Chapter 280: Three Failed Attempts
Bang!!
After Dragon Pulse was neutralized, Altaria flew high into the sky, gazing down at Hydreigon. This time, Altaria changed its attack approach—a beam of icy blue light shot through the air with a biting chill. As the cold swept across, the ground beneath it froze, leaving a trail of frost. When Ice Beam reached Hydreigon, it faced the hateful energy head-on, forming a large black maw to bite it. With another thunderous boom, the energy beam exploded in front of Hydreigon.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
At that moment, all three of Hydreigon's heads turned, firing another Dragon Pulse towards Altaria. Under Terrance's command, Altaria dodged, but the Dragon Pulse relentlessly pursued.
"Use your senses to follow the energy," Terrance said calmly.
Facing the incoming Dragon Pulse, Terrance didn't rush to have Altaria block it with a move, opting instead for a hit-and-run tactic. Hydreigon wasn't weak, and besides, Kaveh still had an unknown Pokémon. For the upcoming battle, Altaria couldn't fight the way Arcanine did.
When it became clear that dodging the attack wasn't possible, Altaria flung out its feathers. A flash of ice appeared, and the cottony feathers turned into a large ice block, blocking the Dragon Pulse. The attack struck the ice, shattering it into countless icy fragments, allowing Altaria to destroy the Dragon Pulse.
"Dragon Dance!"
Once it destroyed the attack, Terrance swiftly issued a command.
Then, Altaria began to boldly and openly dance right in front of Hydreigon.
"What is he doing—"
"Does he think Kaveh will give him the opportunity?!"
The Castelia Club people exclaimed when they saw Altaria use Dragon Dance. Who would be foolish enough to give their opponent a chance for such a blatant power-up?
Sure enough, without a word, Kaveh ordered Hydreigon to attack. A dark purple energy beam appeared, ruthlessly sweeping toward Altaria.
Chirp~~~
As the attack came, Altaria let out a high-pitched cry and swiftly evaded, canceling the Dragon Dance. Seeing this, Terrance and Kaveh exchanged glances.
"Altaria, Feather Dance."
There was no denying the deceptive nature of Altaria's Feather Dance. Its body dove into a sea of pure white feathers, making it hard to spot Altaria's figure amidst the floating feathers, especially when it was intentionally concealing itself. The feathers drifted down gently, swarming towards Hydreigon. Then, flames burst out as a column of fire spewed from Hydreigon's mouth, setting the feathers ablaze. But at that moment, Kaveh noticed Altaria had started Dragon Dance again.
Kaveh furrowed his brow, unable to understand Terrance's strategy.
Dragon Dance could indeed boost Altaria's stats, but there was no way he would just stand by and watch Altaria strengthen itself. Surely, Terrance understood this.
Still, Terrance's order for Altaria to use Dragon Dance whenever there was an opening left Kaveh baffled.
With a snap of his fingers, Hydreigon, now back on alert, launched another attack. And once again, unsurprisingly, Altaria was interrupted and forced to flee in haste without launching a counterattack.
"Is running away all you can do?" Kaveh asked, seeing that after the initial offensive, Terrance spent the rest of the time instructing Altaria to dodge.
"Then let's see whose stamina is better—Altaria or Hydreigon." Kaveh had considered what strategy Terrance might be using, but for now, he still had no clue. One thing was certain though: Altaria's Dragon Dance was never going to succeed in front of him.
This pattern repeated three times. Each time Altaria tried to use Dragon Dance, it was interrupted. One of the attacks even grazed Altaria, causing significant injuries, but Terrance kept waiting.
As for the current situation, it was still within a controllable range.
"Still not done yet?" Many spectators found the scene both baffling and amusing. Terrance appeared like a rookie, desperate to have Altaria successfully complete Dragon Dance but constantly being blocked. If it weren't for Altaria's sharp instincts and tough endurance, it would have likely already lost the will to fight under Hydreigon's relentless attacks.
Hogan knew what Terrance was trying to do. He had encountered a similar situation in their past battle. But back then, Mismagius created an opportunity for Altaria, allowing it to increase its speed and paving the way for a second successful Dragon Dance.
Additionally, Altaria's mysterious cry had effortlessly shattered Swampert's Hydro Pump during their battle, leaving Swampert no time to react and giving Altaria another chance to use Dragon Dance.
But now, facing Hydreigon's moves, Terrance's plan seemed to be failing.
"There's always a gap between moves. If a Pokémon uses them too frequently, its body won't be able to handle the strain. One or two times might be fine, but beyond three times, it will definitely lead to significant stamina loss."
Only the Pokémon trained by top-tier Trainers could continuously unleash powerful moves without restraint. Their strong bodies were capable of withstanding such pressure.
But clearly, Hydreigon wasn't one of them. It couldn't sustain multiple consecutive uses of two moves. This was the key point Terrance had seized upon.
The fourth attempt…
Terrance silently counted. This was already Altaria's fourth time trying Dragon Dance. In the earlier exchanges, he had determined that Hydreigon's main ranged attack was Dragon Pulse, and so he had Altaria fully focus on calculating the frequency of Hydreigon's Dragon Pulse.
And it could be said that Altaria lived up to Terrance's expectations. On the fourth attempt, Altaria finally succeeded. During Dragon Dance, Altaria's loud cry shattered the Dragon Pulse in mid-air, leaving Kaveh and Hydreigon stunned and clueless. Even more surprising was that Kaveh once again ordered Hydreigon to use Dragon Pulse to stop Altaria. In the face of the unknown, this was undoubtedly a wrong order.
Having already gained experience, Altaria erased the second Dragon Pulse with ease. By the time the first Dragon Pulse was neutralized, Altaria was already nearing the end of Dragon Dance. Factoring in the time Hydreigon needed to gather energy, by the time the second Dragon Pulse was erased, Altaria had successfully completed its first Dragon Dance. With its strength now enhanced, the injuries it had sustained earlier seemed to vanish completely, and its mental state became extremely good, starting to glare fiercely at Hydreigon.
Kaveh and the members of Castelia Club were having mixed feelings. They couldn't comprehend what had just happened. How did Dragon Pulse shatter on its own when Altaria hadn't chosen to attack or evade?
Seeing Altaria successfully complete Dragon Dance, Kaveh nearly wanted to "tear his hair out."
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