Blazing flames shone against the ceiling. What Terrance had expected had become reality—Ash really had come prepared. He had prepared a Fire-type Pokémon, and it was Charizard, whose strength in his team was second only to Pikachu.
The two moves Flame Burst and Blast Burn played new tricks with the use of flames, making the fire contain an explosive effect. After the exploding flames spewed from Charizard’s mouth, countless Combee grubs scattered one after another and returned into Vespiquen’s body, not daring to face those flames with such terrifying killing power.
The large amount of flames Charizard spewed out attacked indiscriminately and forced back the Combee grubs, but they failed to successfully stop Vespiquen’s advance. Vespiquen’s flying speed was very fast, thanks to Ribombee’s boost relay. Almost instantly, it appeared at Charizard’s side, its body abruptly stopping as it condensed shining rocks and fired them out.
However, Charizard, which had gone through countless battles in the Charicific Valley, had already developed very good battle awareness. Before Ash could even react, after sensing the threat, Charizard used the momentum of swinging Dragon Claw to twist its body and slap at that Power Gem.
Although the explosion of Power Gem nearly made Charizard’s claws break, relying on its unyielding will, Charizard still forcibly blocked it.
“Charizard, use Fire Spin to cover the entire space above the field!”
Ash habitually began changing the field. Taking advantage of Charizard’s excellent performance this time, he pressed the attack, making a flat layer of flames divide the positions of Charizard and Vespiquen. Even Terrance could not see through Ash’s intention, but Terrance would not be wary of it. He boldly issued an order, having Vespiquen break through the layer of flames.
In truth, it was not that Ash had thought up some profound tactic that left everyone puzzled. Rather, Ash simply had not thought that much. Whether it was useful or not, relying on the flash of inspiration he had at that moment, he gave the order. With good luck, he could naturally find an opportunity to counterattack; with bad luck, it would instead help the opponent.
Terrance’s fast-paced offense clearly gave Ash no time at all to continue using the field to create an advantage. Vespiquen had already launched a ferocious assault.
Ash’s flashes of inspiration had saved him countless times in battle, but never mind battling a Top Trainer—even when battling a slightly more experienced veteran Trainer, Ash’s method of relying on temporarily thinking up strategies was still far too pace-breaking, making it easy for openings to be seized.
There was not a single Trainer sitting in an Elite Four position who had gotten there by relying on flashes of inspiration.
As that yellow figure used Fury Cutter twice, Fire Spin was instantly broken open. Vespiquen’s offensive was incomparably fierce. It actually ignored the Flamethrower Charizard spat out and charged right into it, its stinger stabbing viciously into Charizard’s body.
Seeing Vespiquen pass through its flames and directly break through the attack with such speed and ferocity, the injured Charizard’s expression abruptly changed, and the flames in its mouth gradually dissipated.
When the flames dispersed, everyone saw that Vespiquen was surrounded by layer upon layer of Combee grubs, which continuously used Gust to whip up wind blades from within, shredding the flames from the inside and creating an opportunity for Vespiquen to charge forward fearlessly.
“Defend Order, one of the three major exclusive moves, can actually merge with Attack Order into one, achieving an effect that combines both offense and defense…”
Brock, who was flipping through the information in his hands, showed an astonished expression.
“Fell Stinger? Why use a Bug-type move with poor effectiveness to attack?”
When Vespiquen pulled out its stinger and retreated, and Charizard painfully descended slowly, everyone immediately understood Terrance’s intention. After a trace of purple appeared on the wound where Charizard had been stabbed, it marked that the Toxic Vespiquen had hidden in its stinger had successfully taken effect.
At the same time, Vespiquen, which had suffered a slight burn from forcibly breaking through Flamethrower just now, also took this opportunity to use Heal Order, one of its three major exclusive moves, making the Combee grubs transfer out their own stamina to fill itself.
On the field, facing Vespiquen, which had recovered and was completely unharmed, Ash once again struggled to command the poisoned Charizard to fly.
A Fire Blast shot out at high speed, only for Vespiquen to dodge it with great agility while swinging both hands to counterattack with powerful wind blades.
Boom!
After being hit by several Air Slashes, Charizard retreated a distance and let out a furious roar. It was tougher and more durable than Terrance had imagined. After that, Charizard condensed flames and changed its attack pattern, choosing to charge in close.
“Charizard, use Fire Punch!”
The fist burning with flames was Charizard’s last strength. Facing Charizard’s explosive flight, Vespiquen remained unmoved. When Fire Punch drew near, Vespiquen’s swift figure suddenly rolled, and after a flash of light, it successfully dodged sideways.
The strange light that flashed into Charizard’s eyes caught it off guard at extremely close range, causing its flame-clad fists to flail wildly as it lost its sense of direction.
“Vespiquen, consecutive Fell Stingers!”
As Terrance’s words fell, Vespiquen’s stinger attacked wildly and rapidly. Charizard’s whole body stiffened, then suddenly trembled as it let out a pained howl. In just a few seconds, Charizard fell from the sky with lifeless eyes. At this very moment, with the help of Fell Stinger’s special effect, Vespiquen’s attack power once again greatly increased, reaching its own peak. Its aura surged, its condition was astonishingly perfect, and it seemed that even fighting several more Pokémon would be no problem.
“That’s enough.” Terrance ended the battle and looked toward the dejected Ash without offering any comfort. Even if he had not used his main Pokemon, an Elite Four was still not so easy to defeat. If Ash could become aware of the problems exposed in this battle, perhaps he could go a step further at the Ever Grande Conference.
“Next, May will go on. Ash, hurry and take Pidgeot and Charizard to the Pokémon Center,” Terrance said.
“I know…” Ash tightened his grip on the Poké Ball and left the place. Seeing Ash’s reaction, Brock and May exchanged a glance, then Brock quickly chased after him.
Being defeated again would inevitably make Ash a little disheartened… Brock had no choice but to run out and guide him.
“I have to say, Vespiquen’s three major Order moves, combined with the continuous strengthening from Fell Stinger, can completely create a tireless battle weapon. In the future, this Vespiquen may surpass Little Beautifly and become Fallarbor Gym’s strongest Pokémon…” Not counting Terrance’s unique Beautifly, which had mastered the two top-tier techniques of Wind Domain and Source of Stamina, this Vespiquen allowed Kotoko to see the shadow of a first-class Gym’s rise.
“Ash…”
As Ash and Brock left, May sighed and nervously walked onto the field.
This time, the battle rule was 1v1. The Pokémon Terrance brought out was one particular Beautifly from Fallarbor Gym that formed an important part of the butterfly swarm form. It was not the Little Beautifly that possessed totem aura, but even so, for May’s Beautifly, which had not been caught long ago and had only been raised for two or three months, this Beautifly was still an opponent difficult to defeat. Compared with Ash’s battle, this one was even more one-sided. Rookie Coordinator May simply had not inherited her father Norman’s keen battle awareness, and she was soon miserably defeated.
Rather than calling it a Gym Battle, it was better to call it a guiding battle. Naturally, Terrance had not thought Ash and May would be able to obtain Badges from him on their first try. The two youngsters were still far too immature. After they raised the two Bug-type Pokémon they received here according to the training method issued by the Gym, perhaps only then would they truly understand exactly how to incorporate the word “coordination” into battle.
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