Chapter 393: Water Breathing
For the first round of Aaron and Juri's match, both sides sent out their Pokémon simultaneously.
Juri chose an Alolan Sandslash, while Aaron chose a Milotic.
The Alolan Sandslash is a subspecies of Sandslash found in high-altitude regions. Its entire body is blue and white, and the spikes on its back are like icicles. Its type is Ice/Steel.
In terms of species potential, Sandslash is not a particularly powerful Pokémon, and its position in the natural food chain is not high.
Juri's intention was clear: she wanted to counter Aaron's ace, Garchomp.
After all, Garchomp is doubly weak to Ice. Bringing out an Ice-type Pokémon to target Garchomp was a perfectly reasonable move.
It just didn't work out in the first round.
Aaron's blind pick of Milotic actually gave him a slight type advantage.
"Not going to switch?" Aaron asked with a smile before the referee officially started the match.
They had been teammates for a long time and were very familiar with each other. A little pre-match banter like this wasn't a big deal.
Juri didn't answer, but just gave a sudden laugh. "You've gotten pretty bold lately, kid. Talking to me like that? Looks like I'll have to teach you a proper lesson today."
Back on the team, Juri had been a starter, while Aaron was just a substitute. And Juri was older than him, with a much more outgoing personality.
She was the type who could start drinking with anyone at a party and grab a pole and start dancing at a nightclub.
In their past internal scrimmages, it had always been a one-sided verbal assault from Juri on Aaron. Back then, with his slacker mentality, Aaron could never talk back.
Now, at the start of the match, seeing Aaron dare to initiate the banter, Juri was truly amused.
"Then let me see where you get your confidence from. Sandslash, use Hail!"
"Milotic, use Coil!"
At the start, Juri immediately went for the weather. Her Sandslash had the Slush Rush ability, which greatly increases its speed in snowy weather. Seizing the weather was naturally her first priority.
And Aaron had his Milotic curl up, giving itself a buff first.
You could say that both sides got what they wanted in the opening exchange.
Aaron didn't choose to have his Milotic fight for the weather, and Juri didn't have her Sandslash rush forward to interrupt the opponent's cast.
The commentator remarked, "A peaceful opening from both sides. It seems they're both very confident in their own Pokémon."
It was normal for Juri to play like this. She had always had this confident, flashy personality.
But she hadn't expected Aaron to be so bold today as well.
She knew his Pokémon well. She knew his Milotic knew Rain Dance, but in this round, Aaron hadn't chosen to play that way, calmly ceding the weather to her at the start.
This surprised Juri.
Just a few months ago, in the Devon Cup preseason, Aaron's style had not been like this.
Could he really have changed so much in just a few months? Juri was doubtful.
But she'd have to clash with him to find out!
"Go, Sandslash!"
Then, without waiting for its cooldown, she initiated an attack!
The Slush Rush ability fully activated, and in the falling snow, the Sandslash was as fast as a meteor, instantly closing the distance to Milotic!
Its claws swung out, a cold light tracing a straight line through the snow, like a blade in a blizzard!
In the world of martial arts, only speed is unbeatable!
Even without a move, the Sandslash could now unleash astonishing damage with its sheer speed alone!
But Aaron had reacted in advance!
"Diagonally upwards! Tail whip to block!"
Aaron's reaction was absolutely worthy of the title "professional."
Receiving the command in advance, Milotic's coiled body quickly slid, transferring the kinetic energy layer by layer to its tail. Finally, its tail whipped out at high speed, swinging a crescent-shaped slash diagonally upwards!
The claw strike met the crescent moon blast.
In the end, a sharp "CLANG" rang out, and a cluster of hot sparks exploded in the falling snow!
The two Pokémon then retreated.
The clash was a draw. The attacking Sandslash had not gained an advantage.
This slightly surprised Juri.
Has Aaron really changed?
Just as this doubt arose, an even bigger surprise came his way.
"Tic!" Aaron gave a short, one-syllable command.
Milotic immediately understood. It quickly retreated, coiling its body once again, gathering its strength.
Then, Aaron exhaled and called out.
"Draw!"
The coiled body suddenly unfurled. The kinetic energy was once again channeled through layers of sliding motion, all converging at its tail. Milotic forcefully whipped out its tail like a swordsman drawing his blade.
The four large, diamond-shaped scales at the end of its tail closed together. The tail, which had been spread open like a fan, was now completely folded into a sharp, layered blade. Propelled by the force of its body's swing, it slashed out like a bolt of white silk!
The power, which had been gathered to its absolute limit, erupted in an instant, like a cold light leaving its sheath, a sword drawn in an Iai strike!
This tail-blade slash came so fast that even the Sandslash, with its ability-boosted speed, had no time to react!
One frame, you see the Milotic coiled up, like a blade in its sheath.
The next frame, you see it unfurl and whip its tail, like a sword from the west!
Juri was stunned.
The Sandslash was also stunned.
By the time it reacted, its entire body had already been sent flying by the slash, blood splattering across the sky.
The commentator's voice immediately jumped up an octave: "My heavens! A sudden attack from Aaron!! Is Milotic's close-combat ability really this strong?"
A normal Milotic, of course, is not. This species, like Gengar, is generally a Pokémon whose special attack is more outstanding. Most of them follow a caster-type path.
But there are always exceptions.
Just as Specter can use its fists to unleash Poison Jab, a Milotic can also use its tail-blade to perform an Iai strike!
It all depends on how the master trains them.
And as luck would have it, Aaron had been training with Arthur lately. And his Pokémon, naturally, had been doing the same.
When it came to swordsmanship, Arthur considered himself to have a little bit of knowledge.
And the earlier Coil move had just happened to increase Milotic's attack, which made it even more adept at using this tactic now.
Juri had not expected this outcome at all.
In her memory, Aaron's Milotic's style was not like this at all.
However, reality did not give her much time to be confused.
The next moment, Aaron spoke again: "Tic!"
Milotic's tail, which had just slashed out, drew back again, its entire body coiling up once more.
Damn it!
Juri refused to believe it.
"Sandslash, use Slash!"
Milotic is resistant to both Ice and Steel-type moves. Fortunately, as a close-combat Pokémon whose skills are mostly in its claws, Sandslash was also very adept at slashing moves like Slash and Fury Cutter.
And this time, Aaron's response was exactly the same as before.
"Draw!"
And this time, as Milotic unfurled, it also used a move—
The Water-type move: Aqua Tail!
The slash it sent out was now wreathed in a rushing torrent of water.
This was, without a doubt, Water Breathing
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 35 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you