Boom—!
The groaning of the earth continued.
Kingdra was violently launched into the air by the force erupting from deep underground. Its massive body traced a limp parabola in mid-air before crashing heavily onto the cracked arena, splashing water everywhere.
Almost simultaneously, a dark red figure burst forth from the ground!
"Pfft!"
The moment Krookodile landed, it couldn't suppress a mouthful of blood mixed with the scent of raw earth.
The blood splattered onto the edges of its ferocious snout, adding to its menacing appearance.
The scales on its body were damaged in many places; clearly, detonating the "Earthquake" move underground had dealt a massive backlash to itself as well.
However, its eyes, deep-set in their sockets, burned with pure, unadulterated, and insane fighting spirit.
The big screen captured this scene precisely, juxtaposing it with Ariel's face in the Trainer's area.
On Ariel's face, there was no worry, no tension, only a faint smile that made one's heart run cold.
That smile was cunning and cold, as if everything was under his control.
One bathed in blood and madness, the other planning and strategizing.
Two faces, two expressions, yet both exuded the same chilling aura.
In the spectator stands, those gamblers who had bet their fortunes on Ariel erupted into deafening cheers after a brief moment of silence!
They couldn't understand the tactics, but they could understand the momentum!
This style of trading injury for injury, life for life, was exactly to their taste!
"Now is the time!"
Ariel's voice pierced through the roar of the arena.
This command was more like a signal—a signal to begin the slaughter.
Kingdra had just been hit by "Earthquake," and the flow of energy throughout its body had fallen into a temporary stasis; its body was rigid and unable to move.
This was the inevitable recoil brought about by the move's effect, a flaw that no Trainer could avoid.
But Krookodile didn't have it at this moment!
First, because Krookodile is a Ground-type itself, it is much more accustomed to moves of its own type.
Second, because this Earthquake originated from Krookodile itself, it was the first to take damage!
It was in this split second!
The authority over heaven and earth changed hands at this moment!
Ignoring its own pain, Krookodile suddenly raised its thick arms and roared to the sky.
With it as the center, waves of murky, earthy-yellow energy shot into the sky; countless sand and stones on the cracked ground were stirred up and lifted by an invisible force.
A rolling Sandstorm instantly swept across the entire arena!
Vision was completely stripped away within seconds.
The air was filled with suffocating sand and dust; every breath felt like swallowing a handful of scorching grit.
The entire rainy day turned into a murky yellow hue amidst the Sandstorm, and the whole world seemed to have been dragged into an apocalyptic desert.
"Kingdra!" Lance's voice carried a hint of urgency. "Use Twister at your feet!"
His judgment was accurate.
In such Sandstorm weather, the Water-type Kingdra would take continuous damage, and the loss of vision was even more fatal.
Using Twister to form a barrier around itself to blow away the sand and dust was a textbook standard response.
However, his opponent was Ariel.
A madman who never played by the rules.
Ariel didn't even speak; a thought already crossed the space and was branded into Krookodile's mind.
"Want to clear the field? If I give you that chance, how could I sleep tonight?"
He chuckled inwardly, watching Lance's face, which was slightly discomposed by anxiety, and suddenly felt that this match was becoming interesting.
Within the Sandstorm, Krookodile's scarlet eyes shone terrifyingly bright.
It suddenly opened its clasped arms, making a motion similar to "grabbing"!
The next second, an inconceivable scene occurred!
The Sandstorm that was dancing wildly across the sky, which should have been intangible, seemed to have come to life!
Countless sand and stones were forcibly aggregated and compressed by a brutal force, and on both sides of Kingdra, two giant hands made of grit, blotting out the sky, abruptly formed!
It wasn't just simple shaping; one could even see knuckles made of crushed stones on the giant hands, and sand and dust swirled in the palms, forming terrifying vortices!
"What?!"
Lance's pupils shrank to the size of needle points in an instant.
Controlling the weather?
No! This wasn't controlling the weather! This was using more Advanced energy control techniques on top of weather moves to turn it to its own use!
This was forcibly twisting an area-of-effect move into a targeted attack move!
This guy... how on earth did he do it?!
In the VIP room of the spectator stands.
"Snap!"
Steven abruptly stood up from his seat, the wine glass in his hand tilting due to its owner's excitement, and the deep red wine spilled onto the expensive carpet, yet he was completely unaware.
"This... this is..."
He was pleasantly surprised that his friend Ariel had regained the advantage, but deep down, a more complex emotion was surging.
It was shock, and also a hint of bitterness.
He remembered the battle he had had with Ariel.
He thought he had forced out Ariel's limits and thought he had glimpsed all of this man's strength.
Only at this moment did Steven realize how ridiculously wrong he had been.
Ariel hadn't used his full strength at all when battling him!
This man was still hiding deeper, more terrifying trump cards!
"So... you guy..."
Steven murmured softly, his thoughts drifting.
On the field!
The battle situation changed in an instant!
Kingdra faithfully executed Lance's command; a small Twister generated at its feet, and the high-speed rotating airflow attempted to push away the surrounding sand and dust.
However, Lance's plan backfired.
Those two giant sand hands didn't strike down directly, but under Ariel's will, they tilted and "poured" a massive amount of sand and stones into the range of the Twister!
The Twister was like a super high-power vacuum cleaner, actively sucking the sand and stones that had only intended to approach onto itself with faster speed and greater force!
"Screee—!"
Kingdra's wails were shredded into pieces.
Countless high-speed rotating stones had now turned into the most lethal blades, crazily cutting and grinding against its body.
Its proud, smooth scales were scraped off in sheets, leaving it bloody and mangled!
This was no longer the continuous damage of Sandstorm weather; this was a thousand cuts in the physical sense!
Lance's face turned deathly pale.
His command, his response, had actually become the catalyst that accelerated his own Pokémon's defeat!
This was simply a humiliating disgrace!
And Ariel didn't give him any chance to catch his breath.
Just as Kingdra was being backlashed by its own move and struggling in pain, Krookodile had already received new instructions.
"Hone Claws!"
Strike while they're down!
Krookodile crossed its sharp claws, and amidst a harsh grating sound, its Attack and accuracy rose once again! It was preparing for the final blow!
Every command was seamlessly linked.
Every decision was ruthless to the extreme.
"It's over."
Ariel declared softly.
Krookodile's figure flashed and vanished in the sky-filling yellow sand; it was the only master of this Sandstorm domain.
The next moment, it appeared in front of the miserable Kingdra.
Without the slightest hesitation, it opened that massive maw stained with its own blood.
"Crunch!"
"Snap—!"
The sound of bones shattering was transmitted through the microphone across the entire venue, so clear it made one's scalp tingle.
Kingdra's final wail was forcibly choked off in its throat; its massive body collapsed to the ground with a boom, completely losing the ability to battle.
The Sandstorm gradually subsided.
On the arena, only Krookodile remained, standing bathed in blood, and beneath its feet, the devastated battlefield.
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