Another one had been taken down?
Belotti's expression had become exceedingly ugly.
He stared at Shiko, who stood across from him concealed beneath his black robe, utterly furious.
His breathing grew heavy.
His eyes narrowed sharply.
His knife-like gaze seemed as though it wanted to carve Shiko into pieces.
Sensing the sinister aura radiating from him, Shiko merely smiled faintly.
Beneath the black robe, his blue dragon eyes suddenly sharpened.
His gaze shot directly toward Belotti.
The instant their eyes met, Belotti felt an overwhelming pressure descend upon him.
It was no exaggeration to say that this sensation was even stronger than what those First-tier Legendaries had once made him feel.
In that single instant, it felt as though the blood in his veins had frozen.
Even his heartbeat inexplicably skipped a beat.
It was an overwhelming pressure originating directly from Shiko.
It was so powerful that Belotti almost couldn't stop himself from trembling.
What was going on?
Belotti frowned.
After finally recovering, he stared fixedly at Shiko.
However, when he carefully tried to sense him again, the terrifying aura that had nearly left him unable to breathe just moments ago had completely disappeared.
It was as though it had never existed in the first place.
An illusion?
Belotti stared at Shiko.
The human before him was covered by a black robe, making his face impossible to see.
And there truly weren't any particularly powerful energy fluctuations coming from him.
Could there really have been something wrong with his perception?
Just as Belotti was wondering about this, the referee standing on the battlefield spoke.
"Contestant Belotti, please send out your next Pokémon!"
Only after hearing those words did Belotti finally pull his attention away from Shiko and return it to the match.
Frowning slightly, he took out a Poké Ball.
He recalled Moltres, which had already fallen unconscious and whose burning flames had weakened considerably.
Then, he took another Poké Ball from his waist.
He tossed it in a perfect arc.
The instant the Poké Ball descended toward the ground, red light surged outward.
Immediately afterward, under the gazes of every spectator present, a huge blue bird with its wings spread wide appeared before everyone.
It was none other than Articuno, one of the three Legendary birds.
Although everyone had already guessed that Articuno would be the next Pokémon to appear, the spectators still couldn't suppress their cries of amazement when they actually saw it.
At that moment, Articuno spread its wings and released a piercing cry.
Then it soared freely through the sky.
Every flap of its wings scattered large quantities of translucent ice crystals.
The air, which had become scorching hot and distorted after Phoenixmon and Moltres's previous clash, gradually began to cool.
Before long, the temperature returned to normal.
The spectators watched the beautiful figure soaring through the sky for a while before finally withdrawing their gazes.
Then, their attention returned to Shiko.
So...
What would he choose against Articuno?
In the spectators' eyes, the best choice was obviously to let Phoenixmon continue fighting.
After all, Fire-type attacks were super effective against Ice types.
Of course, as a Legendary Pokémon, the Ice-type moves unleashed by Articuno possessed astonishingly low temperatures and incredibly powerful freezing capabilities.
Legends even claimed that Articuno's ice could freeze flames themselves.
However...
Phoenixmon's flames had already proven themselves superior to those of Moltres, another member of the same Legendary bird trio as Articuno.
Everyone estimated that Articuno would probably have no way to deal with Phoenixmon's flames.
Therefore, if Shiko wanted to approach the battle purely from the standpoint of maximizing his chances of victory, continuing to use Phoenixmon would undoubtedly be the best decision.
But clearly...
Shiko had no intention of following everyone's expectations.
(End of Chapter)
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