For example...
"Vwooosh...!!"
A deep-violet shockwave carved a spiraling trail through the air.
The next instant, it slammed head-on into the white Solar Beam mid-sky.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no mushroom cloud. When the two high-density energies collided, they produced only a skin-crawling, fingernails-on-blackboard screech magnified ten-thousandfold.
It was pure energy devouring and annihilating itself.
The air rippled from the heat; light twisted into grotesque shapes at the point of impact.
"Come on... beam clash!"
Caesar clenched his teeth, cheeks bulging as he squeezed every last ounce of power from his elemental lungs and throat.
The deadlock lasted less than a second.
The Solar Beam that had bullied him since the second round, that 120-base-power pillar of white light, finally cracked under the violet spiral. Dragon Pulse tore through the sunlit structure with brute, unreasonable force, pushing upstream against the white column!
At that moment, the distant mountain of flesh that was Venusaur finally reacted.
For the first time, its sly red eyes showed something like shock.
It simply couldn't fathom how a Gabite that hadn't even reached its final evolution could win a beam war against its Solar Beam.
But the fat toad's reflexes were insane.
The instant Dragon Pulse was about to blast its face, its huge, clumsy body jerked sideways in a physics-defying slide—
"Skrrrk!"
The deep-violet shockwave scraped past, missing the vitals, yet the spiraling aftershock still shredded its flank.
Thick hide tore open; green sap mixed with blood sprayed out, leaving a charred gash down to the bone.
"...Sss!"
Venusaur let out a muffled, pained hiss.
It was hurt.
For the first time since the fight began, truly hurt.
"Huff... huff..."
Caesar panted; that Dragon Pulse had drained nearly a quarter of his mana. His throat burned, his elemental lungs spasming.
Yet he bared his fanged dragon maw in a grin.
"Hurts? Good."
He spat bloody saliva, eyes fierce as he watched the giant toad steady itself.
"My throat hurts worse, but as long as I can break your shell, I'm ahead!"
Venusaur was clearly enraged.
It wasn't about to give Caesar a breather. It widened the gap, the flower on its back shaking as it launched the same disgusting combo.
Countless green-glowing Magical Leaves rose like a locust swarm, filling the air. The high-frequency scraping tried to cripple Caesar's sonar again.
It wanted to kite him just like before.
"Same old trick?"
Caesar shook his dizzy head, a flash of savagery in his eyes.
If he couldn't hear—then he wouldn't listen.
If he couldn't see—then he'd blow everything up!
He sucked in air, ignoring the agony in his throat, and opened his maw at the sky-full of green blades.
The wild dragon-type factor boiled inside him once more.
"Break... for me!"
Boom—!
The endless Magical Leaves were like scraps of paper in a gale, swept away in an instant!
The fan-shaped violet shockwave didn't stop, slamming straight into the high-speed Venusaur.
"Gua!"
The toad was sent tumbling, its massive body rolling several times before it stopped, fresh wounds of varying depth covering it.
It finally realized the land-shark in front of it was no longer the punching bag from moments ago.
A new Move had changed the fight.
"ゴゴゴゴゴ..." A terrifying pressure spread outward from Venusaur.
It crouched, its body beginning to blaze with blinding light—
Here it comes!
Phase two!
Caesar's guard shot up, his blue dragon body tensing.
Evolutionary light swallowed the bulky toad; within the glow its form shifted violently. The flower on its back grew huger and lusher, the trunk thickened, limbs swelling with power.
Mega Venusaur!
A monster with a 625 base-stat total had entered the field!
The instant the evolution finished, Mega Venusaur hesitated not at all. Thick roots burst from under its feet and plunged deep into the earth.
Ingrain!
By rooting itself it would non-stop absorb nutrients to recover stamina and become immune to all forced movement.
It had turned itself into an immobile fortress-gun!
Caesar's heart sank. He knew Mega Venusaur's Special Attack stat had rocketed to a terrifying 122. Trading beams now was almost certain death.
The Gabite template had never been about Special Attack!
He had to close the distance!
The moment Caesar switched tactics, his figure blurred.
"Dod-dod-dod...!"
A rapid patter of footsteps echoed across the field.
Caesar lowered his body, skimming the Ground, tail working like a rudder to keep perfect balance as he began circling Mega Venusaur at high speed in an eerie gait.
Such a ninja-run made no biomechanical sense for a two-legged human.
But for Caesar it was instinct carved into his very Bloodline!
It was the flight stance of the Garchomp line—on land, a simulation of supersonic flight!
"Gua!!"
Mega Venusaur was clearly bewildered by this sudden high-speed maneuver.
The flower on its back shook wildly; sky-darkening Magical Leaves howled out again, faster and more numerous than before, trying to seal Caesar's path.
While sprinting at high speed, Caesar kept spitting out low-powered Dragon Pulses, sweeping the incoming Magical Leaf aside like a glowing blade.
Across the battlefield only a deep-blue afterimage could be seen, circling madly around the green gun turret at the center; purple fan-shaped waves and green leaves collided with crackling blasts.
Mega Venusaur couldn't find a lock-on opportunity.
Caesar was simply too fast, and his movements were completely unpredictable.
And he was closing in.
Every lap he sliced several meters closer.
Fifty meters… thirty… twenty… Mega Venusaur's eyes bored into the ever-approaching blur.
Right then, while clearing a cluster of Magical Leaf, the opponent's motion froze for a fraction of a second.
Now!
Mega Venusaur seized that fleeting instant! The blossom on its back snapped toward the blur.
Under Sunny Day's boost, Solar Beam fired instantly.
Yet this was exactly the opening Caesar had baited on purpose.
He had already charged into striking range.
THOOM—!!!
Caesar's right foot, carrying every ounce of his strength, slammed into the Ground with Bulldoze.
The stomp detonated like a buried landmine.
The patch of Ingrain-afflicted soil beneath Mega Venusaur, along with its 155-kg body, was ripped bodily from the earth.
Groaa!?
Mega Venusaur lost all balance in shock; the lethal Solar Beam scorched past Caesar's scalp and punched empty air into the distant barrier.
How could Caesar possibly uproot it?
Because from the very start he had been using Sand Tomb to secretly sandify the underground structure.
Just now he had finally turned the patch of soil under Mega Venusaur's roots into an isolated island.
This time, with its roots fused to the block, Mega Venusaur had nowhere to dodge.
Die!
Caesar's form appeared beside the tilting Mega Venusaur in midair, both claws glowing with ominous light.
Shadow Claw!
SHRED!
The spell-summoning claws raked across Mega Venusaur's thick hide, tearing out a sheet of flesh.
Before the other could react, Caesar twisted violently in midair and lashed out with the opposite claw.
The second Shadow Claw, deeper and crueler, carved a horrific cross-shaped wound across Mega Venusaur's back.
ROAAAR—!!!
Mega Venusaur let out a sky-shaking roar of agony.
Yet even so, it did not fall.
Its Bloodline was simply too thick.
Before hitting the Ground it wrenched its body, firing a thick Solar Beam from its back—not to hit, but to force Caesar back.
At the same time its blossom began spewing Magical Leaf like a green tempest, swallowing Caesar whole.
The Venusaur was repeating its trick, hoping to spot an opening amid the chaos and land a fatal blow.
This time it had grown wiser.
In that instant its roots had already stabbed vertically deeper underground…
The enemy's stomp tactic could never work twice.
SHSHSHSHSH—!
Amid the blinding leaves, Gabite's silhouette crouched lower.
He could only keep moving, dodging, searching for a new chance.
Mega Venusaur waited silently.
Its senses were linked to every leaf; the whole field lay under its surveillance.
It could "see" that high-speed figure weaving through the leafy curtain, drawing closer… closer… about to strike!
Now!
Mega Venusaur blasted a point-blank Solar Beam straight at the clearest point of perception.
Light tore through the dense leafy veil.
But only two huge Shadow Claws, slowly fading, had been hit.
A decoy?!
「ザワザワザワ…」Mega Venusaur's mind went blank for a full second.
If this were a JoJo panel, the wind of victory would already be rising behind Caesar.
"I kept wondering—if you can't see me, how are you aiming?"
In manga-panel style, Caesar began the classic JoJo battle commentary.
"Sight? Sound? Yet you always lock on even when I can't see you—strange, right?"
"The answer is the leaves! You track me through Magical Leaf feedback. So if I block with Shadow Claw, I vanish for an instant from your radar!"
"My Substitute has five meters of reach—and those five meters are the distance of your defeat!"
—The instant he dodged the Solar Beam, Caesar rode the shockwave and vaulted high.
Like a ghost he appeared directly above Mega Venusaur.
Certain kill!
✣Dragon Pulse!!!
From on high!
Point-blank!
As stated, Dragon Pulse is a wave Move that erupts a "shockwave" from the dragon-type maw.
And shockwaves grow stronger the closer you are.
At the last moment Mega Venusaur's huge head slowly lifted, just enough time for the swelling violet light to fill its dim pupils—BOOM—!!
[Ding! Challenge cleared!]
[EXP gained: 600.]
[✣Passive triggered: slight size increase (+0.1).]
[✲Loot acquired: HP cap +20, Move disc blueprint (Weather Ball)…✲]
[Congratulations, you have passed the third trial floor.]
Victor: Caesar!!!