Dashie and Hades the Ceruledge quickly celebrated their victory of defeating their rival's Baxcalibur. Hades' water tera crown shined as they exchanged smiles at each other.

Ghoul gritted his teeth together while thinking of a plan to counter Hades. He noticed that pieces of Ceruldge's armor were scattered on the battlefield. So, Hades right now had a tremendous speed boost, but the trainer figured it had to have been weakened enough by now to go down in a single hit.

Ghoul took out his remaining two Pokeballs. A Palafin, ready in hero form, was in one Pokeball and a fire breed Paldean Tauros was in the other Pokeball. He debated to himself on which Pokemon would be best suited to taking down his rival's Ceruledge that was terastilized into water typing. Ghoul already used his terastilization on a fainted Baxcalibur. He took one last glance at the weakened Hades, before making his decision on what Pokemon to use next. Taking a deep breath, he placed the Pokeball in his right hand away.

"Atrocitus! You know what to," Ghoul shouted.

"Fire versus water? Are you crazy," Dashie playfully taunted.

Ghoul tossed a Pokeball onto the field. Atrocitus the fire breed Paldean Tauros came out. Steam came out of his nose as he snarled at Hades. Wagging his tail, he stomped his front left hoof rapidly. Using intimidate, Hades' attack stat slightly dropped. Ghoul knew that despite the type disadvantage this was the only way to secure a safe knockout.

"Now, flame charge," Ghoul commanded.

"Hades, I think it's time to heal," Dashie said.

Her Ceruledge nodded in response, instantly understanding what attack he should prepare for. Hades extended his swords out to his sides. He ignited the soublades hotter while keeping a close eye on his new opponent.

Atrocitus ran in a circle chasing his tail for a few seconds. Fire burnt the ground underneath him as he kept running. After gaining some speed, the bull Pokemon dashed towards Hades. The bull tilted his head down to aim his horns at Ceruledge.

Just as Atrocitus was about to ram into him, Hades jumped into the air. As the bull was stopping in his tracks, Hades jumped over him while slashing the bull's back with both blades. The Paldean Tauros whined as Ceruledge landed behind him.

Finishing the Bitter Blade attack, some of Hades' armor levitated back onto his body. At the cost of some speed, Hades had some more health back thanks to the attack. Due to the intimidate and being neutral effective, the attack didn't hurt Atrocitus much. So, Hades wasn't able to fully heal all the way.

"Do it again," both trainers shouted.

Atrocitus picked up speed once more by running around in a circle to chase his tail. Being even faster now, he left burn marks on the ground. Hades ignited his blades again. The two Pokemon dashed at each other.

The angry bull managed to be slightly faster as he slammed his horns into Hades' weak armor making it fall off again. Hades grunted as he retaliated by slashing his soublades against the Paldean Tauros' skull. Atrocitus received very minor damage again as Hades recovered the small piece of armor that was just dropped.

"For crying out loud," Dashie grunted in frustration.

Noticing that their Pokemon were fairly matched, she took Hades Pokeball back out. She also had a bad feeling that if Atrocitus got to fast it would end up overwhelming her whole team. Switching out now would also remove the intimidate effect, making Hades return to normal strength stat when called back out. Dashie sighed as she returned Hades back to his Pokeball.

"Jiminy, take care of this real quick," Dashie huffed.

Dashie tossed another Pokeball onto the field. Jiminy her Lokix came out. As the bug took a fighting stance, Atrocitus seemed to laugh at it. Before Ghoul could give his bull another command, Dashie took action.

"First impression!"

Jiminy rushed up underneath Atrocitus' body. Jiminy jumped onto the bull's belly. He bit down hard on the stomach while scratching relentlessly with all of his limbs. Atrocitus quenched in pain as Jiminy dropped back down.

The Lokix moonwalked back to his trainer as he waited for further instructions. Dashie made sure all of her bug types knew first impression, otherwise she felt like there was no point. She even made sure to use her Golisopod all the way from Alola to train her Lokix. It made sure the first impression attack can be super effective against most types.

"Raging Bull," Ghoul shouted.

"Detect," Dashie ordered.

Ghoul began laughing as their Pokemon prepared their attacks. Steam came out of Atrocitus' snout as he scrapped the ground a few times. Atrocitus let out a battle cry as his horns ignited with flames. Jiminy swiftly created a blue square barrier around itself.

"What's so funny," Dashie questioned.

"Raging Bull goes through any barriers. It would have even gone through your Ceruledge's armor if you haven't switched out," Ghoul explained.

Dashie didn't want to believe it, but deep down she knew that he was right. Hades in reserve was terastilized into water. If she kept the Ceruledge as a ghost type then the attack wouldn't be able to hit Hades. Jiminy gulped as he overheard that. The bug kept his footing behind the barrier and braced for impact as Atrocitus began to charge at him.

"Axe Kick," Dashie screamed.

The bull rammed his horns into the barrier, instantly shattering it. As he was about to hit his target, the Lokix pounced up high. Jiminy managed to dodge just in time thanks to some harsh training. He came crashing back down landing a hard kick onto Atrocitus' neck!

As Jiminy took a deep breath holding his leg on the bull's neck, Atrocitus let out a slow long growl. The bug came back onto the ground and took another fighting stance, ready for the worst. Ghoul's Tauros felt weak in all four legs. He eventually fainted as he collapsed. Ghoul sighed as he returned Atrocitus to his Pokeball.

"Nanue, you're the last one," Ghoul whispered.

Ghoul tossed his last Pokeball onto the field. Nanue, the Palafin in hero form, came out. Nanue pumped his fists into the air. The dolphin hero confidently stood above Jiminy.

"Axe Kick," Dashie ordered.

"Jet Punch," Ghoul directed.

Jiminy once again bounced up high. Nanue reeled back his left fist. As the cricket aimed a kick at the hero, he was punched hard. Jet Punch is a priority move that struck as hard as a tsunami.

Not able to hit his opponent, Jiminy crashed back down onto the ground. This made the Lokix damage himself heavily! He tried to get back up to fight some more but ended up fainting. Dashie returned her fighting bug to its Pokeball.

"Hades, let's finish it," Dashie shouted as she summoned Ceruledge back onto the field.

Hades returned back to the battlefield. His water tera crown shined upon entry. His armor was still almost off, but he gained his strength back negating the effect of Atrocitus' intimidate from earlier. The rivals original partner Pokemon, Pikachu and Eevee, stared as the showdown was water type vs water type.

"Bitter blade!"

Hades ignited his blades. Ghoul smirked as he was expecting that. As if the whole script was being written by him. Hades rushed up to the dolphin.

"Go ahead, I'll let you heal," Ghoul taunted.

"Really?"

"Yep. Use drain punch!"

As Hades slashed his blades against Nanue's chest, Nanue punched him back. They held the pose. The weak armor slowly regenerated to the ghost warrior's body. Thanks to the drain punch, Nanue wasn't losing any health as Hades healed.

Once Hades was fully healed, the Pokemon finally let go of each other. Nanue and Ghoul both had smiles on their faces. Though they were down to their last Pokemon, Ghoul had a feeling that the fun has only just begun. He allowed his rival to fully heal the Ceruledge as he was a good sport. And maybe to repay the favor of Dashie allowing him to make Palafin into hero form without any troubles.

Dashie face palmed as she learned that both of their Pokemon knew healing moves. At this rate, the rivals are at a standstill! She glanced back at her Pikachu behind her, trying to think of a way out of this. As she turned her head back to her rival, she saw his Eevee playing around. The trainer gasped as she thought of a way to make things more interesting and so it doesn't just become a spamming healing battle.