"Deino, dodge it!"
Deino leaped nimbly between the protruding stone edges, deftly evading their razor-sharp points by landing squarely on their backs. With immense force behind its hind legs, it shattered the stone blades right down the middle with a decisive kick.
A shower of fragmented rock rained down, settling into a jagged pile beneath Deino as it unleashed a roaring draconic bellow.
"Well done. Let's see how you evade this next one!"
"Excadrill, Rock Blast!"
Beneath Deino's feet, the loose rubble began to shudder violently.
"Watch out, Deino! Dragon Pulse straight at the ground!"
Sensing the impending danger, Feng Che furrowed his brow and barked out the command.
Deino opened its maw and fired a Dragon Pulse without hesitation. The blast pulverized a portion of the rubble, and using the concussive recoil of the attack, the small Pokémon launched itself high into the air.
Just as it took flight, the stones where it had stood exploded. Thumb-sized shards tore through the air like a hail of bullets, whizzing straight toward Deino. But Deino was already prepared. Raising its razor-sharp talons, it cleaved through the incoming projectiles with Dragon Claw, shattering them to dust.
Yet before Deino could even finish dealing with the barrage, sharp stone spikes burst violently from the earth once more, thrusting ruthlessly toward its small frame.
"Deino, Snarl!"
Composed and completely unruffled, Deino opened its mouth wide and unleashed an ultra-frequency sonic wave. The air distorted and rippled as the shockwave from the Snarl shattered the rising stone spikes, blasting them into scattered debris.
"The sheer power of this Deino's sonic attack is unbelievable!"
"I swear Excadrill looks like it's fighting a battle-hardened Hydreigon, not an unevolved Deino!"
"This examinee called Tyrannosaurus is terrifyingly good."
"To think an unevolved Deino could actually go toe-to-toe with an Elite Four-level Excadrill..."
Before the spectators could even finish marveling, the arena floor fractured into several jagged fissures. One Excadrill after another burrowed out from beneath the crust, transforming into a swarm of spinning drills that converged on Deino.
"Deino, deflect their trajectory with Dragon Pulse!"
Opening its jaws once again, Deino unleashed a brilliant, golden Dragon Pulse. The draconic energy coalesced into a majestic, spiraling dragon that coiled around the drilling Excadrill clones midair, grinding them in a crushing grip. The illusions dissipated instantly, popping like soap bubbles into thin air.
"Damn it! My Excadrill's signature illusion tactic... broken just like that?!"
Iris clenched her fists tight. She had already lost two rounds; she could not afford to lose another. Who could have foreseen that such a dark horse would charge out of nowhere and batter two of her Pokémon so thoroughly?
"All right, Deino, play time's over. Let's finish this Excadrill off," Feng Che said coolly, a faint arch to his eyebrow. "Use Blizzard!"
Deino drew in a deep, lung-filling breath, then unleashed a roaring Blizzard straight into the sky.
"What is it doing? Why fire Blizzard straight up? Is this some sort of scheme, or a hidden tactic?"
A wave of bewilderment swept through the crowd. Even Drayden, Instructor Victor, and the Second Elder failed to immediately discern the true purpose behind the move.
Feather-light snowflakes drifted down from the heavens, and a biting chill swiftly plunged the temperature of the battlefield below freezing. Moments later, the spectators gasped as they realized what was taking shape within the raging blizzard: a colossal iceberg was rapidly condensing in the upper air.
"I see it now... Tyrannosaurus wanted Deino to forge an iceberg and use its sheer mass to trigger an earthquake!" Drayden muttered, his expression darkening as the frozen mountain swelled. Once that iceberg struck the ground, it would unleash a catastrophic seismic shockwave—a level of concussive force that would spell disaster for a Ground-type like Excadrill.
The titanic mass of ice plunged downward at breakneck speed.
The moment the iceberg slammed into the arena floor, the world trembled. Massive fractures tore across the battlefield, and the earth convulsed with violent fury. Spectators stumbled and fell hard on their backsides, while others threw themselves flat against the shaking ground, waiting in terror for the tremors to subside.
"Not good!"
As the violent shaking finally quieted, a thin, ice-blue mist settled over the ruined arena. Amidst the vapor, Deino pranced with gleeful excitement, as though it had just brought down a gentle snowfall rather than an apocalyptic earthquake.
"That Deino danced a Dragon Dance right at the instant of impact!"
"It matched the rhythm of its dance to completely slip through the shockwave's damage!"
"I'd give anything to crack open this Tyrannosaurus's skull and see how he trains his Pokémon."
"To bring an unevolved Deino to such a staggering level... this man cannot be a nobody."
Instructor Victor stroked his goatee, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes. He, too, was burning to know Tyrannosaurus's true identity.
Just then, a battered and disheveled Excadrill clawed its way out from the rubble, glaring furiously at Deino. Deino, however, merely continued its rhythmic dance across the shattered ground.
"That Deino has already stacked two Dragon Dances..." Iris noted, her sharp eyes missing nothing. She glanced up at Feng Che, clearly demanding an explanation. "Won't that put an unbearable strain on its body?"
"Not in the slightest. My Deino has undergone specialized conditioning," Feng Che replied smoothly, answering her unvoiced doubt. "Its physical resilience is more than capable of handling a full six stacks of Dragon Dance."
"Excadrill, put everything into this last strike!" Iris commanded, steeling her resolve. "Rapid Spin into Heavy Slam!"
Excadrill tucked itself in, morphing into a gleaming drill bristling with deadly, elongated spikes. It spun at blinding speed, whipping up savage gales that pulled loose rocks into its vortex and instantly ground them to powder.
A tremendous vacuum gripped the battlefield, tugging insistently at Deino's body. Yet Deino never broke its stride, continuing its Dragon Dance without pause. With each completed cadence, its latent power surged higher, scaling toward an absolute zenith.
By the time it finalized all six stacks, its offensive power had peaked. Opening its mouth, it unleashed another Dragon Pulse. A roaring dragon of energy lunged directly into the vortex, seeking to swallow Excadrill whole. But after a brief, violent struggle within the gale, the draconic construct was ripped to shreds by the lethal drill.
"All right, Deino, let's test that move," Feng Che suggested with quiet confidence.
Deino blinked its large eyes, instantly catching on to Feng Che's meaning. Stomping hard against the fractured earth, it shot high into the heavens.
Vast waves of draconic aura erupted through every pore of its being, dying its dark coat a blazing gold. Ignited like a falling meteor, it trailed an incandescent wake of raw dragon energy behind it.
With blinding momentum, Deino hurtled straight down toward Excadrill.
Excadrill felt an overwhelming, mountain-crushing force crash into it, and its blinding spin ground instantly to a dead, violent halt.