Chapter 21: Custap Berry, Priority 0.5!

【Pokémon Tamer Volo has come to challenge you!】

After experiencing more than a hundred years, the Poké Ball in Volo's hand was no longer the appearance of the Hisui Poké Ball, but had been replaced by a modern Poké Ball... Thinking about it, this must be a Pokémon he newly captured.

"Take this."

Xiang Guangtai had some ideas in his heart after seeing Gible, so he took out a small berry from his backpack. The exterior looked like it had patterns, the whole thing was red, a bit hard, and also a bit like magma.

"Yo~"

Dujianqiao was eager to show the opponent how good it was. This was the first battle of the beasts in a thousand years; it must win the first victory!

So when the small red berry was handed to it, Dujianqiao was a bit confused.

What kind of fruit is this? I've never seen it.

Speaking of which, how do I carry it!

"Hmm, stuff it in the scabbard. Anyway, you have to draw the sword when fighting. You can't fight with the scabbard. This berry will automatically provide you with energy at a critical moment. That's probably how it is? Anyway, listen to my command."

Volo smiled:

"Oh, it has momentum. Then... Go, Gible!"

Gible has the appearance of a young shark, with a huge fin on its head and two protrusions on the sides of its head. The whole body is dark blue, the lower jaw to the abdomen is red, it has a huge mouth, and sharp teeth in its mouth. Its limbs are short and thick, and divided into three toes.

Volo's Gible is male, with a notch on its dorsal fin.

Xiang Guangtai discovered that the Gible seemed to be wearing something like a spiral-shaped claw on its hand?

"That is..." Xiang Guangtai was vigilant in his heart. Is that a Razor Claw? No, it's not quite the same as the product he saw before!

"Yo~"

Dujianqiao's body was filled with Ghost-type energy.

It is a sword, and the opponent is a dragon.

Then if it wins, isn't it a holy sword that slays dragons!

"Gible, use Twister!"

Volo gave the command first, and Gible's speed was faster than Dujianqiao's to begin with. The little shark's fighting spirit rose, its body rotated rapidly, and at the same time, it sprayed Dragon-type energy from its mouth, instantly creating a dark blue storm!

The power of Twister is not high, and it is a special attack move. Gible using it is almost non-threatening, but it has a 20% chance to make the opponent flinch!

And even if you want to avoid it, it's impossible—Dujianqiao's ability is No Guard! Both sides' attacks are guaranteed to hit!

"Shadow Sneak!" Xiang Guangtai gave the command!

And Dujianqiao had been waiting for this moment!

Yo!

A sword shadow flew out directly from under Dujianqiao, faster than Twister, forming a shadow sword with red eyes, following the shadow of the wind to kill behind Gible for a sneak attack!

Attacking after the opponent, this is a priority move!

"Gible, dodge!" Volo's mouth curled into a smile. His Gible's speed is very fast!

"Fuka!"

Gible responded confidently to the trainer's expectations, but the next instant, the shadow suddenly turned a corner, as if it would automatically track the enemy and hit Gible directly!

"Oh?!" Volo's expression became surprised, and only then did he see that although Dujianqiao also had dodging movements, it was more like delaying the time for Twister to hit, and it was trying to position itself?

"So that's it. Pulling away the distance to prevent being attacked when flinching... that's a good idea." Volo's smile didn't diminish, but he became curious about Dujianqiao:

"The attack just now was Shadow Sneak, right? Although I know this is a priority move, why could it hit?"

In real battles, except for moves like Lock-On, other attacks can be avoided by various means. As long as your speed is fast enough, there is nothing you can't do. And in the game, there are situations like "XX dodged the attack in response to your call."

"It's the ability 'No Guard'," Xiang Guangtai didn't look at Volo, but watched the situation on the field.

"Pokémon with the No Guard ability will definitely hit when attacking and being attacked."

Xiang Guangtai narrowed his eyes, and Volo let out a "Subarashii" exclamation, but immediately afterward, his mouth curled up. At this time, Dujianqiao trembled and shook violently!

"A rare ability! It piqued my curiosity! But my Gible's ability is Rough Skin. If Shadow Sneak hits, it will also cause damage to you!"

Volo responded with a smile.

Xiang Guangtai secretly thought in his heart that Rough Skin, as a hidden ability, cannot appear on wild Pokémon in the game, and only Pokémon in the Dream World will have it.

If you want to get a hidden ability, you must use an Ability Patch... However, in reality, the hidden ability is probably just relatively rare among the same kind. After all, hidden abilities can also be inherited through eggs.

Some trouble... Xiang Guangtai thought.

Volo let out a laugh: "Then the battle continues! Since I know your ability is guaranteed to hit, I'm relieved!"

"Use Bulldoze!"

Gible jumped up and slammed its feet hard against the ground!

"Fuka!"

The ground suddenly bulged with rocks, and a huge shockwave bombarded all the space around it!

"Yo!"

Only then did Dujianqiao know what Xiang Guangtai meant when he asked if it knew Protect!

Damn it! If I had known, I would have learned a defensive move!

"Don't panic, use Substitute!"

Xiang Guangtai commanded, and Dujianqiao immediately calmed down!

It decisively cut its own life to create an image, and Bulldoze hit the Substitute directly!

Ground-type is super effective against Steel-type, so this blow directly destroyed the Substitute!

"Screech!"

Dujianqiao rubbed its sword body, making a harsh sound. Gible immediately covered its ears in pain, and a blue ability reduction status appeared on its body!

Physical defense was significantly reduced!

"Gible, Sand Tomb!"

Volo was still smiling, and this time, he used a move that wasn't used in the game... After all, this wasn't the same Gible!

Gible opened its mouth wide and sprayed sand into the sky from its mouth! The sand rose, forming a shape similar to a tornado, wrapping Dujianqiao in it, while blocking Dujianqiao's line of sight, and causing Dujianqiao to fall into a bound state!

"Although both sides' moves are guaranteed to hit because of the ability, once the line of sight is blocked and bound by sand, even attacks that can hit will miss? Even if they don't miss, not hitting is equivalent to not hitting, and guaranteed hit has no meaning."

Volo smiled: "Sand Tomb will cause the Pokémon to fall into a bound state, which will continuously consume the Pokémon's life! How about it? Because of Rough Skin, you don't dare to attack, and you can't see the enemy in the sandstorm. This state is already helpless."

"And..."

Accompanying Volo's laughter, Xiang Guangtai saw a painful look in Dujianqiao's eyes!

Ground-type Sand Tomb restrained the Steel-type Dujianqiao, and the Gible on the opposite side waved the hook claw on its hand, and the sandstorm caused by Sand Tomb suddenly became larger!

"Binding Claw," Volo held up a finger and explained with a smile: "After carrying it, the duration of binding and tight-binding moves will be extended."

"Your Pokémon is Steel-type, right? This is unfavorable! People who make pre-battle preparations are not just you!"

However, Xiang Guangtai finished thinking in an instant, and commanded calmly:

"That's not necessarily true! Dujianqiao, Screech!"

Xiang Guangtai continued to command Dujianqiao to use Screech. Dujianqiao immediately cheered up and shook violently in the sandstorm!

Even if Gible was outside the sandstorm, it immediately covered its ears, showing a painful expression!

The violent screeching sound wave caused its defense to drop by two levels again!

"Defense dropped, but it has no meaning, right? Can you hit Gible while being wrapped in sand? The winner will be decided in the next turn." Volo didn't care about the defense drop, because Dujianqiao was also being attacked by the sand, and immediately gave the command.

"Gible, Dragon Breath!"

Although it was also a special attack move, Dragon Breath could cause the opponent hit to fall into a paralyzed state! Obviously, Volo's tactic was to use Twister to trigger flinching, use Bulldoze to reduce others' speed, and cooperate with the binding of Sand Tomb and the paralysis of Dragon Breath to let the opponent be slowly consumed by Sand Tomb!

This kind of repetitive torture attack method indeed fits Volo's somewhat dark personality, Xiang Guangtai thought!

However!

"As I said, that's not necessarily true!"

At this time, purple storm energy gathered in Gible's mouth and sprayed into the sandstorm formed by Sand Tomb, and Dragon Breath and sand perfectly merged, rushing toward Dujianqiao!

"Dujianqiao, use Substitute! Then rush toward it!"

"What?" Volo was a bit stunned, but immediately he saw an incredible scene!

Dujianqiao used Substitute in Sand Tomb, and its life was reduced again!

However, the Substitute was left in Sand Tomb, hit by Dragon Breath, and gradually disappeared, while Dujianqiao itself flew out of it!

It wasn't hit, because the Substitute took the attack for Dujianqiao and broke free from the bound state!

And Dujianqiao was approaching Gible at an amazing speed!

Xiang Guangtai immediately gave the order:

"It's now, use Custap Berry!"

"Then, Psycho Cut!"

And Volo also immediately commanded: "Use Dragon Breath!"

Xiang Guangtai knew that after Dujianqiao used Substitute again, its life value had dropped to below one-quarter!

Now is the critical moment!

A faint light was emitted from Dujianqiao's scabbard, and an energy flow was urging Dujianqiao!

That is "Custap Berry!"

Custap Berry, known as the priority 0.5 berry. When the HP of the Pokémon carrying it is lower than 1/4 of the maximum HP, it is activated. The next move will be used first in the case of the same priority!

Sometimes without a mouth, using a berry is more convenient!

As for closing the distance, it was just to interrupt the opponent's attack in advance! When the move is released, even if both sides hit because of the ability, if the move cannot be used, it is equivalent to no move!

Xiang Guangtai's command had already been delivered. Dujianqiao's single eye saw a trajectory at this time!

Gible's movements seemed to slow down, the soul acted ahead of the body, and there seemed to be a faint red color in some places...

That's it!

Pale red psychic light bloomed on the sword body, invisible heart light condensed into sword energy, and was swung out!

Psycho Cut hit Gible directly at an unimaginable speed, and in Dujianqiao's gaze, it hit the red part!

Critical hit!

Screech dropped the defense by four stages. This Psycho Cut cleanly and neatly flew it out, and the Dragon Breath in its mouth didn't spray out!

Psycho Cut is a non-contact move, and the counter-damage of Rough Skin has no effect!

"Yo! ∑（⊙）!!!"

Dujianqiao stared at Gible until the latter fell to the ground, and only then did it excitedly make a sword cry!

It is also a dragon-slaying sword from now on!

【Congratulations, Dujianqiao learned a new move!】

【Learned the move: Night Slash!】

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 22 =====

(End of Chapter)