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Incineroar launched a suicidal attack.
It was still Drain Punch.
This move had become quite addictive for it because landing a punch restored stamina. The feeling of fatigue vanishing with a single blow was incredibly satisfying.
The opponent's Houndoom was clearly not having an easy time either.
It just wasn't as resilient as Incineroar. After taking so many moves, Incineroar could still charge over joyfully.
That cannon-fist move from Incineroar had nearly cracked its horn, and its mind wasn't as clear as before.
Seeing Incineroar charging towards it, Houndoom forced itself to focus and slowly backed away.
"Reversal."
The trainer's voice reached its ears.
Houndoom knew this was the final blow.
In reality, there were many more cards up their sleeve, but they clearly weren't planning to use them.
Reversal was enough.
Succeed or perish!
"Awooo—"
It mustered its strength and let out a long howl, with the determination of a hero facing a holy spear, staring at Incineroar's fist, and once again thrust its curved horns forward!
Canine Pokémon, hard head, strong bones, weak back! But their spine cannot be bent!
Thud!
The brown-red vortex struck the horn tip, its power dropping sharply, but it still caused Houndoom immense pain.
Its stamina was already on the verge of depletion.
But!
It! Held! On!
Houndoom forced itself to stay upright, a look of counterattack resolve on its face. Its eyes narrowed, and a brown-red glow erupted brightly from its body!
Now was the moment its power reached its peak!
The desperate strike—
Reversal!
A brilliant light exploded forth!
Boom!
Incineroar felt another sharp pain in its chest and was sent flying for the third time, soaring high and landing heavily.
'What a rush!'
It gulped, its arms trembling as it tried to push itself up from the ground.
'It's fine! Brother Incineroar can still take it!'
On the other side.
After releasing its all-out move, Houndoom's legs swayed like reeds in the wind, looking like they could give out at any moment.
But it still lifted its head, looking at Incineroar on the distant ground, gritting its sharp teeth, waiting for the opponent to faint completely before letting out a victorious howl.
However, Incineroar stood up once again.
'Damn it! What the hell! Don't you ever get tired?'
Houndoom's vision darkened. It had never seen anything so absurd. How many moves had it landed now?
Even a Blissey, the king of special defense, should have gone down by now!
'What the…'
Houndoom was so furious it felt like its blood was boiling. Losing in the Junior World Tournament hadn't been this infuriating.
All because the opponent was cheating!
'...I'm done.'
Houndoom could no longer hold on. Physically and mentally exhausted, its legs gave way, and it collapsed, its eyes turning into spirals.
With its already low stamina, it was nothing like in the games where a Pokémon at 1 HP could still fight at 100%.
Watching this, Abigail's expression remained cold, but she said nothing. She simply stepped forward and gently patted Houndoom's head.
In the distance.
The standing Incineroar saw Houndoom faint and couldn't resist the urge to roar at the sky, but as soon as it lifted its head, it lost its balance and fell backward.
Boom!
Its heavy body hit the ground, raising dust. It breathed heavily in large gasps, looking completely exhausted and unable to get up again.
"You worked hard. Taking all those moves."
Li Xiang patted its shoulder. It couldn't even manage a cry, just kept panting.
Finally, it shakily gave a thumbs-up.
"Awesome."
Li Xiang gave a thumbs-up back, pressing it against Incineroar's. Only then did Incineroar slowly close its eyes and fall into a deep sleep.
Both had lost the ability to battle.
Outside the field.
The spectators' faces were full of astonishment.
It was well-known that Incineroar had excellent defensive capabilities. But what they had just witnessed couldn't simply be described as 'excellent'.
Even Snorlax and Blissey were nothing more than this, right?
Was it really an Incineroar, and not some other Pokémon wearing an Incineroar skin?
"Incredible, that staying power. Has his Incineroar always been this strong?"
Chao turned and asked Song Jie.
Everyone's gaze shifted to the boy who came from the same place as Li Xiang.
"It's been like this ever since it evolved."
Song Jie nodded in response. He still remembered the scene where it tanked a Head Smash and used Close Combat to take down his Aggron.
It was truly unforgettable.
Back then, his Corviknight wasn't as tanky as it is now. But Incineroar had been incredibly durable from early on, to a degree that was hard for ordinary people to understand.
The others around, hearing this, immediately started whispering among themselves, mostly discussing whether they had any means to deal with Incineroar.
They eventually realized, unless they had a Pokémon that countered it and could maintain distance, the outcome would likely be similar to Houndoom's.
How terrifying!
...
On the field.
Both sides recalled their fainted Pokémon.
Now, each had two Pokémon left.
Tailwind had already ended. The only marks left on the field were from Houndoom's repeated outbursts.
Li Xiang felt a rare sense of nervousness, guessing which Pokémon Abigail would send out next.
Would it be the Weavile that she caught with him during the Pilgrimage Trial?
They threw their Poké Balls simultaneously.
Bang! Bang!
Two flashes.
On Li Xiang's side, Wash-Rotom emerged.
On the opposite side, what appeared was a puddle of colorful sludge covered in small stones.
—The Alolan form from the seventh generation, the Poison/Dark-type Pokémon, Alolan Muk.
Its type combination was quite good, only weak to Ground-type moves.
Its possible hidden Ability was [Power of Alchemy].
The effect was that it inherited the Ability of the last ally that fainted. Li Xiang had seen it inherit Arcanine's Intimidate before. This time, it should have changed to Flash Fire.
He remembered this guy could learn Fire Punch.
Currently, the two Pokémon were about fifteen meters apart, deliberately positioned.
'Maybe use Nasty Plot first, then use Discharge? That could bait it into wasting a turn using Taunt.'
"Nasty Plot."
Having decided on a strategy, Li Xiang implemented it directly.
He thought Abigail would use Taunt to block Rotom's status moves. Unexpectedly, she seemed to have predicted it, deliberately delaying her command.
After Rotom started using Nasty Plot, she softly called out, "Haze."
Thick, endless smoke began to pour out from Alolan Muk's body, enveloping both sides and the battlefield.
The range was enormous, covering the entire field and blocking both sides' vision.
In the games, Haze couldn't last this long; it was just a one-turn move. But here, with dedicated training, its duration could definitely be extended.
And while Haze was active, neither side could use stat-boosting moves.
Li Xiang frowned slightly and said, "Reflect! Watch out for Poison Gas!"
Rotom's response came from within the haze.
A pink flash flickered and vanished.
Li Xiang saw Rotom activating the shield and also noticed a purple glow shimmering on the ground, accompanied by gurgling sounds.
Something was flowing towards his side.
'So it was this tactic after all.'
He frowned. The Haze on the field, as if it had reached its limit, lasted no more than twenty seconds before gradually dissipating.
The field was visible again, but the situation was completely different from before.
Puddles of foul-smelling sludge now dotted the ground, and Alolan Muk was nowhere to be seen.
'Sludge Wave combined with Acid Armor? Might have even used Minimize.'
Li Xiang covered his nose. Alolan Muk itself wasn't smelly, but these Sludge Wave puddles were genuinely stinky.
But faced with this situation, he wasn't flustered.
Hadn't Rotom practiced mobile casting for so long precisely to deal with this kind of frustrating scenario where you can't find the opponent?
"Discharge!"
"Beep beep!"
The Wash Rotom's body lit up with dazzling electric light. A ball of electricity rapidly expanded on its body, growing over ten times larger, forming a hemispherical electric ball about ten meters in diameter, continuously attacking in all directions!
It clearly encompassed the sludge puddles on the ground!
Li Xiang quickly retreated to avoid being accidentally hit by Rotom's Discharge.
Abigail on the opposite side did the same.
But strangely, even in this limited space, with Rotom continuously outputting electricity, advancing like a tank, it still hadn't forced Alolan Muk to reveal itself.
It was as if Discharge was completely ineffective against it.
Li Xiang stared intently at the ground, trying to find a flaw, but found nothing.
Alolan Muk couldn't have disappeared.
It must be hiding somewhere—
Wait!
The most dangerous place is the safest place!
Li Xiang suddenly turned his head and saw, right behind him, a palm-sized puddle of sludge that wriggled as he moved!
'It was hiding here after all!'
"It's on my side!"
He shouted loudly and abruptly leaped towards the outside of the field. Unlike Pokémon, trainers were perfectly allowed to leave the field.
Rotom, not far away, turned its head, its face showing anger at being tricked, and suddenly released an Electroweb that expanded in mid-air!
It hadn't just practiced mobile casting; it had trained a bit with net-binding techniques too.
Li Xiang had always envied Pikachu's versatile Electroweb.
"Too late."
Abigail, watching from a distance, spoke calmly.
And as her words fell, Alolan Muk had already reached a nearby sludge puddle and merged with it!
The Electroweb flew over, landed on the ground, but caught nothing.
"Discharge!"
Li Xiang shouted. Rotom's body flashed with lightning, the massive hemispherical electric ball ready to be unleashed.
But..
"Gunk Shot."
Abigail's voice rang out. Then, under Li Xiang's surprised gaze, all the sludge on the ground merged together and surged towards Rotom like a tidal wave!
Rotom had just used Discharge. The two moves collided, releasing stinky white smoke continuously!
The high temperature of the electricity burned the poison, quickly evaporating the tidal wave.
But it still seemed like Alolan Muk hadn't been hit.
'How is that possible?'
Li Xiang frowned. If Discharge couldn't hit Alolan Muk, what move could?
'Where is it—In the sky!'
He looked up abruptly and sure enough, spotted a miniaturized Alolan Muk in the air.
It had emerged from its Acid Armor state but was still minimized!
'Did it use the force from the rising tidal wave to get up there?'
"Dodge to the side!"
Li Xiang yelled, but it was too late. Alolan Muk was already descending, raising its poisonous hand and delivering a Brick Break onto Rotom!
Crack!
The sound of shattering glass!
Immediately after, the hovering Rotom was struck down to the ground!