Chapter 84: Sandstorm Heaven and Earth

When the quicksand storm whirled into being.

Streaks of Bai Guang suddenly exploded around the Hitmonlee, like a string of small hand grenades.

Its reversed motion stumbled abruptly.

The Stealth Rock finally took effect. Because Chansey wasn't very practiced, the number of stones was small and the detonation speed was slow, but at least the power was passable.

The scattered sand and gravel quickly gathered back together.

Although it looked somewhat similar to a Rock-type Sandstorm on the outside, this mode of Quicksand Hell lasted only briefly and was smaller in scale.

It couldn't blanket the sky like a Rock-type Sandstorm.

Its height was even limited to within two meters.

The advantage was that the vortex spun faster; the wind could reach typhoon levels in a short time, forcing the trainer to be unable to recall his Pokémon, and even he himself had to be affected.

"A Rock-type Roggenrola — how can its Ground-type moves be this powerful?"

The big man raised a hand to shield himself from the wind and sand, feeling a bit frustrated.

Pokémon battles shifted in countless ways in the blink of an eye; he had only hesitated a few seconds and that had put him on the back foot.

Clearly, his overall strength was greater.

"Hitmonlee is entangled by Quicksand Hell! Roggenrola's containment is very effective! ***'s side looks to be in a bad spot! Mr. Shiratori, what do you think?" The host tossed the question to Shiratori.

Shiratori's face darkened. Of all the guests in the broadcast room, why did they keep picking on him?

Hadn't they noticed he'd been silent the whole time?

Shearing a Mareep isn't done this way! What's wrong with this host!

But having taken the money, he had to maintain professional ethics.

"I don't think there's any need to worry. Although *** was caught off guard by Baimu, in reality he currently holds the upper hand."

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

"If you do the math, you'll see. Hitmonchan's right fist was bitten by Mawile, but he still has his left fist. By comparison, Mawile's weapon — its huge jaw — was also injured, and it's a unique appendage, so it'll be hard to use it normally and nimbly later. You could say both sides came out roughly even."

Shiratori wore an expression of profound insight. "And Hitmonlee has only fallen asleep; it could wake up at any moment. Chansey, on the other hand, doesn't have much stamina left — Soft-Boiled can only let it hold on a little longer, the moment it dares step onto the field it'll be knocked down. In this exchange, Baimu is the one losing out badly.

"And looking at the present, don't be fooled by Hitmonlee taking a hit from Stealth Rock and getting tangled in Quicksand Hell — just watch, Hitmonlee will soon break free of this predicament."

The moment his words fell.

As if to confirm Shiratori's words, the big man suddenly shouted, and Hitmonlee moved accordingly.

"Rapid Spin! Ride the wind upward!"

Hitmonlee flipped upside down toward the ground, spinning rapidly along the direction of the sandstorm. Bolstered by the wind, it endured the knife-like assault of the fine grit, and its speed grew faster and faster.

In no time even its feet and tail could no longer be seen — only a blurred afterimage remained.

In the raging sandstorm, the big man couldn't hear what command Baimu had given. He only saw Roggenrola raise both claws and stomp the ground heavily; through the haze, the ground seemed on the verge of splitting open—

"Now!"

He bellowed at the top of his lungs, not caring how much sand he'd be forced to swallow, his whole body tensed.

The next instant.

Rumble rumble rumble——!!

The hard ground trembled madly and cracked inch by inch; in the blink of an eye a massive pit had formed, the swirling quicksand within resonating with the sandstorm, like a heaven-shattering, earth-rending trap!

How terrifying!

The host couldn't help shouting, too. "This move combination from Roggenrola is truly a case of no way to heaven, no door to earth! If Hitmonlee had Digged down just now, it would've been in danger — wait! What am I seeing!?"

A clamor of noisy shouts suddenly rose from the arena.

The reason was that from within that collapsing Quicksand Hell, a single figure spun out into the air!

That's right.

It was Hitmonlee, having used the wind to move at extreme speed!

Before being swallowed by the ant-hill-like sand hell, it had successfully flown free of danger!

Not only that.

After landing, it kept spinning across the field at a terrifying speed, kicking apart the Stealth Rocks hidden in the air one by one until they became a carpet of debris.

It looked exactly like it had powered up!

The battle's trajectory, like a great reversal, drew gasps from the audience. The host shouted aloud with wild enthusiasm, and Shiratori, whose expression had been taut, quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

The big man hadn't completely fallen apart after all — his moment of glory had arrived. And after suffering two consecutive tactical blows, on the third, lethal attempt, he had carved out a sliver of survival for Hitmonlee.

Seeing the combo dodged and even the Stealth Rock setup dispersed, Baimu and Roggenrola were undoubtedly deeply regretful.

【Heaven Above, Earth Below Quicksand Hell】 was still too immature. Although its hard-cc ability was outstanding — once an opponent was trapped inside, the result was almost decided.

But the time it took was far, far too long.

The cost outweighed the gain.

Still, the failure of the tactic was indeed frustrating. The Hitmonlee now in Rampage mode could not be ignored, especially since it was already charging over in a great arc, bristling with momentum!

Baimu: "Rock Tomb!"

"Rog!"

Roggenrola slammed both claws into the ground, and massive boulders burst from the earth, raining down on Hitmonlee like a storm.

But the instant the rocks made contact, they were kicked apart like thin, brittle crackers. The booming cracks couldn't mask the mad speed of Hitmonlee's advance!

It didn't block it!

"This guy…"

Baimu winced, having to admit that Hitmonlee — the big man's ace Pokémon, as the intel had shown — truly had its strengths.

Boulders that even Mawile couldn't shatter so easily could only slightly impede its path forward.

As expected, hard-cc containment had been the right call.

Unfortunately, it failed.

But by now it was already too late to recall Rhydon with a Poké Ball—Riolu was less than five meters from Rhydon.

Even if the recall succeeded, swapping in someone to take Riolu's ferocious combo would be a serious problem; in the current situation, whoever came out would just take a beating!

Better to gamble.

"Iron Defense!"

He ordered in a deep voice.

Rhydon, already prepared, abruptly lowered its head, deliberately meeting the attack with its hardest part—its skull.

Since dodging was impossible, the only option was to tough it out.

"Triple Kick!"

The giant man's voice rang from afar; Riolu struck first, and the move it used was, by unspoken accord, identical to the command he had just issued.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Three heavy, muffled thuds and a burst of dazzling light blossomed on Rhydon's head!

The silver light only resisted at first, and was quickly suppressed by the brownish-red glow; Rhydon's body uncontrollably tumbled backward.

The four-times type disadvantage was simply too terrifying—even Iron Defense could barely hold it back.

On top of that, the Skill Link ability had boosted Triple Kick's power, and every strike landed cleanly, so it was only natural that Rhydon couldn't withstand it.

Baimu retreated along with it, watching Riolu warily, and shouted: "Hold on!"

"Gudo!"

Rhydon struggled to its feet and answered him.

When the combat strength gap between the two sides was this large, the result of being hit by the opponent's full-power attack was like dancing on a tightrope.

Danger of capsizing at any moment.

Just like the Chansey inside its Poké Ball—even though Hitmonlee was more skilled in leg techniques and weaker with its hands, it still made Chansey pay dearly.

Fortunately, its pain tolerance was relatively high, and combined with a month of physical-defense training, it barely managed to hold on.