Read advance chapters for both of my work, exclusively on Patreon at - www.patreon.com/Sniperwoof
-----------------
Ursaring was dumbfounded, but Arcanine wasn't. As soon as it widened the distance from Ursaring, it let out a stream of Flamethrower in its direction.
Startled, Ursaring instinctively rolled backward with surprising skill, not only dodging the bulk of Arcanine's flames but also conveniently using the fire to burn away Ariados's restraining web.
Then, shockingly, Ursaring curled into a ball on the ground and began rolling rapidly toward Arcanine again, intending to clash head-on with another Double-Edge attack.
"Woof!!"
As a Fire-type Pokémon, Arcanine naturally carried the pride of its kind. Seeing Ursaring recklessly charging again, its eyes flashed with a fierce light. With a roar, it charged forward as well—meeting the challenge with a full-force Flare Blitz.
In an instant, white-hot flames erupted around Arcanine's entire body, turning it into a blazing beast. At the same time, Ursaring's body shone with white light, its momentum peaking.
It was worth noting that Ursaring's Double-Edge was a Normal-type move with a base power of 120, and Arcanine's Flare Blitz—also with a base power of 120—was of its own type.
Now, with these two powerhouses unleashing such high-impact moves simultaneously, it was like a meteor colliding with the Earth.
The next moment—BOOM!!!—a deafening explosion erupted.
Ursaring and Arcanine slammed into each other, triggering a powerful blast. Both were engulfed in the smoke of the explosion, and the shockwave created by the impact surged outward in all directions.
Sha-sha-sha~~~
The trees around them rustled violently as the sudden gust swept through the forest.
Meanwhile, as Ursaring and Arcanine battled intensely, the Scyther flying above didn't just stand by doing nothing. It gave up on Arcanine altogether and charged straight toward Sato.
With rapid flaps of its wings, Scyther's speed surged. It turned into a blur of green in the night sky, and its blade-like pincers gleamed with cold light as it aimed straight for Sato's head.
Sato appreciated Scyther's decision to abandon Arcanine and go straight for him—it showed battlefield awareness—but he also knew the threat was real. Instantly, he crouched and pressed a button on his high-tech running shoes.
The next second, the shoes activated. Light as a feather, Sato moved with the grace of a martial arts master, weaving across the ground in blurring afterimages.
In Scyther's stunned gaze, Sato barely managed to dodge the sudden assault with a sharp sidestep, and in the blink of an eye, he had already widened the gap between them significantly. Clearly, the 30 million PokeDollars he'd spent on his high-tech shoes were well spent.
"Ariados, use String Shot to bind its wings!"
As soon as he was out of immediate danger, Sato—flushed and breathless—wasted no time. He gave Ariados, who had just completed a round of Swords Dance and Focus Energy, a direct command.
At just Level 32, Ariados was at a serious disadvantage against the Level 42 Scyther. But with Arcanine still locked in combat earlier, Sato had no choice but to send Ariados in.
Of course, commanding a Pokémon to defeat another of equal or greater level wasn't much of an achievement. What made a great Trainer was the ability to lead their Pokémon to victory despite a level or type disadvantage.
Having just witnessed Arcanine's ferocity, Ariados was now riding high on courage. Even when facing an opponent ten levels above it, it showed no hesitation.
At Sato's command, Ariados immediately shot out a strand of sticky white silk—aimed precisely at Scyther's rapidly flapping wings.
The silk was thin and long, and in the low visibility of night, Scyther didn't notice in time. Its wings were instantly tangled by Ariados's sticky, resilient thread.
With its wings momentarily paralyzed, Scyther plummeted from the sky. Its follow-up aerial pursuit of Sato was abruptly interrupted.
And to make things worse—it landed headfirst, crashing into the ground and leaving it dazed.
"Perfect. Use Spider Web, tie it down completely."
Seeing Scyther land headfirst and enter a stunned state, Sato's eyes lit up with glee. He ordered Ariados to use Spider Web to fully bind the opponent.
Ariados weren't known for their raw power. Their greatest weapon lay in the terrifying webbing they could produce—an innate, sticky, and incredibly strong substance.
To put it bluntly, unless faced with fire or a razor-sharp weapon/attacks, Ariados's silk was like a budget version of a mythical binding rope—nearly unbreakable in the Pokémon world.
Once entirely entangled, not even Sato's Swampert with its raw strength could escape in the short term. And once a Pokémon was caught, Ariados—as a Poison-type—had many ways to grind it down over time.
Acting swiftly, Ariados launched a wide net, catching the dazed Scyther precisely. To be extra cautious, it then began spitting even more silk.
Especially around Scyther's razor-sharp pincers—Ariados focused on binding them tightly behind its back, giving it no chance to retaliate.
By the time Scyther recovered from its dizziness, it was already wrapped in silk like a cocoon. No matter how it struggled inside, the web held strong—it wasn't breaking free anytime soon.
As Sato finished commanding Ariados to completely immobilize Scyther, the battle between Arcanine and Ursaring finally reached its conclusion. After their explosive clash, both were wounded.
But in terms of condition, Ursaring was clearly worse off—its body covered in burns. Arcanine didn't come out unscathed either; having gone all out, one of its front legs was now injured and severely swollen.
Learning its lesson, Arcanine didn't go for another head-on clash. Instead, it switched tactics, using its superior agility for hit-and-run strikes, exploiting Ursaring's short legs.
Though Arcanine's leg injury slowed it down somewhat, it was still faster than Ursaring by a wide margin.
Eventually, burned and battered by Arcanine's relentless flames, Ursaring couldn't take it anymore. Choosing the smart path, it tucked into a ball and rolled away into the dark forest, disappearing in an instant.
Seeing this, Arcanine wisely didn't give chase—after all, Sato still had Scyther to deal with. Once Ursaring was truly gone, it immediately returned to support its Trainer.
But by then, Sato had already commanded Ariados to fully subdue Scyther. All Arcanine had to do was finish the job with a single Flamethrower.
Bathed in flames, the cocooned Scyther wasn't as lucky as Ursaring—it was roasted into a charred mess, left barely breathing on the ground.
As for the last one—the Kecleon that had ambushed Sato in the beginning—it had only just managed to struggle free from Ariados's webbing, after watching its teammates—Zangoose, Ursaring, and Scyther—fall one after another.
Now, as the first wave attacker and at only Level 28, Kecleon was terrified out of its mind. It tried to flee under the cover of its invisibility.
Unfortunately, despite breaking free of the webs, its body was still covered in sticky white strands—rendering its camouflage nearly useless in the dark.
In the end, Kecleon didn't escape Sato's grasp. The small chameleon-like Pokémon was slapped half-dead by Arcanine, then trussed up like a roast by Ariados's silk.
And thus, the intense battle in the night finally came to an end.