Moltres opened the battle with Flamethrower.
A blazing pillar of fire—
No, it could hardly even be called a pillar of fire anymore.
It was more like a concentrated beam of scorching heat.
It blasted straight toward Garudamon.
The power behind this attack was terrifying.
Although it was still Flamethrower in name, it had long since surpassed the limits of what an ordinary Pokémon could achieve.
It could practically be considered a completely different variation of the move.
Faced with such an attack, Garudamon showed no trace of panic.
In the next instant, his wings swept violently forward.
Immediately afterward, two incomparably sharp blades of compressed wind tore through the air.
Shadow Wing!!
The two slashes effortlessly shattered the Flamethrower and dispersed it.
From that single exchange alone, Moltres immediately understood.
The opponent before him was in no way weaker than he was.
Garudamon took the initiative and launched his attack.
His wings beat violently.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished from where he had been standing.
An explosive sonic boom erupted through the air.
Almost instantly, he appeared directly in front of Moltres.
Then, his hands curled slightly.
He viciously raked his claws toward Moltres.
Eagle Claw!!
The power of this attack was terrifying.
Under that single claw strike, even the air itself seemed to be torn apart.
Moltres had never expected his opponent to be so fast.
By the time he reacted, the claw had already struck his wing.
Several deep claw marks were ripped across it.
The wounds were deep enough to expose bone.
Even a patch of the flames covering his wing was extinguished.
When Belotti saw this, his eyes narrowed slightly.
The strength Garudamon had displayed far exceeded his expectations.
That single attack alone had directly wiped out one-quarter of Moltres's HP.
It was astonishing.
Such a severe injury instantly enraged Moltres.
After that, the battle between the two quickly became deadlocked.
Moltres was, after all, an existence that had mastered one hundred percent of the Fire-type Law.
His control over fire was extraordinarily powerful.
If they were comparing pure mastery over flames, Garudamon was still slightly inferior.
Fortunately, Garudamon was faster.
His physical strength was also greater.
And the Flying-type attacks he unleashed were more powerful as well.
With each possessing their own advantages, their overall strength was currently about equal.
As a result, the battle immediately fell into another fierce stalemate.
More importantly, whenever Moltres was badly injured, he would take advantage of the moment he unleashed an attack to create distance.
Then he would use Roost.
He seized every opportunity to recover his stamina.
Because of that, the battle gradually turned into a prolonged war of attrition.
And under such circumstances, the advantage naturally began shifting toward Moltres, who could continuously restore his stamina.
In other words—
Although Garudamon was powerful enough, he would ultimately still lose if things continued like this.
Shiko watched the situation and frowned slightly.
It seemed another change was necessary.
On the other side, Belotti's expression finally relaxed somewhat.
If he could win this battle, control of the situation would return to him.
Judging by how things were going now, Moltres could win.
It would simply take a little more time.
If Garudamon wanted to turn the battle around, there was only one possibility.
He would have to become stronger within a very short period of time.
For example, just like the red beetle from before—
Evolving and undergoing a qualitative leap in strength.
Just then—
Belotti's expression instantly froze.
Because on Shiko's side—
Shiko extended his hand once again.
Immediately afterward, an invisible stream of data energy flowed into Garudamon's body.
The instant that energy entered him—
Garudamon felt that he could finally break through.
Then, in the very next instant—
White light appeared around his body once again.
The light grew brighter and brighter.
Eventually, it completely enveloped him.
When Belotti saw this, he was utterly dumbfounded.
He never imagined that the same situation would actually happen again.
Was the evolution of that red beetle not enough?
Now—
This dark-red birdman was going to evolve too?
This was absurd!
In the audience stands, the spectators were equally stunned.
Every face was filled with shock and disbelief.
They had never expected that such a rare sight as evolution occurring in the middle of a battle—
Would happen twice in a single day.
It was extraordinarily rare.
And that wasn't all.
This was the evolution of a powerful existence already possessing the strength of a Third-tier Legendary!
(End of Chapter)
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