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It was obvious that Hippowdon, a support-oriented Pokémon leaning towards defense, would definitely use status moves like Stealth Rock or Yawn upon entering the battle.
If its status moves were sealed, the battle would be more than half won.
As Taunt was unleashed, Dark-type energy transmitted via sound waves covered Hippowdon, successfully sealing its status moves.
Furthermore, Ground-type moves like Earthquake were ineffective against Noibat, so with its moves sealed, Hippowdon could only pose a threat to Noibat using Rock-type moves.
However, it was clear that Ariana only sent out Hippowdon to change the weather, not intending to defeat Noibat with it.
"Come back, Hippowdon, go, Excadrill!" Ariana swapped Pokémon again, choosing to send out her third Pokémon, Excadrill.
At this point, all three of Ariana's Pokémon had been revealed: Gyarados, Excadrill, and Hippowdon.
These three Pokémon did not surprise anyone, as they were Ariana's strongest Pokémon.
As soon as Excadrill entered the battle, its gaze locked onto Noibat.
Excadrill, with its Ground/Steel typing, was immune to Poison-type moves, effectively preventing Noibat's Toxic.
At the same time, under sandstorm weather, Excadrill's speed would double due to its Sand Rush ability, and combined with its extremely high attack, it was enough to pose a fatal threat to Noibat.
Of course, the only good news was that this Excadrill was not yet at Gym Leader Level; otherwise, Jacob might as well give up.
"Facing Noibat, who has learned Toxic, Ariana chose the most conservative tactic: continuously switching out, changing the weather, and sending out Excadrill, which is immune to Poison-type moves."
"After switching to Excadrill, Ariana is about to launch an attack..."
Julio's commentary had not finished when Ariana's voice rang out first: "Excadrill, Rock Slide!"
Hidden within the sandstorm, Excadrill moved extremely fast; only a faint, deep brown silhouette could be seen darting through the sandstorm.
"Boom."
A huge rock suddenly flew out of the sandstorm, smashing towards Noibat like a cannonball.
"Noibat, dodge and then use Sunny Day!"
Noibat was the most agile Pokémon among all of Jacob's Pokémon.
Having undergone extreme evasion training, it handled such surprise attacks with ease.
Noibat flapped its wings, effortlessly dodging in the air with extremely flexible movements, completing a difficult evasion maneuver and avoiding the incoming giant rock.
Immediately after, Noibat released a Fire-type Energy Ball from its mouth, sending it soaring into the sky, once again changing the weather to Sunny Day.
"Boom!"
However, at that moment, the giant rock that had flown over Noibat's head suddenly exploded, scattering like falling flowers and raining down countless small fragments, striking Noibat and leaving numerous scratches.
This was also an advanced technique for using the Rock Slide move, similar to Swords Dance's variations, both being advanced applications of moves that require a high level of proficiency to perform.
First, a large rock is used to bombard the opponent, and then as it gets close to the opponent, the rock is detonated, shattering into countless small fragments to bombard the enemies.
At the same time, the sandstorm continued to inflict damage on Noibat.
"Noibat, are you alright?" Jacob's expression was a little grim.
Although he had anticipated before the match that Excadrill would be very difficult to deal with, facing it directly still felt challenging.
"It hurts."
Through telepathy, Noibat responded to Jacob, clearly indicating that the Rock Slide move had caused it considerable damage.
Jacob looked at Excadrill with a solemn expression.
Excadrill only had four weaknesses: Water, Fire, Ground, and Fighting, and it was also immune to Poison-type attacks.
This made Excadrill the most challenging part of this battle.
Fortunately, Noibat used the Sunny Day move again, changing the weather back to sunny, which somewhat reduced the disadvantage.
"Excadrill, continue with Rock Slide!"
Ariana gave Noibat no chance to breathe, ordering Excadrill to use Rock Slide again.
"Noibat, use Heat Wave."
Noibat also knew the Heat Wave move.
It learned Heat Wave around the same time as Charmander, both taught by Nina's Pokémon.
However, overshadowed by Charizard, Noibat had always served as a support, so it had never used the Heat Wave move before.
Now, because Charizard was four times weak to Rock and not suitable to face Excadrill, this finally gave Noibat a chance to shine.
Noibat flapped its wings, and Fire-type energy gathered in its small mouth, spewing out a scorching breath that swept towards Excadrill.
At the same time, the S-rank Life Orb Noibat was holding also took effect; its stamina rapidly depleted, but the power of Heat Wave increased, and with the added boost from the sunny weather, Heat Wave's power was greatly enhanced.
Facing the scorching heat, Excadrill used its drill-like hands to dig out rocks and fiercely threw them at Noibat!
Both sides launched attacks.
Noibat dodged the incoming giant rock again, but just like last time, even if the giant rock didn't hit Noibat, it would explode in mid-air like a grenade.
However, having learned from the previous experience, Noibat focused intently on the giant rock this time, and when it exploded, Noibat dodged with all its might.
The tiny fragments burst like fireworks, engulfing Noibat.
Even though Noibat was prepared and dodged with all its strength, it still couldn't avoid being hit by a small portion of the fragments, acquiring new injuries, its body swaying, and its stamina reaching its limit.
Jacob looked at the scarred Noibat, feeling a pang of heartache.
This was the first time Noibat had sustained such severe injuries, but Jacob couldn't switch Noibat out now.
If he were to switch Charizard in now, it would take a direct hit from Rock Slide, and Charizard, being four times weak to Rock, would be instantly severely injured, making it impossible to win the battle even with Mega Evolution.
Therefore, he had to wait until Noibat was completely unable to battle before switching Charizard in.
Although this was somewhat cruel to Noibat, it was a necessary sacrifice in battle.
Injuries in battle are inevitable; after all, no one can always win a match without taking damage.
What Noibat needed to do now was to deplete Excadrill's stamina as much as possible before losing its ability to fight, ensuring that Charizard, once it entered the battle, could defeat Excadrill with a Fire-type move!
"Noibat, can you still hold on?"
"Master, I... I can still hold on." Noibat also knew how important this battle was to its master, and even though it was covered in scars, it still gritted its teeth and persevered.
As the gap in strength between Charizard and Sceptile grew wider, and with Fraxure and Shelgon's power increasing, Noibat, who was originally content, also began to feel a sense of urgency.
This feeling was particularly evident a few days ago when Dreepy evolved into Drakloak.
It could feel that Drakloak's strength had doubled after evolving.
Although Drakloak had not yet made its debut, once it learned enough moves, it would definitely replace its position and form an iron triangle with Charizard and Sceptile.
This doubled Noibat's pressure.
For the first time, it so desperately craved an increase in strength.
At this moment, it thought of Nina's Noivern.
If it evolved, it could be more helpful to its master and wouldn't be like now, having not defeated a single Pokémon since the main competition began.