A cold glint flashed in Delacroix's eyes as he keenly caught Iron Hands' momentary hesitation and exhaustion.
"Play Rough!" His command was cold and decisive.
Rapidash let out another clear, high-pitched neigh, but this time, the sound was filled with a strange, captivatingly joyful rhythm.
The Fairy-type energy emanating from its body suddenly became lively and agile, and a dreamlike yet subtly deadly alluring peach hue stained the pinkish-purple Radiance.
It tapped its four hooves lightly; at this moment, it seemed not to be in a fierce battle, but rather performing an elegant and dangerous dance of death.
Its figure instantly became erratic, leaving a trail of pink, stardust-like light and shadow afterimages, skillfully bypassing Iron Hands' strained defense with agile movements, lightly "leaping" to its side and rear.
The front hoof, enveloped in rich Fairy power, looked gentle, as if carrying the innocence of play, but in reality, it contained terrifying power capable of crushing steel, elegantly yet decisively "stepping" down onto Iron Hands' unguarded flank.
"Woo—!"
Iron Hands only managed to let out a painful and angry grunt before its massive body was sent flying by this seemingly light "step," crashing heavily into a thick load-bearing pillar behind it with a dull thud, the pillar's surface instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks.
It struggled to stand, its arms reluctantly once again erupting with a final, candle-in-the-wind-like weak Spark, attempting to protect its vital points with Wild Charge.
However, the once-furious thunder was now extremely weak, flickering under the erosion of Fairy power, threatening to extinguish completely at any moment.
Iron Hands' scarred body struggled under Rapidash's dreamlike yet deadly light and shadow, each impact of Fairy energy making the electric Sparks on its body grow dimmer.
The difference in level, the type advantage… Iron Hands' defeat seemed to be sealed.
A cold, commanding expression appeared on Delacroix's face; he turned his gaze towards Chen Kai's direction and said in French, "Are you still not coming out?"
Although Chen Kai didn't understand what the other party was mumbling, he was filled with helplessness.
While Iron Hands and Rapidash were battling, he had actually been constantly changing positions, yet Delacroix's gaze could always accurately Lock-On him.
The Psychic and Fairy-type Pokemon's sensory abilities were simply too troublesome.
Chen Kai had also tried to get Iron Bundle to help, but Iron Bundle seemed to have some mischievous streak, refusing to go out and assist, and somehow it also prevented Iron Thorns from helping; Chen Kai simply couldn't command them.
Seeing that Chen Kai still refused to show himself, Delacroix felt rather bored, raised his hand to point at the struggling Iron Hands, his voice like a final judgment: "One last strike, Psychic…"
Just then, Iron Bundle's Poké Ball suddenly opened; there was no dazzling white light, only a terrifying cold current, as if from the abyssal depths of the polar regions, surged out, instantly draining all the surrounding temperature.
An extremely condensed, pure azure beam of light, composed entirely of Sheer Cold energy, like the cold gaze of death, silently but faster than thought, shot out from the opened sphere!
—Ice Beam!
This deadly cold current, chillingly precise, pierced through Rapidash's nascent, not yet fully unleashed, pinkish-purple Psychic energy blade, cold and unimpeded.
Chii—krak-la-la!!
The pinkish-purple Confusion light blade instantly let out a harsh freezing crunch, like glass dropped into liquid nitrogen!
The highly condensed Psychic energy was forcibly frozen and shattered from within by this extremely cold beam!
Countless tiny pinkish-purple ice crystals, like shattered stars, scattered under the impact of the azure beam.
Before the frozen fragments could fall, the deadly azure beam continued its momentum, like a precise Icicle Spear, fiercely stabbing towards Rapidash, which had instantly frozen due to its skill being forcibly interrupted!
"Ra—?!" Rapidash let out a long neigh filled with horror and pain, its voice trembling with disbelief.
The azure beam accurately struck its shoulder blade, where its nebulous mane was glowing with a dreamlike Radiance.
Extreme deep cold instantly erupted!
Azure frost, like a living plague, spread rapidly from the point of impact at an alarming speed, even causing the nearby Whimsicott to shrink behind its trainer.
Rapidash's dreamlike nebulous mane at its shoulder instantly lost all its flowing light, firmly sealed by a thick layer of solid ice shimmering with a metallic azure glow.
The frost continued to spread wildly, relentlessly eroding its vibrant Fairy energy, even attempting to freeze the Psychic power surging within its body.
The intense pain and the sluggishness caused by the forced freezing of its energy made it lose its elegant composure for the first time; its body involuntarily staggered backward, its four hooves frantically stepping on the shattered ground.
At the source of the icy beam, a figure seemingly composed of the most precise machinery floated into appearance before Delacroix and Rapidash.
Iron Bundle—its metallic shell glowed with a cold azure light, its right hand grasping a sphere that appeared covered in unmelting ice crystals.
The opening on the front of the sphere was slowly closing, emitting cold white vapor.
Its cold, mechanical eyes even revealed a hint of playful amusement as it stared at the heavily wounded Iron Hands, as if saying,
"It's not that I wouldn't help you; I just didn't expect you to be beaten down by such an opponent."
Iron Hands was too weak to retort, "Didn't I just beat you up a while ago? Do you really hold such a grudge?"
Iron Bundle, however, looked quite pleased; previous battles were either against opponents too weak to threaten Iron Hands, or too strong for it to cause trouble. Now, it finally found an opportunity to legitimately mess with Iron Hands.
On the other side, Delacroix was not so relaxed; the expression on his face seemed to be instantly frozen by that azure beam.
"That Ice Beam… that's not something an ordinary Pokemon can wield—a terrifying power close to Sheer Cold!"
His gaze, like a searchlight, locked onto Iron Bundle, which floated in mid-air, emitting a cold azure metallic glow. That precise, instrument-like, ice-sculpture-like figure, the energy field emanating from its body… dense, condensed, carrying a deep cold oppressive feeling that could sting the soul!
"Master… no, even higher, probably around Level 95!"
This thought exploded like thunder in Delacroix's mind!
Most of the main Pokemon in his team, including that exceptionally talented Rapidash, were only Champion Class (Level 80+), and his main Pokemon had just barely touched the threshold of Master (Level 90).
And this mysterious person actually casually threw out a powerful Pokemon close to Level 100?!
"Retreat!" This thought screamed in his heart like an instinct.
Facing an opponent of such a level, reason told him not to rashly engage in a life-and-death duel; preserving strength and retreating safely was the wise choice.
His toes even subconsciously shifted back half a step, his body tensed like a coiled leopard, ready to escape at any moment.
After all, even if he chose to retreat, the Nisus headquarters people couldn't do anything to him; after all, he was France's 'former' Champion.
However, just as the thought of retreating was about to gain the upper hand, another, stronger, more fervent emotion surged out like magma, instantly melting away that trace of coldness!
He could not retreat!
It was precisely because he had hesitated for a moment in a previous battle that he had become the 'former' Champion.
He had to reclaim his honor!
So this time, no matter how strong the enemy, he would never retreat again!!!
