Pokemon: Sandstorm Elite

The sandstorm raged as the battle between Klein and the masked man reached its climax. Scizor and Lucario, acting as vanguard attackers, clashed violently against Pangoro and Drapion.

Scizor's pincers gleamed like twin blades. Seizing a brief opening, it executed Swords Dance, amplifying its attack power. The rolling sand currents intensified, and in the next instant, Bullet Punch shot out at blinding speed, slashing a thin cut across Drapion's face.

Drapion retaliated by firing a mysterious beam of energy. Though Scizor was unsure of its properties, it instinctively dodged. Yet, lurking at its blind spot, Pangoro struck with a flaming fist. Lucario reacted swiftly, launching multiple Shadow Balls into the air, detonating them mid-flight to create a gap in the assault—preventing Scizor from being ambushed by Fire Punch.

While chaos reigned on the ground, above them, Mega Salamence loomed like a ruthless artillery cannon. With a ferocious roar, it unleashed another devastating Boomburst.

The soundwave tore through everything in its path. Alolan Muk rolled forward, shielding Mega Gardevoir from the attack. Its entire body trembled under the sheer force of the blast.

A pulse of Heal Pulse bathed Muk, simultaneously healing its wounds and reinforcing it against Mega Salamence's sonic onslaught.

Despite withstanding the attack, Muk's expression was visibly strained. Following its trainer's command, it raised one hand toward the skies. A massive, multi-colored Toxic Hand formed above, dripping with deadly venom.

The giant hand swung down, scattering toxic sludge across the battlefield. Mega Salamence whipped up a fierce wind, dispersing the poison before it could reach the ground. But this was merely a feint—the true threat lurked within.

A sinister Disable attack struck Mega Salamence midair, sealing away its ability to use Boomburst.

With its strongest weapon temporarily locked, Mega Salamence narrowed its eyes, exuding a terrifying, murderous aura.

A dragon of pride and nobility—when its wrath is provoked, it retaliates with the most unrelenting fury.

A golden radiance flared around Mega Salamence. Energy condensed in its maw, forming a brilliant sphere far more destructive than any of its previous attacks. The entire Seafoam Island peak trembled under its sheer power.

BOOM!

A colossal beam of light erupted from Mega Salamence's mouth, engulfing the battlefield in radiant destruction.

Enhanced by Aerilate, this Hyper Beam was far beyond its usual strength—comparable even to the devastating Z-Moves of Alola. Against this overwhelming force, everything else seemed insignificant.

The annihilating beam surged forth. Mega Gardevoir swiftly swapped Drapion into position. With its quadruple resistance to Normal-type moves, Drapion braced itself, but before such pure destructive energy, no Pokémon could stand unscathed.

Drapion was knocked out!

Losing yet another Pokémon, the masked man's situation grew increasingly dire. However, before Mega Salamence could revel in its victory, Drapion, in its last act, released a strange glimmering energy—confusing the dragon and rendering it temporarily immobile.

Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield, the duel between Greninja and Swampert finally erupted in full force.

Facing a Swampert that had already used Curse twice, Greninja abandoned its previous strategies and committed everything to the fight. It clapped its hands together, summoning a silver torrent of water that morphed into a long, bladed weapon—an elegant, fluid water katana.

Sensing the shift, Swampert's muscles bulged as it adjusted its stance, grounding itself before bursting forward with explosive speed.

A thunderous impact followed—like a train rushing past mere inches away. Swampert's movement defied logic, its acceleration so rapid that a storm seemed to materialize in its wake.

Greninja struck with its water blade, but Swampert caught it barehanded. A flash of frost erupted upon contact, freezing the blade instantly. At the same time, powerful waves surged outward from Swampert's grip.

However, within seconds, Greninja's water blade—now an ultra-high-pressure cutter—carved through the space where Swampert had been moments before, leaving a charred groove in the ground.

Swampert countered by shifting its weight, twisting its wrist to generate a slicing wind current, then slashing downward toward Greninja's throat with a devastating hand strike.

Simultaneously, two spinning ice orbs hovered behind Swampert—more refined and deadly than even the ice techniques of Alolan Sandslash. As they cut through the air, they exuded a chilling menace.

Greninja countered with an upward strike, its fist wrapped in a fierce aura, meeting the ice spheres in mid-air. The resulting clash sent shards of frozen energy scattering across the battlefield.

In the aftermath, the temperature plummeted. Taking advantage of the momentary lull, Swampert activated Curse for the third time.

The surrounding air grew drier. The masked man's eyes flickered as he surveyed his team, quickly identifying the key to disrupting Klein's strategy.

He had to dismantle the sandstorm.

With a smirk, he pulled out another Poké Ball and released a small, delicate Alolan Vulpix.

The little fox's Snow Warning ability triggered, summoning a cold breeze. However, against the immense sandstorm field, the snowfall was pitifully weak—most of it was immediately absorbed by Cradily's Storm Drain, making the terrain even drier.

The baby Vulpix gazed up at its trainer, its bright eyes filled with trust. It nuzzled against him affectionately.

"Good girl, Vulpix," the masked man cooed.

Klein's instincts screamed danger. He glanced at Alolan Muk, noticing its greedy, expectant gaze. In that instant, he understood what was about to happen.

"Scizor, stop him!"

As he spoke, Tyranitar surged forward, stirring up another wave of sand.

Bullet Punch streaked through the battlefield like a meteor, but Alolan Muk suddenly expanded, forming a barrier of toxic sludge to intercept the attack.

The masked man grinned—then snapped Vulpix's neck.

The entire battlefield seemed to freeze.

Vulpix's eyes widened in shock. It whimpered, struggling in vain as its trainer's grip tightened—until its body finally went limp.

"You see," the masked man chuckled, tossing the lifeless Vulpix into Muk's gelatinous body. "I spent a fortune establishing a private breeding farm. And what's the point of that if I don't make use of them when needed?"

"Muk, activate Power of Alchemy!"

As Muk absorbed Vulpix's corpse, its beady eyes gleamed with a sinister light.

Power of Alchemy allowed Muk to inherit the ability of a fallen ally.

Unlike regular Ability Swap techniques, the masked man's experiments had proven that when a Pokémon fully perished, the inherited ability became exponentially stronger. To counter Sandstorm Inferno, he needed the most potent Snow Warning possible.

Purple crystalline snowflakes began to fall. Muk, now a grotesque fusion of sludge and ice, radiated an eerie chill. The sandstorm started to freeze in place, patches of the battlefield transforming into a toxic permafrost.

Misty Terrain seeped across the field, ensuring that the masked man's Pokémon would remain unaffected by the toxins.

Watching the unnatural shift in the battlefield, the trapped civilians on the island grew increasingly uneasy.

At that moment, Tyranitar and Cradily finally made their move. Harnessing their full power, they compressed the swirling sand into a massive, rotating barrier—a sand shield—and charged toward the masked man.

Klein, also within the shield's protection, activated his hover device, flashing forward at blinding speed. A gleaming dagger shot from his hand, aiming directly for the masked man's throat.

His strikes were ruthless, his fury unmistakable. The masked man merely chuckled, deflecting each attack with precise movements of his folding fan.

The brutal execution of the baby Vulpix had shattered any restraint within Klein.

No longer was this merely a Pokémon battle—this was war.

Even Greninja, mid-fight with Swampert, momentarily faltered. The brief hesitation was all Swampert needed—its mighty fist struck home, sending Greninja hurtling backward.

(End of Chapter)