On the gravel path.
The sandstorm tornado, which had been dissipating due to the impact of the hot wind and lacking energy supplementation from Aggron, finally began to dissipate.
This tenacity led Courtney to mistakenly believe that Aggron was still clashing with Crobat's hot wind, not realizing that it had already dug underground.
Quicksand Hell was nothing but a ruse to obscure her and Crobat's vision.
While thinking, Courtney threw out a Pokeball.
Bang!
A flash of white light.
She had to thank Aggron for destroying the magma residue on the ground, or else Mightyena would have found it difficult to find a foothold and might have ended up placed on the nearby slope.
"Awoooo!"
The handsome Mightyena landed, showing Aggron an intimidating look.
Though Aggron was unfazed, its expression became slightly more serious.
The [Intimidation] trait was triggered.
This Mightyena's slick, black fur was smooth and shiny, its erect silver ears moved alertly, and its powerful black limbs showed distinct muscle definition.
As someone who had once personally dismantled the Evil Dog Team, Baimu had seen at least a hundred Mightyenas, both strong and weak, and Courtney's Mightyena was definitely the "most beautiful" he'd ever seen; it could achieve high marks even in a Gorgeous Competition.
What a pity.
No matter how good-looking, it's still going to get beaten!
During the brief moment when Courtney was swapping her Pokémon, Baimu didn't let Aggron attack immediately but exchanged glances instead, silently strategizing the next plan.
Since the match request was too sudden, he hadn't had the time to properly strategize with his Pokémon, so he could only rely on their usual rapport to determine the next tactics, confident that Aggron wouldn't make any mistakes.
Of all the Pokémon, Aggron had the highest level of understanding with him.
Meanwhile, the electromagnetic levitation status hadn't disappeared yet, meaning it was still under the ground attribute energy shield.
So even if Courtney swapped in Mega Camerupt now, its ground techniques wouldn't be able to effectively attack Aggron.
The opponent issued a command first, "Roar..."
"Digging!"
I've been guarding against that move of yours!
Baimu, who successfully pre-read the move, smiled as Aggron burrowed into the ground amidst flying dust before Mightyena could open its mouth.
"Awoooo—!!"
Mightyena howled loudly, a semi-transparent sound wave raced across the ground but missed Aggron.
Seeing this, Courtney quickly commanded, "Chase it... then use Roar again!"
She was clearly determined to Roar Aggron out of the field, thus nullifying its inheritance from Mawile's electromagnetic levitation and Sword Dance, to avoid her Pokémon being instantly KO'd again.
But for some reason, after a few steps, Mightyena didn't come any closer but watched the hole dug by Aggron with caution.
"Awooo!"
"..."
Courtney was startled then quickly realized something and switched tactics, "Yawn!"
"Awoo~"
Mightyena immediately blew a milky white stream of gas towards the hole, but before it reached, a fierce dust storm erupted from within!
The dust collided with the stream, dispersing it.
And the silver beast that should have moved elsewhere instead appeared in its original spot.
Unquestionably, Baimu and Aggron used a trick that had ensnared many victims before, hiding at the hole waiting for the opponent to come before capturing it at speed.
Who would've thought Mightyena's nose was so sharp, sniffing out that Aggron hadn't descended, leading to the plan's failure.
But the distance between both sides was now very close!
"Rock Seal!"
"Guuurrr!"
Aggron stomped heavily on the ground, channeling energy underground.
The not-so-distant Mightyena realized something was wrong and tried to escape, but moving left made a giant rock rise up on the left, moving right made another rise on the right.
Multiple massive rocks sprung up all around, quickly trapping it and closing in.
"Iron Head!"
"Hoooowl!"
Aggron roared as it charged forward, the stone prison it had created instantly shattered under its sharp horns, stones shooting around like a rainstorm.
However, inside the Rock Seal, there was no sign of Mightyena.
There was only a small hole.
"To your rear right! Stomp!"
Baimu shouted, causing Aggron to reflexively lift its right foot and stomp backward, a membrane of earth-colored energy forming underfoot to stomp hard at the emerging black shadow!
But Mightyena's body was too nimble, and Aggron attacked purely by instinct, failing to clearly see its target, resulting in Mightyena dodging the stomp with a simple backflip.
"Evil Fluctuation!"
"Awoooo!"
Upon returning to the ground, Mightyena inhaled sharply, from a very close range unleashing a beam formed by black light rings at Aggron's back!
Boom!
The intense evil attribute energy forced Aggron's huge body forward.
But Aggron wasn't easily backstabbed like this. Utilizing the forward force from its body's propulsion, it directly dropped down and swung its thick tail!
"Iron Tail!"
Shwwww—
The huge tail whipped through the air, producing a terrifying whistling sound, its brilliant silver light reached Mightyena instantly!
Bang!
"Awooooo!"
Mightyena let out a miserable howl, blown away by the immense force.
It never expected that Aggron could counterattack immediately after tanking a full blast of Evil Fluctuation at close range; did this creature not feel pain?
—The big monster clearly felt pain.
But compared to physical pain, it cared more about fulfilling Baimu's expectations.
Regardless of the competition's size, Aggron always hoped its trainer would achieve ultimate victory. This was the best way to repay a trainer's trust.
Comparatively, a mere Evil Fluctuation was nothing.
It turned abruptly, just in time to pursue the airborne Mightyen,a and realized its electromagnetic levitation state had ended, and its trainer gave it a look.
Causing its movements to halt.
The next moment.
Baimu recalled Aggron into its Pokeball, "Rest easy, don't push yourself."
And then.
Chansey landed on the smoke-choked battlefield.
The [Electromagnetic Levitation] ended, and with most of the magma gone, it could finally shine.
"Lucky~"
Chansey looked at the staggering Mightyena, waiting for Baimu's instruction.
It wouldn't rashly approach.
Because although it was quite agile, it actually wasn't very fast, and the likelihood was high that the opponent would take the initiative to attack.
Not far away.
Courtney noticed Baimu hadn't sent Aggron to chase, but actually opted to switch, leaving her a bit puzzled as to his reasoning.
And although Mightyena was hit by Iron Tail, its state was relatively okay, with no need to switch out just yet—
"No way..."
The instinct sensing danger made her attempt to swap Mightyena.