Chapter 636: A Chain Scheme
After Trick Room and Light Screen were set up, Arnold wasn't in a hurry anymore.
Many professional players saw it clearly.
"Charizard failing to close the distance before Trick Room activated was the most fatal mistake. If they were close enough, Trick Room would be a cage for Slowking.
"But now the distance isn't close enough. In a pure ranged battle, Slowking probably won't be afraid of the opponent. If I remember correctly, this Slowking is also very good at Heal Pulse, quite capable of stalling."
Other players agreed.
"Exactly. And if the opponent's Charizard's ranged skills aren't strong enough, he can find a chance to steal the weather back. At worst, use Rain Dance a few more times."
Then Arthur ordered Lina to use Flamethrower.
But the effect was clearly inferior to the Fire Punch Lina was usually better at.
Theoretically, the base power of Flamethrower is higher than Fire Punch, but reality isn't a game of paper calculations. Whether a Pokémon is good at a move or not makes a big difference. The higher the level of the duel, the more obvious this gap becomes.
"Why hasn't Arthur switched Pokémon yet?"
In the Kubfu rest area, everyone raised this question.
"There's no need to save the switch authority at a time like this, right? Just switch Pokémon."
"I think so too."
"What is he waiting for?"
At this time, Slowking had already started setting up Reflect.
Light Screen, Reflect, Heal Pulse—the survival trifecta.
Plus, Slowking was holding Leftovers this round.
Next, he could stall in this space until the end of time!
"Flamethrower again!"
But Arthur's command confused everyone in Kubfu.
"His Charizard isn't good at these ranged skills, right? Whether it's the young one or the old one, I remember they are violent melee maniacs. This ranged consumption is too inefficient. What is Arthur trying to do?"
Until the third Flamethrower met Heal Pulse, suddenly, Slowking caught fire without any external ignition source, and glowing red patterns appeared on its body surface.
"Burned?"
Seeing this, Arthur immediately took out his Poké Ball and recalled Lina.
Now his Kubfu colleagues finally understood.
"He was waiting for a burn?"
At this moment, everyone looked strange.
"The day before yesterday he died from a freeze trigger, and today he dares to bet on triggering a burn? Is he really not afraid of bad luck?"
Only Luna thought for a while and said, "It probably wasn't a gamble. The burn probability of Arthur's Charizard is very likely different."
This guess had actually been raised during the group stage because Lina's Fire Punch frequently triggered burn effects back then.
But with probability, without a large enough sample size, no one dares to say the conclusion is reliable.
The day before yesterday, the little dragonfly was frozen by Abomasnow's first Ice Beam...
Normally, the freeze probability of Ice Beam should only be a single-digit percentage outside of hail.
So sometimes bad luck really exists.
Whether Lina's skill burn probability was abnormal, outsiders only had a guess.
But Luna had a basis for saying this: "Because I don't think Arthur would do something like gambling on probability."
Serena hit the nail on the head. "There are no outsiders here; you can just say he has bad luck."
"..."
Arthur on the field couldn't hear this; otherwise, he would probably be heartbroken.
But he wouldn't refute the conclusion.
He really wasn't just gambling on probability; he didn't do that kind of thing.
After being blessed by the Sacred Fire, Lina's skills naturally had a higher burn probability than other Pokémon.
Immediately after, he sent out Specter!
Trick Room hadn't ended yet, but it wasn't a problem for Specter.
"Specter, Mega Evolve, then use Phantom Force!"
Ghost-type move: Phantom Force. First disappear into another dimension, then attack after a short delay. It can cross space directly to the enemy's side, ignoring energy shields like Protect to attack!
This is a true cross-dimensional surprise attack, a tier higher than Teleport.
Trick Room cannot stop such a surprise attack!
Even Protect cannot defend against this dimensional slash.
"Slowking, Calm Mind!"
But Arnold also had a counter-strategy.
Phantom Force was unpredictable, but it had to be delayed, and Gengar's opening Mega Evolution would take another second.
He seized this gap to let Slowking chant buffs!
It must be said that Arnold's ability to seize opportunities in matches was indeed impressive, showing some quick thinking on the field.
Ambitious enough to challenge Steven, he naturally wasn't an empty-headed fool.
Unfortunately, this time, he still failed to read Arthur's calculation.
A few seconds later, Specter emerged from the dimension, clawing at Slowking.
However, the opponent also completed a Calm Mind chant at the very last moment.
"Pin him down with Shadow Tag while you're at it!"
Arnold didn't care about this at all.
Inside Trick Room, whether you use Shadow Tag or not, no one can run away.
As long as I'm useless enough (referring to speed), you can't exploit me.
"Slowking, use Psychic!"
Arnold counterattacked.
But Arthur struck harder than him.
"Specter, Hex!"
Now, Arthur finally revealed his hidden dagger!
Both sides exchanged a move. Even after Calm Mind, Slowking gained almost no advantage.
Because the Ghost-type Hex deals damage comparable to an ultimate move when the opponent is afflicted with a status condition!
The burn just now was paving the way for this moment!
Moreover, Hex uses energy to explode the enemy from within; the frontal Light Screen cannot filter it.
Ghost-type also counters Psychic-type. This hit dealt significant damage, and Slowking was struggling to bear it.
Off-field players were analyzing for Arnold.
"Rest or Safeguard, he has to use one, right? Cure the burn, or he won't last."
"I think Safeguard. Rest will definitely be countered by Dream Eater."
Sure enough, Arnold soon ordered, "Slowking, use Safeguard!"
However, both sides' cooldowns refreshed almost simultaneously. Arthur ordered immediately, completely reading the opponent's choice.
"Specter, use Encore!"
At this moment, the Magma Team players all reached out and slapped their foreheads, their expressions pained, brows furrowed deep.
It's over!
This was actually a chain scheme!
The opponent calculated too well!
Completely played!
After being hypnotized by Encore, Slowking would repeatedly use Safeguard until the effect of Encore wore off...
And Safeguard only needed to be used once! This move had no offensive capability at all; it just cured status conditions.
Then—
"Specter, Psych Up!"
At this point, Arnold's face was ashen.
Collapsed, completely collapsed...
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