How was she supposed to break this deadlock?
Thoughts raced through Yellow's mind, one after another, but for a moment, she truly couldn't find an answer.
In the end… it seemed there was only one choice.
Yellow took out a Poké Ball, preparing to recall Mega Pidgeot.
Right now, she really had no way out.
Drapion's tail was incredibly strong, and Mega Pidgeot's wings were firmly clamped.
It couldn't even use Air Slash.
She couldn't possibly have Mega Pidgeot use Hyper Beam, could she?
Even if it hit—which was already questionable—afterwards Mega Pidgeot would be immobilized, and wouldn't it just get caught again by Drapion?
Recalling it was clearly the best option—but…
"Sand Tomb."
Dylan seemed to see through Yellow's intentions and issued the command immediately.
"Eh?" Yellow froze.
Drapion let out a low growl.
The ground beneath Mega Pidgeot softened, layers of quicksand appearing one after another.
With its tail, Drapion forced Mega Pidgeot straight down into the swirling Sand Tomb.
Mega Pidgeot's face twisted in pain, completely unable to struggle—
Because Drapion's tail was still tightly clamped around it.
"Ground-type moves may be ineffective against Flying-types," Dylan said with a smile,
"but Mega Pidgeot is on the ground right now."
The logic behind it was actually very simple.
In Pokémon battles, the Flying type is a surprisingly subtle concept.
Flying-types are immune to Ground-type moves mainly because they are not considered to be on the ground.
Take Roost, for example:
"The user lands and rests its body, restoring half of its max HP."
"During the turn it lands, a Flying-type Pokémon loses its Flying type.
A Pokémon whose primary type is Flying and has no secondary type becomes Normal-type."
Do you get it?
Flying-type immunity to Ground-type moves is fundamentally different from Dark-type immunity to Psychic or Fairy-type immunity to Dragon.
Ground-type moves simply can't hit Pokémon that are flying.
But once a Flying-type Pokémon is forced onto the ground, Ground-type moves can affect it.
That's exactly why, in the anime, Ash's Staraptor triggered Toxic Spikes after being slammed onto the ground by Paul's Drapion.
The moment it hit the ground, Staraptor was considered a grounded Pokémon.
The same applied here.
Originally, Sand Tomb should have had no effect on Mega Pidgeot.
But now that it was pinned to the ground by Drapion—
It was caught.
And once trapped by Sand Tomb, Mega Pidgeot could no longer be recalled.
"How could this happen…"
Yellow's face turned pale, the Poké Ball clenched in her hand as she stood helpless.
"Yellow," Dylan said calmly,
"Pokémon battles are meaningful—but competitive battles are also cruel."
"When someone wins, someone else must lose."
"You may not care deeply about victory or defeat, but this is something you must remember."
Yellow pressed her lips together.
She… understood, at least a little.
"Then… Drapion."
Dylan called softly.
Drapion growled and yanked Mega Pidgeot out of the Sand Tomb, sand spilling everywhere, before swinging it down hard.
THUD!
The ground shook violently.
Mega Pidgeot let out a painful whimper, and in the next instant, deep purple poison energy spread over its body.
Toxic Spikes damage.
But it wasn't over yet.
"Cross Poison."
Drapion crossed its claws, sharp dark-purple blades tearing through the air and slashing straight into Mega Pidgeot.
BOOM!
Mega Pidgeot cried out in agony, its body visibly weakening.
Its defenses weren't high to begin with.
After taking so much damage in succession, it was reaching its limit.
"Don't give up, Pidgeot!"
Yellow bit her lip tightly, unwilling to accept this, and shouted with all her strength.
How could she just stand by and watch her Pokémon suffer like this?
"Hm?" Dylan raised an eyebrow.
He could vaguely feel it—
Yellow's Viridian Forest power was pouring out.
Mega Pidgeot, whose consciousness had nearly faded, somehow found strength from nowhere and began struggling violently again.
But Drapion, having already experienced one "surprise," didn't loosen its grip this time.
It used every bit of its strength to pin Mega Pidgeot firmly to the ground.
"Pidgeot! Hyper Beam!"
Seeing Mega Pidgeot surge with renewed "vitality," Yellow gave the order without hesitation.
Mega Pidgeot snapped its head up, sharp eyes locking onto the ferocious Drapion.
Black, destructive energy gathered rapidly in front of its beak.
"Drapion!" Dylan grinned.
"Cross Poison!"
Drapion roared back, claws crossing without fear.
BOOOOM!
The destructive beam and the toxic blades passed each other.
Hyper Beam slammed directly into Drapion, the explosion deafening.
Violent shockwaves rippled outward, blinding light flooding the arena.
Even with Drapion's resilience, its body was blasted clean off the ground and hurled backward, crashing heavily onto the battlefield.
The raging energy churned for several moments before finally settling.
"That Hyper Beam was insanely strong!"
Hilda clicked her tongue as she stared at the field.
Even Drapion—so dominant until now—was down on the ground, unable to rise immediately.
Could it have been taken out in one hit?
"It really did get stronger again," Selene nodded, still awed by the dazzling blast.
"No doubt—Mega Pidgeot powered up again at the very end."
That girl… was terrifying.
Did her power really have no upper limit?
Selene looked at Yellow on the field.
Yellow's chest rose and fell slightly—was she exhausted?
That made sense.
After her battle with Lance, she'd looked the same way.
The dust finally cleared.
Huff… huff…
Heavy breathing echoed.
Drapion slowly pushed itself up.
Its body was battered and scarred, but it was still conscious.
However, it was obvious that Hyper Beam had dealt massive damage.
On the other side—
Mega Pidgeot's body had gone completely limp.
Though it struggled to keep its eyes open, even trying to push itself up when it saw Drapion standing again—
It wanted to keep fighting for Yellow.
But… its body had reached its limit.
A flash of light.
Mega Pidgeot reverted from Mega Evolution and collapsed completely, spiral eyes spinning.
"Mega Pidgeot is unable to battle. Drapion wins."
The referee announced the result.
"Rest well, Pidgeot. Thank you."
Yellow recalled Pidgeot gently.
She knew—
Pidgeot had already given everything it had.
"That was a beautiful Hyper Beam," Dylan said warmly.
"Your Pidgeot was excellent."
"But… it still couldn't defeat your Drapion, Gym Leader brother."
Yellow secured the Poké Ball and looked at the ferocious scorpion Pokémon before her, eyes heavy.
"Want to defeat it? That's not easy," Dylan chuckled.
"Right, Drapion?"
"Long—!"
Drapion waved its claws, growling challengingly at Yellow.
"I won't let Pidgeot's effort be wasted," Yellow said, taking a deep breath, eyes resolute.
"Absolutely not."
"That's a good look."
Dylan nodded approvingly and gestured for her to continue.
"The battle's only just begun."
"You're the one who defeated Senior Lance to get here," he added jokingly.
"If you don't perform well, not only will I be disappointed—Senior Lance will be too."
As if on cue, the camera cut to the stands.
Lance stood there, arms crossed, expressionless.
His presence alone was oppressive.
Lance's eyelid twitched slightly.
He snorted and said nothing—but the message was clear.
"I understand."
Yellow almost laughed.
Her Gym Leader brother really knew how to joke at the strangest times.
"Nidoking! I'm counting on you!"
She decisively threw her third Poké Ball.
The purple Nidoking landed heavily in front of her, letting out a threatening roar toward Drapion.
Drapion didn't back down in the slightest, roaring back even louder.
"A Poison/Ground-type Nidoking—good choice," Wallace nodded in approval.
"Poison can deal with Toxic Spikes, and Ground-type moves counter Drapion."
"At least in terms of typing, there's no issue."
"But execution is everything," Steven said thoughtfully, hand to his chin.
"That Drapion is seriously strong."
Its performance had been nearly flawless—
Field control, bulk, power, and that flexible, terrifying tail.
Its reactions were outstanding.
Especially its durability.
It had taken multiple hits from Arcanine, then tanked Mega Pidgeot's all-or-nothing Hyper Beam—and still hadn't gone down.
And now, Drapion had steadied itself again.
Despite the visible wounds, just how damaged it really was… remained unknown.
"That's only natural," Wallace said casually.
"It was one of Dylan's original core Pokémon."
"If Dylan hadn't spread his focus across so many teams…"
"With his training ability, you could tell me this Drapion could take down Zekrom—and I'd believe it."
And honestly—
What would happen if Dylan had focused all his effort on raising just one main team?
How terrifying would that team be?