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"In the water, Seadra has better mobility than Exeggutor! Use Twister!"
Mandi's voice cut through the tension. Seadra's sleek body darted through the underwater whirlpool with practiced ease. The moment it heard its trainer's command, its eyes snapped open with fierce determination.
A powerful force suddenly surged from the center of the water. The tremendous energy drew in all the water within the battlefield, and the waterspouts created by the surrounding whirlpools were instantly scattered by the raw power of Twister.
Boom!
An impressive waterspout erupted above the surface like a dragon ascending to the heavens. After all, Seadra was a Water-type Pokémon—unlike Exeggutor, it wasn't helpless once it entered the water.
Taking full advantage of the situation, Seadra rode the very Twister it had created, following the massive waterspout upward and bursting free from the water's surface.
The Dragon Pokémon leaped into the air and positioned itself atop the swirling waterspout, looking down at Kingler from its elevated vantage point.
"Seadra used Twister to generate incredible power and successfully escaped the force of the Crabhammer! What an amazing display of skill!" the commentator exclaimed, his voice filled with awe at the spectacle before him.
"Twister can be used like that?" Misty murmured with concern evident in her voice.
While Seadra was indeed a Water-type Pokémon, it could still use Dragon-type moves. Twister was typically an offensive move meant for attacking opponents.
However, Mandi had cleverly used Twister to resolve his own crisis, utilizing the move's inherent power to propel Seadra away from the ocean floor.
The underwater whirlpool created moments ago by Kingler's Crabhammer simply didn't possess enough force to match Twister's strength, so naturally it couldn't prevent Seadra from escaping.
"How do you like that?" Seeing Seadra's successful escape, Mandi's face broke into a confident smile.
"This is exactly what I've been waiting for." A knowing smile crossed Ash's lips as he observed the situation.
"Kingler, use Hyper Beam!"
Mandi's smile froze the instant he heard Ash's command. Ash had anticipated this exact scenario. Since Seadra was a Water-type Pokémon, it would naturally be more agile than Exeggutor in the water.
The force unleashed by Crabhammer might not be enough to trap it—so Ash had been waiting for the precise moment when it would leave the water.
"Crokie!"
Responding to Ash's order, Kingler reacted immediately and raised its massive left claw. Because of the sheer weight of Kingler's claw, long-range attacks were difficult to aim accurately.
But at this moment, Seadra had essentially made itself a stationary target. Kingler aimed directly at Seadra's position as golden energy began concentrating within its claw.
"Oh no! Seadra, dodge it!" Mandi shouted in alarm when he realized what was happening.
"Too late!"
As Ash's voice rang out, Kingler's eyes narrowed with focus. With a tremendous roar, the Hyper Beam's energy exploded forth, transforming into a devastating beam of golden light.
Boom!
Positioned atop the waterspout, Seadra had no time to evade the attack and was struck head-on by the full force of Hyper Beam.
The energy detonated with a thunderous explosion. The Twister that Seadra had created collapsed under the blast, and massive amounts of water transformed into countless droplets that scattered across the sky like rain.
The air filled with water vapor and mist, obscuring visibility. Seadra plummeted from the explosion, black smoke trailing from its body. It crashed into the water below and floated back to the surface a moment later.
However, it was now floating belly-up, and ink occasionally bubbled from its elongated snout.
Ding!
On the large screen overhead, another square representing Mandi's Pokémon count dimmed, indicating that two of his Pokémon had now lost their ability to battle.
"Competitor Mandi's Seadra is unable to battle! Competitor Ash's Kingler wins again—what an incredible performance!"
As the commentator's announcement echoed through the stadium, the entire venue erupted with enthusiastic cheers. Many spectators were beginning to get genuinely excited.
After Green and Ritchie, was a third trainer about to achieve a clean sweep with a single Pokémon?
"With only one Pokémon remaining, how will competitor Mandi handle this dire situation?"
"Damn it!"
Mandi recalled Seadra, but his expression was extremely grim. Two of his Pokémon had been defeated, yet his opponent's Kingler hadn't sustained any serious injuries.
It had merely expended some stamina from using its own moves. The previous battles against Exeggutor and Seadra had barely drained its energy at all.
Furthermore, Ash still had two unused Pokémon. Even if he managed to defeat this Kingler, two more Pokémon would remain, and dealing with them might prove even more challenging.
Ash noticed Mandi's expression, which appeared somewhat peculiar.
After a brief hesitation, Mandi pulled out a Poké Ball, stared at it for a moment, then threw it onto the field with what seemed like desperate determination.
Although the situation was already heavily disadvantaged for him, he clearly wasn't willing to surrender at this point.
Being eliminated early in the tournament wasn't shameful, but voluntarily forfeiting at the start would be truly embarrassing.
Soon, a figure materialized on the floating platform, causing it to sink slightly under the weight. As the light faded, Mandi's final Pokémon was revealed.
"Huh?" Ash blinked in mild surprise at the sight of Mandi's last Pokémon.
"What... Competitor Mandi's final Pokémon is actually a Graveler?!"
The commentator sounded equally stunned. Mandi's last Pokémon was indeed Graveler.
As everyone knew, Graveler was a dual Rock and Ground-type Pokémon. Both of these types were weak to Water-type moves. Even setting aside type disadvantages, in this particular battlefield environment, Graveler's combat effectiveness would be severely diminished. Forget about fighting—even basic movement would be difficult.
Not only the commentator, but many spectators couldn't understand why Mandi would send out Graveler when he knew perfectly well that the battlefield was a Water Field.
Trainers were informed of the competition venue beforehand and typically selected their participating Pokémon based on the designated battlefield.
For a Water Field, trainers would normally choose Water-type Pokémon that excelled in such terrain, or select Grass-type and Electric-type Pokémon to counter Water-types, or even choose Flying-type Pokémon that could ignore the terrain disadvantage entirely.
Yet Mandi had registered Graveler for this match—a decision that seemed utterly baffling to everyone watching.