The Shadow Ball crashed down from above, blanketing the entire field — but Houndstone didn't flinch.
It held its head high, the tombstone on its crown blazing with Fairy-type energy, and charged straight into the descending attack without breaking stride.
The two collided at once. Houndstone slamd into Dragapult with full force, sending it tumbling backward through the air. At the sa mont, the Shadow Ball detonated against Houndstone's body, the explosion tearing across its fra and leaving visible damage.
Both trainers winced.
Jacob and Dawson stood across from each other with the sa tight expression — two Pokémon, both badly hurt, the match balanced on a knife's edge. One clean hit could end it either way.
"Don't let up — Houndstone, Play Rough!"
Pink Fairy-type energy erupted around Houndstone, washing over its entire body as it gathered itself and charged again.
Jacob watched it co. And then, slowly, the corner of his mouth curved upward.
He pushed back his sleeve.
On his wrist sat a Z-Power Ring.
He pressed his hand against it, and a brilliant flash of light burst outward.
The reaction from the crowd was imdiate.
"Is that a Z-Power Ring?!"
"A Z-Move — Jacob has a Z-Move!"
"No wonder he was willing to challenge Dawson directly. He had this the whole ti."
The stands erupted in noise. No one had seen it coming.
Z-Moves were rare — the kind of weapon that even Heavenly King trainers didn't always carry. For a trainer Jacob's age to have one was extraordinary by any asure.
Across the field, Dawson's expression shifted. His pupils tightened, and sothing cold moved through his chest.
A Z-Crystal.
Even he had never managed to obtain one. He'd co close, years ago, but the opportunities were few and the competition fierce. Yet here was Jacob, not twenty years old, with one already fitted to his wrist.
It felt unfair in the way that only the truly unlucky things did — not random, just beyond reach.
Though, after a mont, Dawson couldn't quite call it unreasonable. Jacob had poured enormous resources into developing ga Evolution technology. Of course that kind of wealth opened doors.
Still. If Dragapult used a Ghost-type Z-Move against Houndstone—
Please. Anything but Ghost-type.
Jacob took a slow breath on the other side of the field.
He'd written the activation lines himself, once — exclusive calls and poses for each Z-Move type, designed to synchronize trainer and Pokémon. He'd watched a room full of king-level trainers rehearse them in training sessions and tried very hard not to laugh. He'd always known his turn would co eventually.
"On the night of the new moon — beco one of the clan, forever wandering between twilight and dark night!"
The Ghostium Z fitted to Dragapult ignited.
Deep purple energy erupted from it in a wave, spreading outward and rising into the sky. The light above the arena dimd as though dusk had fallen in an instant, the ordinary world giving way to sothing else entirely. The entire stadium was pulled into a boundless artificial night, the space around Dragapult warping and stretching under the weight of concentrated Ghost-type energy.
A Ghost-type Z-Move.
Dawson closed his eyes for a single breath. The worst case had arrived.
"I've never seen a Ghost-type Z-Move live before—"
"That's the most effective type he could have picked against Houndstone—"
"Jacob can afford a Z-Crystal — honestly, after what he made from ga Evolution, should we even be surprised?"
In the stands, the crowd buzzed with excitent. None of them knew the full story behind the Ghostium Z — that Jacob had recovered it under circumstances far darker than a simple purchase. But that wasn't the story playing out in front of them now.
Dawson stared at the darkened arena. His mind raced.
Houndstone had used Protect not long ago. If it failed — and after such a short interval, the odds of failure were high — Houndstone would take the full hit with nothing between it and the move.
But what other choice was there?
He hardened his resolve. "Houndstone — Protect!"
"Never-Ending Nightmare!"
The two commands landed almost together. Normal-type energy began to coalesce around Houndstone, the faint shimr of a barrier starting to form—
And then it shattered on its own.
Protect failed.
From the depths of the manufactured darkness, Dragapult's Ghost-type energy took shape — dozens of ghostly hands erupting from the shadow, surging toward Houndstone from every direction. They wrapped around it, pulled at it, and dragged it downward into the dark as though the abyss beneath the arena had opened up to swallow it whole.
The explosion, when it ca, was muffled — absorbed into the darkness itself. Then the Ghost-type energy began to fade, dissipating slowly into the air as light crept back into the arena.
Jacob's eyes dropped to the field.
A pink glow blood in the retreating darkness.
"Rooaarrr!"
Houndstone was still standing.
Battered, scored with wounds, breathing in ragged pulls — but standing.
Jacob stared. He hadn't expected that. Even after a Phantom Force and a Shadow Ball, after eating a full-power Ghost-type Z-Move, Houndstone had refused to go down. The gap in raw strength between the two Pokémon was simply too wide to close with type advantage alone. In a match between equals, it would have been over already.
But it wasn't a match between equals — and Houndstone was still moving.
Jacob watched it charge.
A glint passed through his eyes. He raised his hand.
"Protect!"
Enough ti had passed since Dragapult's last Protect. The barrier rose cleanly, catching Houndstone's attack and holding.
Through the fading light of the shield, Jacob got a clear look at Houndstone for the first ti since the Z-Move had landed. It was barely holding together — covered in damage, its movents sluggish, running entirely on will.
One more hit. That was all it would take.
"Dragapult — Draco teor, full power!"
Dragon-type energy surged upward from Dragapult in a column, pouring into the sky above the arena. Then it ca back down.
The teors fell in a cascade, each one blazing as it struck — one after another, each impact sending a shockwave rolling across the field.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Smoke and debris erupted across the entire arena. The spectators in the stands rose to their feet, leaning forward, craning to see through the haze.
The dust settled slowly.
Houndstone lay still on the ground. It did not get up.
"Houndstone is unable to battle!"
A beat of silence. Then the crowd found its voice.
"Jacob wins!"
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