The moment the battle began, Caesar did not hesitate for a single second.
The Sandstorm he had been brewing for a long time erupted violently, as turbid yellow sand obscured the entire pure white space, swallowing both vision and perception.
Almost at the same time, a brilliant light burst from the Charizard on the opposite side of the field—a sign of MEGA Evolution.
Within the light, its form changed drastically; sharp horns grew from its head, its wings became broader, and its form shifted toward Mega Charizard Y.
The Ability Drought activated immediately.
A scorching sun rose forcibly above the Sandstorm, its searing rays attempting to pierce through the dust and turn the weather into a Sunny Day that favored it.
But this was exactly the moment Caesar had been waiting for!
MEGA Evolution takes time, and Ability triggers take time; even if it was only a fraction of a second, it was enough for him to seize the initiative!
"Now!"
From within the dust, a spiraling energy sphere condensed from high-density rock elements whistled out, aimed directly at the newly evolved Mega Charizard Y.
Weather Ball!
In a Sandstorm, this originally mediocre skill doubled in power, and its type shifted to Rock—a fourfold super-effective counter against the opponent!
And that wasn't all.
Because the Materials Caesar used were all of top-tier Amethyst quality, the skill itself had received a terrifying enhancement.
Weather Ball - Modified!
The move was guaranteed to trigger a Same-Type Attack Bonus (STAB), its release speed was increased by 50%, and its mana consumption was reduced!
This allowed Caesar to achieve near-zero latency instant casting!
Mega Charizard Y had just barely adapted to its new body, and the scorching sunlight had yet to fully disperse the dust when the lethal rock projectile was already before its eyes.
At the critical moment, it flapped its wings violently, forcibly twisting its body and narrowly avoiding the fatal blow.
The rock sphere grazed its body, the resulting wind pressure causing its scales to sting—
But how could Caesar's offensive consist of only one shot?
"Take this! Rock Style: Spiraling Sphere Barrage!!"
He roared in his heart as both claws moved in unison. One high-speed spinning Weather Ball after another was produced, like a volley of cannonballs, sealing off all possible evasion routes for Mega Charizard Y.
By now, the Drought ability had taken full effect. The sand was mostly dispersed by the scorching sunlight, and the sun blazed high above.
But Caesar had already achieved his goal!
Several massive Rock Style Weather Balls traced eerie arcs in the air, converging on Mega Charizard Y from all directions. Giant rocks flew together in a terrifying display of power!
This move's casting speed was extremely fast, but its flight speed wasn't top-tier.
Caesar intended to use this to seize the initiative and catch the opponent off guard!
Seeing the spiraling celestial bodies about to completely lock it down, Mega Charizard Y let out a roar.
Searing blue flames erupted from its mouth, and the surrounding temperature rose sharply. The converging rocks actually began to melt at a visible rate!
"Boom!"
With a massive explosion, the rock enclosure was forcibly torn open.
A jet-black dragon's body charged out from within, claws clenched tight, blue flames burning at the corners of its mouth, its gaze incredibly fierce.
Mega Charizard X!
It worked!
Caesar lowered his body, his limbs exerting force as his entire dragon form sprinted across the ground like an arrow released from a bow.
He had successfully forced out the opponent's second form!
Compared to the Y form with its world-ending Special Attack, the X form, which specialized in close-quarters combat, was still powerful, but at least it didn't possess such a hopeless level of suppressive force.
Caesar summoned the Sandstorm again, and turbid dust once more enveloped the battlefield.
Using his Sand Veil ability, his blue dragon body blended into the swirling yellow sand. He began to maneuver at high speed around Mega Charizard X, looking for the next opening... However, Mega Charizard X's combat intelligence far exceeded his imagination.
With a jolt of its body, blue flames surged up, forming a high-speed spinning vortex that actually forced all the surrounding dust away, clearing an absolutely safe zone...!
This was exquisite control over its moves. Type advantages didn't seem to matter much in the face of absolute strength.
Caesar's heart sank.
As expected, the real tough battle was only just beginning!
In the next second, the ground beneath his feet began to grow scalding hot, as if he were stepping on a red-hot iron plate.
Scorching Sands!
Perhaps because the Special Attack stat in the Mega Charizard X form was still not low, the power of this move was staggering.
The entire field began to heat up, making it impossible to find a footing.
Even the Sandstorm environment Caesar took pride in was affected; every grain of raised dust became searing hot, striking his body and bringing a burning sensation of pain.
This actually restricted Caesar's movements!
The scalding grit constantly battered his body. On the System panel, his HP began to slowly drop, but Caesar relied on his ground-type resistance to tank the damage.
He had long anticipated this situation, so he did not panic.
Next, he had to end this quickly!
Scale Shot!
While moving at high speed, Caesar suddenly shook his body.
Dozens of sharp dragon scales instantly detached from his body, flying out like hidden weapons. They silently pierced through the dust, striking at the Mega Charizard X in the center of the flame vortex from an extremely tricky angle!
The reason he chose Scale Shot over the broader Dragon Breath or Dragon Pulse was because of this skill's characteristics.
It could be released while moving and was highly stealthy. Unlike other Special Attack skills, it wouldn't blast a clear trajectory through the Sandstorm, which would be equivalent to telling the opponent his position.
"Take this, Charizard! 20-Meter Radius Rough Scale Splash!"
The sharp dragon scales poured down like a rainstorm.
Mega Charizard X reacted extremely quickly, immediately using Aerial Ace. Its body turned into an afterimage, weaving through the dense rain of scales at high speed.
But the coverage of Scale Shot was too wide, and its speed too fast.
"Thud! Thud!"
Two dragon scales successfully broke through its evasion, sinking deep into its shoulder and the base of its wing.
Relying on the high Defense from its MEGA Evolution, Mega Charizard X tanked the hits, and the wounds weren't deep.
But this strike completely enraged it.
"Roar—!"
With it as the center, an even more terrifying heat swept out in all directions.
The flames on the ground erupted violently, and the resulting roar actually interfered with Caesar's sensory organs that relied on vibration and sound for positioning!
Not good!
Caesar, who was still weaving through the dust at high speed, instantly felt something was wrong.
He had lost the opponent's position!
Where is it?
Alarm bells rang in Caesar's mind. He quickly began brewing a new Weather Ball in his mouth, while simultaneously, two Shadow Claws composed of ghost energy appeared out of thin air, each molding a small Weather Ball.
Three shots ready!
He didn't choose to stay put and defend. Instead, he carefully felt for every abnormality in the air currents within the Sandstorm, taking the initiative to attack!
There!
Caesar's eyes narrowed, and without hesitation, he launched the three Weather Balls toward a spot in the Sandstorm where the flow was abnormal!
The Weather Balls instantly punched three holes through the sand curtain, then collided violently with a rapidly spinning flame vortex!
"Boom!"
The violent explosion whipped up waves within the Sandstorm.
As expected, Mega Charizard X was using the'shield' formed by the flame vortex pushing aside the sand to fly at high speed within the storm.
This action caused local abnormalities in the Sandstorm's flow, which were ultimately captured by Caesar's keen senses.
Both sides' positions were exposed simultaneously!
Mega Charizard X let out a heaven-shaking roar. No longer hiding, it turned into a bolt of black lightning, charging toward Caesar with terrifying speed!
It used the extreme movement of Aerial Ace to graze past the subsequent Weather Balls Caesar fired, rapidly closing the distance.
The actual speed of an X-form Charizard far exceeded its paper stats. Now, exploding with full power, it actually created a piercing sonic boom in the air, like a diving jet fighter!
Flames swirled around it, and blue energy blades had already condensed on its Dragon Claws—Dragon Claw!
In the blink of an eye, those lethal Dragon Claws appeared before Caesar's eyes!
But at this critical juncture, Caesar's Dragon Tail whipped violently. Using the reaction force, his entire body slid aside at an incredible angle.
He narrowly dodged the killing blow!
After three rounds of Scale Shot, although his Defense had decreased, his Speed had increased, allowing him to barely keep up with the opponent's rhythm!
"Now!"
Caesar seized the moment and counterattacked with a Scale Shot, dozens of dragon scales blasting toward the opponent's defenseless back!
However, Mega Charizard X's reaction was even faster!
In a posture that completely defied the laws of physics, it flapped its wings violently. Its entire body actually rose vertically, instantly ascending dozens of meters and disappearing once more into the thick Sandstorm.
Even the Shadow Claw swung in desperation hit nothing but air.
"Damn it..."
Caesar cursed under his breath. This guy was clearly a Fire/dragon-type, so how was it playing with Sand Veil even better than he, a ground/dragon-type?
Was this the terrifying strength of a 634 base stat total?
Before he could figure it out, the situation on the field changed again.
Mega Charizard X seemed to have seen through Caesar's method of judging its position. It simply stopped hiding and directly summoned several identical flame vortexes within the Sandstorm.
Suddenly, Caesar could feel multiple abnormal flow points within the Sandstorm.
Every one of these flow points could be the opponent's true body, or they could all be traps.
Where is it?
Where on earth is it?
For the first time, Caesar felt such intense anxiety.
The ground beneath his feet had heated up to a terrifying degree. The System's notification sounds kept ringing in his mind, warning him that his body was about to exceed its tolerance limit and enter the Burned state.
Once Burned, his stamina would continuously drop and his Attack would be significantly reduced. Then, there would truly be no way to save the situation.
"...!"
Since he couldn't find the opponent, he would use a saturation strike to cover everywhere!
Caesar's gaze turned fierce as he made a decision.
He gathered the last of the energy in his body, and an unprecedentedly massive Weather Ball began to brew in front of him.
The Shadow Claws floating on either side also molded smaller Weather Balls, then slammed them into the main sphere!
The Weather Ball expanded at a visible rate, growing larger and larger, finally forming a high-speed spinning spiraling celestial body that seemed capable of swallowing everything!
Three spheres in one!
Boom—!
A powerful elemental gravity erupted from the celestial body, actually sucking up all the sand on the field.
Suddenly, whether it was the Sandstorm itself or the scalding hot sand on the ground, everything flew up as if in pilgrimage, converging into that dense spiraling celestial body composed of sand and rock!
The formation of the celestial body produced an unmatched suction force. Even the flame vortexes could not escape, being torn apart and swallowed one by one.
Finally, within the chaotic energy flow, Caesar saw that orange figure being forcibly dragged out of hiding!
"Found you!"
Caesar let out a heaven-shaking roar, pouring all his strength into this final blow—
"Rock Style: Great Ball Spiraling Vacuum Sphere!!!"