Chapter 181: Now This is Teamwork
Facing the combined assault of "Rock Slide" and "Power Gem," Pidgeotto remained calm.
"Dodge it!"
At this moment, Justin also shouted a command identical to Ash Ketchum's.
However, he wasn't relying on a protagonist's halo or metaphysics, but on solid, everyday training!
This was the agility Pidgeotto had honed when Arthur had forced it to charge through a forest of wild Beedrill!
Now, aided by "Tailwind," it soared and dove, dodged and weaved in the air!
It twisted away from all the large falling stones of "Rock Slide" and evaded more than half of the granular gems fired by "Power Gem."
Ultimately, however, it was unavoidable that several gems still struck Pidgeotto, blasting away quite a few feathers from its chest.
The Starmie's trainer clenched his fist in triumph, secretly pleased that he had struck the first blow. Then, he finally remembered his duty as a teammate.
"Fly up, spin, and intercept Frogadier!"
Starmie, having a Psychic typing, could use its psychic power to levitate briefly.
It then began to spin its body at high speed in mid-air, turning into a large boomerang and charging towards Frogadier!
This was one of Starmie's most common attack methods, and also the prototype of their signature move, "Rapid Spin."
Currently in a cooldown period, Starmie couldn't use a skill, but its hard body and swift rotation could still provide considerable damaging power.
Just as the high-speed spinning Starmie was about to collide with the Naruto-running Frogadier, a sudden updraft came from nowhere.
It was Pidgeotto, behind them, making a move!
It was still the effect of the skill "Tailwind"!
This move allowed for complete control over the airflow. Since it could keep teammates downwind, it could naturally also create a surprise updraft to disrupt the opponent's formation!
On the street, this would be a divine skirt-flipping technique…
The kind that would make perverts ecstatic…
Starmie was completely unprepared. Lifted by this current, it was instantly sent floating upwards, passing directly over Frogadier's head.
Frogadier's forward charge, however, did not slow in the slightest. It had complete trust in its teammate behind it, not meaning to slow down at all!
It rushed all the way to Trevenant, seizing the opening while the opponent was in cooldown and without a skill, and activated the skill "Night Slash"!
Its right hand was completely enveloped in shadow-like Dark-type energy as it plunged straight into Trevenant's side!
Although Trevenant's entire body was made of wood and lacked biological organs, Frogadier still habitually chose to strike the opponent's kidney area.
It was nothing else, just a matter of practice!
Subsequently, Trevenant's twig-like arm slammed down, but Frogadier easily dodged it with an agile side-step.
Trevenant, with habits similar to a Treant, originally lived deep in the forest and was never an agile Pokémon. In close-quarters combat without skills, it was no match for Frogadier at all; its slow attacks couldn't touch Frogadier in the slightest.
"Idiot, get back here and help me!"
At this moment, the trainee who had argued with Arthur earlier angrily cursed his teammate.
From the looks of it, the Trevenant's trainer was the real seeded player from the Otter Club side.
The Starmie's trainer was the teammate he had chosen.
As the one being "carried," the Starmie's owner had no choice now but to command Starmie to return and help.
But just then—
"Pidgeotto, Work Up!"
Justin shouted the command extra loudly.
Using a buff-type move like "Work Up" during a match was practically a straight-up taunt.
As mentioned before, such moves generally required a casting period, and a normal opponent would certainly try to interrupt it.
They wouldn't let you accumulate an advantage so easily.
The Starmie's trainer was instantly torn.
After a split-second of thought, he decisively chose to interrupt!
Allowing the opponent to freely buff up and snowball their advantage right in his face would definitely lower his post-match evaluation score.
As for supporting his teammate?
It's fine, the seeded player's Trevenant is very tanky. Daijoubu, mondai nai (It's alright, no problem).
"Use Rapid Spin!"
This time, Starmie used the official Rapid Spin skill, and its levitating rotation and forward speed both soared!
However, at this moment, Justin gave a strange smile.
"Double Team!"
The opponent was shocked.
"What?!"
Only then did everyone realize that Pidgeotto hadn't actually begun casting "Work Up."
Justin had feigned the attack, deliberately shouting it out loud, while secretly playing a little trick.
This was actually something Arthur had taught him.
The inspiration came from the duel with Young Master Wilson at the Everhart estate.
At that time, the opponent's Poliwrath had used this same trick to deceive Arthur, but it hadn't succeeded. Today, Arthur taught it to Justin, and it succeeded in one go.
Just as a certain unnamed Archer famously said: Who's to say a fake can't surpass the original?
However, doing so came at a cost. On the scoreboard, two panels below Pidgeotto's picture were flipped at once, recording "Work Up" and "Double Team" respectively.
In professional matches, as long as a Pokémon makes a corresponding action in response to its trainer's command, it is considered to have used the skill, regardless of whether the casting was completed.
This was also to prevent competitive matches from turning into a battle of "Best Actors."
But it was still early in the match, and skill slots were plentiful. It was worth it for Pidgeotto to waste one skill slot to buy a turn.
Starmie's "Rapid Spin" was dodged by the real Pidgeotto and only shattered a clone.
The remaining three clones then all suicidally crashed into Starmie one by one, just to run down the duration of its spin.
The real Pidgeotto, meanwhile, flapped its wings, let out a high-pitched cry, shook off Starmie, and flew at full speed towards the battlefield where Trevenant and Frogadier were!
Coincidentally, at this moment, Trevenant's trainer shouted a command: "Use Horn Leech!"
Horn Leech: A Grass-type move that thrusts a sharp horn into the enemy, dealing damage while absorbing the opponent's life energy to restore one's own!
It was a compound move with both damage and self-recovery!
It was also one of Trevenant's signature skills.
At the same time, the temporary type change from Frogadier's Protean ability had just worn off.
The Frogadier in front of them had reverted to a Water-type.
A Grass-type skill would now land a super-effective critical hit!
The opposing seeded player couldn't help but give himself a thumbs-up for his command.
He felt that turning the tide of the battle hinged on this single move!
But in the next second, a clear cry came from above.
"Pidgeo!"
Pidgeotto, aided by the lingering acceleration effect of "Tailwind," arrived like lightning, diving down!
Pidgeotto was also in a cooldown period after just using "Double Team," with no skills available.
But that was fine—
Justin yelled directly, "Don't be afraid, block it with your body!"
Pidgeotto shut its eyes, steeled its heart, and unhesitatingly threw its body directly onto the sharp horn thrust out by Trevenant!
Flying-type Pokémon had extra resistance to Grass-type moves, so it could withstand this!
Meanwhile, using the few seconds that Pidgeotto bought with its sacrifice, Frogadier also completed its cooldown—
"Night Slash, one more time!"
Dark-type was super effective against Ghost-type; Arthur naturally wouldn't let go of his opponent's weakness!
Frogadier once again cloaked one hand in black, charged past the injured, retreating Pidgeotto, and completely switched places with it.
Then, a kidney strike once again plunged into Trevenant's waist!
A super-effective critical hit!
An instructor from the Sea Carp Club, watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but slam the table and shout his approval.
"Good! Now that's what I call teamwork!"
Just because Arthur had said he would be the main attacker in this match, Justin had completely entrusted himself to the plan.
This was the kind of coordination and trust a double battle should have!
Compared to the opponents who fought for themselves, each thinking of hogging the spotlight and scoring points, Arthur's side was a true case of It Takes Two, of team cooperation!
(End of Chapter)
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