Even with Porygon II's dynamic vision, it struggles to capture its form.
Commentator: "The continuously increased speed has given Archeops extraordinary agility! It's showcasing its power as an ancient sky predator!"
When the terrifying spherical lightning vanished, Alice decisively ordered, "Iron Tail!"
"Ah-ka!"
Archeops roared, transforming into a shadow as it pounced toward Porygon II.
The latter was startled, instinctively dodging, only to find its opponent seemingly vanished like instantaneous teleportation, followed by a loud buzzing above.
As it looked up, a metallic shining tail was already swinging down fiercely!
Boom!
The metallic light exploded into a sky full of silver mist!
Porygon II fell like an arrow off the string, hitting the ground with a thud, stirring a cloud of dust mixed with the silver mist, blending into the sandstorm.
The battlefield became blurred and unclear.
"Iron Tail hit! The attack was highly effective! Porygon II must be thankful it switched attributes in advance!" the commentator shouted loudly.
The audience erupted into applause!
Since its appearance, Archeops was indeed unstoppable; after continuous acceleration then launching an attack, Porygon II couldn't even react.
But Alice did not become complacent.
"Don't give it a chance to use Magic Space! Dive down and use Sharp Stone Attack!"
"Ah-ka!"
Archeops folded its colorful wings, once again transforming into a shadow, descending from high altitudes. At lightning speed, it pierced through the smoke and dust, spotting Porygon II on the ground.
The latter's body surface began to glow, seemingly preparing to use some technique.
Bam!
Archeops landed heavily, its talons touching the ground causing numerous sharp stone pillars to suddenly rise from Porygon II's body!
"Pow!"
Porygon II was lifted into the air, letting out an involuntary grunt.
The stone pillars shattered, countless debris flying around.
Baimu shouted, "Fly back to the sky, use Self-Rebirth!"
Using the impact from the shattered rock attribute energy, Porygon II flew into the sky, its body glowing green healing the scratches on its abdomen from the Sharp Stone Attack.
Commentator: "Sharp Stone Attack hit again! Facing the extraordinarily fast Archeops, it seems Porygon II has lost the composure it had against Garchomp!"
The audience was in an uproar.
The situation on the field seemed to have completely turned in Alice's favor, making Porygon II almost helpless. Most people thought victory for Archeops was near—
Except for the person themselves.
The two attacks seemed to have overwhelmed Porygon II, but they didn't actually inflict the damage she expected.
Too tough!
Change, attack, and then defend, could this man-made Pokémon be all-powerful?
Obviously, Alice didn't know that Porygon II was carrying an Evolutionary Wondrous Stone; she only knew that now was the best time to reduce Baimu's ranks, necessary to bring out her trump card.
Under no circumstances should Porygon II be allowed to retreat or open Magic Space!
"Chase after it!"
"Ah!"
Archeops ran forward, took off again, and spiraled at an incredible speed toward the Self-Rebirth-using Porygon II.
Its inability to directly flap its wings to rise could be considered its weakness to some extent.
Alice believed Baimu was clearly aware of this, letting Porygon II use the explosion impact to fly skyward, gaining time for Self-Rebirth.
It even had a chance to use other techniques—
Don't even think about it!
The wind blew against Archeops's body, allowing it to approach Porygon II at a speed hard to discern with the naked eye, its tail covered in metallic shine.
"Ah-ka!"
With a raspy cry, it vanished once again.
Porygon II instinctively looked higher up, its eyes displaying a red cross identifier.
Locked on again!
Alice's heart shook. Despite the distance and wind and sand obscuring the view, vigilant as she was, she still saw Porygon II's state clearly.
She urgently shouted, "Iron Tail! Knock it down again!"
Flapping its wings behind Porygon II, Archeops rolled its entire body forward, its tail like an iron whip smashing down from the air!
Whoosh!
The wind was muffled.
Porygon II couldn't dodge; once again, it was struck by the iron tail on its forehead and plummeted to the ground, its rapid descent even creating a whistling wind sound.
Zip—Boom!
Dust billowed upward, mingling with the silver mist in mid-air!
"Archeops! Keep chasing it!"
She was determined to repeat the scene from before.
Unexpectedly, when Archeops once again folded its wings and dove vertically through the dust, what appeared before it was a Porygon II surrounded by a buildup of thunderbolts, ready to strike.
"Snap."
The red cross of [Lock On] was particularly striking.
If Archeops was the ancient predator of the skies, then at this moment, Porygon II was the modern hunter hunting it!
Alice's pupils dilated!
"Hundred Thousand Volts."
Baimu pointed at Archeops, like a judge delivering the final verdict.
Gasps erupted from the audience, and the commentator instinctively gripped the microphone tightly.
Is this a turnaround?
And it happened in such a short moment!?
Alice gritted her silver teeth, her mind flashing back to the moment Garchomp was struck by the Frozen Beam, thick regret instantly transformed into a fighting spirit for a counterattack!
She punched the air and shouted, "Now—Acrobatics!!"
Buzz!
Powerful currents surged from Porygon II, roaring like a dracozolt towards Archeops.
But faced with such swift attacks, Archeops neither defended nor retreated, its folded wings flapping madly at an indescribable speed!
Shasha!
In a world only visible through high-speed cameras, Archeops circled the thunder like a ghost, leaving several afterimages in its wake.
At the same time.
A light blue gemstone hidden within its feathers shattered.
Adding an even more dazzling gloss to its already gleaming wings.
And just as the missed lightning turned around to charge at it again, the wings of Archeops, enveloped by flying ability, struck down on Porygon II's head!
"Screech!!"
Boom!
Orange-yellow currents exploded together with a sky-blue light!
The terrifying shockwave scattered the winds and sand, turning into swirls rushing into the sky, finally erupting into a rising cloud of smoke.
The commentator was just about to speak when Aerial Rotom timely replayed everything that had happened in a slow-motion window.
His spirit trembled, and he excitedly shouted into the microphone:
"A perfect counterattack! Facing the lock-on Hundred Thousand Volts from Porygon II, Archeops risked everything to use its trump card move—Acrobatics! Both sides managed to hit each other!"
The replay on the big screen showed everything, countless viewers looked at the moment of Archeops' desperate counterattack with utter shock, deeply moved by it.
Wow!
The cheer soaring to the sky seemed capable of inducing an earthquake!
Alice also saw the replay on the big screen, breathing a small sigh of relief, glad that the flying gemstone acquired from the Dragon Nest could come into play.
Though it was only one strike, it was enough to reverse the tides if used well.
She worried Porygon II might have moves like Defend, which would greatly reduce the power of Acrobatics.
However, last time Porygon II didn't even have time to use a move before being hit by Archeops' Sharp Stone Attack, so why did its reaction not slow down but instead speed up after the continuous attack?
Alice did not have time to think much about it, as the thick dust on the field dispersed.
She quickly looked over.
Only to see the whistling sandstorm gradually ceasing, and in the sandy and rocky field, Porygon II and Archeops lay on opposing sides.
Both lying on the ground, motionless.
A double knockout?
This result was still quite acceptable; Porygon II should be the only Pokémon in Baimu's team capable of opening Magic Space.
With Porygon II out of the game, she could freely let her Pokémon accelerate.
Alice quietly awaited the referee's decision.
Suddenly.
Her expression froze, followed by a look of disbelief.
The commentator's voice echoed: "Porygon II and Archeops have both gone down! They both—wait! Porygon II has disappeared! Substitute! It was a substitute!"
The limp Porygon II twitched twice, disappearing into a phantom glow.
A bit further away.
Another Porygon II emerged from the ground, with wounds on its back but bright eyes, it slowly ascended, calmly overlooking the unconscious Archeops.
"Archeops is unable to battle! Porygon II is the winner!"
"Unbelievable! Porygon II used Substitute to dodge Archeops' Acrobatics! Who could have expected such a result!?"
The commentator conveyed his shock to every audience member's heart.