Chapter 605: Cried From Being Sucked Dry

Above the battlefield, an impassioned commentary echoed through the air.

"It's Trick Room! Trainer Ko-bē is in trouble! The pre-set Tailwind has become a boost for Solosis and Porygon2!"

The content was painfully cutting.

Ko-bē's face darkened like the bottom of a wok.

One second ago he was still happy that Dragonite's Aqua Jet had boosted its speed, but the next second Porygon2 set up Trick Room.

Especially using Trick Room right at the start, as if it had calculated exactly what tactics he would employ when sending out Dragonite and Jumpluff.

Even if he did habitually have Jumpluff open with Tailwind, wasn't it a bit excessive to be this decisive?

Smart Match?

Seeing the two translucent square light screens in front of Porygon2 and Solosis that he hadn't noticed before, Ko-bē's face grew even darker.

But he didn't dare hesitate, immediately issuing the next round of commands.

"Dragonite keep using Aqua Jet! Jumpluff block Dragonite and use Cotton Guard!"

Play it safe, then gamble!

Ko-bē knew very well that against an opponent like Baimu, if he didn't go all out and gamble, his win rate would be infinitely close to zero—especially since the current situation was already unfavorable to him.

And at the moment he gave the order—

Baimu: "Edges Sharpen. Wheel."

"Sao—"

Solosis nimbly leapt onto Porygon2's back, and the latter's oval-shaped feet hovering above the ground transformed into a pair of "wheels" within the Bai Guang.

Porygon2 gazed into the distance at Dragonite and Jumpluff, its eyes suddenly sharpening. "Pory!"

Vroom!

At the sound of a rapid low hum, Porygon2 streaked across most of the field like lightning. Small and delicate, it resembled a remote-controlled car, yet possessed a terrifying forward speed!

The commentator barely had time to cry out in astonishment like the audience before Porygon2, carrying Solosis, had already rushed right up to Jumpluff.

"Wada!"

Jumpluff's expression turned panicked. Having landed in front of Dragonite, it exerted all its strength to puff out the cotton puffs on its sides and head.

But just as the cotton puffs were about to expand, Porygon2 suddenly whipped its tail!

Swish—

Clouds of dust billowed up!

"Drift! Porygon2 used a drifting technique to get around Jumpluff!"

Amid the commentator's excited shouts, Porygon2 nimbly tilted its body sideways to slip past Jumpluff's front—and even Dragonite's front!

Although its speed dropped as a result, its mobility and variability greatly increased!

Ko-bē instinctively raised a hand to shield himself from the oncoming flying sand, and the "passenger" Solosis seized the moment to act.

"Sao!"

Candle-like eyes lit up with an eerie color.

Gray, hazy smoke poured from every Kong Dong on Solosis's body, transforming into fierce, malevolent ghost-shadows that lunged at the completely unprepared—or rather, unable to prepare in time—Dragonite!

【Curse】!

Dragonite, whose tail had just stabbed into a body, felt its entire frame go rigid. Unbearable pain assailed it from every direction; just from its appearance, it looked as if a ball of gray shadow had attached itself to it.

The commentator shouted: "Solosis's Curse landed! Extremely effective! Dragonite is taking some terrible ongoing damage!"

Hearing this, Ko-bē quickly lowered the hand shielding him from the sand, and the following scene reflected in his eyes—

Jumpluff had inflated three cotton puffs each three or four times its own body's size, yet had completely failed to block Porygon2's lateral arcing movement. The latter had glided past its front with fluid ease, clearly preparing to drift a second lap.

And Dragonite, writhing in agony, found it difficult to continue executing Aqua Jet.

The situation was deteriorating further!

He almost instinctively shouted: "Jumpluff use Cotton Spore! Dragonite Dig!"

The opponent was too fast—ground combat was no longer possible!

Ko-bē's years of battle experience told him the battlefield had to be shifted, even though separating the two Pokémon raised the possibility of each being defeated individually.

And so—

Facing Porygon2 about to slip past in front of it, Jumpluff suddenly puffed out cotton puffs several times their normal size and released them completely!

Boom!

A tremendous roar.

Three pale-yellow cotton balls exploded violently, and countless cotton spores spread outward like clouds, quickly blanketing nearly half the battlefield and engulfing the drifting Porygon2.

These cotton spores possessed terrifying stickiness; clumping together, they writhed with the wind and stubbornly refused to be blown apart.

Rumbling, muffled sounds continuously emanated from within!

Commentator: "Trainer Ko-bē launches a counterattack! A massive amount of cotton spores covers the field! Are the continuous tremors from an intense battle between Porygon2 and Dragonite!?"

The words had barely fallen.

Having released its excess cotton, Jumpluff burst through the cloud-like cotton spores and, relying on its cotton puffs restored to their original state, shot straight up into the air.

The next moment.

"Ice Beam!"

Blue light flared within the writhing cotton mass, and an ice-blue bolt of lightning blasted the spores apart, striking Jumpluff's body at a speed it couldn't react to!

Boom!

Ice mist exploded outward.

"Wada!"

Jumpluff wailed once and plummeted from the air. Its head and the cotton puff on its left were both frozen into massive blocks of ice, which shattered with a thud upon hitting the ground.

Kōhei shouted, "Jianzi Cotton, hold on! Use photosynthesis, quick!"

"Triple attack!"

Baimu gave them no room to catch their breath.

At the spot where the ice-blue lightning had been fired, Porygon2 inside the Cotton Spores lifted its head with a calm expression. Facing Jianzi Cotton, who was struggling to get up in the distance, its eyes flashed brilliantly!

Boom!

Three streams of energy converged into a spiraling beam fired from its eyes, red, yellow, and blue twisting and winding together—truly a sight to behold!

But for Jianzi Cotton, this spiraling tri-colored beam was nothing less than a descending catastrophe.

It couldn't dodge, nor did it have time to block with a move—it could only watch helplessly as the beam landed on its body—

Crash!

The energy exploded, turning into a puff of smoke that quickly dispersed.

Jianzi Cotton was revealed with its eyes covered in spirals. Kōhei clenched his fists in fury.

The referee stepped forward to announce: "Jianzi Cotton is unable to battle!"

The commentator followed right after: "Kōhei's Pokémon still has one left! The effects of Trick Room and Tailwind are still active! How will he fight next?"

Many spectators looked at Porygon2, which had just taken down an opponent, and suddenly noticed that the Lileep that had been on its back the whole time was gone!

Kōhei noticed this too.

His first thought was whether Lileep had gone underground along with Drapion.

—Very likely!

Although Cotton Spores had also lowered Drapion's speed, due to Tailwind, Lileep was still theoretically the fastest at the moment.

So in Trick Room, both Lileep and Porygon2 were faster than it, making it easy for the opponent to stick to it with speed.

This despairing fact dealt a serious blow to Kōhei.

He shouted loudly: "Drapion!"

Boom!

The ground beneath Porygon2's feet shattered, and the massive purple scorpion, positioned inside the crater, lunged outward, roaring as it swung its earthy-yellow claws to attack!

"Conversion."

Porygon2, already prepared, emitted white light from its body and transformed into a slender rod, dodging Drapion's claw strike.

The thrilling scene made the commentator especially excited.

"Porygon2 used its shape-shifting ability to dodge the attack! Ah! Lileep has appeared! It was actually grabbed by Drapion's tail!"

When Drapion fully emerged from underground, the spectators finally saw that the hook on its tail was tightly gripping a pale raw stone.

Kōhei was overjoyed and shouted: "Drapion, use Leech Life on Lileep!"

Even though Ghost-type Pokémon mostly have limited stamina, in this situation, every bit of recovery for the curse-plagued Drapion counted!

"Uunngh!"

Drapion let out a muffled roar, nimbly twisting its body and opening its mouth wide. Taking advantage of the emerald green light glowing above, it bit down hard on Lileep!

Crunch!

With a crisp sound, Drapion bit into Lileep. A flat iridescent light appeared on the latter's surface, but was quickly pierced through. Green light continuously emerged from the latter and flowed into the former's body.

Drapion's condition rapidly recovered!

"Leech Life has latched on! Lileep's stamina is constantly flowing into Drapion! Drapion's lost stamina is being replenished! How should Trainer Baimu have Porygon2 rescue its teammate?"

How to rescue?

The answer was to watch coldly from the sidelines.

Porygon2, transformed into a rod, had absolutely no intention of giving Drapion a whack, and Baimu, as the trainer, was equally silent.

Confused murmurs rose from the spectator stands.

"Why isn't Baimu giving orders?"

Bai Guang and Piplup were equally baffled, and their cheering had stopped.

Brock, who had figured it out, was just about to explain, when Manabe had already said seriously: "Because the match is already over—at most half a minute left."

"Huh?"

"Bai Guang, look carefully at Lileep. Isn't the green light on its body a bit too bright?"

Under Manabe's guidance, Bai Guang suddenly saw that Lileep's outer outline was illuminated by the surging green light, as gorgeous as jade.

She cried out in surprise, "What is this? Is Lileep recovering stamina too?"

Brock said: "Yes. If I'm not mistaken, Lileep should have used the move 【Power Trick】... no wait, 【Strength Sap】. It lets the Pokémon recover stamina equal to the opponent's Attack stat, while lowering the opponent's Attack."

Bai Guang's eyes trembled. "If that's the case..."

Manabe gave the final conclusion: "Drapion, already hindered in its attack by Reflect, will soon collapse because the stamina recovered by Leech Life can't make up for what the curse drains!"

On the field.

Lileep stared into Drapion's fierce eyes and silently sucked away with all its might.

How could mere Leech Life compare to Strength Sap?

And Kōhei, watching, gradually realized something was wrong with Drapion's condition—why was it getting weaker the more it used Leech Life?

Why was Lileep completely fine!?

Are you even a Ghost-type Pokémon!

He was just about to speak when Drapion, having reached its limit, crashed to the ground amid the spectators' cries of shock.

"Uunngh..."

Dust flew up and settled back down.

The hook loosened weakly, and Lileep rolled and rolled until it was stuck by the remaining Cotton Spores and couldn't roll any further.

The referee glanced at the King Scorpion's spiral eyes and quickly gave his ruling, "King Scorpion is unable to battle! Sunflora wins! The victor is Trainer All Baimu!"

The commentator shouted, "It's confirmed! Trainer All Baimu defeats Trainer Kohei! He advances to the next round!"

Waaah!

The audience erupted in an uproar. What just happened? How did King Scorpion lose its ability to battle?

If King Scorpion hadn't collapsed on its own and still hadn't gotten up, they would have suspected a rigged match!

Everyone hoped the commentator could offer an explanation, but unfortunately the commentator himself hadn't understood at first glance either. After getting a note from a colleague who had figured it out, he immediately began to explain.

Only then did the spectators present understand what had just happened.

Meanwhile, Kohei, who had sensed it on his own, stood in silent disbelief. He had never heard of any move that drained power — there was actually such a bizarre technique in this world!

An unknown Pokémon, an unknown move.

Kohei felt that the blow he had suffered today was heavier than the crushing defeat of his first Gym Challenge.

If this were a game, not having beaten a Trick Room team just meant not having beaten one. Getting blown up by a "mine" was just getting blown up — at worst, surrender this match and hand over the points.

But this was the League Conference, a once-in-a-lifetime event!

Kohei understood he hadn't done enough homework before the match and had no one to blame, yet he still couldn't accept it.

He, who had experience in the Conference, shouldn't have been stopped here!

He silently recalled King Scorpion.

—

Kohei left in tears.

All Baimu, who had planned to step forward and shake his hand out of courtesy, saw it all clearly.

"The Conference really is this cruel."

He said with a sigh.

Everyone only gets one chance. Normally, no matter how many mistakes you make, you can make up for them later — but not at the Conference. One mistake, and it's over for good.

Precisely because of that, he had to do everything in his power to give his opponents no openings.

A lion hunting a rabbit goes all out!

"Great work! You both fought excellently this match!" All Baimu hugged Porygon2 and Sunflora. The move that played the decisive role was undoubtedly Trick Room.

Based on his understanding of Kohei, without Trick Room, King Scorpion would have safely boosted all its stats with Dire Hit under the cover of Jumpluff's Tailwind, Rage Powder, and Cotton Guard chains.

In the end, it would have smoothly taken down two troublesome opponents.

But facing Trick Room, that entire strategy collapsed. Tailwind became a wedding dress for Sunflora and Porygon2 to maneuver in, and it also caused Jumpluff to fail to dodge the Ice Beam.

No wonder Trick Room has been grouped together with Intimidate and Protect as the three core elements of double battles.

All Baimu said to Porygon2, "I'll still need to trouble you for the next two matches. I wonder if the Professor is watching TV…"

"Pory~"

He hadn't forgotten Porygon2's promotional work.

But strangely, he'd been unable to reach Professor Akihabara recently. He asked others who were acquainted with Professor Akihabara, and they all said he had gone out on work.

No one knew exactly where, though he did check in periodically to confirm he was safe.

Was he captured by Unit-00?

Or, as Unit-00 said, was Unit-01 the true final boss, so he'd been secretly imprisoned?

Recalling the series of events that happened to Porygon2 after encountering Unit-00 that night, at first he felt it was somewhat eerie, even giving him goosebumps.

Now that he thought about it, he always felt there was something seriously off about Professor Akihabara too.

He was definitely holding back a lot of inside information.

"After the matches are over, I'll ask Hu Pa for help and get to the bottom of this."

All Baimu figured that as long as Hu Pa had seen a Pokémon like Porygon-Z, he could definitely summon Unit-00 — the latter had a giant zero on its forehead, so it would be hard to mistake.

As for whether Professor Akihabara might come to harm during this time…

He'd always been fine before, even chasing Unit-00 all over the world. What a coincidence that something major would happen right when he was busy with the tournament? No way it was that convenient.

Judging from Unit-00's reaction after becoming Porygon-Z, it most likely didn't want Professor Akihabara dead either.

After all, this was the mainstream region — accidents and bloodshed were far too rare here.

"If something happens, just use a Revive to bring him back!"

All Baimu thought to himself, feeling that the simulated memory reward from this period would come in handy.

Congratulations.

But thinking about it, Professor Akihabara probably hoped he'd wish him well.