Auron's Charizard struggled to break free from Jace's Charizard's grip, then formed his right hand into a claw and slashed at his opponent.
But after fighting for so long, both sides completely knew each other's movement patterns. If you stick your butt out, I know you're about to use Dragon Tail.
So the moment Auron's Charizard retreated, Jace's Charizard was already on guard. That vigilance allowed him to dodge the Dragon Claw by a hair's breadth.
Jace's Charizard glared angrily at Auron's Charizard. So close, so close—I almost got slapped in the head with a claw.
"ROAR!"
Jace's Charizard roared and once again pressed forward, responding with the same Dragon Claw.
"Pull back the distance!"
Auron's words made Charizard—who'd been ready to trade blows—directly retreat several steps.
He trusted Auron. So even if Auron's command differed from Charizard's own thoughts, Charizard still followed his orders without hesitation.
"Dragon Breath!"
Seeing Jace's Charizard still wanting to follow up, Auron's eyes sharpened and he directly commanded Charizard to block his opponent.
Two Dragon Breaths collided mid-air. After the collision ended, Jace's Charizard also stopped pursuing and stood quietly in place.
Auron was hesitating—should he directly use Belly Drum and use the maximized attack power to take down his opponent?
As for why they weren't switching Pokémon—Auron, Jace, and both Charizard had already agreed before the match that they'd both use Charizard, let the two dragons decide a winner first, and only then talk about switching Pokémon.
So Auron was hesitating whether to directly use Belly Drum. After all, the difference between Auron's Charizard and Jace's Charizard was in their inherited moves.
But looking at his opponent's Charizard's eager movements and Jace's unconcealed smile, Auron felt Jace definitely wouldn't let him succeed so easily.
"Tsk, this is hard. He knows all my Charizard's information. He's guarding against Belly Drum, he's guarding against Counter—he won't easily attack first. How do I break through?"
Auron's mind spun rapidly, thinking of ways to break the deadlock. But his commands didn't stop. Though he hadn't thought of a breakthrough method yet, he still needed to probe first.
"Charizard! Dragon Claw!"
Charizard's eyes lit up after receiving the command. Then, grinning savagely, he charged toward Jace's Charizard, using the charging momentum to viciously slash down with Dragon Claw.
"CLANG~"
After a distant sound of metal striking metal rang out, Jace's Charizard firmly blocked Auron's Charizard's Dragon Claw.
"ROAR!"
With an angry roar, Jace's Charizard deflected his opponent's claw, then also used Dragon Claw, quickly striking Auron's Charizard's chest.
Not only did Charizard not react to this—even Auron and Jace didn't react.
Neither had expected Jace's Charizard to not only block the Dragon Claw with charging momentum, but to have the energy left to counterattack with Dragon Claw.
Auron's Charizard looked at Jace's Charizard in disbelief. When have I ever suffered such a loss?
His body instinctively used Dragon Rush and slammed toward Jace's Charizard.
"BOOM!"
Jace's Charizard's reaction wasn't slow either. Though the distance was close, he barely managed to gather some energy and also used Dragon Rush as a block.
Though Jace's Charizard used Dragon Rush to block, the hastily executed Dragon Rush still didn't completely block it.
Both Charizard's rushing momentum didn't completely collide together. Instead, Auron's Charizard struck Jace's Charizard first, and only then did Jace's Charizard gather the power to slam back.
And the result of this was—Jace's Charizard went swirly-eyed and collapsed.
Then, after seeing Jace's Charizard fall, Auron's Charizard showed a slight smile before also falling backward.
"Charizard."
Auron and Jace silently recalled their fallen Charizard.
Looking at Charizard inside the Poké Ball, Auron felt somewhat self-reproachful. This match could be said to be completely his commanding failure.
If his reaction had been faster, he could have dodged the opponent's Dragon Claw directly. If he'd been more decisive, he could have just activated Belly Drum and steamrolled in one wave. If...
But unfortunately, there were no ifs. Auron shook his head, threw out the displeasure in his heart, and only then took out Clawitzer's Poké Ball and threw it.
"Go, Clawitzer!"
"Go, Arcanine!"
The instant Clawitzer landed, he charged toward Arcanine.
The speed from Water Jet left Arcanine with no time to react.
But Arcanine's trainer was Jace—aside from Auron's parents, the person who understood Auron best. How could he not know what Auron was thinking?
"Arcanine, Close Combat!"
Arcanine quickly adjusted his form, then directly pressed in close. Claw against claw.
"CLANG~"
Close Combat and Shell Blade locked together. Both sides' attacks were stopped by their opponents.
How could Clawitzer accept this? Applying force with his feet, his claw began pressing down.
Though this caused no damage, if successful, it would greatly boost his momentum.
After slowly withstanding the pressure, Arcanine's hind legs suddenly kicked off, forcefully flipping Clawitzer away.
Both sides were now very cautious. After all, whether it was Arcanine's Close Combat or Clawitzer's Shell Blade—as long as they hit their opponent without being parried or dodged, either would be a one-hit KO.
Auron's eyes rolled, and instantly, an idea appeared in his mind.
"Clawitzer, Swords Dance!"
After steadying himself, Clawitzer immediately began waving his claws, releasing Swords Dance.
"Perfect opportunity! Arcanine, Extreme Speed then Close Combat!"
Seeing the distance between Clawitzer and Arcanine, Jace's eyes lit up and he immediately gave the order.
Actually, Auron understood Jace very well too—he knew he wouldn't pass up this opportunity.
Because the distance between Clawitzer and Arcanine was such that—at normal speed it wouldn't reach, but with Extreme Speed it would just barely reach Clawitzer's side.
So Auron used this point to set a trap. According to this distance, Arcanine's Extreme Speed would make contact with Clawitzer first.
"Now—Shell Blade!"
"What a shame." Watching Arcanine already collapsed on the field, Auron shook his head regretfully.
In the end, Jace had fallen to Auron's understanding of him.
Clawitzer hadn't actually used Swords Dance—he'd just been simply waving his claws and spinning. If you observed carefully, you'd notice there was no energy gathering around Clawitzer.
Unfortunately, Jace wanted to win too badly, was too anxious—so he hadn't noticed this detail.
In the end, after Clawitzer took one step forward and tanked Arcanine's Extreme Speed, he seized the moment before Close Combat could activate and struck Arcanine's waist with one Shell Blade claw.
Instant KO!
"Arcanine has lost the ability to battle! The victor of this match is Auron Vale!"
"Let us congratulate our freshman tournament's first place winner—Auron Vale!"
Jace smiled bitterly as he felt the cheers from the entire venue and walked toward Auron. Just as he was about to reach out and pat Auron—
Suddenly, a black hole extended from beneath Auron's feet. It happened so suddenly that before Auron could react, he fell in.
"Holy shit!"
"Myu~!"