Chapter 630: Detail Gap
Flareon tried hard to overcome its fear, launching itself forward the moment Lina glided low, pouncing on her and knocking her to the ground with force.
This scene gave Arnold a bit of confidence.
But in the blink of an eye, the two Pokémon rolled on the ground only once before the scene changed to Lina pinning Flareon to the ground with one hand choking its neck.
This change happened too fast, catching Arnold off guard.
"Wha—"
Before Arnold's exclamation was half finished, Lina's subsequent storm-like offense had already begun!
"ROAR!"
Lina pressed down on Flareon, roaring while punching left and right, beating the opponent so badly it couldn't fight back for a moment.
Although Flareon wasn't Arnold's ace, it was one of the Pokémon he had been focusing on cultivating recently, with strength close to the peak of the main player level.
Before the match, he thought that after sealing off Fire and Dragon-type moves, his Flareon could go toe-to-toe with Arthur's Charizard.
The reality slapped him hard in the face...
"Lina, Mega Punch!"
The Normal-type move Mega Punch wasn't affected by the terrain, and with the boost from Lina's Tough Claws ability, its power was impressive.
Flareon, pinned underneath, couldn't dodge at all and was instantly beaten into a pulp.
"Substitute to escape!"
Arnold helplessly had to use Substitute again to escape.
Continuous Substitute was a heavy burden on Flareon, but he had no other choice.
Attempted a collision, but shattered upon contact!
Trying almost became dying.
In the player rest area, Grand Master captain Steven couldn't help but laugh watching this broadcast.
"Sigh, Arnold is really brave. Even I didn't dare to engage in close combat with that kid's Pokémon when I sent out my ace. How did he dare?"
A teammate offered a guess: "Maybe your tactics gave him too much confidence. You know, he has always admired you very much."
Steven instantly sensed something wrong and turned to look at his teammate.
"What did you say at the end?"
"Cough, I said he admires you."
"Say it again?"
"It's respect, no, trust! Yes, trust! He trusted your tactics too much."
Although Arnold wasn't young, he had a baby face and looked a bit feminine, often being teased as a good candidate for cross-dressing.
So there were plenty of people shipping Arnold and Steven, even infiltrating the Grand Master Team internally.
This made Steven very helpless and tired.
First of all, he was straight!
Although he did force Arnold to cross-dress with his teammates back in the day...
But he was straight!
Although he still kept the photos of Arnold cross-dressing from back then...
But he was really straight, damn it!
Anyway, even just to salvage his precarious image, Steven had to speak up and steer the topic back.
"Watch the match carefully. Arnold is likely to stumble in this round."
The teammates were confused for a moment.
"Stumble? Not really? Hasn't he perfectly replicated your tactics so far?
"That Kubfu captain dares not use Fire or Dragon moves now, and his Charizard was just poisoned. He should switch Pokémon soon, right?
"Then Flareon can use the sun to deal some damage. Even if it doesn't win, it should at least wear down the opponent's next Pokémon significantly. It looks pretty smooth.
"Didn't you play like this the day before yesterday?"
Although Flareon just took a beating from Lina, everyone still treated it as a small mistake in Arnold's tactical execution. Overall, they were still optimistic about their own.
But Steven had a completely different view.
"Those who can be targeted by a replicated tactic twice are mediocre players. Although that Kubfu rookie is young, he is not mediocre at all.
"Moreover, peak duels require attention to detail. Arnold thinks he can replicate my victory the day before yesterday just by copying the outline. He is too naive.
"My setup the day before yesterday wasn't as simple as he thought. Similarly, the Kubfu player opposite isn't as easy to deal with as he thought.
"Watch, he's going to suffer soon."
As soon as Steven finished speaking, on the live screen, Lina caught up with Flareon again.
"Damn it, Flareon, dodge!"
During the Grand Master Team's internal discussion, Lina had caught up with Flareon multiple times, continuing to beat the opponent up, making Arnold fully realize the gap in melee capability between the two Pokémon.
Therefore, he dared not let Flareon counterattack rashly anymore, only ordering to dodge.
But in reality, not everyone's "dodge" came with a causality-defying buff like Ash's.
Flareon tried its best...
But Lina quickly caught up and grabbed its tail.
Flareon turned back to bite, but Lina calmly sidestepped and then slapped it hard to the ground with her wing.
In close combat, the opponent was far inferior to Lina.
Lina even felt that judging purely by technique, not counting strength and agility, this level was worse than her own Little Eevee.
You're worse than a two-and-a-half-year-old cub.
Lina's gaze deeply stung Flareon's dignity!
So it turned over—
And continued to get beaten...
Sometimes anger is useless; if you can't beat them, you really can't beat them.
And what troubled Arnold even more was—
"Why can the opponent always catch up so quickly? Why could Steven delay the day before yesterday, but now I can't stop the opponent's offense at all even after copying the tactic?"
Facing this question, Steven in the rest area sighed helplessly.
"Because of details. That Kubfu rookie isn't a minion you can dismiss casually. Even with the same tactic, if you miss a single detail, you can't lock down such a strong opponent."
The teammate was puzzled.
"Then what detail did Arnold miss? Aren't his operations so far similar to yours the day before yesterday?"
"Similar means there's still a difference."
"What's the difference?"
"He didn't consider the opponent's mobility."
"Mobility? Charizard's mobility isn't very strong, right? This type of Pokémon doesn't know acceleration moves."
"Saying that means you haven't checked this Kubfu player's data at all."
The teammate scolded by Steven stuck out his tongue playfully.
"I'm a doubles player. It's impossible for me to face him, so why bother paying attention to him?"
Steven really couldn't refute this.
Pausing, Steven continued, "This person's Charizard is different from others. Both his Charizards use Heat Wave to accelerate. Their short-distance sprint speed is almost no worse than Extreme Speed."
Now the teammate finally understood.
"Oh! No wonder you repeatedly had Chandelure feign using Imprison to force him back the day before yesterday! I was wondering why you wasted a move slot on Imprison when you already sealed the opponent's Fire moves with Flash Fire."
Steven nodded, not stingy about explaining his thoughts and tactics to the team members.
"That Kubfu rookie is a very terrifying opponent. The more I study his data, the more convinced I am of this!
"To target him, not a single detail can go wrong!
"My Chandelure can fly, avoiding the slow from Bulldoze and Rock Tomb. Ghost-type Pokémon are naturally emotionally detached, so Scary Face isn't very effective against Chandelure either. This way, the opponent has almost no way to slow me down.
"At the same time, I have Imprison, which can seal his Heat Wave, cutting off his only means of acceleration.
"Moreover, my Chandelure knows Acid Armor, allowing it to merge into the smog to achieve a certain degree of visual invisibility, and Minimize, further increasing the difficulty for the opponent to find Chandelure.
"This is why I could delay for so long the day before yesterday, wearing that Charizard down until it had to leave the field.
"But Arnold has none of these conditions.
"Relying only on Substitute and Protect can't stop that Kubfu player."
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