Only Captain Cliff stood by, his palms sweating as he watched.
The battle between these two heirs had completely transcended the scope of conventional Trainers.
This was no longer a simple exchange of skills, but an all-around gamble of tactics, psychology, and on-the-spot reactions.
Or rather, this wasn't just a battle, but a mutual probing between the two Trainers.
To witness a spar between two Team Rockets geniuses was such a rare sight that even though Cliff considered himself well-informed, he remained incredibly excited as he watched them fight.
Ariel looked at Dar, his mind racing with thoughts.
Dar's fighting style, just as Lady Ariana had said, was like a ghost.
He never clashed with you head-on, instead using various eerie combinations of moves to keep you off guard, making you fall into his rhythm without even realizing it.
Meanwhile, Ariel's commands were calm and precise, always managing to resolve crises in the most unexpected ways at the most dangerous moments and deliver sharp counterattacks.
Suddenly, Weavile's ears twitched!
Now!
"Rear right, Assurance!"
Ariel's command and Weavile's movement were almost perfectly synchronized.
Weavile's figure turned into a bolt of black lightning, spinning at an incredible angle. Its claws, covered in a cold glint, swung fiercely toward the empty air!
The moment the claws swung, Gengar's figure emerged from the shadows of that very space. The eerie grin on its face didn't even have time to change before it met Weavile's guaranteed hit!
"Bam!"
With a dull thud, Gengar was hit squarely and sent flying backward.
"Beautiful!"
Cliff couldn't help but cheer in his heart.
Quickly judging the opponent's position on the fly, and then using the guaranteed hit ability of the move to counterattack with lightning speed!
"It's not over yet!"
Ariel's voice became sharp.
"Pursue it, Ice Punch!"
Weavile pressed its advantage, its feet exerting force as its speed soared to the limit. It almost glided against the ground, instantly catching up to the airborne Gengar.
Bone-chilling cold gathered on its right fist, white frost spreading as if the very air was about to be frozen.
If this punch landed, the battle would likely end right then and there.
However, the playful smile on Dar's face only deepened.
"Destiny Bond."
He softly uttered those two words.
Weavile, about to throw the Ice Punch, suddenly froze in its tracks, and Ariel's expression changed as well.
An eerie purple light flashed in the retreating Gengar's eyes, and an invisible energy filled with an ominous aura instantly connected it to Weavile.
Destiny Bond!
If the move successfully activated...
Once Gengar was knocked out in the next turn, the attacking Weavile would also go down with it!
This was the most rogue-like life-for-a-life move!
Dar's goal wasn't even to win from the start; he was enjoying the process of forcing his opponent into a corner and watching them make a difficult choice.
Attack, and it's a one-for-one trade, a draw.
Don't attack, and Gengar would get a breathing room to reorganize its offensive.
This was where he was truly difficult to deal with.
Countless thoughts flashed through Ariel's mind.
He looked at the Gengar close at hand, then at the man in the distance who was squinting as if everything was under his control.
He suddenly smiled.
"Weavile, do you want to stop?"
A flash of determination crossed Weavile's eyes, and it let out a low growl at Ariel, filled with fighting spirit.
"Then let's fight!"
Ariel's voice was resolute.
"But, change the move!"
"Taunt!"
The move Destiny Bond was extremely rogue-like.
As long as the power gap wasn't too large, it was a stable one-for-one trade.
Many Ghost-type Trainers relied on this single move, using an 'inferior horse' in their team to stably trade for the opponent's 'superior horse' to gain an advantage.
But this didn't mean the move was impossible to counter.
Destiny Bond had its own natural disadvantage.
That was, the startup animation for the move was much longer than ordinary skills!
For Ariel, this was the perfect opportunity!
Although the Gengar before him had already connected its Ghost-type energy to Weavile, it didn't mean Destiny Bond had been successfully executed yet!
For Weavile, there was still time to turn things around!
Weavile abandoned the Ice Punch it was about to throw and instead let out a sharp roar, as a special mental wave instantly enveloped Gengar.
Taunt!
This move would force the opponent to only use damaging moves for the next few turns!
They would be unable to use status moves!
And Destiny Bond happened to be a status move!
The Destiny Bond on Gengar was only halfway released before it was directly canceled!
At this moment, Gengar couldn't keep its smile anymore.
Dar's squinted eyes finally opened fully, revealing a pair of deep eyes that showed no emotion.
For the first time, he showed a look of surprise.
He had miscalculated.
He hadn't expected Ariel to give up on an attack at such a certain-kill moment and switch to a support skill instead.
This kind of courage, this extreme ability to read the battle... "Final blow, Assurance!"
Ariel seized this fleeting opportunity and issued the finishing command.
In the instant Gengar was taunted, he used a move that was doubly effective against it.
Even if Gengar fought back, it could only clash head-on with Weavile.
But its battle with Weavile had always been about avoidance; if it clashed directly with Weavile, its win rate was practically zero!
A single Taunt had completely blocked all possibilities for Gengar's counterattack.
"Bam!"
Gengar fell heavily at the other end of the field like a kite with a broken string. Although it didn't immediately lose consciousness, its aura was clearly withered, and it had lost the strength to fight further.
Weavile landed steadily, slowly retracting its claws as it looked coldly at its fallen opponent, displaying the demeanor of a powerhouse.
The entire field was silent.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Dar gently clapped his hands. At some point, he had returned to his squinty-eyed look, the smile on his face even more radiant than before.
"Wonderful, simply wonderful."
He recalled Gengar, his tone full of sincere praise.
"Ruth, your strength is indeed very formidable."
Ariel didn't respond, only silently recalling Weavile.
He looked at the Dar before him, knowing full well in his heart.
This guy definitely hadn't used his full strength.
That Gengar's power went far beyond this, and Dar himself surely had stronger trump cards he hadn't shown yet.
From beginning to end, this so-called spar was just a probe of his strength by this ghost-like man.
None of the heirs to the Team Rockets Special-Grade Executives were simple characters.
Looking at Dar's handsome yet dangerous face, Ariel felt a deep sense of wariness toward an heir of his own generation for the first time.