The Life Orb was even capable of repairing the neurological damage inflicted on Mega Gyarados by illicit drugs, restoring the beast to complete lucidity.
"Keep the trash for all I care. I have plenty more where that came from," Poison Dragon sneered, stubbornly refusing to admit fault. In truth, he possessed few such specimens; that Mega Gyarados was his crowning achievement. Yet once a Pokémon drained its life force to the dregs, not even the gods themselves could revive it. Abandoning it was his only option.
The spectators could plainly see that the fallen Mega Gyarados stood at death's door. None of them raised a voice to condemn Feng Che for capturing a castoff. If anything, they saw his intervention as a mercy. In the same breath, many resolved never to associate with Poison Dragon. A trainer who could discard his own partner so callously would abandon his allies without hesitation when disaster struck.
Unbeknownst to him, that single act of cruelty had permanently stripped Poison Dragon of any right to inherit the clan leadership.
"Now then—behold my next Pokémon!"
Poison Dragon slapped the launcher's release, and another chimera materialized before Feng Che.
It was a Dracovish.
The Dracovish possessed a fish-like head of vivid blue, capped by an immense, ovular crest. Markings of lighter azure and crimson covered the dome around its eyes, resting atop a pale blue lower jaw flanked by a pair of small fins. Its mouth was lined with rows of rigid, serrated teeth. What appeared to be its neck was actually the reanimated fossilized tail of an ancient drake. Dark green skin, ribbed with crimson patterns, was crowned with rows of scarlet dorsal spikes.
The creature radiated the suffocating, primal aura of an apex predator from the primordial era.
"Come forth, my partner," Feng Che commanded, pressing his own launcher.
In a flash of light, Naganadel materialized over the battlefield.
"We're finished... It's a Naganadel!"
Poison Dragon's two lackeys collapsed into each other's arms, weeping inconsolably.
"If it had been a Dreepy or a Deino, Master Poison Dragon still had a shot at victory!" Minion A sobbed. "Summoning Naganadel means our plan was busted from the start! We didn't crush him at all—we're the ones getting slaughtered!"
The pair trembled uncontrollably. If Poison Dragon lost this duel, their lives were forfeit.
Naganadel...
The moment the Ultra Beast appeared, Poison Dragon realized Feng Che had long seen through the sabotage. The man had turned the trap against him from the start.
Splendid. In all my years, no one has ever dared play me for a fool! Poison Dragon seethed, laying all the blame squarely on Feng Che.
"Dracovish, freeze Naganadel with Ice Beam! Hold nothing back—fight to kill!"
The crushing aura of an ancient behemoth surged from Dracovish. A stifling pressure weighed down upon the onlookers, as though massive boulders were pressing against their chests. It was as if a primordial terror had returned to walk the modern world.
Yet before Naganadel, such a display fell completely flat.
Naganadel was the inheritor of Eternatus's legacy, its body having undergone a partial Eternamax-like mutation. The hollow pressure of an ancient fossil meant nothing to it.
Facing down the incoming Ice Beam, Naganadel unleashed a Dragon Pulse from its maw. The corrosive draconic beam clashed violently with the frigid ray, scattering crystalline plumes of purple and icy-blue dust across the sky. The colliding energies intermingled, forming a dense, violet-blue haze of toxic mist.
Good. I'll drag the entire arena's temperature below freezing, Poison Dragon calculated silently. Boil the frog in lukewarm water, then turn this entire stadium into a frozen wasteland.
"Naganadel, Venom Drench Rain!"
From the syringe-like stinger at the base of its abdomen, Naganadel pumped an immense deluge of venom into the hovering storm clouds. Moments later, a torrential drizzle of viscous purple rain cascaded from the heavens, reeking of a sharp, suffocating stench.
"Dracovish, set up Aqua Ring, then use Life Dew to purge the venom!" Poison Dragon commanded warily, unsettled by the falling acid.
Concentric bands of clear water coiled around Dracovish, shielding it from the caustic droplets that sizzled against the stone floor. Opening its maw, Dracovish channeled a soothing, milky-white radiance. Wherever the gentle light touched, the tainted purple rainwater was purified into harmless, crystal-clear water.
"From the moment my Dracovish hatched, it was raised in the harshest, most caustic toxic mire imaginable!" Poison Dragon boasted, his confidence returning. "It learned to use Life Dew to purge lethal sloughs, or it never would have survived infancy! Dracovish, Whirlpool!"
Dracovish threw back its jaw, unleashing a roaring vortex of water that climbed skyward like a watery dragon. The torrent howled through the air, hurtling straight toward Naganadel.
"Naganadel, full-power Dragon Pulse."
Naganadel drew a deep breath of draconic energy before firing a concentrated purple beam from its mouth. The Dragon Pulse wrapped around the rising torrent like a vice and twisted violently, shattering the water column into a thousand churning fragments. Caustic water splattered across the stone, hissing and smoking as it ate into the ground.
"Dracovish, Crunch!"
With bite force powerful enough to crush industrial superalloys into scrap, Dracovish slammed its heavy tail against the flagstones, launching itself upward. Its massive jaws gaped wide, aiming straight for Naganadel's swollen lower abdomen. Poison Dragon was well aware that Naganadel's primary brain was housed within its abdomen.
"Naganadel, Venoshock!"
A deluge of lethal venom erupted from Naganadel's lower stinger. In midair, the poison coalesced into the visage of a snarling serpent, hurtling headlong into the ascending beast.
Defying all reason, Dracovish opened its maw and swallowed the toxic blast whole, its monstrous digestive tract churning furiously to break down the poison.
"My Dracovish grew up in poisonous swamps—its stomach can process oceans of toxic waste!" Poison Dragon laughed, flashing a smug victory sign. "On top of that, it can purge afflictions using Life Dew. As formidable as your Naganadel may be, Dracovish is its natural predator! Every single attack Naganadel delivers is laced with poison, which means against my Dracovish, your hits are nothing more than an itch!"
"Is that so? Don't celebrate before the dust settles," Feng Che countered with a cold, mocking smirk. "Naganadel, since it enjoys poison so much, give it all the toxic attacks it can swallow."
Naganadel's venom was fatal upon the slightest contact. While Life Dew could alleviate the initial shock of the toxin, it could only delay the inevitable, not purge the deeper virulence. The longer Dracovish dragged out the battle, the deeper the lethal corruption would take root within its veins.