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Ever since Sato became a Psychic, although his own strength hadn't increased much, his heightened spiritual power had significantly improved his ability to sense danger.
Now, with a sudden surge of lethal threat from behind, he instantly realized that the attackers this time were far more than just the Scyther, Zangoose, and Ursaring.
There was no time to think. Sato immediately pushed off with his feet and rolled forward.
In the very next second, a mass of inky-black shadow transformed into a sharp spike, stabbing out from the shadow cast by firelight behind a nearby rock—right where he had just been.
Had Sato not reacted in time, that shadow spike would have pierced the back of his neck and exited straight through his throat.
"Ariados, aim at the shadow under that rock and use Spider Web!"
Though his face was pale after narrowly avoiding a fatal blow, Sato's killing intent surged to the surface. Without hesitation, he commanded the Ariados by his side to attack.
Sato had sharp insight. He instantly recognized that the shadowy spike just now was a typical Shadow Sneak, a move commonly used by Ghost-type Pokémon.
Which meant the enemy hiding in the shadow under the rock was very likely an invisible Ghost-type Pokémon.
Against such stealthy opponents, the best method was to use specialized moves to restrain them. Once immobilized, their invisibility would be rendered useless.
Ariados's webbing was sticky and extremely tough. Once a target was trapped in its Spider Web, unless they had mastery over Fire-type moves, there was no easy escape.
Even if the opponent did use fire to break free, traces of the white webbing would still cling to them, making it impossible to remain hidden.
After witnessing Arcanine defeat Ursaring earlier, Ariados had already thrown all its doubts to the wind. What's more, during the daytime, Sato had led it to several easy victories. At this point, Ariados followed his commands without question.
As soon as Sato finished speaking, a cold glint flashed in Ariados's eyes. It gathered power in its mouth and fired a wide white web straight at the rock Sato had pointed to, enveloping the shadow beneath it.
In an instant, an invisible creature was caught in the sticky strands. It struggled furiously, but the more it moved, the tighter the web bound it.
Eventually, a Kecleon—its red W-shaped belly stripe barely concealed behind a rock—was forced to reveal itself in panic.
At the same time, Scyther, Zangoose, and Ursaring launched their attack on Arcanine.
Wrapped in blazing white-hot flames, Arcanine charged forward. Scyther, who was in the lead, dared not engage in melee and instead flew high into the air, unleashing a barrage of Air Slash attacks and rapid Vacuum Waves from its scythe-like arms.
For a moment, countless white blades of wind and invisible slashes rained down from above toward Arcanine.
However, these attacks from Scyther clearly couldn't keep up with the speed of Arcanine, who was now in Flame Charge mode. Boosted by this move, Arcanine became as swift as a storm wind. With a powerful leap, it dodged the rain of slashes entirely.
Originally intending to return to assist Sato, Arcanine spotted that he was safe and that Ariados had already captured the hidden threat. With that confirmed, Arcanine activated Extreme Speed and instantly appeared behind Zangoose.
Now imbued with the power of the mysterious mutated Fire Stone, white flames surged around Arcanine's body. A devastating combination of Extreme Speed and Flame Wheel slammed toward Zangoose's back.
Though Zangoose appeared the weakest of the three ambushers, it was still a Level 43 wild Pokémon that had survived many harsh battles. It possessed solid strength and excellent battle instincts.
The moment Arcanine disappeared from its sight, Zangoose felt a chilling sense of impending death. Its survival instinct flared—far more intense than even the last time Ursaring had nearly beaten it to death.
Without hesitation, Zangoose activated the defensive move it had recently managed to learn by mimicking others: Protect.
With its hands clasped together, a brilliant green energy shield surrounded its body just in time.
However, since Zangoose had only just learned Protect, its current shield could probably block a strong blow from a typical Pokémon, but defending against Arcanine's combo of Extreme Speed and Flame Wheel was pushing it far beyond its limits.
Not to mention, Fire-type energy is second only to Electric-type in terms of explosive power, and his Arcanine was no longer an ordinary fire user.
Sure enough, when Arcanine's blazing charge collided with Zangoose's green shield, the barrier shattered within half a second under the stunned gaze of Zangoose.
With a sound like shattering glass, the energy shield broke into fragments.
The next instant, cloaked in high-temperature white flames, Arcanine crashed into Zangoose's exposed back.
A painful howl rang out as Zangoose was turned into a flying fireball, slammed heavily into a nearby hill, and instantly fell silent.
In just two or three seconds, the once-feared loner known throughout the area was now defeated—his life or death uncertain.
Seeing this, the wild Pokémon hiding in the dark who had initially planned to swarm with Scyther all froze mid-charge. Without exception, they retreated a long distance with terrified expressions in their eyes.
In truth, many of the local wild Pokémon had not witnessed the earlier battle between Arcanine and Ursaring; most had only heard rumors. That lack of firsthand fear meant they had underestimated him.
But now, with Zangoose's crushing defeat right before their eyes, the arrogance they had from numbers vanished. Their reverence for Arcanine skyrocketed.
However, unlike those cowardly Pokémon who retreated upon encountering real strength, the scarred Ursaring was a true warrior. It wasn't intimidated in the slightest by Zangoose's swift defeat. Instead, its fighting spirit surged as it charged at Arcanine.
"ROAR!!!"
With an enraged battle cry, Ursaring's entire body flared with white light. It was preparing to use Take Down in a full-on collision against Arcanine.
At this moment, Arcanine had just finished using his combo move and was in that fleeting gap between old power expended and new power gathered. Facing Ursaring's brilliantly timed charge, Arcanine had no choice but to brace for impact.
Fortunately, Arcanine wasn't fighting alone—behind him stood a powerful and competent Trainer, Sato.
"Ariados, use String Shot to bind Ursaring's hind leg!"
In this critical moment, Sato shifted his attention from the trapped Kecleon to Arcanine's situation. He abandoned the currently immobilized Kecleon and quickly issued a support command.
Fueled by the intense battle, Ariados didn't hesitate. It instantly spat out a strand of white silk that shot like a bullet, striking one of Ursaring's hind legs with precision.
At the same time, Ariados quickly darted beneath a large nearby tree, circling it several times.
Clearly, this was a technique Ariados had practiced many times. His movements were smooth and precise. As soon as the setup was complete, Ursaring's charge was disrupted.
Ariados's silk was incredibly tough—even a power-type Pokémon like Ursaring couldn't break it instantly. His Take Down attack was severely hindered by this single strand.
With Ursaring's movement restricted, Arcanine gained the time he needed. He instantly sprang away, opening up a large distance between them.
For a brief moment, Ursaring was stunned—it had been about to slash through the string with its claws, only to find Arcanine had already vanished out of reach.