Chapter 182: The Finishing Blow
After two "Night Slashes," both super-effective critical hits, Trevenant was finally on the verge of collapsing.
"Trevenant, fall back! Idiot! Aren't you going to help me?!"
The latter half of the sentence was yelled at his teammate.
Trevenant retreated!
At the same time, Starmie came spinning over.
"Starmie, use Icy Wind!"
At this moment, this trainee finally made a smart choice.
"Icy Wind" was an Ice-type move, super-effective against Flying-types. If Pidgeotto tried to block it with its body again, it would take a super-effective critical hit.
But if Pidgeotto didn't block, "Icy Wind" had a speed-lowering effect that could slow Frogadier's movements and hinder its pursuit.
It was a no-lose situation either way.
The Starmie's trainer couldn't help but give himself a thumbs-up for his own cleverness.
However, in the next moment, Justin quickly slapped him in the face again.
"Use Tailwind!"
Pidgeotto used the "Tailwind" skill once more, displaying masterful field control—
The airflow across the field was split into two currents. One gust blew towards Starmie to block the freezing air it was sending out;
The other gust blew towards Frogadier, helping it ride the wind to accelerate and continue its pursuit of Trevenant!
The poor Starmie's owner and Justin were both chosen teammates, yet their performances so far were worlds apart!
Ever since being deceived by Justin's feint, Starmie had been wandering aimlessly around the field, its utility completely eclipsed by Pidgeotto!
Justin clearly wasn't trying to show off, yet his performance so far had been MVP-level.
Meanwhile, some people had been thinking about scoring points from the very beginning, but their performance up to now was a disaster.
It truly goes to show how unpredictable life is, how fate makes fools of us all…
After a few more exchanges, the increasingly exhausted Trevenant couldn't hold on any longer and had to save itself.
"Trevenant, use Ingrain!"
On the other side, Arthur also gave Justin a look.
Justin understood immediately.
"Pidgeotto, fall back and use Roost."
The two Pokémon, which had been serving as the primary damage-soakers since the beginning of the match, simultaneously chose to use self-healing skills.
Ingrain: A Grass-type skill that sends out roots to fix one's position, absorbing energy from the earth to recover.
Roost: A Flying-type skill where the user lands, folds its wings, and circulates energy to accelerate self-healing.
Both moves had similar mechanics, both sacrificing mobility for significant recovery.
Seeing its opponent use "Ingrain" and become immobile, Frogadier relentlessly pressed the attack!
On the other side, the Starmie's trainer, looking at the distant Pidgeotto which had also landed and become stationary, felt an irresistible itch, like a cat's scratch, to attack!
But a glimpse of his teammate's murderous glare made him chicken out in the end…
Who asked him to be the chosen teammate?
He wasn't the seeded player…
So, in the end, he had no choice but to go back and support Trevenant.
"Starmie, use Tri Attack on Frogadier!"
Tri Attack: A Normal-type skill that fires three types of beams at the enemy at once. The beams have a chance to inflict freeze, burn, or paralysis, respectively, but only one status effect can be applied per attack.
This move's base power was not weak; in a certain game from a parallel world, its power was 80, placing it in the category of solid, mid-tier moves!
At the same time, its considerably high chance of inflicting a status condition made the move even trickier!
According to the opponent's understanding, this should be enough to force Frogadier back, right?
The recovery from "Ingrain" was very sustained. As long as he forced Frogadier back and bought some time for Trevenant, he could eventually erase all the damage he had taken!
Grass-type Pokémon were always so shameless.
Although they had many weaknesses, being weak to five types and resisted by a full seven types, constantly ranking at the bottom of the type-matchup "chain of contempt."
But at the same time, Grass-type Pokémon had the most self-healing methods!
Absorb, Leech Seed, Ingrain, Synthesis... they had too many ways to outlast their opponents and bore the audience to death.
So, when a Grass-type Pokémon battled, it was all about stalling and kiting!
As long as you don't take me out in one go, in five minutes, I'll be a new man!
Right now, what Trevenant lacked was a little bit of time.
Red, yellow, and blue energy spheres gathered in front of Starmie. The three spheres circled around it, accelerating, and then shot out together as beams of light!
It had to buy that little bit of time for Trevenant now!
But the scene he envisioned did not come to pass.
Frogadier still did not retreat!
"Use Dark Pulse on the spot!"
Arthur was also going all-in!
He knew he couldn't give Trevenant time, couldn't give any Grass-type with plenty of skill slots any time at all!
Otherwise, they would definitely give you a "bladder-testing" stall-fest that would break your morale.
A ring of dark ripples erupted around Frogadier!
Seeing this, the referee's flag had already slightly risen.
But supported by Trevenant's dense roots, it remained standing, not yet fallen!
At the same time, the beams fired by Starmie all struck Frogadier.
As Frogadier was knocked back a few steps, a dense web of golden-yellow electric arcs suddenly flared up on its body, making it stiffen all over.
Arthur sighed silently.
His luck was really unreliable.
Frogadier was successfully afflicted with the paralysis status by this "Tri Attack."
"Starmie, press the attack!"
The opposing trainee was suddenly full of confidence.
The opponent is paralyzed, do I still not dare to attack?
At this moment, the trainee's mental activity was probably: His paralysis! Hit his paralysis! Quickly hit his paralysis!
If broadcast, it would probably be a string of bleeps…
Even the Trevenant's trainer's expression turned from cloudy to clear.
Ha? Stupid, aren't you? You didn't KO me!
Out of skills, right? In cooldown now, right? You think you can KO me now?
Let me pour you a cappuccino. If you can still KO me after this, I'll eat this Poké Ball on the spot~
But in the next moment—
"Pidgeotto, Air Slash!"
A stunning slash cut straight through the air, like a stroke of lightning!
The referee decisively raised his flag and blew the whistle.
"Trevenant is unable to battle! Trainer, please recall your Pokémon as soon as possible. The match continues!"
The opposing seeded player was dumbfounded on the spot…
His mouth hung wide open, unable to close for a long time.
The recovery from "Ingrain" was sustained, but as a trade-off, it was slow.
"Roost," on the other hand, was relatively much faster. Pidgeotto had already finished recovering by now!
The most important point was this: they had judged others by their own standards and had completely failed to expect that Arthur would give the finishing blow to his chosen partner!
Although the graduation tournament's format was Double Battles, the final scores and rankings were ultimately calculated individually.
Putting themselves in his shoes, the opposing seeded player would never have been willing to give a finishing blow that was within arm's reach to his partner, especially when he still had an advantage!
Getting a "kill" was worth a lot of points!
He was willing to give that up?
But the fact was: Arthur really was willing.
The tragic type-disadvantage of Grass-types was once again exposed at this moment—
Flying-type was also one of Trevenant's weaknesses.
This one "Air Slash" was the finishing blow!
(End of Chapter)
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