Chapter 730

When Baimu looked over.

He happened to see the Mega Armored Mantis raising its twin claws in a gesture like surrender, avoiding the vine that shot straight at it like a spear.

Hum!

Its wings trembled as it reeled back in frantic retreat, not daring to stay a moment longer in place.

"Ha na!"

The Victreebel, braving the Cross Cut, advanced boldly; when the vine whip missed, it thrust its massive back flower forward and spewed a thick cloud of pale blue powder.

Hum!

A milky-white gust suddenly erupted from the Mega Armored Mantis's wings, clearing the mist—the fog-like powder was instantly blown back toward the Victreebel's face.

Unfortunately, powder-based attacks had no effect on Grass-type Pokémon.

"Tch!"

The Victreebel sneezed, then charged excitedly at the Mega Armored Mantis.

Sunlight poured down.

Its vibrant red back flower and palm-green leaves glistened, tender and dewy, trembling with each step like a living breath.

Just minutes ago, the Victreebel had been forced off the field by the Mega Armored Mantis; now the roles had reversed—proof of how easily offense and defense can shift in Pokémon battles, and how crucial 【Leaf Guard】 and 【Growth】 had been to the Victreebel's enhancement.

Finally.

Jin Ge, drenched in sweat, pulled out a Poké Ball to switch out—he dared not command a U-turn, fearing the Mega Armored Mantis might fall victim to the Victreebel's Sleep Powder.

The Did Did Yin Ma and Victreebel surged with momentum.

The success he'd tasted against Kingdra had transformed his earlier timidity into boldness.

Yet he wasn't certain of the Victreebel's durability—he'd merely adopted Kingdra's reckless offensive tactic after witnessing it.

I didn't expect it to get completely out of hand.

"Take him down, Did Did Yin Ma!"

"Keep pushing with this momentum!"

The trainers of Huang Tie Town shouted excitedly, as if victory for Did Did Yin Ma was imminent;

Meanwhile, in Xibi City, people whispered among themselves, many frowning in disbelief that Jin Ge and Fu De could possibly be on the back foot.

What's going on with Huang Tie Town's trainers?

Baimu trained them? But Baimu's only been back for a week and change!

Even Silver Monkey's calm face bore a trace of delight—he hadn't spoken of his loss to Zhengyi, but he'd felt it deeply.

If little brother could turn the tide, that would be best.

He glanced at Baimu beside him and said: "Baimu boss, what do you think—"

"Wait until Jin Ge's third Pokémon appears before drawing conclusions," Baimu shook his head, refusing to rush a judgment.

Jin Ge's side differs from Da Zhuang's—Da Zhuang's opponent's spirit had been shattered by 【Roar】, leaving almost zero pressure resistance.

But Jin Ge still brimmed with fighting spirit; his Pokémon were merely temporarily pushed back.

As for Did Did Yin Ma's side…

Courage matters, but knowing when to retreat matters more—this one's already gotten a bit carried away.

Boom!

Jin Ge's third Pokémon appeared: a flat, disc-shaped creature of gray-silver hue, with three mace-like tentacles.

"He has a Nutmeg Dumbbell? Then why didn't he send it out earlier?!"

Someone wondered why Jin Ge, possessing a Grass-type Pokémon, hadn't sent it out first, instead letting the Mega Armored Mantis take the Victreebel's beating.

Baimu turned sharply and said: "The one who just spoke—step forward!"

A stir ran through the crowd; a young man stepped out, gritting his teeth: "T-Teacher, did I say something wrong?"

Baimu asked: "What's the weather right now?"

"Cloudy… uh, big, big sunny day!" The man thought he was being asked about the sky outside—only when someone kicked him from behind did he realize his mistake.

Then he stared helplessly at Baimu.

"..."

Baimu sighed, weakly: "What type is the Mega Armored Mantis? What type is the Nutmeg Dumbbell? Your opponent has activated Sunny Day, and his third Pokémon hasn't even appeared—you dare send out two Pokémon with quadruple Fire weakness? Do you think he's you, knowing exactly what Did Did Yin Ma's Pokémon are?"

Only then did the crowd begin to understand; the man shrank back into the ranks, crestfallen.

Did Did Yin Ma has only revealed two Pokémon so far; for Jin Ge to send out the Nutmeg Dumbbell without knowing Did Did Yin Ma's third Pokémon required real guts.

This clearly shows the immense pressure Sleep Powder has placed on Jin Ge.

Moreover, he's probably betting that the Victreebel won't use 【Weather Ball】—【Weather Ball】 becomes Fire-type and doubles in power under Sunny Day, and with 【Growth】, the Victreebel could easily sweep the team.

Jin Ge has revealed most of his cards.

Now it's up to the other side's choice.

Baimu looked at Did Did Yin Ma: when the Nutmeg Dumbbell appeared, Did Did Yin Ma had ordered the Victreebel to recover some HP via Photosynthesis, and the wounds left by Cross Cut slowly faded.

To be fair, although Did Did Yin Ma's team lacks Fire-type Pokémon, many of them know Fire-type moves.

Losing the boosts from 【Growth】 is regrettable, but retreating when necessary is the way of victory.

Fortunately.

"Come back, Victreebel!"

Though excited, Did Did Yin Ma wasn't swayed by the crowd's shouts—he gradually calmed down and made the switch.

The Pokémon replacing Victreebel was Hitmonlee, said to be the brother of Silver Monkey's Hitmonchan.

Baimu frowned: although Fighting-type seemed to counter Nutmeg Dumbbell, and without Sunny Day there was no Fire weakness to fear, he felt a close-range Pokémon wasn't the best choice.

Indeed.

Flying Leg Lang had just landed when the opposing Pincurchin immediately used Curse, trading speed for boosted physical defense and physical attack.

The Flame Kick kicked over, the leg stretching several meters like a spring, yet was actually deflected by Pincurchin's horizontal Gyro Ball with a "boom."

The clinging flame, before it could even begin to spread, was instantly snuffed out by the wind from the spin.

From this alone, one could tell Jin Ge had considerable experience handling Fire-type attacks.

—Could he be running a Rain team?

All Baimu thought of that valiant Empoleon, and suddenly felt this young man very likely relied on Empoleon to set up Rain, then had Scizor and Pincurchin benefit from it.

Too bad Empoleon was taken out by Venusaur — the weather hand was gone.

Brave.

Truly too brave.

Whether in his Pokémon battling style, or in running a Rain team in the Orei region.

Siliburg City had ample water sources and was slightly more humid than Iron Town, but overall it was still very dry, so Rain's effect was far inferior to that in humid Hoenn.

Did Did Yin Ma had a fight ahead of him.

All Baimu turned his head to look elsewhere, just in time to see the remaining two fields finish their battles one after another.

Otsuka won, the other one lost.

"Boss! Boss, I won!" Otsuka ran up eagerly to claim credit, and only after All Baimu approvingly rubbed his head did he go find Seiko and the others.

He wanted to high-five, but who knew Seiko and the rest were up to no good — one after another they all imitated All Baimu and patted his head.

Otsuka gritted his teeth in anger.

That Fodor fellow from the other side vanished the moment he left the field — probably too embarrassed to stay in the arena — and someone asked his sister if she wanted to chase after him to check.

"No need. A trainer who can't even take losing one battle is only so-so." Fodor's sister Marlin shook her head.

She looked at All Baimu in the distance, wondering what method she could use to get him to agree to battle her — perhaps she could contact Brother Yamatsumi?

As children she had played with Yamatsumi, and last year at several banquets she'd seen him a few times; she just didn't know if Yamatsumi still remembered her.

Suddenly.

The light above dimmed.

Marlin's attention returned to the field.

The Sunny Day ended — Pincurchin had stubbornly endured it with Gyro Ball and Protect, paying a certain price, but overall was still in decent shape.

In contrast, Flying Leg Lang, due to its Iron Barbs Ability, had some minor wounds on its legs.

The consecutive failed attacks left Did Did Yin Ma breathing hard, and the Iron Town trainers fell silent, worried about affecting him.

What is a bad lead?

This is it.

Too many great opportunities wasted — Did Did Yin Ma was momentarily at a loss.

Jin Ge gave him no chance to regroup and rethink tactics. With Sunny Day over, Pincurchin's survivability rose sharply, yet he still cautiously continued using Curse to boost Pincurchin's attack and physical defense.

Did Did Yin Ma came to his senses and ordered an attack, only to have it blocked by Protect once more.

The situation looked bad.

Did Did Yin Ma had never let Flying Leg Lang get close to Pincurchin, fearing Pincurchin's tentacles would entangle it, wanting to rely on the freely and swiftly extending long legs for ranged strikes.

He hadn't expected that the long distance would instead give Pincurchin the chance to defend in time.

He decided to be bolder like before.

"Focus Energy and charge in!"

Flying Leg Lang pressed forward, and at this moment Pincurchin also finished its third Curse. Facing Flying Leg Lang's close-range assault, Pincurchin no longer defended.

"High Jump Kick!"

"Catch it! Gyro Ball again!"

Both trainers shouted. Flying Leg Lang leaped up with a knee flying kick; Pincurchin stood firm and took it head-on.

Boom!

Smoke from the energy explosion rolled thickly.

Flying Leg Lang, having landed the kick, withdrew, a flash of pain crossing its face — the Iron Barbs Ability was constantly at work.

The Iron Town trainers cheered loudly, but who would have thought Flying Leg Lang's left leg touched the ground while its right leg was still stuck in the smoke and couldn't pull free. When the smoke cleared, one of Pincurchin's tentacles was clearly seen tightly locking its spring-like leg.

The crowd fell silent.

"Use Foresight—" Did Did Yin Ma grew anxious.

But Gyro Ball had already begun spinning. Flying Leg Lang's head was struck by Pincurchin's other two morning-star tentacles, and once Pincurchin released its grip, it was sent flying backward.

Crash!

It slammed into the wall beneath the spectator stands and lost its ability to battle on the spot.

Gyro Ball is a move whose power increases the slower the user is compared to the opponent — Curse's speed reduction and attack boost both indirectly raised its power, so Flying Leg Lang being unable to withstand it was perfectly normal.

Cheering erupted from the Siliburg City side.

The Iron Town trainers hurriedly urged Did Did Yin Ma to switch out quickly. Everyone could see Flying Leg Lang's High Jump Kick had done considerable damage, and combined with the damage accumulated earlier, Pincurchin was starting to struggle.

So Venusaur entered the field.

Did Did Yin Ma wanted to set up Sunny Day again — Jin Ge naturally wouldn't allow it.

He directly had Pincurchin roll over and use Self-Destruct.

Although Did Did Yin Ma had deliberately kept his distance, making it too slow to reach Venusaur, the physical attack boosted by three Curses was enough to make up for this small shortcoming.

Boom——!!

The deafening explosion echoed through the arena, the terrifying blast wave even spreading to the spectator stands.

Fortunately the other fields had already finished their battles, otherwise they would surely have been affected.

Did Did Yin Ma hadn't expected Jin Ge to be so decisive, and at the same time understood that without Sunny Day, his Venusaur definitely wouldn't be a match for Scizor. Before the smoke could clear, he shouted for Venusaur to hurry up and cast Sunny Day.

Fortunately, Sunny Day was successfully cast.

Unfortunately, Jin Ge had long since switched out Ferrothorn and sent out Scizor, attacking at the same moment as Venusaur. Just as Sunny Day appeared, Scizor also finished its Swords Dance.

It suddenly charged at Venusaur.

"Sleep Powder!"

"X-Scissor."

The shouts of both trainers were exceptionally loud. Venusaur's Sleep Powder successfully enveloped Scizor, but even though it dodged immediately, it still couldn't escape Scizor's X-Scissor.

The injuries from the Explosion had slowed its reaction just a fraction, giving the faster-reacting Scizor the opening it needed.

"Hanaa—"

Venusaur lost its ability to fight amid its cry of pain.

The electronic referee declared the match over.

Did Did Yin Ma stood dumbfounded on the spot, unable to react for a long time.

From the initial disadvantage to gradually seizing the rhythm and gaining the upper hand, then choosing unfavorably and falling back into disadvantage—the ten-plus-minute battle was full of twists and turns.

He had almost won!

Across the field, Jin Ge was panting heavily. From the moment Scizor charged in with X-Scissor, he had been holding his breath, as if he could take Venusaur's place and keep Scizor from being affected by Sleep Powder, and also terrified that Venusaur might dodge.

Luckily, the god of fortune stood on his side today.

He had never imagined being pushed to this extent by a nobody in a place like Iron Town—he should have been heading toward a grand victory!

It could only be All Baimu's doing.

Jin Ge looked toward All Baimu in the spectator stands, convinced that Did Did Yin Ma must be the other's most outstanding student.

Without a doubt.

Jin Ge's pride was no less than Forte's; he just wasn't as foolish as Forte, parading it openly.

He had always believed himself to be the one most qualified to challenge All Baimu besides Zhengyi and Marin, never imagining that Did Did Yin Ma alone could push him this far.

Damn it!

Jin Ge recalled his sleeping Scizor, stepped forward to shake hands with the still-dazed Did Did Yin Ma, turned and handed his injured Pokémon to the staff, then returned to the spectator stands on the Geirido City side.

A crowd came up to him, showering him with praise.

"Jin Ge! You're amazing!"

"Right, right! You even pulled off a comeback like that!"

"Compared to that, Forte was just ridiculous—losing so fast!"

Jin Ge brushed them off perfunctorily, took the water bottle Suli handed him, and drank in big gulps.

Suddenly.

He turned his head, looked at Marin who had appeared beside him at some unknown point, and said: "Is there something?"

"You're pretty good, much stronger than my little brother," Marin praised. "If you went out there, you'd definitely make a name for yourself."

Jin Ge neither agreed nor disagreed.

Marin continued: "Do you want to challenge All Baimu?"

That sentence made Jin Ge's eyelids twitch slightly: "So what if I do?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to say that it's a good thing for young people to have ambition." Marin tossed out those words with a light laugh, then turned and left.

Jin Ge's expression suddenly darkened. Just because she'd been out in the world and beaten him a few times, her condescending attitude was really annoying!

He stood up, returned the water bottle to Suli who had just ducked to the side, and said, "Thanks."

"Jin Ge, where are you going?" Suli hurriedly asked.

"The restroom."

Jin Ge said without looking back.

Across the way.

Did Did Yin Ma sat slumped, dejected, his whole aura a shade of gray, while the others stood nearby comforting him.

All Baimu's lips twitched slightly. Caring about winning and losing is a good thing, as long as it doesn't go to extremes.

"On points we're still ahead. Next is the third round—don't let them turn it around!" He clapped his hands and began picking people to go up.

Lady Ayana and Kendal wanted to volunteer, but were turned down.

"Don't be so eager. Give the others a chance to show themselves. Wait until the afternoon—then you two can go up." He waved his hand, waited for the other side to finish picking and the matchups to be set, then turned and headed to the restroom.