Chapter 91: Struggling in Desperation

The host and the guests spoke without holding any hope for Baimu's victory.

The audience was filled with regret.

After all, one possessed a Ground-type affinity and the ability to fly, while the other was not only countered by Ground but also pinned to the ground — anyone could tell the outcome of this match was already decided.

Even Baimu himself was very clear just how vast the gap in strength truly was.

But he had no intention of giving up.

The proud Loudred would rather endure the searing pain in its lungs and the tingling numbness in its feet, would rather bear the agony piled up from clashing with Claydol again and again, just to shatter the ground at the final moment — what was it all for?

The timid Chansey let itself flutter back and forth through the air, narrowly dodging rocks, its back battered by heavy blows yet still striving to unleash one final move — what was that all for?

—Victory.

So long as the final moment hadn't arrived, so long as some companion hadn't completely fallen, so long as even the faintest sliver of a chance to cling on remained.

Victory was still right before them, waiting at any moment for them to reach out and grasp it!

"Dodge!"

The instant Baimu released his Golem, he bellowed at once.

Golem hit the ground and charged forward without hesitation; the spot behind it instantly erupted with a terrifying rumbling explosion.

One only had to glance at Claydol's glowing arms without looking back to know the thing had just dropped an 【Earth Power】 right where Golem had been standing.

With its own Special Defense, taking that hit would basically mean saying goodbye to victory.

Golem breathed heavily and coarsely, well aware that its current situation was no different from walking a tightrope, with the possibility of plunging into an abyss at any moment.

But for that paradise called victory ahead, even with wind and rain lashing its body, even with thunder and lightning for company, it had to keep pressing forward!

"It's coming straight at us! Run and seal it off with rocks!"

"Godo!"

Golem ran while manipulating rocks to bulge up from the ground and hurl forward; they collided with the scalding quicksand pouring from Claydol's arms, yet failed to scatter it and were instead pushed back.

Fortunately it dodged quickly enough, narrowly avoiding being struck by the quicksand and rocks radiating immense heat.

【Scorching Sands】.

A Ground-type special move that inflicts a burn on the opponent — backed by Claydol's overwhelming power, it forcibly suppressed the Rock Tomb.

Of course, the weakened momentum of Rock Tomb while running also played a part.

Casting moves while moving was like casting on the move — it certainly added flexibility, but the impact on power and accuracy was also enormous.

However.

Golem had no intention of trading blows with Claydol right now; stalling for as much time as possible through maneuvering was what it truly wanted.

Although its speed wasn't that fast, it could use moves to delay the opponent's attacks.

To win, it had to keep stalling — stall until Claydol grew tired of hitting it, stall right up to the moment its type-energy ran dry, and the chance would come.

"Psychic!"

Sennin seemed to have seen through Baimu's plan as well, and refused to play games — rather than sticking with the quadruple-effective Ground move, he locked on with a direct Psychic-type hard control.

No matter how tough your Golem is, two or three hits and it'll be done for, right?

—Not yet!

"Dig!"

Baimu was determined to push the stalling tactic to its absolute limit; in his past life he'd played plenty of stall teams that also revolved around the word "stall," so he felt no hesitation in his heart.

No rule ever said a Pokémon battle had to be all about hard clashes.

Golem swiftly burrowed into the ground, and the invisible psychic waves Claydol released instantly missed their mark.

Sennin's expression sharpened.

"Power Trick — Earthquake!"

"Run toward me! Use Iron Defense!"

A faint blue glow lit up across Claydol's body; in that instant, its Defense and Attack swapped.

Then, like a falling meteor, it slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash — the hard earth crumbled apart like a thin brittle cookie, countless bits of sand and stone surging into the air, the dull yellow light transforming into a shockwave that rippled outward in every direction, as terrifying as a missile detonating.

Boom—!

The deafening roar battered everyone's eardrums.

Fortunately, at the very last critical instant, Golem burst out from underground, its entire body cloaked in a silver halo, its frame tightened into an iron wall — yet it was still blasted away by the shockwave, rolling pitifully across the ground for several turns.

Even though it had luckily stayed away from Earthquake's high-damage zone, and even with Iron Defense to shield it, Golem still took a certain amount of damage.

"Gu…do!"

It staggered and steadied itself; not far away, Baimu likewise rose from his prone position.

Both had been caught in the Earthquake's blast — Claydol's strength was already formidable to begin with, and after swapping its already outstanding Defense into Attack, it was even more outrageous.

Most critically, Claydol simply knew too many powerful, useful moves, relentlessly grinding away at Baimu and Golem's nerves.

"Can you still hold on?"

"Godo."

Trainer and Pokémon exchanged briefly, then smiled in unison.

Pushing through was indeed grueling, but compared to what they had faced before, it was nothing. They had weathered even worse situations — what did this one count for?

Across the field.

Sennin saw the smile on Baimu's face, his brow furrowing deeper. "Again! Psychic!"

He wanted to see just how much longer that Golem could last!

Inside the broadcast studio.

The host's voice no longer carried passion; instead, he and the guests began discussing the purpose behind Baimu's actions and what he planned to do next.

"What do you think is the true purpose of contestant Baimu continuing to stall like this?"

"Very simple — he's waiting for an opening," the commentator said calmly. "He's waiting for the Psychic Doll to tire out. After all, even a Psychic Doll will get fatigued from using moves back to back."

"Then what kind of counterattack will he use?"

"Most likely a brute-force rush. But as a contact-type move, under normal circumstances it's very hard for Kadabra to actually hit a Psychic Doll that's floating in the air. I'm curious myself what tactics he'll use."

The commentator wore a smile. "But beyond all that, whether Kadabra can hold out is also a question. Trainer Yamatsubaki has very wisely kept her distance from Kadabra, not giving it any chance at all."

"You make a fair point… so what's the probability that Trainer Baimu has no tactics and is simply stalling for time?"

"That can't be right. Judging from Trainer Baimu's performance earlier, he shouldn't be the type to do something pointless," the commentator said with an awkward laugh.

While the commentators were holding forth at length, the audience seats had erupted into cursing.

Mainly the gamblers who'd bet on Yamatsubaki to win — they were shouting abuse at Baimu in the arena for refusing to give up, saying what he was doing was wasting everyone's time.

What's the point of dragging out a match you can't win?

Those who'd bet on Baimu to win loudly cursed back at the gamblers who'd bet on Yamatsubaki — they were still dreaming of getting rich overnight, so naturally they didn't want Baimu to give up just like that.

Both sides cursed louder and louder, eventually sparking one fierce clash after another, until security personnel dragged them away.