There are only three known Flying + Dark-type Pokémon. Aside from the legendary Yveltal, there's only Honchkrow and Mandibuzz.
Sato already owned a Murkrow, but that didn't mean he wasn't interested in Mandibuzz; after all, it was a rare defensive Pokémon among the Dark-types.
'Even if its looks were… lacking.'
But Sato had long outgrown judging Pokémon solely by appearance. If he could catch a decent Mandibuzz, it would greatly help patch the defensive gaps in his team.
For now, though, he had to command Weavile to take down the opposing Mandibuzz first.
The other two battles were also wrapping up their first rounds. Ryoko's Swampert and Marshal's Sawk had both lost the ability to battle.
As it stood, Sato's team was actually in the lead.
"Battle… BEGIN!"
The referee's call snapped Sato out of his thoughts, and both Weavile and Mandibuzz charged at each other simultaneously.
"Weavile, Ice Punch."
"Mandibuzz, intercept it!"
Clang~
Ice Punch landed hard on Mandibuzz, but aside from a sharp sound, there was no other reaction.
Upon closer inspection, Mandibuzz hadn't even taken off. Its thick, powerful wings had caught Weavile's right-hand Ice Punch in midair… barehanded.
"Left-hand Ice Punch."
"Use Toxic!"
Thud!
A heavy impact landed as Ice Punch slammed into Mandibuzz's sturdy chest, but the damage was far less than expected.
"MaN… diBuZz~"
Mandibuzz let out an ugly cry and immediately spewed foul-smelling poisonous sludge at Weavile.
Its right hand restrained, Weavile's left-hand Ice Punch hadn't reached Mandibuzz's vulnerable neck, and the Toxic attack couldn't be avoided.
"Blizzard, put some distance." Sato frowned as he watched Weavile get hit by the Toxic, unable to find a good solution.
This was the fighting style of a defensive Pokémon: trade hits, then slowly wear the opponent down.
Weavile's seemingly powerful Ice Punch was made almost useless thanks to Mandibuzz's strong defense and its Ability.
Big Pecks -useless on most Flying-types- greatly boosted Mandibuzz's survivability.
Technically, Big Pecks only prevents Defense from being lowered, but combined with Mandibuzz's natural bulk, it might as well be saying: "Come on, hit me with your little punches right on the chest!"
What a glorious, horrible image…
Enduring the pain, Weavile unleashed a reckless Blizzard, but Mandibuzz had already taken to the skies, easily dodging it.
Long-range moves couldn't connect, close-range hits dealt little damage, and it was prone to counterattacks; plus it was now poisoned.
No doubt about it, Mandibuzz was a true "flying shield": a nightmare for fast attackers.
Several minutes passed, and Mandibuzz confidently circled overhead, patiently waiting for the poison in Weavile's body to take effect until it collapsed.
Lacking in spectacle, but extremely stable!
Sato recalled Weavile into its Poké Ball, then immediately sent out Sharpedo.
While Sharpedo didn't have high defense either, it could "fly" and it was much faster than Mandibuzz.
If one strike couldn't break through, then hit it a few more times.
"Sharpedo, Aqua Jet, aim for its wings."
"Bat it away!" Skyla shouted excitedly. Defeating Weavile was revenge for Swanna, and her confidence surged.
Bang~ Bang~ Bang~
The two sides collided wildly. Sharpedo darted through the air, tracing streaks of blue water, and slammed hard into Mandibuzz's wings, again and again.
Mandibuzz wasn't about to back down either. It flapped its strong wings, knocking Sharpedo back each time.
But gradually, Mandibuzz started to falter. After all, its wings weren't just for offense, they also had to maintain flight and balance.
After multiple clashes, even Mandibuzz's strong wings began to tremble slightly. And once its wings started to fail, its entire movement became sluggish.
At that moment, Sharpedo fearlessly charged in again. Sato, with his sharp eye, noticed Mandibuzz's condition before Skyla did and gave the command without hesitation.
"Switch it up, Ice Fang."
"Mandibuzz, dodge and use Fury Attack!"
Unfortunately, while Mandibuzz had mentally reacted in time, its body lagged just half a second behind. Ice Fang sank deep into Mandibuzz's wing and immediately triggered the Frozen status condition.
"Follow up with Poison Fang." Sato didn't let up for a second and gave the next command right away.
Skyla could only shout from the sidelines for Mandibuzz to dodge, but the Frozen effect had already made things worse. In the end, Poison Fang also landed hard on its other wing.
Thud…
Both wings severely injured, Mandibuzz could no longer control itself and crashed to the ground, staggering as it tried to stand… only for its body to suddenly bubble with poison blisters.
Just like Weavile before it, the poison flared up again, draining Mandibuzz's last bit of stamina.
At this point, Skyla had only one Pokémon left, while Sato's Sharpedo still had plenty of stamina, giving him a significant advantage.
In tacit understanding, both Sato and Skyla stopped their match temporarily and turned to observe the other two battles.
Ryoko was still trying to close the gap, but against Jona -the Young Elite Tournament champion- she had inevitably fallen behind.
After using nearly half of her Sceptile's stamina to finally take down Samurott, she was swiftly defeated by Jona's follow-up Pokémon: Volcarona.
Volcarona, a Pokémon once considered almost legendary, was extremely rare and powerful. Its combat strength was explosive.
And Sceptile, being a Grass-type, was completely countered. The defeat was swift and absolute.
In the end, Ryoko sent out her strongest ace, a Pokémon Sato had only seen a few times during their ship journey.
Flygon, the Dragon/Ground-type!
If it weren't for the existence of Garchomp -the pseudo-legendary Dragon-type- Flygon would surely be even more popular. As an ace, it was more than qualified.
On the other side, Phoebe and Marshal's match remained in a deadlock, yet theirs was the fastest-progressing battle of the three.
Marshal's Sawk and Throh had already lost the ability to fight, and Phoebe's Sableye and Banette had also been knocked out.
Now on the field, a highly unstable Mienshao was aggressively pressuring Phoebe's Gengar. Every one of its attacks was forcefully suppressed using Aura Sphere.
This Mienshao had somehow mastered the extremely rare Aura ability.
Under Aura detection, Gengar had no place to hide!
What made Phoebe and the others even more uneasy was that this Mienshao's aura was clearly still fluctuating. One wrong move, and it could break through right in the middle of the match…
"Let's keep going. Beat me, and you can go help your teammates." Skyla's heart steadied a bit as she returned her focus to the match.
"Yeah… I have to beat you." Sato nodded, his right hand already gripping the Key Stone over his chest.