Chapter 83: The Might of Little Egg

Kickleg was clearly much harder to deal with than Quickfist.

On one hand, it was because Baimu had no real understanding of leg techniques and was limited to the paper data Flobo had given him. On the other hand, Kickleg's freely extending and retracting legs greatly increased its striking range.

With only one semi-ranged skill—Fairy Wind—Bigmouth Baby really couldn't fight it well.

Having Chansey apply restraint was the inevitable course of action.

"Jump Kick! Aim lower!"

Kickleg's left foot suddenly stamped hard against the ground, its whole body leaping into the air. Its right leg compressed like a spring and then released in a violent burst, the fierce gust of wind as terrifying as a bullet leaving the barrel!

The Reckless trait, just like the Iron Fist trait, granted it a boost!

Fortunately, at the very moment it launched its attack, Baimu had already given Chansey the signal.

"Shrink to the limit!"

In an instant.

Chansey's body rapidly contracted under a blue light. Its round head just barely grazed past Kickleg's kick, and the three arrow-like claws on its foot stabbed into the ground with a sharp crack, kicking up a ring of dust.

"Shaa!"

Kickleg's face twisted in pain.

The power of Jump Kick was certainly tremendous, but if it missed, it would rebound and inflict a certain amount of damage on Kickleg itself.

The giant man frowned.

He had deliberately let Kickleg adjust its attack position, yet it still failed to land a hit. Chansey's Shrink activated faster than he had anticipated, and its body shrank far smaller than expected—originally it was supposed to shrink to the size of a small gas canister, but now it had become only two or three times the size of a palm.

This was getting tricky.

Not only that.

The very next second after dodging Kickleg's kick, Chansey returned to its normal size on Baimu's command.

The brief change in body size greatly reduced the mental strain on the latter, but the boost to dynamic vision and nerve reaction speed gained from using Shrink lingered for a short time.

This was the so-called "dodge" boost.

"Stealth Rock!"

Baimu shouted.

The arena environment was far too noisy; raising his voice was a necessity.

Chansey raised both claws high, and countless bits of rubble flew up from the ground, coalescing into sharp rocks gleaming with Bai Guang, floating in the air before quickly vanishing.

At the same time, Kickleg's kick came sweeping in again.

Only, compared with the clean, crisp kick from before, this attack was more cautious—though it still stirred up a whistling gust of wind.

Yet in Chansey's eyes, Kickleg's spring-like kicking motion was actually not fast at all. Even though Shrink hadn't increased its leg strength, it still let Chansey twist its body and dodge clean away.

"Careful! There's a second one!"

The trainer's warning came through, and Chansey suddenly saw Kickleg use the recoil force from retracting its whip-like right leg to launch a second kick with even greater speed and power!

Dodge!

It spun its round body and once again let Kickleg's attack graze past.

"Damn it! Heart of the Eye!"

Two consecutive attacks failing to land, the giant man's patience was wearing thin, and he bellowed furiously.

Kickleg's eyes suddenly lit up with a glimmering blue glow, its gaze tracking Chansey's movements as if predicting the direction of its next move.

But for some reason Chansey didn't go on the offensive, just as the guest commentator Shiratori had said—it seemed to be a purely support-oriented Pokémon.

"Don't care what kind of Pokémon you are—High Jump Kick!"

The giant man went all out, determined to take it down on the first opportunity.

"Shaa-wah!"

Having completely read Chansey's movement pattern, Kickleg leaped up, its right leg suddenly extending and bending, the knee portion charging toward a certain spot.

At first glance, its attack seemed to be aimed at empty air, but in reality Chansey was less than half a meter from where it would land, and was still moving in that direction.

Almost as if the latter were deliberately throwing itself toward Kickleg's knee.

The host excitedly shouted, declaring that the first Pokémon to be eliminated in this match was about to be born.

However.

Suddenly.

A layer of green light membrane abruptly appeared, blocking the path of Kickleg's knee.

Boom!

The light membrane shattered under the terrifying impact, but the forward momentum of the High Jump Kick sent the attacker tumbling toward Chansey.

The two Pokémon instantly collided in an embrace.

Seeing this scene.

The host, who had been so excited a moment ago, instantly fell silent, staring dumbfounded at the arena below. Shiratori frowned and picked up the materials in his hand, flipping through them carefully.

The giant man himself, as one of the parties involved, goggled even more.

"Protect! It was Protect!"

"Ladies and gentlemen! Chansey's Protect has blocked Kickleg's Heart of the Eye and High Jump Kick combo!"

The host's voice was full of astonishment.

Why?

Because in the materials he had obtained, there was absolutely no entry for Chansey knowing Protect, and in all of Iron Town, besides Baimu himself, the only ones who knew this information were that person from the Top 32 and the AI program that judged wins and losses at the Iron Arena.

Why hadn't that person said anything?

Very simple.

He felt his battle with Swellow and Chansey had been too embarrassing, and being a prideful person, he had simply glossed over that part, only mentioning Sing and Stealth Rock.

He wanted to make it clear that it wasn't that he was weak—it was that Chansey had coincidentally managed to use Sing successfully, which was why he lost.

Pidgeot had never had its Thunder Shock blocked and defended against, nor been successfully entangled by Chansey; it had exerted every ounce of its strength yet still found itself helpless.

It was because Sing was too loud! It was because Stealth Rock was too sharp!

The whole mess left the giant man not knowing that Chansey would Guard.

"Sing!"

"Keep using Brick Break in a row! Hurry!"

One calm voice and one urgent voice rang out across the field.

Hitmonlee raised its own palm and violently side-chopped down onto the Chansey that had rolled into a ball with it; the latter showed a pained expression, yet the motion of its Sing showed not the slightest pause.

Attacking might not be its forte, but when it came to enduring pain, it was absolutely the strongest!

"La? ~ Wu La La la? ~ Wu La La li? ~ Wu La La la li la? ~"

The soothing song loosened Hitmonlee's heart; it gradually closed its eyes, and the motion of its Brick Break gradually grew smaller.

The utterly exhausted and dizzy Chansey slowly got to its feet.

It succeeded!

"Soft-Boiled!"

It艰难ly placed both claws before its belly, and the round egg immediately emitted a glowing green light, nourishing Chansey's precarious stamina and bringing a relaxed expression to its face.

All Baimu decisively chose to switch, letting Chansey leave the field to rest and recover its spirit.

Across the field.

The giant man also dared not hesitate and switched out Hitmonlee.

He only hesitated for a few seconds between his third Pokémon and Hitmonchan, causing All Baimu's side to have already sent out its third Pokémon—

Aron.

The one person and one精灵 stood in strict formation against his selection!

The giant man had no choice but to select his third Pokémon.

A short-statured yet sharp-horned existence, with blue protective gear and bandage-like constructs on its limbs and tail, brown all over—

Hitmontop (Kabupulang), the Handstand Pokémon.

This one of the giant man's was a Technician-ability, able to boost many low-power moves.

With a four-times type advantage against Aron, it furthermore possessed the ability to end the battle in one strike.

Unfortunately, due to his trainer's hesitation, it lost the initiative.

"Sand Tomb!"

The instant it landed, an endless torrent of yellow sand burst forth from Aron's back, swirling around to form a terrifyingly huge dust tornado, suddenly wrapping Hitmontop up within it!

"Spin upside down! Don't let the sand affect you!"

The giant man shouted, but was quickly stuffed full of dust, his mouth filled with dirt-yellow grit!