Chapter 90: A Grand Mission

【Slack Off】.

A recovery-type move.

If this move let Slowbro use it successfully, then Bigoon's efforts wouldn't be entirely wasted, but at least half of them would be.

But the current situation had already been predicted by Baimu and Bigoon yesterday.

And this final move, the Reversal Slap, was absolutely not, as the guest commentator said, Bigoon's last flash of vitality before death. It was a deliberately laid trap!

When Bigoon attacked, Baimu charged forward in anticipation to an extremely close position.

When the smoke cleared and the AI judged Bigoon unable to battle, and Slowbro, under Shanren's command, used 【Slack Off】 on the spot, he swapped Bigoon out at the fastest speed possible.

《Five Dynasties of Rivers and Mountains, Wind and Moon》

Bai Guang landed.

Rhydon's figure emerged from the muddy ground.

Shanren froze slightly, then looked down at the ground beneath his feet, as if understanding something, pulled out a Poké Ball and shouted sharply, "Slowbro, use Psychic to fly up!"

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

"Quicksand Hell!"

Baimu and Rhydon, which roared as it slammed the ground, pronounced Slowbro's death sentence.

Boom!

The ground, weakened by the successive attacks of Bigoon and Slowbro, crumbled inch by inch at tremendous speed under Rhydon's stomp.

Slowbro, still in the middle of Slack Off, trembled beneath its feet, its entire body losing balance and falling in!

The wildly spinning mud and sand instantly swallowed it, and in its panic it couldn't gather its psychic power to escape the grip of Quicksand Hell.

But Rhydon wouldn't let such a golden opportunity slip by.

"Rock Blast!"

"Gugido!"

It bellowed in a muffled voice, and the scattered yellow sand around it gathered into sharp rocks, which smashed toward the spinning Slowbro like cannonballs.

At this moment, it was as if possessed by a divine archer — every single shot hit Slowbro's head.

Even though the latter possessed considerable defensive ability, it couldn't withstand such a fierce onslaught; its eyes rolled back and it fainted on the spot.

Shanren's thought of waiting for Slowbro to escape Quicksand Hell and recalling it to rest was thoroughly dashed.

He looked at Rhydon and Baimu, his expression more solemn than ever.

If the earlier defeat of Espeon was due to his own underestimation and carelessness, then Slowbro's loss was a matter of his ability.

Holding Pokémon far stronger than his opponent's, yet still ending up with a one-for-one trade.

Without a doubt, this was a problem with his ability as a trainer.

Shanren took a deep breath, recalled Slowbro, and said, "You fought wonderfully. Rest easy."

Having said that.

Another Poké Ball had already been thrown.

Peng!

Bai Guang landed and took shape, then quickly floated up.

The Pokémon he released this time had a full six crimson eyes — some with pupils narrowed into thin slits, some wide open like tiny black dots.

Its entire body was jet-black like a clay figure, with a white pattern resembling a magnifying glass on its abdomen.

— The Clay Doll Pokémon, Ground + Psychic type, Claydol.

Possessing the Levitate ability, it completely ignored the swirling sand pit Rhydon had created, rendering the latter's proud Quicksand Hell useless.

Floating rocks appeared in the air, exploding around Claydol like grenades, making its body tremble slightly.

However, by this time, Rhydon had already been swapped out by Baimu.

The one sent in was Chansey.

It looked at Claydol in midair, and not a trace of fear could be found on its cute face; as if understanding its own mission, it stood its ground with unyielding resolve.

"Telekinesis!"

Baimu's voice reached its ears.

A blue light lit up in its eyes, but the target it applied the move to was not Claydol — it was itself.

It was as if an invisible giant hand in the air lifted it up, and hurled it viciously toward Claydol's position like a cannonball!

"Dodge!"

Shanren waved his hand unhurriedly, and Claydol, which had just recovered from the Stealth Rock, immediately twisted its body, easily evading the lunging Chansey.

The host shouted, "Chansey's attack missed! What a pity! If only it had changed direction directly in midair!"

One guest commentator picked up, "But that's very difficult."

"【Telekinesis】 is different from 【Magnet Rise】. Under normal circumstances, it can only make a Pokémon levitate; it doesn't have the effect of using it for flexible movement. To make a Pokémon change direction, one has to increase the output of psychic power.

"But for Chansey, which is not a Psychic-type and has already engaged in psychic clashes with Espeon twice in a row, this is no small mental burden."

Another guest commentator also chimed in, "Exactly. For Pokémon that aren't Psychic-type, under normal circumstances, the manipulation of psychic power isn't as nimble as theirs. Casually channeling psychic power takes a certain amount of time, and one careless mistake can easily cause one to miss the opportunity and make things worse."

While the studio chatted away.

Chansey, which had missed its pounce and tumbled twice on the ground after landing, caught the force Telekinesis applied behind its back, and once again launched itself over.

Shanren: "Knock it down!"

Claydol raised its teardrop-shaped arms at its sides, the tips flashing with an earthy-yellow light. Ignoring the gravel, rocks gleaming with golden light gathered from the ground at extreme speed, whistling as they went to meet the incoming Chansey.

"Minimize!"

The instant the shout rang out.

Just as the golden rocks were about to smash into Chansey, the latter's body suddenly shrank and then expanded, successfully slipping past the numerous rocks.

No trace of discouragement on Shanren's face, "High-speed spin, knock it flying!"

"Dulu!"

The Psychic Claydol spun violently, the whirling speed so fast it stirred up a whooshing wind, its two arms at its sides like a pair of baseball bats, trying to send the Chansey flying.

"Guard!"

In that split second—

A green light barrier materialized before Chansey, and it stubbornly braced the barrier and collided head-on with the high-speed spinning Psychic Claydol.

The force of Psychic Claydol's spin struck the light barrier and vanished at once like mud in a landslide, and by the time the green shield of Guard shattered, Chansey had already successfully grabbed hold of Psychic Claydol's body.

"Sing—"

"Smash it into the ground! Spiky Rock attack!"

Before Chansey could even open its mouth to sing, Psychic Claydol suddenly plunged downward, and a glowing blue, sharp giant rock burst from the ground, slamming thunderously into Chansey's back!

Boom!

The rock shattered.

Chansey's face showed pain, but it still refused to let go of Psychic Claydol, swaying its body while screwing up its face, trying to force the song out.

But Shanren would not give it another such chance.

"Pounce!"

Psychic Claydol lifted slightly into the air, then plunged down once more!

Boom!

Dust rose!

For Chansey to have withstood the first Spiky Rock with its physical defense and level was already incredible.

This second pounce, there was no way it could hold out.

Therefore—

When the smoke cleared, a spiraly-eyed Chansey appeared before everyone.

"Chansey is unable to battle! Now it's down to Aron and Psychic Claydol for the final showdown, but Ground-type is super effective against Aron—does All Baimu still have a chance of winning with such a powerful Psychic Claydol!?"

The host's impassioned words fell.

On the field—

Shanren frowned slightly; he felt something seemed off about Psychic Claydol's condition—

"It's wagging its tail."

When he saw Chansey's little tail still swaying back and forth even in faint, he suddenly understood.

Knowing full well it would inevitably be defeated by Psychic Claydol, it had still risked everything to give its teammate even the slimmest chance of winning.

"Who the hell are you, All Baimu."