Chapter 1344: Hundred Ghosts Coral

The opening water cannon landed with near-perfect accuracy, almost maxed out.

Yet the effect seemed less than ideal?

Zhu Lan raised her eyebrows; the hardness of the Galar Sun Coral was significantly higher than before.

"Indeed, very impressive."

She recalled the scene from half a month ago, when the Pokémon of the Baimu family unleashed a concentrated attack on the Gigantic Eye Drakleii; although the Sun Coral's performance there was not particularly eye-catching, it still far exceeded her imagination.

Has its strength improved again?

Zhu Lan was not surprised at all; nearly every so often, Baimu's strength increases—either one Pokémon or a group of them!

The Sun Coral is naturally known for its durability, and now it has become even more resilient; ordinary methods would likely struggle to defeat it.

Zhu Lan's eyes deepened, "Turbid Current! Get close to it!"

"Mee-lu~"

Menace swayed its slender body, and murky surges rose from nowhere, roaring as they surged outward in all directions.

More importantly, its body was also hidden within, silently riding the polluted current, seeking an opportunity to approach the opponent.

"Dig a hole."

Baimu narrowed his eyes.

He indeed found it difficult to spot Menace's trail within, so he simply stopped wasting time searching.

Let Menace come out on its own!

Just before the murky surge eroded inward, the Sun Coral spun and drilled into the ground.

Moreover, before the muddy water could surge into the hole it had dug, the Sun Coral deliberately carved a complex labyrinth of nine twists and eighteen turns underground, making it difficult for the muddy water to trace its path.

Furthermore, due to its extremely small size, the entrance it dug was also tiny, preventing Menace from burrowing in to pursue.

After the muddy surge subsided, Menace stared at the empty field with only a small hole remaining, momentarily at a loss.

Wasn't the opponent supposed to hardly move at all?

Zhu Lan's expression also showed some surprise; according to her knowledge of Sun Coral, it is a Pokémon that, once it finds a spot to lie down, absolutely does not move.

Baimu also rarely lets it initiate contact with opponents; usually, the opponent moves toward it first.

Based on her expectation, Sun Coral should have absorbed the Turbid Current.

Instead, it dug a hole?

Can Sun Coral also dig holes?

"Return, Menace!"

Zhu Lan hesitated not at all; the unexpected situation prompted her to resort to a more reliable force.

Although the swap action was already quite fast, the vibration that ceased due to the disappearance of the Turbid Current still gave the Sun Coral underground a signal, allowing it to break ground earlier and launch an attack!

Bang!

Menace was struck so hard it flew into the air, forming a fold mid-flight, and instinctively let out a pained grunt, "Mee-go!"

At the same time, a large plume of smoke erupted from the Sun Coral's hole, part of it immobilizing Menace, another part blocking Zhu Lan's recall beam!

The audience seats erupted in astonished cries.

The swap was blocked! So fast! So coincidental!

In the guest room, 嘉德丽雅 also clenched her fists, worrying for her close female friend.

Zhu Lan on the field, aware it was likely no coincidence, immediately shouted upon realization: "Menace! Quickly retreat!"

Previously, it was unusable because the Sun Coral's main body couldn't be found; now it's no problem!

However, the Menace that received the command was clearly enveloped by the water current, yet from its pectoral fin to tail fin, not a single inch could move—the Sun Coral's "soul" had completely immobilized it.

"Mee—go—"

Menace strained desperately, but the smoke coiling around its body was more terrifying than sheer mental will.

Zhu Lan witnessed this bizarre scene, her eyes instantly widening.

Being……

completely overwhelmed?

She knew well that no matter the method, if one's strength is sufficient, breaking free—or even countering—is possible.

Only when the power gap between the two sides is enormous, and a Pokémon is completely overwhelmed, does such a situation arise.

Unbelievable!

The commentators in the broadcast studio likewise found it unbelievable: "Zhu Lan's Menace can't move at all? The Sun Coral's smoke is practically unbreakable!"

As the entire venue marveled at the Sun Coral's performance, Baimu issued the next command.

"Immobilization Technique."

The Sun Coral's eyes glowed with blue light, covering Menace's body; the surging water attempting to retreat instantly dissipated.

Baimu realized something was wrong and shouted: "Use the water current ring to blast it open!"

"Mee—"

Menace strained with all its might to control the water, shaping it into a massive ring.

The next second.

Boom!

The churning sapphire-blue water ring suddenly expanded, blasting the Sun Coral away.

Zhu Lan breathed a sigh of relief.

This was fortunate: the Sun Coral's smoke can only control the body, while the Pokémon remains free to use its moves.

Furthermore, while the Sun Coral controls the opponent, it also controls itself.

Zhu Lan keenly noticed that when the Sun Coral exerted its smoke to the fullest, it itself remained stationary in place.

Looking back at its performance in the previous match, it seemed to be the same.

In that case, the smoke of the Sun Coral isn't particularly hard to break through.

But Menace being completely immobilized was indeed beyond Zhulan's expectations; the Sun Coral's level might be higher than she had guessed.

What she didn't expect was that the Sun Coral was swept by the water flow to her side and quickly stabilized its posture!

"Hiss..."

Baimu: "Nightmare Shadow."

"Hiss!"

The Sun Coral's eyes lit up with an eerie red light; under the sunlight, its shadow gradually rose, merging with the smoke to form a huge phantom.

The phantom silently sneered and lunged at Menace, who had just regained control of its body.

"Meow..."

Menace only managed to let out a brief cry before being swallowed by the phantom.

【Nightmare Shadow】.

Ignoring the opponent's defense, the higher the user's level, the greater the damage.

Although it doesn't fixedly deduct HP like in the game, a level ninety Sun Coral is enough for Menace to drink a pot of!

Its smoke still maintained a wide-area release state, causing Zhulan to be unable to recall Menace.

After a quick retreat, it was again sealed by the immobilization spell; now Zhulan can only maintain the situation where Menace continues to stay on the field...

"Then let's fight! Turbid Current!"

I want to see if the Sun Coral still dares to dig a hole this time!

"Meow—coo!"

Menace quickly regained composure, vigorously swinging its tail to control a large area of mud tide, turning pain into power, and in an instant let the turbid water flow cover most of the arena!

But soon, clear water suddenly surged, high-speed rotation forming a funnel-shaped water spout, unresistingly clashing against the turbid current.

Boom—

Water splashed, mud spots like bullets soiling the distant walls.

This is actually the Sun Coral's Tide Spin!

A non-Water-type Pokémon using a low-power Water-type move, locked in a stalemate with the Water-type Menace!

Although it only lasted a brief instant, it was enough to draw astonishment from inside and outside the arena.

Zhulan's expression remained unchanged.

She had fully adapted to the Sun Coral's changes; even if the opponent suddenly evolved temporarily, she could not be shaken.

"—Can't find the angle."

Zhulan deeply realized that every move and style of the Sun Coral was aimed at preventing her from taking Menace off the field.

For this, even enduring Menace's attacks was not spared.

For example, now, the mud tide in the arena swallowed the Tide Spin, but also caused itself to be swept higher.

Even if Zhulan discovered Menace within it, the recovery beam of the Poké Ball would hardly penetrate the turbid mud water to retrieve it.

However, the clash between Turbid Current and Tide Spin also allowed Menace to successfully "grab" the Sun Coral.

And unlike before when it was trapped by the smoke, now the initiative lies with it!

"Blizzard!"

"Meow~coo!"

Menace suddenly leapt out of the mud tide, from a high place stirring up a bone-chilling cold wind, in an instant freezing the mud vortex formed by the Tide Spin and Turbid Current, simultaneously freezing the Sun Coral inside.

It was trapped!

Only a small half exposed outside!

The audience seats burst into loud cheers; the Four Heavenly Kings and Gym Leaders in the guest room also couldn't help but applaud Menace's performance.

If it had been just a second slower earlier, Menace wouldn't have been able to freeze the Sun Coral.

Only the Champion-level Pokémon's fine control over energy and perfect mastery of move transitions could achieve the current scene!

What a clever counterattack!

Amidst the waves of applause from the audience seats, the deaf-to-it Zhulan spoke: "Hypnosis!"

"Meow coo~"

Menace twisted its serpentine body, pupils glowing with purplish-red light.

Watching this scene, Baimu smiled: "Not bad, you are, Zhulan."

In the Pokémon anime world, most trainers are offensive-type, and Zhulan is among the outstanding ones.

Her fighting style has always been straightforward, showcasing her unyielding character.

Therefore, even though just now was the best opportunity to withdraw Menace, she wouldn't do so.

After all, in Zhulan's view, offense far outweighs defense!

Baimu seized upon her battle style, intentionally letting the Sun Coral give Menace an opportunity.

Don't forget what he excels at—

Counterattack after the opponent's move!

"Strange Light!"

Hum!

A blinding chaotic light burst forth, turning the ice sculpture of the Sun Coral into a shining orb of light.

Menace's hypnosis light wave was directly dispersed, confusion taking effect one step faster.

Zhulan's brows suddenly tightened, then she saw again that damned smoke, together with the huge ice tide blocking Menace's body.

Obviously, the smoke was flowing out of that small part of the exposed sun coral.

Was this also calculated?

"Menas! Wake up quickly!" Zhulan shouted loudly.

But it was of no use; the confused Menas was locked onto by the smoke.

"Curse."

Baimu's new orders came one after another.

He clearly knew that confusion couldn't hold Menas for long, after all, this was Zhulan's Pokémon.

The sun coral paid no attention to its restrained body and summoned again a shadow-formed evil spirit, which drilled into Menas's body.

Zhulan's Menas has the trait 【Amazing Scales】, which boosts defense when afflicted with an abnormal status.

Baimu also worried that the pain of burns would make it wake up, so he didn't let the sun coral use it.

Anyway, without needing misfortunes to come singly, he could still inflict sufficient effective damage on Menas.

"Nightmare Shadow!"

"Scream!"

The sun coral continuously drove the smoke, making the entire venue filled with yin energy like a night parade of a hundred ghosts.

Amidst the frequent sharp intakes of breath from the audience seats, the Nightmare Shadow continuously afflicted Menas, and the intense pain gradually transformed its frenzied expression into clarity, as if it were about to break free from the confused state.

During this period, Zhulan was not without effort, but under the circumstances where exchange was impossible, her actions were indeed limited.

The guest room was deathly silent; Gediliya's lower lip turned white, unable to imagine that the Zhulan she admired would so easily fall into a disadvantage after the opening.

Even the choice was calculated!

Finally, upon discovering that Menas had awakened, she immediately shouted: "Self-regenerate!"

But unfortunately, there was no chance left.

"Mew... mew..."

Menas had just managed to let out a low groan when it completely fell into chaos, collapsing with a bang.

The curse's effect caused this Pokémon with not-low special defense to lose to the sun coral with not-high special attack.

The ninety-level boost for the sun coral was not merely that slight increase in attack power, but rather that it became harder to deal with, and the smoke symbolizing the essence of the soul became even larger.

If it weren't for the fact that the smoke itself would also suffer some damage when attacked, the sun coral might have already covered the entire venue!

Let Menas have nowhere to hide at all!

Referee Deng Pei entered the field, glanced at its condition, and raised his hand to announce: "Menas has lost its battle capability! Sun coral wins!"

Clap-clap-clap—

The audience seats burst into waves of applause.

They stared in amazement at the field; although the sun coral was clearly frozen in the ice sculpture, it could still play with the free Menas in the palm of its hand.

"Amazing."

Zhulan lowered her eyes and exhaled lightly.

She certainly knew that Menas's defeat stemmed from that hypnosis move, but if given another chance, she estimated she would still do the same.

—No trainer, facing that possibility, would turn a blind eye!

Opportunity lies only in the hands of the brave!

Losing to the sun coral is not Menas's fault, but rather due to insufficient strength!

Zhulan suddenly became curious about the sun coral's level; after all, she knew her time raising Menas was absolutely longer than Baimu's.

Although the height of the energy level is not strongly correlated with time, various ability values indeed require time to hone.

How high must the sun coral's level be to not only make up for the time difference but far exceed it?

Zhulan found it hard to comprehend.

Who would have thought that a Pokémon usually lazy to the extreme, doing nothing but eating and sleeping, and not training actively, would reach level ninety?

This is a height never before touched by any trainer and ordinary Pokémon!

"It's your turn to go out!"

Zhulan looked at the Poké Ball in her hand, smiled lightly, and threw it forward!

Bang!

Light flickered.

What landed in the venue was a ghost-type Flower Rock Guai.

Baimu's eyes flickered: "Still not willing to reveal it?"

He thought that if the Flower Rock Guai was the second, then the third was likely to be a Fangtooth Land Shark.

Zhulan should not use Lucario to "go through the motions" with him.

Fighting him without using a trump card?

What's the difference between Ah Du using a Gyarados and Champion Dan Di using a Charizard? It's purely sending food!

Of course, he himself might not necessarily use a trump card either.

After thinking this way, perhaps Zhulan guessed he wouldn't use a trump card, so she likewise didn't choose one?

After all, in his previous fights with Karuni and Ah Du, he never let Bossukodora appear.

Online, there was once a rumor that the monster's frame was very big, and only against terrifying opponents like Champion Dan Di would he dare to fight, leading to such a low appearance rate.

You should know which champion doesn't have their trump card constantly by their side, with an average attendance rate as high as 80%?

Only Baimu alone, when choosing Pokémon, distributes evenly like rain and dew.

"Invisible Rock!"

He gave the order, simultaneously pulling out a Poké Ball to prepare for a swap.