"He hid again?!"
Lucien Foster's face darkened. If he couldn't find a way to stop that strategy, he could end up being completely defeated in this battle!
"Salamence, use Flamethrower again!"
However, after mentally reviewing all of Salamence's moves, Lucien realized helplessly that he had no real way to deal with this situation. All he could do was keep ordering Salamence to use Flamethrower. If it managed to hit Sandslash, great—but if not, at least it would burn up the oxygen in the tunnel and force it to surface sooner.
"Groaarr!"
Salamence, already weakened by the poison that was slowly draining its strength, roared in fury. With no other options left, it poured all its anger into a blazing fire that burst forth with scorching power.
Seeing this, Ethan smiled in satisfaction. He had already noticed—while Salamence knew many powerful moves, it didn't have access to less conventional ones like Hyper Voice.
"Then this battle's already decided."
Ethan breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Salamence unleash more fire across the field.
In truth, when Sandslash trained Dig, Ethan had taught it several techniques to avoid tunnel-filling attacks like Flamethrower or Surf.
The method was simple. At that moment, Sandslash was hiding in a side tunnel, about a meter away from the main one, positioned in a vertical upward alcove.
It might sound complex, but imagine it like an "Air Mantle Cave": when the Flamethrower entered through the main tunnel, the flames traveled downward along the passage to the end, then dispersed through the other vertical openings, venting back up to the surface.
In this way, Sandslash remained perfectly safe, calmly watching the flames roar just in front of it without taking the slightest damage.
Fuuu... fuuu...
But Salamence couldn't keep breathing fire endlessly. After a series of continuous attacks, it stopped in midair, panting heavily. The prolonged use of Flamethrower had further drained its stamina.
"Groaarr!"
At the same time, the poison took hold again—a purple glow spread across Salamence's body, making it shudder violently. It nearly dropped from the sky.
When its attack ceased, Sandslash emerged from underground. It looked up at Salamence, who was struggling to stay aloft, its breath ragged.
"Groaarr!"
Upon seeing Sandslash appear, Salamence roared in pure rage. But with almost no energy left, it couldn't attack anymore. It could only watch helplessly as Sandslash took a deep breath, relaxed for a moment, and then dove back underground.
"Damn it!"
Lucien clenched his teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
"Groaarr!"
At that instant, Salamence went completely berserk.
With a deafening roar, its eyes turned blood-red.
From the air, it dove straight down, its claws glowing with blazing dragon-type energy, and slammed into the ground with all its might.
BOOM!
The earth trembled as its claws struck, ripping up a massive chunk of soil and exposing the underground layer beneath the field.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Without stopping, the dragon continued to tear at the terrain, as though trying to rip the entire battlefield apart.
"Salamence is no longer able to battle! Sandslash wins the match!"
Finally, Salamence, completely consumed by fury and exhaustion, fell victim to the poison.
When the referee announced the result, the entire stadium fell utterly silent.
Such a powerful Salamence... had been defeated like that! Watching the proud dragon collapse, wild-eyed and drained, everyone felt a strange melancholy—like witnessing the downfall of a hero.
"He lost... just like that?"
"So this is what a true trainer looks like?"
"With the trainer's guidance, and the bond between trainer and Pokémon, a Pokémon's full potential can be unleashed..."
Aside from the most frenzied fans, every experienced trainer present fell into thoughtful silence.
Because, in terms of raw power, Ethan hadn't stood a chance against Lucien. In fact, not just Ethan—no other trainer there could have matched him.
After all, Lucien had used Dragonite, Salamence, and Gabite—three dragon-type pseudo-legendaries! Any one of them alone was enough to battle another trainer's strongest Pokémon.
Ethan, on the other hand, only had Sandslash, Cacturne, and Meltan. And in direct combat, probably only Sandslash could face one of those dragons head-on.
Meltan had been defeated instantly by Dragonite, and Cacturne had been severely injured by Salamence's Flamethrower.
But even so, with just those three Pokémon, Ethan had managed to defeat all three of Lucien's dragon pseudo-legendaries! If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one would have believed it possible.
If Dragonite's defeat could be attributed to a brief lapse in Lucien's attention, the rest of the match was a purely tactical victory.
In particular, Cacturne's role had been pivotal: sacrificing itself to poison Salamence, and then using Destiny Bond to drag down the still-fresh Gabite.
In other words, Cacturne alone had eliminated two opponents, leaving Sandslash nearly unharmed for the final showdown.
It was, without question, a tactical victory.
A triumph of strategy, surprise, and precision.
However, everyone also understood that if they were to battle again—this time with Lucien fully prepared—Ethan would be crushed without mercy.
After all, only Sandslash could withstand direct combat against those three dragons. And even then, its odds against Dragonite or Salamence would remain slim.
In terms of pure strength, Lucien's Pokémon were terrifyingly powerful. And precisely because of that, everyone could see just how brilliant Ethan's plan truly was: an unwinnable battle, conquered through sheer strategy.
At that moment, everyone who understood what they had just witnessed couldn't help but draw a sharp breath, looking at Ethan with genuine admiration.
Especially the five students from Duskwell City Pokémon University, who couldn't help but recall the exchange tournament from before.
Back then, they too had held the absolute advantage in strength—and yet they had still lost, and lost completely.
How ironic. The scene was almost identical.
Once again, a victory won purely through tactics.
(End of Chapter)