The resistance of Pokémon like Chandelure is quite formidable.
The dual Ghost and Fire typing grants it immunity to Normal and Fighting-type moves while providing double resistance to Poison, Steel, Fire, Grass, Ice, and Fairy-type attacks. Additionally, it boasts a quadruple resistance to Bug-type moves.
Though it remains weak to Ground, Rock, Ghost, Water, and Dark-type moves, its overall defensive attributes are still highly advantageous.
Furthermore, Chandelure possesses extremely pronounced offensive capabilities.
With a base stat total of 520, its Special Attack stat reaches an impressive 145, making it a purely special-attacking powerhouse.
The most skilled Chandelure Trainer Aoki has encountered so far was Caitlin, an Elite Four member from the Unova region, whom he met during the Sinnoh League tournament. Her Chandelure was exceptionally well-trained.
However, even if this Pokémon does not actively drain the life force of other creatures, it still absorbs vitality passively at a slower rate. Caitlin likely had a method to mitigate this issue, but Aoki currently does not.
While powerful, the drawbacks of using Chandelure are too severe to justify its deployment in most battles.
Slowking engaged Chandelure in single combat while the rest of Aoki's team—Drapion, Gengar, and Honchkrow—handled the swarm of Lampent and Litwick. The weaker Litwick and Lampent were left to the remaining Pokémon to deal with.
The chamber erupted into chaos as battles broke out across the room.
Larvitar, freed from Aoki's restrictions, fought with unrestrained enthusiasm.
Both Lampent and Litwick are weak to Ground and Rock-type moves, and over the past few days, Larvitar's mastery of Ground-type energy had improved significantly.
In truth, Ground and Rock-type energies share many similarities, and novice Trainers often struggle to distinguish between them.
Since these energies overlap in certain aspects, Larvitar's improved control over Ground-type energy inadvertently enhanced its manipulation of Rock-type energy as well.
However, this secondary improvement was minor compared to its primary progress with Ground-type techniques, so it had gone largely unnoticed.
But when compared to its abilities before arriving at Mount Chimney, the difference was undeniable.
Beyond that, Larvitar's overall strength was steadily increasing.
The complete absorption of the Groudon armor fragments had far-reaching effects that would continue to manifest over time.
The most intense clash was between Slowking and the levitating Chandelure.
Aoki focused most of his attention on directing this battle.
Chandelure's level was slightly higher than Slowking's, and its centuries of existence had honed its energy control to a razor's edge.
But Slowking was no pushover. Though its level had plateaued for months, its combat prowess had continued to grow.
During their time on the mysterious island of the Lake Guardians, Slowking had learned the most out of all Aoki's Pokémon from the resident Psychic-types.
It had mastered unconventional applications of psychic power, allowing it to transcend traditional move limitations.
During the fight, Slowking used Skill Swap to exchange its Oblivious ability for Chandelure's Flame Body.
While Flame Body wasn't particularly useful for Slowking, neutralizing Chandelure's Fire-type advantage was crucial.
Now immune to Fire attacks, Slowking only needed to guard against Ghost-type assaults.
Next, Slowking erected a Trick Room, distorting space to grant itself a speed advantage.
Though Chandelure wasn't particularly fast, it still outpaced Slowking under normal circumstances. Trick Room negated this disparity.
Slowking had also developed a habit of infusing its Water-type moves with psychic energy, enhancing their power and speed.
With Aoki's strategic guidance and these accumulated advantages, Chandelure's stamina began to wane after prolonged combat, its flames dimming noticeably.
Meanwhile, Honchkrow and the others, following Aoki's intermittent commands, systematically dismantled the Lampent and Litwick forces.
Most of the Litwick had been knocked out, and only a few resilient Lampent remained standing.
Yet Chandelure refused to surrender.
Aoki and Slowking remained cautious—Chandelure's true danger lay not just in its offensive power but in its arsenal of debilitating status moves.
Moves like Curse, Destiny Bond, Pain Split, and Memento could turn the tide in an instant.
Ghost-types were notorious for their unpredictable, fight-altering techniques.
Had Slowking not conserved energy for defensive measures, it could have overwhelmed Chandelure much sooner. But maintaining a reserve of psychic power to counter unexpected curses was essential.
Chandelure descended slowly, its flames flickering weakly. Slowking lowered itself as well, psychic energy still coiled tightly around it in preparation for a last-ditch attack.
The five flames atop Chandelure's body merged together, swirling violently.
Slowking conjured a Protect barrier, shielding not just itself but Aoki and the other Pokémon behind it.
But instead of launching a final assault, Chandelure slammed the coalesced fireball into the ground.
BOOM!
The explosion carried a faint corrosive effect, but the true devastation came from the sheer concussive force.
The ancient stone flooring shattered.
Cracks spiderwebbed outward, some sections collapsing entirely.
Beneath the broken tiles lay darkness—and from the fissures, tendrils of black smoke began to seep out.
Aoki recognized that smoke immediately.
Ghost energy.
Incredibly dense Ghost energy.
It resembled the miasma emitted by the black obelisks in the Trial Island cave where Gastly had lurked, though less concentrated.
The energy dissipated quickly, but more cracks spread across the ground.
CRACK! CRACK!
BOOM!
The fractures multiplied until, with a final shudder, the entire floor gave way.