Two "rounds" had passed since the battle began, and Sharpedo's Speed had already increased significantly.
"Sharpedo, Dark Pulse."
"Swampert, Muddy Water!"
Just as Ryoko gave her command, Sharpedo had already appeared behind Swampert and immediately unleashed a powerful Dark Pulse.
"Swam!"
But Swampert once again demonstrated its incredible reflexes. It bent its limbs and suddenly ducked low, the Dark Pulse narrowly missed the back of its head.
A clean miss!
'It's the radar fin…'
With Sharpedo's attack having failed again, Sato quickly identified what Ryoko was relying on.
Swampert's species is extremely sensitive to moisture. They can often locate water sources and predict storms in the wild just by detecting subtle changes in water molecules in the air.
And during movement, Sharpedo was undoubtedly a massive ball of water.
But the fact that Swampert could pinpoint Sharpedo's position so accurately clearly wasn't just a matter of innate talent.
'Still, even if you can lock on to Sharpedo's movements with 100% accuracy… when its speed reaches a certain level, can the body still keep up?'
"Sharpedo, switch position, Dark Pulse."
"Swampert, hang in there!"
On the battlefield, Sharpedo began launching a relentless assault on Swampert. Wave after wave of Dark Pulse came flying as if they cost nothing at all.
At first, Swampert could still rely on its "radar fin" to detect Sharpedo's position in advance and dodge the attacks.
But as time went on, Sharpedo moved faster and faster. Often, it would launch a Dark Pulse one second and be somewhere else entirely the next.
Sharpedo was moving faster than its own attacks!
Dark Pulse wasn't made of water, Swampert had no way of tracking it with precision.
The first Dark Pulse hit!
Then the second… the third… the fourth…
"SWAAAAAMP!"
Swampert finally couldn't hold back a cry of pain. The sight made many spectators instinctively close their eyes.
That… looked brutal!
Sato stared intently at the battle. Based on what he knew of Ryoko, there was no way she'd just sit back and let herself be pummeled like this.
"SWAM!"
Swampert let out another cry. If it weren't for its decent stamina and Defense, it would've been knocked out long ago.
But for the sake of the team's victory, Swampert refused to give up. It once again unleashed a Muddy Water at a spot where Sharpedo had been!
One minute later…
"Swampert has lost the ability to battle! Sharpedo wins! Trainer Ryoko, please send out your next Pokémon!"
-- --
"What… Swampert went down just like that?"
"This is the Top 4? That gap is way too huge!"
"What about Haxorus? What about Mawile? At the very least, send out Blaziken! What the heck was that Swampert supposed to do?"
Boos erupted from the audience stands. Seeing Swampert struggle the whole time without countering even once made many people wonder if there was some kind of shady deal going on.
-- --
"Thank you for your hard work, Swampert… It's up to the rest of the team now."
Ryoko gave the Poké Ball a slight twirl before placing it back on her battle belt.
"Slowking, Trick Room!"
As she tossed the Poké Ball, Ryoko simultaneously issued the command.
Seeing her send out Slowking and use Trick Room, Sato instinctively tried to recall Sharpedo.
But Sharpedo was too fast, even while Ryoko switched Pokémon, it hadn't stopped moving.
The red light of the Poké Ball couldn't even catch up to Sharpedo!
Sato: …?
And with that moment's delay, Trick Room activated!
"Slowking, Focus Blast!"
"Sharpedo, Protect."
"Sha!"
Sharpedo instantly put up a Protect barrier, and in the next moment, Focus Blast landed directly on it.
"Let's see how many of those you can block!" Ryoko's momentum surged, and as she spoke, Slowking immediately launched another Focus Blast!
"Sharpe-"
Bang!
Sato didn't even have time to issue a command before the Focus Blast hit Sharpedo directly!
"Sharpedo has lost the ability to battle! Slowking wins! Trainer Sato, please send out your next Pokémon!"
One move, one knockout!
Sharpedo had actually been one-shotted by Slowking…
What do spectators love the most? Shocking comebacks. And Ryoko's fierce counterattack hit all the right notes for their excitement.
Those same people who had just been complaining seconds ago were now cheering without hesitation, almost worshipping Ryoko.
-- --
"Goddess, I love you~"
-- --
…Uh, now they were.
Sato recalled the fallen Sharpedo, momentarily stunned.
Replaying the battle in his mind, Sato suddenly realized he had fallen into Ryoko's trap from the very beginning.
The repeated ineffective counterattacks by Swampert -no matter how cautious and alert he and Sharpedo had been- subtly lowered their guard.
And that tiny bit of relaxation created just enough delay in their coordination.
Especially when Sato tried to recall Sharpedo, it was Sharpedo's own speed that got in the way.
He let his guard down!
Sato shook his head, clearing the last match from his mind. Just as he was about to throw out his next Poké Ball, his hand suddenly froze.
The entire battlefield… had turned into a swamp!
Very few Pokémon could move freely in a swamp environment. At least, the Cacturne Sato had been about to send out definitely couldn't.
And aside from Sharpedo and Cacturne, the remaining four Pokémon on Sato's team were…
"Honchkrow!"
"KROOW!"
Only the Flying-type Honchkrow could move relatively unaffected by the swamp terrain.
'…Hm?'
Sato narrowed his eyes. He seemed to catch it, Ryoko… had just smiled!
'So this was the trap Swampert set, even at the cost of being knocked out?' Sato thought to himself. He realized that in this opening phase, he had already lost the upper hand.
"Battle continues!"
"Slowking, Power Gem!"
"Honchkrow, Steel Wing to defend."
Inside Trick Room, slower Pokémon move first. And Slowking was famously slow, naturally acting before Honchkrow.
Dozens of silver-white gems formed around Slowking, and with a wave of its hand, they shot toward Honchkrow.
Only once the Power Gem was already flying did Honchkrow seem to break free from some kind of immobilizing effect, finally able to use Steel Wing.
But in the next instant, the Power Gem curved midair and bypassed the Steel Wing, slamming into Honchkrow's back!
"KROW!"
Honchkrow let out a cry of pain -Power Gem dealt significant damage- but thanks to its excellent physic, it managed to endure.
"Slowking, Yawn!"
"Honchkrow, go for it, Brave Bird."
A sharp glint flashed in Sato's eyes. Once Yawn landed, Honchkrow would inevitably fall into the swamp. At that point, it would be game over.
At this moment, Sato suddenly felt a twinge of regret… 'Why hadn't he just let Honchkrow take the hit earlier and go straight for Brave Bird?'
.
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150 PS - Chap