously drawn out.

An area several miles across instantly became a wasteland, as though they had entered a desert purgatory. Then the energy extracted through Ingrain transformed in midair into dozens of Sandstorms, constantly spiraling over the ground.

Normally, Tyranitar's Sand Stream Ability produced only a limited amount of sand-laden air, with relatively little impact. But with Lileep's Water Absorb and Ingrain working together, it was as though Sand Stream had been enhanced. The entire summit of Seafoam Islands' main peak rapidly became a desert domain.

All things perished, and the land grew drier little by little. Once nearly all its moisture had been extracted, the surroundings began turning into shifting fine sand.

"What's that?"

Riding Arcanine down from the main peak, Gary looked back to see that the entire sky above Seafoam Islands' main peak had changed color. More and more sand filled the sky over Seafoam Islands, and the air temperature grew increasingly unbearable.

Finally, the sand and dust began gathering high overhead, covering the entire sea around Seafoam Islands.

With heaven and earth enveloped in desert, dozens of sandstorms continued to spiral between them, like countless hourglasses swaying up and down. Watching the exaggerated spectacle before him, the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak's expression grew increasingly dark and ugly.

A combination move that pushed Sandstorm to its utmost limits and could prolong the weather for a very long time-Sandstorm Purgatory!