Chapter 1445: Brave One Battles the Dragon

Mist swirled across the wide arena.

Without a doubt, this was the additional effect brought about by Gigantamax Fairy—

【Misty Terrain】.

As the protective barrier ceased its activity, the crowd couldn't wait to look onto the field. Both Gigantamax Gengar and Gigantamax Hydreigon had been pushed back a short distance by the shockwaves from their high-energy collision just moments ago.

It was clear just how exaggerated that power had been.

The host's voice immediately echoed through the arena: "It's a draw! Gigantamax Darkness and Gigantamax Fairy have canceled each other out in the collision!"

Hum!

Cheers and screams from the audience rose and fell like waves.

"Well done, Gengar!"

"Use Gigantamax Fairy to take down Hydreigon in one go!"

"Go, Gengar!"

"Bo-jia~! Bo-jia~!"

Ash's supporters were restless with excitement; Gigantamax Gengar's performance was truly stunning. They hoped it would take advantage of the momentum and take down the opponent directly!

However, some calmer individuals believed the next move would be critical.

After a Pokémon Gigantamaxes, it is forced to revert after using three Gigantamax moves. Gigantamax Gengar had already used two, leaving only one chance remaining.

And All Baimu's Gigantamax Hydreigon still had two!

Could Gengar withstand a Gigantamax move with defensive moves like Hydreigon did?

It was very dangerous!

The expressions of the crowd were extremely tense.

On the field.

"Gen-ga..."

Gigantamax Gengar's long tongue flicked within its scarlet mouth, and a hint of solemnity flashed in its golden eyes.

The clash between Gigantamax Fairy and Gigantamax Darkness had seemed evenly matched, but in reality, it had been more suppressed on its side. Furthermore, there were type effectiveness and resistance factors at play; that it could reach such a level only proved that the opponent's Special Attack ability far exceeded its own.

It looked at the Gigantamax Hydreigon in the distance, which was puffing out smoke, and thinking of its own single remaining Gigantamax move, its massive body began to writhe.

"Gen-ga!"

Gigantamax Gengar let out a roar.

Ash, standing behind it, heard the sound and immediately realized something, his expression resolute as he said, "I understand! Gengar! I'm counting on you!"

As his voice fell, All Baimu on the opposite side issued a command.

"Gigantamax Darkness!"

"Roar!!"

Gigantamax Hydreigon roared at the sky, dark red energy surging at its sides to form two massive orbs of light.

The next instant, a distorted black-red torrent of energy surged out, piercing the air like a long dragon with a low, muffled roar, as if to destroy the world, violently charging toward the inexplicably unmoved Gigantamax Gengar!

"Swallow it! Gigantamax Fairy!!"

Ash issued a command that caught everyone by surprise.

Immediately, they saw Gigantamax Gengar suddenly expand its mouth to the limit, and its throat, bottomless like a black hole, actively and crazily sucked the Gigantamax Darkness into it!

The host screamed: "Nani? Ash is actually letting Gigantamax Gengar swallow the opponent's move!?"

The whole arena was in an uproar!

Leon in the lounge was also quite stunned, while Cynthia's expression remained very calm.

"As expected of him."

"Indeed."

Rumble—!!

The air exploded, followed by a terrifying muffled sound; all of this originated from Gigantamax Gengar's body. Gigantamax Darkness exploded completely within it, the terrifying power even causing its body to deform slightly.

But it still held on!

Yes.

Following the absorption of Marnie's Grimmsnarl's False Surrender and Raihan's Flygon's Sandstorm, the daring Ash had directly let Gigantamax Gengar absorb the Gigantamax Darkness from Gigantamax Hydreigon.

Gigantamax Gengar even launched a counterattack!

"It's your time to shine! Gengar!"

"Woo—woo!!"

It made an indistinct sound, and a colorful meteor shower plummeted from high above, intending to smash into Gigantamax Hydreigon.

Only, upon discovering that its move had been swallowed, Gigantamax Hydreigon made a reaction that was equally unexpected.

Carrying the remaining dark red light waves, it actively charged toward Gigantamax Gengar!

"Roar!!"

The roaring Gigantamax Hydreigon collided suddenly with Gigantamax Gengar the moment the Gigantamax Fairy crashed down. A dull thud exploded in their ears, and the bodies of the two giant beasts, comparable to buildings, trembled violently. At the same time, the moment Gigantamax Fairy and Gigantamax Darkness collided, they were completely submerged by the violent energy fluctuations that erupted.

Boom—!!

The earth-shattering explosion turned into a terrifying shockwave, instantly sweeping across the entire arena. A pillar of smoke shooting straight into the sky covered the arena's sky, blocking out all light.

The audience could only feel the terrifying tremors beneath their seats and the shockwaves, like a violent storm, being blocked outside by the protective device before their eyes. Many timid people couldn't help but cover their ears, trembling with fear.

What a terrifying scene!

However, in the lounge, Marnie, with a face full of excitement and fervor, leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window and said fanatically, "As expected of Gigantamax! No matter how many times I see it, it's especially refreshing!"

"Do you often watch Gigantamax battles?"

Leon caught the information hidden in her words and asked with a smile.

Marnie turned back and said shyly, "Yes, when I was little, my family often brought me to watch your matches. Later, when I went away to school, I rarely came back."

"Are you originally from Galar?" Leon was even more surprised.

He suddenly felt Marnie looked a bit familiar, but before he could think further, the smoke on the field below had already begun to dissipate.

Leon's gaze was immediately drawn over.

The people around were the same.

Countless people craned their necks in anticipation, just to know what the result would be after that strange clash.

Could Gigantamax Gengar successfully take down Gigantamax Hydreigon with that Gigantamax Fairy?

They soon got the answer.

Because Gigantamax Hydreigon's massive figure was still standing in the arena; it hadn't exhausted its stamina from Gigantamax Fairy and reverted early.

The host shouted loudly: "What amazing endurance! Gigantamax Hydreigon withstood the surprise attack from Gigantamax Gengar!

"Did it persist through the energy attrition after the move collision? Then, what is Gigantamax Gengar's status?"

Everyone's eyes were locked on the half of the field in front of Ash. They saw a round figure struggling to stand up within the shattered arena.

"Gen... ga!"

It was Gengar, who had reverted from Gigantamax!

It stood on the field, enduring the pain, which moved Ash behind it deeply. "Gengar... you..."

"Gen-ga!"

Gengar held on with its last breath, giving a thumbs-up to its Trainer without looking back.

As a Pokémon that had been deceived by lies and waited for many years, only to learn it had been ruthlessly abandoned, it cherished Ash, who loved it dearly and treated it as an important partner, more than anything.

It had to repay him!

He wants to become a partner who makes him proud!

Gengar held onto its belief, standing firmly with its seemingly sturdy yet thin body.

The host said in disbelief: "Gengar! Gengar hasn't lost the ability to battle! This is truly incredible!"

Wow!

Applause rang out in the audience!

Everyone knew that Gengar's act of swallowing Gigantamax Darkness just now was intended to trade one-for-one with Gigantamax Hydreigon.

Who could have expected this gamble to fail, yet not completely fail.

Because it was still on the field!

"Gen-ga..."

Gengar stared straight at the towering Gigantamax Hydreigon with blood-red eyes, secretly hating itself for not learning Destiny Bond.

If it had, it could not only have dragged down Gigantamax Hydreigon's third Gigantamax move, but also achieved more!

Hate!

It hated it!

Intense resentment formed a deep purple light wave around Gengar.

Seeing this, All Baimu said directly: "Don't give it a chance! Max Airstream!"

"Roar!"

Gigantamax Hydreigon roared high, and the uncontrollable fury, along with the flapping of its six wings, turned into a visible horizontal tornado hurricane!

Rumble, rumble—!!

The pale white violent wind crossed the entire arena, and sharp wind blades cut through the ground to form huge gullies, kicking up countless rocks mixed within, hitting Gengar with terrifying momentum, instantly blowing it away!

Thud!

Max Airstream slammed heavily into the protective device that appeared in front of the audience. The purple-red light shield trembled violently, and a sound like teeth-grinding groans came from somewhere from time to time, as if it were about to be destroyed.

The audience directly opposite raised their hands to block it instinctively, letting out screams that were half-excited and half-fearful.

A full four or five seconds later.

The tornado hurricane that crossed over a hundred meters finally ceased.

The purple-black figure fell from in front of the protective device, like a deflated ball, hitting the ground with a thud and kicking up dust.

Then, not far away, an orange-yellow radiance lit up on the surface of Gigantamax Hydreigon; Max Airstream had brought it an increase in speed.

Deng Pei carefully stepped onto the field on Aegislash, confirmed Gengar's status, and raised his hand to declare immediately.

"Gengar is unable to battle! Hydreigon wins!"

Ding!

The content on the big screen changed immediately, announcing to the world Ash's defeat in the second round.

The host also responded: "The second 'round' is over! It ends with Gengar's defeat! What a pity!"

He sighed endlessly.

The audience was equally noisy.

Most were regretting that Ash and Gengar's scheme hadn't succeeded.

Brock understood that All Baimu knew Ash too well. When Gigantamax Gengar swallowed Gigantamax Darkness, he truly thought Gigantamax Hydreigon might be defeated.

He hadn't expected Gigantamax Hydreigon to react so quickly, charging directly at Gigantamax Gengar to make the two moves collide and cancel each other out, significantly reducing the power it had to withstand.

This response method was as if it had been guarding against the opponent doing exactly that.

—Brock hadn't guessed wrong.

All Baimu and Hydreigon had indeed guarded against Gengar, after all, it wasn't the first time it had done such a thing.

Hydreigon's output was certainly not comparable to the first two times, but with Ash in an official match, nothing was impossible.

Back in the Advanced Generation League, Ash's Swellow could stop Donphan's Rollout with its claws; type effectiveness for Ash in official matches was more often than not just for reference.

Of course, it didn't mean it couldn't be used, just that if you wanted to achieve the expected effect, it depended on whether Ash gave you face.

When he felt he could take a gamble, he had to counter it with the result that he would win.

Therefore, All Baimu would never let Gigantamax Hydreigon take Gigantamax Fairy head-on and gamble with Ash's Gigantamax Gengar on who would fall first.

It was meaningless.

All he had to do was play it steady.

"Well done."

All Baimu said to Hydreigon, which had returned to its original form in front of him: "Stabilize the situation, take them down one by one!"

"Sha-sang!"

Hydreigon roared low, keeping its inner fury at all times.

This had a miraculous effect on increasing Attack power.

Battle required enough passion; such a simple truth it had understood when it was three months old. Being angry without losing intelligence was the important technique it had studied to this day.

Not far away.

Ash recalled the fainted Gengar and said in a low voice: "Thank you, Gengar. You were already great!"

The scheme had actually succeeded, but the opponent's counter-technique was too decisive, so it hadn't been able to take effect.

He took a deep breath, "It's okay, we still have a chance!"

In an instant, a Poké Ball was thrown forward.

Bang!

Light flashed.

"Ga!"

Following the Dragon and Ghost-type Pokémon, the third one Ash sent out was none other than the Fighting-type Sirfetch'd!

It held the leek sword and leek shield created by Calyrex, looking high-spirited and vigorous, determined to take down Hydreigon, this evil giant dragon!

Host: "Ash's third Pokémon! The Fighting-type Sirfetch'd appears! Does everyone still remember its brilliant performance in the semifinals?

"Facing this Pokémon, will All Baimu choose to switch Pokémon?"

The answer was negative.

The moment Sirfetch'd appeared, All Baimu said: "Roost."

"Sha-sang."

Hydreigon landed quickly, its broad wings drooping, and white feathers appeared out of thin air and merged into its body, turning into a harmonious green glow that warmed the heart.

Seeing this, the host shouted impatiently: "No switch! All Baimu actually wants Hydreigon to fight to the end! Does this mean he wants to sweep all six?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the audience was in an uproar.

Let Hydreigon sweep all six?

That was too outrageous!

But if he didn't have this intention, why didn't All Baimu switch Pokémon?

No one could figure out his thoughts at this moment.

In the audience, the heroines who had traveled with Ash for many years were worried. Most of them had a clear understanding of All Baimu's strength, not to mention the two battles just now, which had already proven a lot.

Did All Baimu really want to fight one against six?

Brock shook his head and said: "I don't think so, All Baimu isn't that kind of Trainer."

In his impression, All Baimu rarely did such gambling-like actions; it was only steady and steadier. Not switching Pokémon might be other considerations.

Peony in the lounge also whispered: "I guess Hydreigon wants to keep fighting."

"Yeah."

Peony nodded in agreement.

They had traveled with All Baimu for quite a while and knew very well that All Baimu's Hydreigon was a creature that looked fierce but was actually very willful and childish.

And All Baimu, while steady, respected the Pokémon's own wishes very much.

Combined with the fact that Hydreigon hadn't fought in the previous two battles, it wasn't hard for the two who knew All Baimu well to conclude—

Hydreigon would at least fight three times before being swapped out.

Otherwise, there was no way to make up for its absence in the first and second rounds.

As for whether it would flip over because of this...

Based on Peony and Peony's understanding of All Baimu, it was unlikely.

When he really wanted to swap a Pokémon out, no one could stop him, not even Leon. ===== CHAPTER 1446 =====