Chapter 392: VS Elite Four Lorelei: The Dragon-Slayer Weavile and the Dragonite

"Cough, cough. This match will be a one-on-one single battle; the battle ends when either side's Pokémon loses the ability to fight. Do either of you have any objections?"

Holding a red flag in one hand and a green flag in the other, Damalanchi spoke with a tone tinged with excitement.

"No problem!"

Luo Mu and Lorelei answered almost simultaneously.

At that same moment, both Luo Mu and Lorelei turned their gazes toward their Pokémon's opponent for the day.

Standing before Lorelei was a Weavile with an expression that appeared quite cunning and ferocious.

The Weavile stood just over a meter tall; its body was dark gray, topped with a strikingly vivid crimson feather crest, and its hook-like claws, gleaming with a cold light, sent a chill down one's spine.

At this moment, the Weavile was staring coldly at the Dragonite with its red eyes, extending its somewhat slender tongue to lick its own claws.

Luo Mu was genuinely afraid it might suddenly speak human words, saying something like, "My claws are poisoned, slurp~"

Luo Mu did not yet know the Weavile's exact strength, but judging by its physique and aura, he felt this Weavile absolutely could not be weak.

However...

Luo Mu wore an expression of helplessness and asked Lorelei, "It seems Elite Four Lorelei chose to battle with Dragonite precisely because she has this Weavile as her trump card."

The first-generation Dragon-slayer Weavile, in those earliest generations where the Dragon type reigned supreme, had propped up the league's resistance against Dragon-type Pokémon alongside Pryce's Dragon-slayer Cloyster.

Even now that the true counter to the Dragon type, the Fairy-type Pokémon, had appeared, the Weavile still posed an extremely strong threat to a Dragonite like this one, which suffered a fourfold weakness to Ice.

Lorelei smiled slightly: "In order to overthrow that Flying-type Champion who always claims to specialize in Dragon types, I naturally made the necessary preparations."

Then, she pointed at Luo Mu and the Dragonite, throwing down a challenge!

"And you are one of the Gaoshan I must overcome to defeat Lance and become the Johto League Champion!"

Lorelei was highly anticipating whether the Dragonite before Luo Mu would, during the battle, change its honest gaze to reveal the same look as Lance's Dragonite.

This Dragonite excelled in both physique and aura; even if it had not yet reached the realm of Lance's Dragonite, it was likely slowly approaching it.

As long as she and her carefully trained Weavile—the strongest member of her team aside from Houndoom—could defeat this Dragonite, she could begin preparing to challenge Lance once again!

Seeing both sides ready, Damalanchi narrowed his eyes and lowered his flags: "Battle, begin!"

"Dragon Dance!"

"Fake Out!"

Both commanders issued their orders almost in sync.

On Luo Mu's side, relying on the Dragonite's Multiscale ability, he directly chose to gamble on a stat boost right from the start.

Lorelei, meanwhile, employed Fake Out, a move countless trainers found unfailingly effective; furthermore, this move could directly break through the Dragonite's Multiscale!

Just as the Dragonite spread its wings to prepare for Dragon Dance, the Weavile's form surged forward like a raging wind, charging before the Dragonite in the blink of an eye and slamming its palms together.

Slap!

A crisp sound of a palm strike rang out.

An invisible wave of energy rippled outward; though its power was negligible, it carried a mysterious force that caused the Dragon-type energy the Dragonite had just gathered to stagnate for an instant, freezing its motion mid-air and causing the release of Dragon Dance to fail.

"Oh ho, is this a move specially trained to deal with Lance's Dragonite?"

Damalanchi widened his eyes, quite delighted.

This not only stripped away the Dragonite's Multiscale, weakening its formidable initial defensive capability, but also created a once-in-a-lifetime offensive opportunity for the Weavile.

Lorelei's eyes lit up; without hesitation, she ordered the Weavile to pursue: "Ice Punch!"

"Sneasel!"

The Weavile bared an evil grin, living up to its name as a Dark-type Pokémon; highly proficient in "beating a dog while it's in the water," it leaped up without hesitation, gathering Ice-type energy on its sharp hook-claws to form a chilling cold air that sent shivers down one's spine.

Aiming at the Dragonite, which hung stiff and flinching in the sky, the Weavile swung both claws mercilessly toward its softest spot—its belly!

The force and speed were so great that a violent whistling sound even echoed through the air.

This strike from the Weavile resembled an Ice Claw more than an Ice Punch.

If the Dragonite, suffering a fourfold weakness to Ice, took such a claw strike squarely, the resulting damage would likely drastically influence the direction of the match.

But before Lorelei's smile could fully form on her face, a scene that surprised her unfolded.

Beneath the Dragonite, which had lost its lift and was about to fall stiffly, a fiercely violent gust of wind suddenly whipped up.

It not only caused the Weavile to instinctively squint but also lifted the Dragonite's body all the way up to the room's ceiling in one breath!

"What!?"

Lorelei's face showed astonishment; she could not comprehend at all where that sudden demonic wind had come from.

At this moment, the Weavile's Ice Punch struck empty air; obeying the pull of gravity, having leaped high, it began to descend, while the Dragonite recovered from the flinch state induced by Fake Out.

The Dragonite felt fortunate that ever since its special training with Lugia, it had formed the habit of creating air currents to boost its flight height in one go; otherwise, it might truly have allowed Lorelei and the Weavile to succeed just now.

"Flamethrower!"

At this moment, Luo Mu's command rang out at the most opportune time.

Displaying an angry expression, the Dragonite opened its mouth; scorching flames, like a rolling sea of fire clouds, swept toward the Weavile with overwhelming force!

"Tsk, did it fail?" Lorelei's expression swiftly shifted to seriousness as she rebuked, "Protect!"

The Weavile's durability was far inferior to the Dragonite's; before landing an effective hit, they absolutely could not allow the Weavile's condition to deteriorate.

A pale green barrier enveloped the Weavile's body from all sides; under the scorching of the fiery waves, this seemingly fragile barrier somehow enabled the Weavile to withstand the Dragonite's Flamethrower, which brimmed with fury.

Once the Flamethrower ended, disregarding the surrounding ground baked scorching hot by the flames, the Weavile lowered its body, turned into an afterimage, and dashed rapidly across the battlefield.

The Weavile's speed was extremely fast, and its agility even more formidable; even though Luo Mu commanded the Dragonite to supplement with several more Flamethrowers and Dragon Pulses, the Weavile still narrowly dodged them all, sustaining not even a scratch.

At this moment, the Weavile was like an exceedingly agile assassin; having learned its lesson, it no longer chose the high-risk option of leaping, but instead leveraged the room's natural terrain advantages—the walls and ceiling that restricted the Dragonite's flight height and acceleration—to frequently close in on the Dragonite!

The walls on all sides seemed to become stepping stones for the Weavile; its figure flashed frequently upon them, and its extremely tricky attacks always struck the instant the Dragonite let its guard down, achieving remarkable results.

The crisscrossing scratches upon the Dragonite's scales were the Weavile's medals of honor.

Watching the Weavile's afterimages on the battlefield, which the naked eye could barely track, two solutions immediately surfaced in Luo Mu's mind.

One: Release a Hurricane that sweeps through the entire room, using its massive area of effect to leave the Weavile nowhere to escape.

Second, use the move I just mastered but have never tested in actual combat.

"Choosing the first would clear the stage quickly, but such opportunities are rare; I choose the second!"

Under Lorelei's puzzled expression, Luo Mu suddenly spoke these meaningless words.

But in the next instant, she immediately understood Luo Mu's intention and plan.

Seeing Luo Mu lift his head and shout to the Dragonite hovering in mid-air: "Flying here restricts our movements somewhat; let's land and engage in close-quarters combat directly!"

"Bo-wu!"

Without turning its head, Dragonite responded to Luo Mu with a cry, then crossed its dragon claws to block Weavile's powerful Malicious Pursuit, twisted its body, and swatted the Weavile—which hadn't had time to adjust its posture—away with its tail, abandoning air superiority to land straight on the field.

Drake, holding the flag, frowned slightly with his snow-white eyebrows; in his view, Dragonite giving up air superiority to fight Weavile, which excels in speed, on the ground was not a good choice.

Or did Luo Mu intend to rely on Dragonite's physique to seize an opportunity and inflict heavy damage on Weavile in one go?

After all, compared to Dragonite, Weavile's physique could indeed be considered fragile.

Seeing that Luo Mu had actually abandoned his advantage, Lorelei's smile widened even more as she commanded loudly: "Icicle Crash!"

Weavile sprinted without reducing its speed, once again pinpointing a tricky spot behind Dragonite; it slashed both claws through the void, causing cold air to gather instantly before it, and within mere moments, several crystal-clear conical icicles formed, their short tips gleaming with cold light, leaving no doubt about their power.

A cruel expression flashed in Weavile's eyes as it twisted its body and kicked the row of floating icicles forward with one foot, aiming directly at Dragonite's back.

As crisis struck, neither Luo Mu nor Dragonite panicked in the slightest.

Taking a deep breath, Luo Mu said in a deep voice: "Extreme Speed!"

"Bo-wu!"

Brilliant light surged in Dragonite's eyes, and a dense white glow enveloped it.

With a roar echoing in their ears, Dragonite, seemingly transforming into a white rainbow, vanished from its spot instantly; the sky-full of icicles shattered into crystal-clear ice fragments that rained down.

As for Weavile, it stared dumbfounded at Dragonite, which had appeared before it in an instant; caught off guard, it was punched flying by Dragonite!

Lorelei & Drake: "!!!"

Extreme Speed!?

Lorelei silently gritted her teeth, not expecting Dragonite to have learned Extreme Speed; in that case, for Weavile to defeat it would require expending immense mental effort once again.

But matters were far simpler than Lorelei imagined.

Just as Weavile dug its claws into the ground, carving a deep groove to barely halt its backward momentum, and charged defiantly toward Dragonite while gathering an Ice Punch, intending to engage in close combat and toy with its opponent as usual using its superior agility...

Dragonite moved again.

At this moment, Dragonite was no longer like other Pokémon using Extreme Speed, charging straight forward and nearly unable to flexibly utilize other parts of its body, restricted to attacking only by ramming or smashing.

It was as if it had activated an acceleration cheat; it blocked Weavile's tricky attack with its right claw, then smashed its left claw straight toward Weavile's face!

Weavile's pupils contracted; relying on its body's flexibility, it bent backward at the waist, narrowly dodging Dragonite's claw strike.

Weavile thought that Dragonite reacting to its attack just now was merely a coincidence, especially since Dragonite had been flustered many times before by its attacks.

Weavile's foot claws gathered Dark-type energy, intending to use "Snatch" to borrow force and strike back, inflicting massive damage on Dragonite using its own strength.

But this time, Dragonite reacted once again; it raised its dragon head to dodge Weavile's Snatch, then gathered flames in its right fist and slammed it heavily into Weavile's flank!

Boom!

Violent flames exploded outward; accompanied by a miserable cry from Weavile, its body flew backward again like a ragdoll, with obvious burn marks appearing on its waist.

If Lorelei could previously consider that a coincidence, now she found it impossible to say so.

"The Dragon Tamer Clan's Extreme Speed?"

Shock was unmistakable on Lorelei's face.

She never expected to see, on Luo Mu's Dragonite, the very technique with which Lance's Dragonite had easily defeated her own.

She and the other Elite Four members had all experienced profoundly the sheer power of that Dragonite, whose weakness in agility had also been compensated for to a certain extent.

Lorelei bit her lip tightly and changed her plan without hesitation.

"Icy Wind!"

With only one Fire Punch, Weavile could still hold on!

"Sneasel!"

Weavile let out a hoarse, chilly cry, glaring hatefully at the Dragonite that had caused it immense pain, and blew out a vast gust of cold wind mixed with ice shards.

Just as Luo Mu had reasoned earlier, this kind of wide-area attack was often difficult to dodge.

Dragonite crossed its arms in front to block; the surface of its body, swept by the cold wind, instantly condensed a thin layer of ice crystals, and this chill immediately made Dragonite's movements slow and stiff.

It was evident that Lorelei's attainment in Ice-type skills was also considerable, allowing her to raise Weavile to such a degree; perhaps she often exchanged ideas with that Ice-type Elite Four member from Kanto.

If an ordinary Pokémon skilled in close-quarters combat were suddenly subjected by Lorelei and Weavile to such a shameless slowing tactic, it might feel extremely nauseated.

But Dragonite was different; among Luo Mu's main forces, it had learned the most moves and possessed the most comprehensive development in all six stats.

Whether in close combat or long-range attacks, it had confidence not to lose to any Pokémon!

"Return the favor, Heat Wave!"

Luo Mu snapped his fingers.

"Bo-wu!"

The temperature around Dragonite began to rise at a terrifying speed; the frost hindering its movement melted completely, and the surroundings turned fiery red.

Whoosh!

In an instant.

Dragonite's dragon wings flapped fiercely, and a scorching gale mixed with dense sparks swept toward Weavile with an overwhelming force that crushed everything in its path.

Unwilling to show weakness, Lorelei shouted loudly: "Full-power Blizzard!"

Among the Dark-type moves Weavile mastered, none could deal with a wide-area attack like Heat Wave coming from all directions; it had to either choose Protect or counterattack with Blizzard.

Lorelei also possessed the pride of an Elite Four member; she absolutely would not allow her momentum to be weaker than another's in this aspect, so she chose to clash head-on without hesitation!

Countless pure white ice particles mixed within the gale spread out in all directions like rolling waves, centered around Weavile.

The moment the hot wind made contact, a dazzling brilliance forced all three to instinctively shut their eyes; only a hissing sound filled their ears as a scalding mist rapidly formed within the room, waves of heat constantly battering their faces as if they were inside a steamer basket.

The clash between the blizzard and the hot wind lasted a full three minutes; even with their eyes closed, the three could sense the momentum of wind and fire growing ever more fierce, while the force of the wind and snow increasingly waned.

When they opened their eyes, they saw steam filling the entire room, and lying on the battlefield, motionless, covered in burns, was Weavile, clearly having lost the ability to fight.

In contrast, aside from the injuries Dragonite had sustained at the very beginning due to Weavile's speed, it had suffered almost no serious wounds.

Lance fell silent.

Not only had he mastered the Dragon Clan's secret technique "Extreme Speed," but his own ability to control wind even subtly surpassed that of Agatha's Dragonite, and his foundational strength was likewise top-tier.

No wonder Dragonite was able to defeat the Fire God.

Lance could see that the "Extreme Speed" of Luo Mu's Dragonite still lacked considerable refinement compared to Agatha's Dragonite; otherwise, it would not have been suppressed by Weavile throughout the opening phase.

But given time, once Dragonite further improved and fully integrated these abilities, it was quite possible he might truly surpass Agatha's Dragonite.

Thinking this, Lance stepped forward, picked up Weavile, and offered Luo Mu and Dragonite a helpless smile: "I concede this battle."

Damaranchi accordingly lowered the red flag marking Luo Mu's position and announced, "Weavile has lost the ability to fight; victory belongs to Dragonite and Luo Mu!"

Damn it, how is it that Weavile can learn neither Feint, nor Haze, nor Mist? The entire initial battle concept of obscuring vision to ambush Dragonite has been completely ruined.

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(End of Chapter)