Hearing the master's order, the giant rock snake that was originally coiled in one place stood up, raised its head and stretched its thick and long body into a bow. Then, the sound of thunder was heard, and the seemingly extremely clumsy giant rock snake attacked the yellow-haired mouse below at a terrifying speed.
No one can remain calm when facing a rock train rushing towards them, and Pikachu is no exception. The electric sacs on his cheeks splashed with golden arcs of light because of panic, and he quickly ran away from the spot on all fours.
Although it looked intimidating, Onix was clearly no match for Pikachu in terms of speed. It crashed headfirst into the empty rocky ground, instantly creating a large hole.
And Xiaogang's orders have not yet ended——
"Now, Onix uses Dig!"
Pikachu's electric sac condensed into electric sparks, obviously intending to launch an attack when the opponent's moves missed, but Onix, hearing the order, continued to drill into the big hole created by the collision without looking back, and in an instant, half of its body was submerged in the ground.
"Pikachu, stop it with Flash!"
Xiaozhi's reaction was quite fast. He knew that no other moves could catch up with Onix's digging speed, so he immediately issued the most appropriate command.
Pikachu's body glowed white and in the blink of an eye it turned into a bolt of white lightning and struck Onix, which had not yet completely escaped into the ground.
"Good job Pikachu!" Xiaozhi shouted excitedly.
But this excitement only lasted for less than a second. Onix didn't even pause for a moment in the face of the lightning strike, and went straight into the ground. Instead, Pikachu was blown away by the recoil and bounced a few times on the ground.
"Onix's defense is not something Pikachu can shake." Qianye glanced at the stunned Xiaozhi. The opponent had already made a big mistake in choosing the Pokémon that appeared from the very beginning. The huge disadvantage caused by this could not be eliminated by a little cleverness.
And, it really can dig holes...
Returning his sight to the battlefield, Pikachu looked around anxiously, not knowing when and from which direction the enemy that had disappeared from the field would launch an attack.
"Dig is a ground-type move, which has a restraining effect on electric-type Pikachu. If you get hit by this move, the battle may end immediately."
In the end, he couldn't just stand by and watch, so Qianye sighed and reminded Xiaozhi beside him.
Waking up from his daze, Xiaozhi didn't dare to hesitate any longer and shouted anxiously: "Run quickly, Pikachu! Don't let the other party find your position!"
Xiaozhi's idea is very simple. Onix is now underground, so it naturally cannot see Pikachu on the ground. As long as it does not stay in place, it will be difficult for Onix to hit the opponent accurately.
But... Qianye frowned. Pokémon like Onix are very sensitive to ground vibrations, not to mention that this is the place it is most familiar with. Even if it loses its vision, the slight vibrations caused by Pikachu's movement on the ground are enough to help it lock on to its target.
There was no time to remind him again, the situation on the field had changed dramatically -
Pikachu, who was moving at high speed, suddenly felt a violent shaking under his feet and almost lost his balance. Before he could react to what happened, the ground beneath him was torn into cracks, and a giant rock snake broke through the ground.
"Pika!"
The violent impact made Pikachu's cute little face wrinkled, and the power of the earth permeated its whole body. It was in extreme pain and could no longer resist.
"Onix, tie it up tight."
Pikachu fell powerlessly in mid-air, and was greeted by the thick body of Onix on the ground. The rock coiled around and bound the yellow body, then began to tighten.
"Pikachu!"
Xiaozhi clenched his fists, his expression in struggle. Pikachu showed a painful look under the increasingly tight binding. As the master, he naturally couldn't bear to see this situation, but at the same time, he was unwilling to just give up.
When he finally couldn't bear it anymore and wanted to stop the fight, someone spoke before him:
"Stop, Onix!"
It's Xiaogang! Xiaozhi looked at the other side in surprise. Onix on the field listened to the order and stretched out its body without any hesitation, allowing Pikachu, who was almost suffocated, to finally fall to the ground.
Without caring about anything else, Xiaozhi rushed into the field and picked up the weak Pikachu.
"You should understand now. With your current strength, it is impossible for you to defeat my Onix."
Without the contemptuous tone of a winner, Xiaogang just calmly looked at the challenger below and said, it was more like a reminder than a mockery.
Xiaozhi's failure was inevitable due to multiple mistakes. He still needs to grow... both his Pokémon and Xiaozhi himself as a trainer.
I don't know if he listened to it... Xiaogang looked at the back of the person leaving the gym and running towards the Pokémon Center, shook his head, and turned his attention back to the other "challenger".
"My Onix didn't consume much energy in the battle just now, and can still fight... So, do you want to take over and continue the challenge?"
"Oh, I don't..."
"Yes, yes!"
The sound of metal interrupted Qianye's refusal. He stared blankly in front of him. Kokodora had jumped onto the rocky ground at some point, with fighting spirit burning in his deep blue eyes.
"It looks like your Pokémon can't wait any longer, so...are you ready to start?"
"Uh, wait a minute."
Qianye trotted to Kokodora and leaned down, intending to persuade it to give up the gym challenge. However, when he looked at the flames burning under the azure blue, all the words he wanted to say retreated into his throat and reorganized into completely different words:
"Onix is a rock-ground dual-attribute Pokémon. Rock is countered by steel. Your Iron Head can effectively damage it, but the ground-type move Dig is also countered by you. Therefore, the final winner will most likely be the one who hits the opponent first..."
Onix determines the enemy's position through vibration. If you want to avoid this move, it would be best to have a move that allows you to briefly float in the air. There will naturally be no vibration if your feet are not touching the ground, but Kokodora doesn't have this move... Wait, vibration?
"Have you finished your discussion? It's almost time to start now."
Xiaogang's voice came from the opposite platform. He had plenty of patience, but as a gym leader, it was obviously not appropriate to allow the challengers who had already entered to discuss tactics endlessly.
"Well, please start."
Walking back to his command platform, Qianye took a deep breath and waited for Xiaogang's action.
That silver-white Pokémon... I've never seen it before, but does the armor covering its entire body have steel attributes?
With a rough idea in mind, Xiao Gang waved his hand forward, announcing the start of the challenge. The next moment after he made this move, the other side's command came over -
"Kokodora, Ironhead!"
Sure enough! The original expectation was verified. Xiao Gang did not hesitate at all and ordered in a deep voice: "Onix, use digging!"
Just like in the previous scene, Onix crashed into the rock layer below with its head, and its entire body quickly drilled into the large hole.
With a loud bang, Kokodora's iron head smashed a rocky rockery, and the flying stone fragments even splashed onto the ceiling. The silver head shook vigorously to shake off the rubble on its body, but its azure eyes were not satisfied with the damage it had caused.
Xiaogang looked at the hole behind Kokodola's tail and subconsciously wiped the sweat from his forehead. He still underestimated the explosive power of this little guy. If he hadn't given the order in time, Onix would probably have found it difficult to avoid this attack.
Really good, totally different from that young fool just now. But from now on, offense and defense will change.
No matter how powerful that Pokémon is, it can't hit Onix underground. On the other hand, the burrowing attack can cause heavy damage to the Steel-type Pokémon, and the opponent doesn't seem to have resistance to Grass-type or Bug-type that can offset the restraining effect... In other words, Onix won!
Xiao Gang raised a confident smile on his face and looked at his opponent. Surprisingly, the black-haired boy did not look anxious or flustered. He even closed his eyes tightly and paid no attention to the situation on the field. What was he doing?
Vibration... It's not just walking on the ground that will produce vibrations. Onix's movement underground should produce even greater noise. When Qianye turns off his vision, he can better sense the subtle touch coming from under his feet.
Stopped.
Noticing that the vibration had stopped, Qianye suddenly opened his eyes. There was only one reason why Onix stopped moving - that was the moment when it was preparing to launch an attack!
"Cocodora, now!"
Under Xiaogang's astonished gaze, the long-awaited Kokodora opened its mouth, and then... spit out a stone forward.
The moment the stone fell to the ground, Xiaogang suddenly realized the other party's purpose, and he shouted anxiously: "Onix! Wait..."
Unfortunately, he was still a step too slow. Where the rock fell, the ground cracked open, and some huge monster was about to rush out from underground. The energy of the earth attribute overflowed from the crack. If it hit Kokodora directly, it might not be able to resist under the double restraint. However, it was now at the edge of the crack.
Kokodora leaped up using all four legs. The aftermath of the earth hit it, but because the power was too small, it only felt a little uncomfortable. Instead, the impact force helped it leap higher into the sky.
"Now, use Iron Head again!"
The Kokodora in the air chirped in response, its silver head glowed white, and it fell from the sky like a meteor. Under the influence of gravity, the unstoppable iron head aimed directly at the rock snake that was trying to escape into the ground again.
But it was too late... Under the gazes of the two trainers, the two heads, one big and one small, one rock and one steel, collided with each other at this moment!