"Erase" reappears!

Altaria leaped in a mysterious dance, ignoring Swampert's follow-up attack.

A torrent of water swept across, chasing after Altaria's flying direction. Hogan's eyes flashed with confusion, unsure of Terrance's intention.

With the dancing speed of Dragon Dance, although the target was moving in Swampert's eyes, as Swampert exerted more force, the power and speed of the Hydro Pump increased, and it was only a matter of time before it caught up with Altaria.

"Chirp~~"

The Hydro Pump surged forward, but instead of dodging, Altaria let out a cry. Hogan's eyes widened as he witnessed an incredible scene.

Altaria continued its Dragon Dance with elegant poise, facing the powerful Hydro Pump. Even as it was about to hit, Altaria calmly carried on without a hint of panic.

But at the last moment, a cry rang out, and following a certain rhythm, the incoming Hydro Pump shattered into countless water droplets, splashing everywhere.

"What!"

Hogan was stunned. Swampert's Hydro Pump continued to follow Altaria, sweeping towards it relentlessly, but with each cry from Altaria, the Hydro Pump shattered from afar. As Swampert watched the water splashing in front of it, it was momentarily dazed before immediately hearing Hogan's command.

"Stop using Hydro Pump! Use Muddy Water!"

Hogan swallowed hard, unable to comprehend what had just happened in such a short time. He quickly changed his command, but even though Swampert could swiftly follow-up with moves, the failure of one move allowed Mismagius to buy some time and launch the next round of attacks.

Hearing the strange incantation, Swampert manipulated Muddy Water to attack Altaria, but it also had to be cautious of illusions. It was already quite wary and experienced with "flash" and "darkness," but this time, even after launching Muddy Water, Swampert couldn't catch up to Altaria's speed for a long time. It wasn't until its Trainer shouted that Swampert snapped out of it.

"A new illusion!"

Watching Swampert's attacks lag behind Altaria, always a beat too slow, as if it hadn't noticed anything, Hogan slapped his forehead. He had been so focused on guarding against "flash" and "darkness", but it seemed Swampert had now fallen victim to a new illusion skill.

Concentrating on guarding against 'flash' and 'darkness' while attacking Altaria led Swampert to inadvertently fall into a new Illusionary Space.

In this space, everything Swampert saw seemed to be slowed down, with everything appearing incredibly mysterious and almost indistinguishable from reality. As a result, Swampert's moves couldn't catch up with Altaria, who was still performing Dragon Dance.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

At this moment, Mismagius unleashed several Shadow Balls, bombarding Swampert in an attempt to hinder it. However, with Swampert's defense, the Shadow Balls struck its body without leaving significant injuries, instead it snapped it fully back to reality, redirecting its focus to Mismagius.

"This Mismagius is too troublesome—" Hogan frowned, feeling a bit stumped. Unless Swampert could shut off its vision and hearing, it would inevitably fall victim to Mismagius' illusion skills. This was the first time he had encountered such a method of obstruction.

A quick, decisive strike.

Hogan gave Swampert an order, and Swampert's eyes flashed red as it accelerated towards Mismagius, determined to knock out this troublesome opponent first.

"Keep it occupied as long as possible—"

Terrance spoke softly, and Mismagius, hearing this, tried to find a way to restrain Swampert's movements. However, whether it was through attacks or interference, nothing seemed to effectively restrain Swampert. Finally, Swampert seized an opportunity and slammed Mismagius to the ground, letting out a powerful roar to release its pent-up frustration.

"Come back, Mismagius, you did well," Terrance said expressionlessly as he looked at the arena.

"Now it's 1 vs 1," Hogan noted, glancing at Altaria, who had completed its Dragon Dance.

"Yes, let's continue," Terrance responded.

...

Later that afternoon.

Shiro came looking for Hogan. After a day of studying, he had also come up with several strategies to counter the Castelia Club.

"Instructor Hogan," Shiro greeted, indicating that he was ready.

Hogan nodded, taking a deep breath. Having learned from his previous mistake with Terrance, he didn't rush to test Shiro. Instead, like Terrance, he allowed Shiro to send out his Pokémon.

Shiro's team of six Pokémon included Pokémon from the Unova region, Kalos region, and some from Hoenn. But they all appeared to be raised well, suggesting that Shiro had assembled a team of his strongest available Pokémon.

"I prepared 12 Pokémon to face the Castelia Club, and these are just six of them," Shiro explained.

"Alright, let me get to know your Pokémon a bit. The battle mode will be a double battle. Let's begin."

...

After completing Hogan's test, Terrance decided to focus on sniping the winning streak in the High-level Area while waiting for the other Trainers to catch up.

"2x coins..." Terrance licked his dry lips and applied for a battle that very day.

Due to his status in the High-level Area, Terrance was naturally assigned to a high-level arena for his battle.

"In 30 minutes," he noted after checking the time. The Pokémon he currently had ready for battle were Growlithe, Beautifly, and Castform.

With these three Pokémon, the battle would be challenging, but in a simple 3 vs 3, Terrance still had confidence in his chances.

Growlithe didn't need to conserve stamina—it could go all out from the start.

Castform's moves are very powerful under Rainy Day, but it can't perform at its best in the Battle Tower's arena. Outdoor arenas were better suited to Castform's abilities. However, Castform's weakness was its low defense, even more fragile than Mismagius, which meant its battles were always limited by this vulnerability.

High-level Area.

Here, the Trainers were of higher caliber, with overall stronger strength. Only a handful of them could achieve one round of consecutive wins in this area.

The competition in the High-level Area was fierce, and the winning streak system faced many restrictions here. Especially when facing another Trainer from the High-level Area who was targeting their winning streak, a Trainer with only three Pokémon has nowhere to turn for consolation.

In response to this phenomenon, Scott had recently been considering ways to reform the Battle Tower's rules and structure.

The floor of the High-level Area Terrance was heading to was in the uppermost levels of the Battle Tower. Unlike the Beginner Area near the bottom, the High-level Area was larger, with more spectators and more intense battles.

Additionally, the High-level Area differed from the Beginner Area in that each floor was an individual arena.

In the past few days, Terrance has been mingling in the High-level Area, and countless Trainers would love nothing more than to skin him alive. After several battles, Terrance has ruined the winning streaks of many Trainers, making them grind their teeth in frustration. Some Trainers even remembered Terrance, planning to target him during his own winning streak, but to their dismay, Terrance had yet to show any signs of starting his own challenge.

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