Should he switch?
No.
Steelix was still in decent shape; there was no need for a tactical retreat just yet.
Kashiwagi shifted his gaze, locking onto the newly summoned Metagross. He didn't hesitate to give the first command.
"Sandstorm!"
Metagross was an exceptionally rare Pokémon, and this was Kashiwagi's first time facing one in a serious match.
In the anime, Metagross were usually "mixed attackers," lethal with both physical strength and psychic special attacks.
To be safe, he needed to set the stage.
"STEEEEE-LIX!"
The Iron Snake Pokémon let out a low, guttural roar as it coiled back into the air. As its horizontal steel segments began to spin, massive clouds of grit and sand billowed from the joints of its armor, quickly expanding to blanket the field.
Within seconds, a localized sandstorm roared into life, obscuring the battlefield.
To the spectators, it looked as if a sepia-toned filter had been dropped over the fight; they could see the outlines of the Pokémon, but the fine details were lost in the swirl.
Seeing this, Tyson winced.
A focused sandstorm could be countered, but a large-scale, diffused storm like this couldn't be easily dispelled, even by a powerhouse like Metagross. He would have to endure the grit.
If I can't see Kashiwagi, he probably can't see me clearly either, Tyson thought, finding a sliver of comfort. He shouted his next move: "Bullet Punch!"
"META-G!"
Metagross flickered like a glitch in the air. Its bronze-colored, disc-like body lunged forward with such explosive speed that its four legs were a blur. It crossed ten meters in a heartbeat, closing the gap to Steelix.
"So fast!" the crowd gasped. From their perspective, Metagross didn't just move; it practically teleported.
In the Pokémon world, priority moves like Bullet Punch are often depicted as sheer bursts of acceleration—one reason the animation team loves Pikachu's Quick Attack is its versatility as a gap-closer.
Kashiwagi agreed it was fast, but his and Steelix's dynamic vision were tuned for this level of play.
"Sand Tomb!"
"ROOAR!"
Steelix threw its head back, and its rotating steel rings accelerated to a scream.
Instead of just blowing sand away, a dense, swirling vortex of brownish-yellow grit erupted from the segments, forming a tightening funnel of sand just as Metagross arrived!
Metagross's red eyes flashed. It leaped, its right foreleg glowing with a brilliant silver light. Like a shot from a cannon, it fired the punch!
THOOM!
PUFF!
There was a heavy thud, followed by the sound of a pressurized balloon bursting.
"META-G!"
Metagross hissed as a wave of sand slapped it in the face, forcing it to retreat the moment its feet touched the ground.
Its Bullet Punch hadn't hit solid metal; it felt like it had punched a high-viscosity liquid, with seventy percent of the impact being absorbed and dispersed by the swirling sand.
Tyson's teeth ached with frustration. "...A Sand Tomb shield?"
He was an experienced Trainer and saw exactly what had happened.
Steelix had used the centrifugal force and density of the Sand Tomb to warp the trajectory of the punch, weakening a move that should have dealt significant damage.
He thought the previous display against Donphan was Steelix's peak, but it seemed the giant still had tricks up its sleeve...
To beat precision, you use absolute power!
"Psychic!" Tyson yelled.
The silver "X" on Metagross's face glowed with an intense blue light. Invisible ripples of telekinetic energy surged toward Steelix. However, instead of trying to lift the mountain-sized snake, the energy latched onto the swirling sandstorm itself.
"That's it! Force it back!"
"METAAAA!"
Metagross let out a strained roar, using its mental might to compress the Sand Tomb vortex, forcing the move to collapse inward and crush its own user.
Kashiwagi wasn't about to let his own move become his prison.
"Accelerate your rotation! Push it back!"
"STEEEEL!"
Steelix pushed its horizontal rings to the limit. The sound of the wind rose to a thunderous roar. The collapsing sandstorm fought against the centrifugal force, Ground-type energy clashing violently against Psychic power.
Finally, the two opposing forces reached a breaking point—and detonated like a pair of ignited bombs!
BOOM!
Thick smoke billowed outward, momentarily clearing the surrounding sandstorm before the wind took over again.
Despite the failed maneuver, Tyson didn't look disappointed.
Whether the sand crushed Steelix or exploded in its face, Tyson considered it a win—Metagross was safely outside the blast radius. More importantly, the explosion had forced the massive Steelix back down to the ground.
The hunting horn had sounded!
"Agility!"
Metagross became a silver phantom, flickering around Steelix's flank. The lingering smoke from the explosion was swept away by the sheer wind of its movement.
Every time Steelix tried to lock on, Metagross had already vanished and reappeared on its blind side. It was hard to believe a half-ton metallic monster could be this nimble.
Steelix didn't dare take to the skies again. At its slow speed, it would be a sitting duck for a precision strike from the rear.
Tyson knew that Steelix needed its head to aim its most powerful attacks. Stay out of its line of sight, and the victory is mine!
"Ice Punch!"
"Ground-Spinning Gyro Ball!"
Both Trainers shouted their commands simultaneously.
The spectators near Kashiwagi blinked in confusion. Ground-spinning what?
They soon saw. Steelix slammed its tail-spike deep into the earth like an anchor. Its upper horizontal rings glowed with a pale blue light, spinning so fast they became three shimmering halos.
Then, instead of staying upright, Steelix dropped its massive upper body flat against the ground.
Using its tail-spike as a pivot point, it began to sweep across the battlefield like a gargantuan, motorized scythe!
The earth groaned and shattered as the spinning steel segments tore through the dirt. It was a terrifying, low-altitude zone of destruction!
Facing this roaring metal hurricane, Metagross didn't flinch. It reared back and thrust its right arm forward, frost coiling around its fist into a heavy crystalline mallet. It met the oncoming Steelix head-on!
Move collided with move!
SCREEE—BOOM!
The screech of metal on metal was followed by the muffled roar of another explosion!
Both Pokémon were blasted back several meters by the resulting shockwave. Fire and smoke filled the air once more, mingling with the ever-present sand.
Tyson stared intensely into the haze. He had never imagined a single Steelix would push him this far.
The smoke swirled as Metagross skidded back to stand in front of him.
Aside from some scuff marks on its blue armor, it looked mostly unharmed—but that exchange had proven just how dangerous this "Mountain of Metal" truly was.
This is going to have to be a slugfest.
Not far away, Kashiwagi watched Steelix's silhouette through the haze.
Noticing her slight, labored breathing, his mind whirred—he had the perfect gambit.
"Dig!"
Almost simultaneously, a sharp voice cut through the grit.
"Uppercut Meteor Mash!"
A flash of light ignited within the smoke.
In the next heartbeat, Metagross burst through the smog, its fists merged together like a massive battering ram.
Coated in shimmering silver-blue energy, it looked like a literal falling star, trailing a dazzling comet tail of light and kicked-up sand. It rocketed forward with a bone-shaking roar!
RUMBLE!!
The earth convulsed.
Metagross's Meteor Mash curved upward in a violent arc, smashing squarely into Steelix's nail-like tail.
The Iron Claw Pokémon zipped past, banking into a high-speed turn to reposition.
BOOM!
The smoke dissipated as the force of the strike cleared the air.
Steelix was gone. In its place was a gaping, massive tunnel. It turned out that the only reason Metagross had hit the tail was that the rest of the mountain-sized snake had already dived into the earth like a whale into the deep sea.
The howling winds had swallowed Kashiwagi's voice, but it didn't matter; Steelix's execution was flawless.
"Dig!?"
Tyson stared at the blurred figure of Kashiwagi through the sandstorm filter. He had assumed Kashiwagi would use Magnet Rise to escape into the sky again.
He had actually forgotten that Steelix are the undisputed masters of the subterranean—diving underground was their natural instinct.
Perhaps the sight of that Ultra-Giant Steelix soaring through the air had left too deep an impression.
As the dust settled, the massive hole in the center of the field was exposed to the world.
Given the sheer size of the tunnel, Metagross could easily have followed it down to continue the fight.
But Tyson didn't dare.
Fighting a Ground-type in its own element? That was a recipe for disaster.
"Magnet Rise!" he commanded.
"META-G!"
Metagross tucked its four heavy legs inward, folding them toward its torso to hover off the ground. Its glowing red eyes scanned the surface, desperately tracking Steelix's movements.
The problem was that the giant was simply too big. Every minor shift it made underground caused half the battlefield to tremble violently.
Traditional observation was useless.
Tyson's brow furrowed.
Before Steelix dived, its body had been crackling with faint yellow sparks—the lingering effect of Magnet Rise. That was exactly why he'd ordered an uppercut Meteor Mash. But was the effect wearing off?
As a temporary move, he knew the electromagnetic lift couldn't last forever.
If it ended now, Steelix's immunity to Ground-type moves would vanish. Even if it stayed underground, Metagross could still reach it...
I have to bet on it! Fortune favors the bold, and he couldn't afford to let Steelix set up some nasty trick beneath his feet.
"Earthquake!"
"METAAAA!"
Metagross obeyed instantly. It unfolded its right fist and gathered a surge of brownish-yellow energy, slamming it into the ground with the force of a tectonic shift!
THOOM!
The earth vibrated at a high frequency, sending ripples of shockwaves in every direction. The swirling sandstorm was momentarily pushed back by an invisible wall of force, clearing the air at the center of the impact.
But a second later, the sand rushed back in.
The power of the Earthquake was undeniable, and against an underground opponent, the damage should have been doubled.
However, a chill ran down Tyson's spine as the dust cleared.
Steelix hadn't been forced to the surface.
It hadn't even flinched. The lack of reaction proved that the Magnet Rise was still active—he had lost the gamble.
How can it sustain that move for so long!?
"Ascend! Quick, get out of there!"
Tyson knew that since his move had failed, a counter-attack was coming—and it was coming now.
True to his fears, a patch of level ground not far away suddenly erupted!
KA-BOOM!
"Body Press!"
The gargantuan Steelix burst from the earth, its mountain-like silhouette silhouetted against the sky.
The sight was like watching a skyscraper collapse in slow motion. As its rock-rings spun, they sprayed even more sand into the air.
A blinding, brownish-red light ignited at its head and surged down its spine like a glowing crimson dragon!
"STEEEEEEL-IX!!"
VREEEEE—
The air let out a low, oppressive hum!
There was nowhere to run. The move was too fast for Metagross to out-climb!
All or nothing!
Tyson grit his teeth and roared, "Spin and meet it with Bullet Punch!"
"META-G!"
Metagross spun sideways mid-air, having anticipated the move the moment Tyson gave the order.
Its silver-clad fist, glowing with the force of the strike, locked into position just as the Ultra-Giant Steelix slammed into it from above.
THOOM!
The muffled, metallic groan of the collision echoed across the arena, a visible ripple of air pressure blasting outward.
The sheer, overwhelming kinetic energy of Steelix's Body Press sent Metagross careening backward like a discarded meteor; it didn't stabilize its flight until it was dozens of meters outside the main perimeter of the field.
Inside the arena, Tyson and the spectators clutched their ears, ears ringing and vision swimming from the intensity of the impact.
A few seconds later, the wind began to scatter the smoke and grit.
"Grr-ooo..."
Steelix stood tall amidst the raging sandstorm, its massive frame heaving with labored breaths as it locked eyes with Metagross, which was wobbling as it struggled to return to the field.
It had to be said: Metagross was a tank. That desperate, reactive Bullet Punch had left three deep, hairline fractures across Steelix's forehead. But through pure recoil, Steelix had done its damage—Metagross's right fist was twisted, the three massive claws bent inward, the joints damaged and locked tight.
All things considered, Steelix had come out ahead.
However...
Its own condition was entering the red zone. Steelix knew that between the grueling battle with Donphan and this high-frequency exchange with Metagross, her internal structural integrity was fraying.
Kashiwagi's voice cut through the noise: "Smack Down!"
"STEEEEL!"
Steelix didn't hesitate. Its largest horizontal steel ring spun into a blur, and amidst the whirling sand, it spat out several golden, rock-hard projectiles that whistled through the air toward Metagross!
"Psychic!" a recovered Tyson roared.
The 'X' on Metagross's face flared blue. Invisible psychic waves formed a translucent wall, intercepting the golden rocks mid-air and shattering them into harmless dust.
Kashiwagi raised an eyebrow.
To intercept a projectile with such precision after tanking a Body Press? While he hadn't expected to end the match with that one move, Metagross's physical defense and sheer willpower were commendable.
But if it could just swat away Smack Down, the Ground-type moves were essentially useless.
Steelix was clearly on her last legs. Was it time to pull it out?
"Grooo..."
A low, vibrating growl reached Kashiwagi's ears. He felt a sudden swell of pride, coupled with a helpless smile.
"Stone Edge!" he called out.
"Spinning Hammer Arm!"
Tyson had noticed Steelix's fatigue too. He decided to go for broke, desperate to end the match with a single, decisive blow.
Even with its damaged arm, Metagross—boosted by its previous Agility—moved with terrifying speed, its spinning body creating a vortex of brown-red light.
It moved like a lightning bolt!
In the blink of an eye, Metagross was at Steelix's flank, slamming its weight into the steel rings at its waist.
BANG!
"ROOOAAAR—"
Steelix tipped sideways under the crushing blow, looking for a moment like a mountain on the verge of total collapse. But as it fell, the jagged, towering pillars of stone it had manifested during Stone Edge fired off like heavy artillery.
Even as Metagross tried to dodge the moment its attack landed, it couldn't evade the sheer density and speed of the incoming barrage.
CRASH!
Rocks shattered into a cloud of debris.
"Meta..."
Metagross tumbled toward the ground, but Tyson let out a breath of relief. That Hammer Arm had to have finished it.
Suddenly.
A massive, iron-thick tail shot out from the smoke, slamming into Metagross and locking a vice-grip around its injured right arm.
"What!?"
Tyson's eyes widened. Across the field, Kashiwagi was no longer smiling—he looked grim, resolved.
"Self-Destruct."
In a heartbeat, a blinding, incandescent white light swallowed the entire arena. Every spectator instinctively covered their eyes, but the thunderous, earth-shattering boom that followed vibrated through their very marrow!
KABOOOOOOM—!!
As the white light faded, a massive, terrifying fireball—a literal mushroom cloud rising from a localized nuclear-style blast—towered into the sky.