Only two Dynamax power spots remain.
Thanks to the Swords of Justice already taking out 28 of them, the remaining 2 are the Dynamaxed Lopunny in Manehattan and the Dynamax Nidoking who's rolling through the land, making its way towards Ponyville and beyond.
Rarity, Spike, Starlight, Goh and Virizion have decided to tackle Manehattan whilst the others head back to Ponyville to stop NIdoking and put an end to this current crisis. All the while, somewhere over at the Galar Region, Eternatus is absorbing Dynamax energy for itself, gradually growing in power.
Manehattan, Afternoon.
The Dynamaxed Lopunny so far has dealt some considerable damage to Manehattan thanks to its devastating legs. Every time Lopunny took a step, it created huge craters in the ground just by walking.
Naturally, this creates problems for the ponies living in Manehattan. Lopunny's movements were enough to shake the city and leave holes and craters in the ground.
Not only that, but a single kick of Lopunny was enough to cut an entire roof off. And that's exactly what happened. Many roofs and higher building levels in Manehattan had been cleaved off with unusual precision.
The large roofs fell from above, almost crushing any ponies that were nearby. As for the ponies on the higher levels, they made the wise decision to get out of there before they were taken out by Lopunny's kicks.
It was safe to say that Lopunny in a Dynamaxed form was a walking hammer that can also move quickly on its feet thanks to it being a rabbit at the end of the day.
Whilst everypony was panicking and scattering away from this giant rabbit, Rarity's group arrived at Manehattan to see the Rabbit Pokemon obliterating parts of buildings with just its legs.
They looked over the city, seeing chunks of roofs and glass windows scattered all over the place with craters and holes everywhere.
"I thought the Nihilego attack was bad... Rarity's eyes widened. "This blows it all out of the water."
"Lopunny is just confused and enraged." Virizion walked forward. "Just like every other Pokemon, defeating it will remove the Dynamax energy from within and return her to normal."
"Then what are waiting for. Let's have another go, Flygon!" Goh sent his Flygon forward. "That Lopunny is mine!"
"Flygon!"
"Salamence. You're up again." Spike stuck with his Salamence.
"Mence!"
"We'll have a go ourselves." Rarity reached into her Saddle Bag, taking out a Rarityball as she sent out her Pheromosa.
"Phero!"
"All I have is Hatterene. But I guess that'll do." Starlight sent Hatterene out.
"Tterene."
"LOPUNNY!" Lopunny stomped her foot through a building, shattering the windows and levelling it one go.
"Be very careful," Virizion warned. "One devastating strike from Lopunny's legs will most likely render most of your Pokemon unconscious. Its Mega Evolution does have the spirit of a warrior inside after all."
"Don't worry. We'll finish this no problem." Goh gave a thumbs up. "Flygon! Dragon Rush!"
"Fly...GON!" Flygon was the first to attack. By charging in head-first with a light blue outline surrounding its body.
But, compared to other Dynamaxed Pokemon, Lopunny had a faster reaction time and better instincts. And thanks to those big ears she carries around, she was able to hear Goh give out a command.
As such, Lopunny was already prepared to tackle anyone who challenges her. Not only that, but she had the most reflexes out of any Dynamaxed Pokemon.
So not only was she able to see her opponent coming and counteract, but she could also move out of the way with her strong legs.
And that's what she did. By using her destructive legs, the Rabbit Pokemon hopped into the air, leaving behind a shockwave whilst also avoiding Flygon entirely.
"Fly?
"LO...PUN!" Right from above, Lopunny had stomped its foot on Flygon's back, dealing some heavy damage to the Mystic Pokemon in just a few seconds.
"FLYGON!" The Ground-Dragon opened its eyes as it was sent crashing to the ground with the mark of Lopunny's foot on its back.
"Ah! Flygon!" Goh ran over to his Pokemon.
"LOPUN!" Lopunny raised her leg, aiming to smash it down on Goh who was right in her line of attack.
"Pheromosa, quick! Grab Goh and Flygon!" Rarity gasped, realizing what Lopunny was going for. The Lissome Pokemon, being the fastest one here, was able to dash over and grab Goh and Flygon before Lopunny could smash her legs down on them.
Flygon had already taken the most damage out of everyone here thanks to a single kick from Lopunny. But it was still able to continue despite the large mark on its back.
"I warned you. In some cases, it's best to keep your distance instead of rushing in," said Virizion.
"My bad..." Goh lowered his head.
"Distance is what we're all about! Salamence use Hyper Beam!"
"Hatterene! Psycho Cut!"
Hatterene raised her tentacle as it released a pink crescent-like blade of energy from its tentacles at her opponent whilst Salamence just went for the always effective Hyper Beam.
Hyper Beam outsped Psycho Cut, blitzing straight through it and making its way towards the Rabbit Pokemon. But Lopunny had a response for that.
One of its moves a Flying-Type move. And that had transformed into the Dynamax move known as Max Airstream. By channelling the move in her legs, the Rabbit Pokemon sent a stream of wind that spun around like a whirlwind by kicking.
The stream of air came in contact with Hyper Beam, blowing the energy away along with Psycho Cut which had just caught up now. The Max Airstream easily got rid of those two attacks as it had enough wind pressure equal to that of a hurricane or a tornado.
Spike, Starlight and Rarity gasped as they saw the move coming straight for them, but thankfully, Virizion had managed to stop the attack by cutting it in half with her sword.
"Are you alright?" Virizion asked them as they nodded in response. "Good. Now just stay calm and you will be able to get through all of this."
The Grassland Pokemon attacked Lopunny next by using the move Magical Leaf. Virizion's body glowed green as she jumped into the air. Light-green leaves quickly circled around her body, flying over at Lopunny.
Lopunny attempted to fend off the leaves by kicking them away, which she managed to succeed for the most part. However, Virizion sent more her way and it was only a matter of time until one of them passed through.
When some of them hit, they exploded right in front of Lopunny's face "PUNNY!"
"Pheromosa! Use Triple Kick!"
"Salamence! Fly up and use Flamethrower!"
Pheromosa and Salamence helped each other out. Just like how Eve used Salamence as a ride, so did Pheromosa by getting on the Dragon Pokemon's back.
"LOPUNNY!" Lopunny wasn't about to let that happen. So in response, it went for yet another Max Airstream to knock them out of the sky.
Thankfully,
"Sala...Mence!" Salamence breathed hot fire from his mouth whilst bringing Pheromosa up to Lopunny's face. The fire had been sprayed in a vertical angle, hitting both Lopunny's stomach and face.
"LO!"
"Pheromo!" The Lissome Pokemon then jumped off Salamence's back, going in for Triple Kick. Once she was close enough, the Ultra Beast delivered three consecutive kicks to Lopunny's face, dealing some super-effective damage in the process.
"LOPUN!" Lopunny was knocked back as she almost fell flat on the ground. The Rabbit Pokemon held her face, destroying a building behind her. "LOPUNNY..."
Frustrated and annoyed, Lopunny went for the strongest attack she had yet. One of her moves was a Fairy-Type move, most likely Play Rough.
The Rabbit Pokemon front flipped off the ground, as she raised one leg. This single Fairy-Type move had been transformed into Max Starfall.
From above the clouds had suddenly emanated a pink aura that was somewhat therapeutic to look at. Out of the clouds came five large golden stars that radiated Fairy magic.
Apart from Hatterene, this move was devastating for the other Pokemon here. The drawback to being Dragon and Fighting is that Fairy moves hurt.
"Oh no." Spike gulped. "Fly away, quick!"
Pheromosa landed back on Salamence's back as the duo flew off, trying to avoid the stars from above. Flygon flew next to Salamence whilst Virizion used her swift and agile movements to evade the stars.
Everypony in Manehattan was given the sight of large golden stars falling from above whilst two dragons and two Fighting-Types elude them. It was a bizarre but yet beautiful sight at the same time.
"Hatterene! Use Protect!" Starlight got on the more defensive side.
"Hatte!" The Silent Pokemon put her tentacle out, creating a protective shield around her as the golden star wasn't able to make direct contact with the Psychic-Fairy-Type.
As for the others, they weren't so lucky. Flygon was still feeling Lopunny's foot on its back, causing the Mystic Pokemon to fly less effectively.
And with a slower flying speed, it wasn't long until one of the stars made contact. Flygon's eyes widened as it was engulfed in a beautiful rainbow light. The move exploded upon contact, sending out multiple stars that scattered across the sky.
"G-Gon!" That one single Max Move was enough to put Flygon down for the count as the Mystic Pokemon fell from above with a trail of misty smoke with star particles.
"Flygon, no!" Goh screamed as he saw his partner faint right before his eyes. Once Flygon fell, Goh accepted that he was unable to battle.
"Flygon..."
"Good try. Return and rest up." Goh went up to Flygon, returning it to its Poke Ball.
As for the others, they succeeded in avoiding Max Starfall with all the golden stars disappearing once making contact with the ground.
"Now's our chance! Pheromosa! Triple Kick once more!"
"Salamence, use Hyper Beam!"
"Hatterene! Psycho Cut!"
Hoping to finish things off, all of them put every last ounce of their strength into their attacks. Once again, Pheromosa was on Salamence's back but this time, the Dragon Pokemon picked up Hatterene along the way, now having two Pokemon his back.
Lopunny looked down at her three opposing foes, ready to knock them out of the sky with all she had. The Rabbit Pokemon raised her leg, going for an overhead attack.
From the speed she swung it at, it looked like it was going to connect, guaranteed. But that was shut down thanks to Virizion interrupting with Sacred Sword by jumping high into the air.
"Now is your chance!" Virizion exclaimed, looking over at the trio. The three of them nodded in response as Virizion kept her sword on Lopunny's leg, keeping the Rabbit Pokemon occupied.
Salamence and Hatterene attacked from afar whilst Pheromosa got up close and personal. The Lissome Pokemon struck Lopunny's face three times whilst Hyper Beam and Psycho Cut went straight for the stomach. Virizion pitched in by slashing Lopunny's leg with Secret Sword, getting that last hit in.
Lopunny felt overwhelmed. After all, it hits hard, but like Pikachu, she's a glass cannon. All you really need is one good hit on her and that's it.
So the quadruple attack was just what the group needed. Lopunny couldn't continue, however, she was still in her Dynamax form. It seems that she was able to hang on for a while as she held her head, feeling dizzy.
"Perhaps..." Rarity took out another Rarity Ball from her saddlebag. "Terribly sorry about this Goh!"
"Hm? Sorry about what?" Goh turned to her.
Rarity was actually planning to capture Lopunny for herself. However, before the special Poke Ball could be thrown, the Dynamax energy was effecting it.
The Rarityball suddenly turned pink as it grew in size, similar to that of a Dynamax Pokemon. "W-What is this?!" Rarity held the sized-up ball in her hooves, trying to keep it up.
"Hold on!" Spike and Starlight helped Rarity hoist up the Rarityball as they felt their bones breaking. With all their combined strength, they tossed the giant ball towards Lopunny as it gained some impressive air time.
The giant Rarityball hit Lopunny square in the face opening up and sending the Rabbit Pokemon inside. Like a normal Poke Ball, the Rarityball fell, however this time when it made contact with the ground, everything trembled.
Now they had to wait for the result and to see if Lopunny had been caught as they all leaned forward.
1...2...3....
The ball was on pause for a while. They had no idea if the capture was a guarantee or not. Rarity bit her hooves as Spike and Starlight gulped.
After that short pause, the result had been revealed.
Gotcha! Lopunny was caught!
"Yes! A successful capture!" Rarity grinned as she went over to grab the Rarityball. "I didn't think it would work on Dynamax Pokemon honestly."
"Aw, Rarity! That's not fair!" Goh groaned as he wanted to catch Lopunny for himself.
"Well done." Virizion walked up to her. "Even if the city is in a bit of a rough state, I'm sure that the ponies here will repair it alongside their Pokemon."
"They certainly will." Rarity nodded in response. "Now there is only one Pokemon left. Nidoking. Have Twilight and the others reached Ponyville yet?"
"Who knows. But there's no way a Nidoking can outspeed them right?" Starlight shrugged.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Nidoking has been able to move around by curling into a ball and rolling. When it is in that state, its speed is fairly impressive and hard to keep up with most of the time." Virizion answered.
"Rolling? It might destroy something along the way!" Rarity gasped.
"Possibly. Let's hurry. We might be able to make it back to Ponyville before the situation worsens."
Speaking of Nidoking, it was indeed destroying everything in its path by rolling at high-speeds, currently in a grassland area.
When a Pokemon saw it coming, they would all scatter and hide to avoid being crushed by Nidoking's poisonous and hard body.
The scales on its back were destroying the ground beneath Nidoking, and even some of the grass in certain areas were being melted away by its poisonous body.
Nidoking wasn't directly aiming for Ponyville, it was just rolling wherever it went due to it being on a rampage. It had no end goal whatsoever. It was just confused and enraged after all.
All the while, Ash's group was chasing after the Drill Pokemon. They saw that Nidoking wasn't slowing down at all. It kept rolling at a consistent speed in one single direction. Anything in its way was struck down.
"It's moving too fast! How do we keep up it?!" said Applejack.
"There's more than one way to stop a rampaging Pokemon. Terrakion." Cobalion turned to Terrakion.
"Leave it to me! Some of you might want to stay back a bit." Terrakion looked at the ground whilst everyone else kept a good distance from him.
He had a move that could actually stop Nidoking in its tracks. But it's also capable of harming the environment around him. That move was none other than Earthquake.
The Cavern Pokemon stood up on his hind legs, bringing them down afterwards with a girthy impact on the ground. White shockwaves erupted from the ground as the entire area was trembling.
The shockwaves travelled far enough to reach Nidoking as they had enough power to even disrupt the Drill Pokemon's rolling.
"NIDO?!"
Nidoking tumbled after feeling the sudden earthquake throw him off balance as he fell flat on his face, shaking the area around him in the process. That Earthquake was stunningly effective.
"Oh. Okay, that works." Applejack nodded.
With Nidoking temporarily immobilized, Absol was, of course, the first one to rush in before everyone else. "Sol!"
"Absol! This again?" Twilight sighed.
"Leave it. He's obviously a Pokemon that acts on his own even with assistance." Cobalion walked past Twilight.
"NIDO...KING." The Drill Pokemon stood up, wondering what could've caused that sudden earthquake. Unbeknownst to Nidoking, he currently had a pursuer who was already heading straight for him.
Absol looked up at Nidoking, believing that he could take the Drill Pokemon out by himself. He stopped in his tracks, looking up at the Poison-Ground-Type.
Absol opened his mouth wide, going straight for Dark Pulse as a beam of black and purple circles came racing out. It was so small in comparison to Nidoking to where the Drill Pokemon didn't even notice it.
But what he did notice was that Dark Pulse connected, hitting Nidoking's tail and giving him a slight tickle. "KING?"
That prompted Nidoking to look around his surroundings. By navigating the area, he spotted Absol standing right next to him. He noticed that Absol was continuously using Dark Pulse, hitting the Drill Pokemon's tail repeatedly with barely any damage.
Seeing this made Nidoking direct all of its attention to Absol. Now it was a target for its rampage. The Drill Pokemon swung its tail to the side, blowing away the Dark Pulse and hitting Absol as well.
"Absol?!" The Disaster Pokemon's eyes widened as he felt Nidoking's tough tail strike him. The impact and swing sent Absol flying in the air as he was yet again the first to take damage.
Thankfully, Twilight caught him by using her magic. "I gotcha!" She carefully placed the Disaster Pokemon back on the ground, letting him rest whilst Cobalion and the others approached Nidoking who had spotted them as well.
"Sol..."
"Absol! You rushed in again!" Twilight raised her voice. "You're gonna keep on hurting yourself like this."
"Absol." Absol didn't have to respond to Twilight. To him, as long as the crisis is stopped, he'll rush in as many times as he needs to.
"Ugh..." Twilight sighed. "Fluttershy. Heal Absol up each-" Absol interrupted Twilight by standing back up, immediately charging towards Nidoking once more. "Ah! Absol!"
"Guess there's no winning with him," Fluttershy spoke.
"None at all." Twilight facehoofed.
As for the others, Ash, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Cobalion were facing off against Nidoking themselves. The Drill Pokemon, like many others, had these four as its main target since they were getting in its way. And mostly due to the enraged part.
Ash and Rainbow Dash had their Gengar and Altaria go up against Nidoking whilst Applejack just stuck with her only Pokemon. Grovyle.
"Gengar! Psychic!" Ash commanded.
"Altaria! Ice Beam!"
Gengar's eyes glow light blue as Nidoking became outlined in a light blue aura. Gengar managed to almost lift Nidoking with its mind, but Nidoking was just way too heavy. Instead, Gengar hit Nidoking with invisible blasts of psychokinetic energy.
As for Altaria, out her gaping mouth, a beam of ice came flying out as it passed by Gengar. Once Ice Beam made contact with Nidoking, the Drill Pokemon could feel bits of its body freeze.
It wasn't enough to fully freeze him, but it was potent enough to send a chill through him. In response, Nidoking used a Max Move. One of its moves of the Poison-Type.
So because of that, it gave Nidoking access to the Max Ooze. From the Drill Pokemon's mouth, a stream of poisonous ooze came flying out, spraying all over the area and melting away the grass.
"Gengar! Use Psychic to send it back!"
"Gar!" In an unexpected strategy, Gengar had used Psychic to manipulate the ooze, stopping it in place. The Shadow Pokemon then used its mind to send the poison right back at Nidoking as the Drill Pokemon was struck by his own attack.
"KING!"
"Grovyle! Use Dragon Breath!" Applejack commanded.
"Vyle!" Grovyle fired a transparent beam of energy with white rings around it from its mouth. Dragon Breath was actually capable of doing something that no other Electric-Type move can do to a ground type.
Paralyze. When Dragon Breath connected, Nidoking could feel both an explosion and his body being paralyzed. As long as the move isn't Electric, even a Ground-Type like Nidoking can be affected.
Now that Nidoking was paralyzed, this gave the others a lot of opportunities to strike. Starting with Cobalion who used Iron Head on Nidoking's leg by smashing its hardened head on him.
As for Keldeo, he used Hydro Pump by releasing powerful blasts of water from his hooves. Terrakion helped out by having Stone Edge erupt from the ground.
Compared to the others, this was the most effective Dynamax battle so far. Mostly because Nidoking could barely do that much and him being paralyzed wasn't helping at all.
Nidoking was knocked off its legs with Stone Edge rising up as Hydro Pump was blasted on his face.
"Now Gengar! Use Ice Punch!"
"Gen...Gar!" Gengar disappeared and reappeared in front of Nidoking before he fell on his back. Gengar's fist became surrounded with icy blue energy, smashing it into Nidoking's stomach.
Nothing but super-effective hits have been landed on Nidoking so far apart from some exceptions. It looked like Nidoking was on the verge of losing at this point.
"Woohoo! Good job you guys!" Pinkie cheered. "You're doing great!"
"KING...NIDO..." Nidoking barely stood a chance. All it managed to do was hit Absol and that was the end of that. At this point, the Drill Pokemon could be considered defeated as he held his head.
But, someone, in particular, wasn't ready to let this end. And that someone was the same person who brought Dynamax energy to Equestria. That being Lucien, who was always watching from above on top of a cloud with Sienna.
"Oh well. Looks like your Dynamax plan was a bit underwhelming." Sienna patted Lucien on the back, smirking. "Tough luck. But now let's focus on my Desire's."
"It isn't over yet." Lucien shoved Sienna back. "I've still got a lot of plans for Dynamax and I won't let this part end so easily."
Deciding to spice things up a bit, Lucien zapped a bolt of cosmic energy over towards the fallen Nidoking. The bolt entered Nidoking's body, fueling the Drill Pokemon with a fresh new batch of energy.
The power of the Rift merged with Eternatus's influence awakened something destructive within Nidoking. The Drill Pokemon's eyes opened up as his body became outlined in red and blue as a replication of the two energies dwelling inside of him.
"KING !" Nidoking had been rejuvenated and undergone a boost in power as it stood back up, shaking the atmosphere around it.
"Wait, it's back up?!" Pinkie Pie gasped. "I thought you guys beat it!"
"I thought so too! What gives?!" Rainbow Dash backed up as the shadow of Nidoking cast over her friends, the grasslands and practically everywhere else.
"Something has rejuvenated him. But Dynamax isn't capable of that at all," said Cobalion.
"NIDOKING!" Nidoking was more aggressive than ever. So aggressive to the point where it wasn't even confused at this point. It was just enraged and nothing else.
Nidoking used Earth Power as his fist became surrounded with a golden aura as he slams his fist into the ground, creating cracks with golden and cosmic energy that travel along the ground.
As the ground itself shook, Ash and the others made the wise decision to move away from the cracks, however, due to Nidoking's heightened strength, the cracks kept on coming, causing further destruction to the ground.
"Does that Earth Power seem stronger to you?!" Applejack screeched.
"Gengar! Use Ice Punch to stop it!"
"Gar!" Gengar attempted to stop Earth Power by freezing the ground beneath it as the Shadow Pokemon smashed its icy blue fist on the ground.
It ended up working as the Ice Punch cancelled out Earth Power whilst those that can fly just simply went into the air. But Nidoking had something greater at its disposal.
The Earth Power had transformed into Max Quake. Yet another Dynamax move. And this one was by far the most devastating one they've come across.
Nidoking slammed both his fists on the ground this time, putting some extra Oomph to it. Once hit, the ground itself was being lifted, transforming the grasslands.
A violent tremor filled the area as the ground even cracked open. Pinkie Pie held onto Fluttershy who flew up whilst Cobalion and Terrakion, who were unfortunately weak to Ground, had been hit by rising chunks of the ground itself.
"Nidoking's stronger than ever, so watch out! Fly up and use Ice Punch!"
"Altaria! Use Ice Beam!"
"KING!" Nidoking wasn't about to let that happen. It had suddenly outstretched its large hands, going straight for a grab. The Drill Pokemon was planning on grabbing anyone that was in his line of sight. Mainly Gengar and Altaria.
"Grovyle! Leaf Blade!"
"Vyle!" Grovyle attempted to knock Nidoking's arms away by slashing them with Leaf Blade, but that didn't do a thing as Grovyle ended up being caught in Nidoking's grasp. "Gro?!"
"Ah! Grovyle!" Applejack screamed.
Altaria tried to save her friend by blasting Ice Beam all over Nidoking's body. But even a super-effective Ice Beam wasn't enough. Nidoking didn't even freeze. Gengar went next, flying close to Nidoking for an Ice Punch.
But that was quickly stopped when Nidoking used his other hand to smack Gengar away, knocking the Shadow Pokemon into Altaria. "Gen!"
"Alta!"
"KING! NIDOKING!" Nidoking then went ballistic. First, it swung its tail violently, destroying the trees and hills around it in one go. Keldeo hopped over the tail using Water Pulse from his mouth to get a hit in.
But Nidoking caught the ball of Water in his hand, crushing it into nothing. Next, Nidoking shot out Max Ooze from its tail, spraying the poisonous stream all across the grasslands.
"Send it back with Psychic!" Ash tried the same tactic again. But even the poison had been powered up to a point where when Gengar used Psychic on the stream, it was actually struggling to keep it back.
"G-Gengar..."
Twilight, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash ascended higher to avoid the poison, but Nidoking went after them as well. It swung its tail upwards, sending the tail towards those that were airborne.
"Yikes!" Twilight squealed as she and Fluttershy held on to each other whilst the poison almost made contact with them.
And the third action Nidoking did was by far his biggest one. He dug his hands in the ground, having enough strength to flip it over like a table.
And that's what he did. Nidoking flipped the ground over, disrupting the natural structure of this area and also sending those that were on ground level up in the air.
"W-Woah!" Ash and Applejack screamed as they had been forced into the air by Nidoking simply flipping the ground. Gengar caught Ash by using Psychic whilst Altaria caught Applejack. "Thanks, Gengar!"
"KING!" Nidoking's fourth action wasn't as destructive as his third but it was also terrifying. It now decided to chase its prey down as it began running, shaking the earth with each step.
"Run! Or fly!" Twilight screeched.
"A fairly good idea actually." Cobalion agreed with Twilight as he and the others dashed off whilst escaping from this super-sized Nidoking.
A chase had begun. With Nidoking tearing through the environment and nature itself as he ran. They were all in his line of sight thanks to his size, so it was impossible to escape him since he could see from all angles due to how big he is now.
"Altaria! Try using Ice Beam again!" Rainbow Dash turned around, pointing her hoof over at Nidoking.
"Alta...Ria!" The Humming Pokemon turned her head, opening it up as a blast of ice was fired towards Nidoking. However, Nidoking simply smacked the beam away with its large arms. "Altaria?!"
"It's like it can't feel damage anymore!" Pinkie Pie gasped.
"W-What do we do?!" Fluttershy shuddered.
"NIDOKING!" Nidoking grabbed a nearby tree, ripping it out of the ground. The Drill Pokemon then tossed the tree over at Gengar, Altaria and Twilight, planning on knocking them out of the sky.
"Pikachu! Iron Tail!" Ash looked back whilst running away.
"Chu...!" Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder, appearing in front of the tree as his tail hardened. "Pika!" Pikachu cut the tree in half, saving Twilight and the others from being hit as he landed on Terrakion's back.
"When a Nidoking goes on a rampage, it's impossible to stop them unless there is a Nidoqueen nearby. However, that is unlikely, so we'll have to try a different approach." Cobalion was staying calm during all of this.
"Sol!" Absol was getting tired of running away as he felt brave enough to take on a powered-up Nidoking as he stopped running.
"Hm?" Twilight turned around to see Absol facing Nidoking. "Absol, don't!"
Absol yet again was ready to take on something stronger than him without thinking about his own well-being. He grabbed Nidoking's attention by using Dark Pulse on the Drill Pokemon.
Of course, this Dark Pulse barely scratched Nidoking the first time and it definitely didn't work the second time. Nidoking turned his attention to the Disaster Pokemon whilst still having Grovyle in his hands.
The Drill Pokemon tried to stomp on Absol, but the Disaster Pokemon used Quick Attack to avoid it whilst also firing yet another Dark Pulse. And even that didn't do anything.
Absol then climbed up Nidoking's body by using Quick Attack whilst Nidoking followed his every movement. Grovyle was trying to break free by using Dragon Breath, but it was no good. Nidoking wouldn't budge.
Once Absol got close to Nidoking's face, he believed he would be able to get off a Night Slash. But sadly, he couldn't. Nidoking had taken Absol by surprise by headbutting the Disaster Pokemon.
"S-Sol?!" Absol could feel the weight of Nidoking travelling through his body as the shock of the impact made him shudder. Everyone gasped as they saw Absol fall from above, seemingly defeated.
"Absol!" Twilight and Fluttershy flew over to try and grab Absol. But once they got close, Nidoking used its tail to smack them away.
Twilight and Fluttershy were launched through the air as they also felt the weight of Nidoking punish them. The duo crashed into a tree, harming their backs in the process.
"Twilight! Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Applejack gasped, turning around.
But when they took their attention away from Nidoking, the Drill Pokemon swung its tail over at them as well. "Gengar! Stop it using Ice Punch!"
Luckily, Ash's Gengar managed to hold back the tail from reaching the three of them with Ice Punch connecting. But connecting with Nidoking's body made Gengar tremble a bit. "G-Gar!"
"Gengar! Fly up to Nidoking's hand!"
The Shadow Pokemon went straight for the hand where Grovyle was being held. Nidoking tried to grab Gengar, but the Ghost-Poison-Type made itself intangible as a method of evading.
Gengar arrived at the hand, using Ice Punch on it. This Ice Punch managed to have the freeze effect behind it as a bit of Nidoking's hand felt a small chill run through.
That chill made his grip less focused as Grovyle could finally find a way to break free. Gengar grabbed Grovyle with Psychic, freeing the Wood Gecko Pokemon from Nidoking's grasp.
"A-Absol..." Absol was still on the ground, still feeling the weight of Nidoking thanks to that headbutt. The same could be said for Twilight and Fluttershy after hitting the tree.
Audino rushed over to the three of them whilst a ferocious battle happens in the back. She used Heal Pulse on them, but even Heal Pulse wouldn't help that much. It would recover them for sure, but the shock would take some time to vanish.
"Absol..." Absol stood back up, brushing off the damage he had taken. He tried to get back in there but Twilight used her magic to hold him in. "Sol?"
"Absol, don't!" Twilight winced. "You haven't recovered yet like us. If you rush in again, you'll just end up taking more damage!"
"Absol...!"
"You can't tackle something like this on your own, Absol. Even if you're determined to stop this crisis as soon as possible, you're just one Pokemon against many."
"Sol," Absol growled.
"But if you coordinate with us, then we can stop it together. So won't you please slow down a bit?"
"Abs." Absol could steel feel a shock in his legs. What Twilight was saying true. If Nidoking hits him hard one more time, there's no telling how much damage Absol will take and how less effective Heal Pulse might end up being.
So he had no choice but to coordinate for the time being. Even if he was a Pokemon who worked on his lonesome without needing much help. But he certainly needs it now.
"Alright. We'll make sure that this crisis comes to an end, okay?" Twilight nodded.
But even if Absol was now cooperating with them, the issue of taking down Nidoking was still there. Just when Nidoking looked like it would've been defeated, cosmic interference had boosted its strength. Being the last Dynamax Pokemon around, Absol and the others face off against an aggressive opponent as the journey continues.
Chapter 274 End.