Chapter 530: The Forest and the Lizard

"Huh?"

Tyranitar stared down at its feet, completely baffled.

Where the hell was its mighty, battlefield-wrecking Earthquake?

Had some ghost swallowed the whole move?

"Tyranitar... I told you to use Earthquake. Didn't you hear me?"

"Stop fooling around... Hurry up and use Earthquake to destroy all these trees!"

Quincy assumed Tyranitar was fooling around and barked at it again.

Tyranitar: "..."

Tyranitar wanted to protest. It had used Earthquake. The damn thing just had not worked.

"Roar!"

Swallowing its frustration, Tyranitar gathered its strength and tried again.

Earthy yellow energy flared around its body once more.

Then it slammed its feet hard into the ground.

Boom, boom...

Another heavy stomp echoed through the forest, followed by absolutely nothing.

Once again, all noise and no result—basically a fart.

"What?"

Tyranitar's eyes went wide. Now it was genuinely panicking.

"Stomp, stomp, stomp..."

It stomped again and again, but Earthquake refused to spread through the ground.

The poor thing looked ready to cry.

"Tyranitar, stop."

By then, Quincy had finally realized something was wrong.

His eyes dropped to the massive roots webbing across the battlefield.

"It's this forest, isn't it?"

"The roots are locking the ground in place and smothering Earthquake's vibrations."

Quincy was an experienced Trainer.

Once he noticed the roots, the reason was obvious.

"Tch... What a disgusting effect."

Quincy ground his teeth.

He immediately switched tactics.

"Tyranitar... use Rock Slide to attack that rotten lizard!"

"Roar!"

Tyranitar roared. By now, it hated Mega Sceptile almost as much as Quincy did.

Yellow energy flared around Tyranitar as a huge boulder formed above Mega Sceptile.

The boulder came crashing down.

"Mega Sceptile... move."

Aaron did not sound remotely worried.

"Scep!"

Mega Sceptile was already fast. Inside the forest, Wood Dragon Lizard doubled its Speed again.

It blurred up the trunk of a towering tree like a forest spirit, leaving the falling boulder to smash into empty ground.

Boom, boom, boom!

Dust erupted from the impact, but Mega Sceptile was already racing through the trees toward Tyranitar.

"Damn it... you rotten lizard."

Quincy cursed as Mega Sceptile flashed through the forest.

"Tyranitar... use Rock Tomb! Slow that damn lizard down!"

"Roar!"

Massive rocks formed around Tyranitar and shot toward Mega Sceptile from every direction.

It still was not enough.

Mega Sceptile turned the incoming rocks into stepping stones, springing from one to the next like a blade dancer and slipping through the entire barrage.

"What?"

Quincy could only stare.

"Mega Sceptile... Sage Art: Leaf Blade!"

The instant Mega Sceptile passed over Tyranitar's head, Aaron gave the order.

"Scep!"

Mega Sceptile twisted in midair above Tyranitar.

A white-green blade emerged from the back of its hand.

It slashed down hard at Tyranitar.

Boom!

"Awooo!"

Tyranitar howled as the slash hammered it into the ground.

"Damn it... Tyranitar, get up! Use Crunch!"

Quincy's composure finally cracked.

"Roar!"

Tyranitar forced itself back up, opened its huge jaws, and lunged at Mega Sceptile with Crunch.

"Mega Sceptile... back."

Aaron gave the order calmly.

One backward leap carried Mega Sceptile clear of Tyranitar's jaws.

Tyranitar could not even touch it.

Even after one Dragon Dance, bulky Tyranitar was hopelessly outclassed by Mega Sceptile's speed.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

"Tyranitar! Stone Edge—make it huge!"

Quincy was rapidly losing whatever restraint he had left.

"Roar!"

Tyranitar roared as Rock-type energy surged around it.

Pieces of rock floated up from the ground and gathered into a massive pointed stone.

The jagged mass grew more than three meters across before hurtling toward Mega Sceptile.

"Mega Sceptile... Sage Art: Wood Release — Wood Shield Jutsu!"

Aaron watched the enormous Stone Edge come down without flinching.

"Scep!"

Mega Sceptile gave a low cry as white-green light spread across its body.

It pressed both hands hard against the ground.

Boom, boom, boom!

The ground heaved, and a massive wooden shield shaped like a fanged mask rose before it.

Boom!

The enormous Stone Edge crashed head-on into the wooden shield.

The impact boomed across the battlefield.

Smoke and dust exploded through the forest like the aftermath of a missile strike.

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