Chapter 1219: Fairy Skin

Champion Ace.

Merely its aura differs from ordinary Pokémon.

After Duo Long Baluto's move missed, it instantly vanished to evade Super Gardevoir's probing.

"Wah—!"

The overwhelming psychic force, like a typhoon passing or Mount Tai pressing down, caused the swirling dust to suddenly settle.

Fortunately, the socially anxious dragon ran fast; otherwise, it might not have escaped.

Karuni gazed into the void, her mind highly synchronized with Super Gardevoir, intending to pinpoint the opponent's movements through subtle air currents.

However, Duo Long Baluto's invisibility had been honed to perfection.

The eye cannot see, the ear cannot hear, the mind cannot perceive.

Only the nose can smell it out.

Or using 【Discern】, this day's counter to Ghost-type.

Otherwise, for the truly existing yet non-existing, living socially anxious dragon Ghost-type, only a full-field ultimate move covering up to fifty meters above could blast it out.

Super Gardevoir intends just that!

"Wah—!"

Only to see it suddenly leap, in the blink of an eye flashing to the edge of the battlefield, its gorgeous, fluffy long skirt swaying in the wind.

It raised its hands, brows and eyes slightly lifting as it inhaled slightly, resembling a singer about to unleash their voice.

The hidden Duo Long Baluto within the void felt alarm bells ringing loudly.

"Ambush!"

Baimu shouted immediately.

The next instant.

Endless pale pink sound waves surged wildly from Super Gardevoir's fist-sized hand!

"Wah——nah——!!"

【Roar】!

Indeed, it was a full-field ultimate move!

【Ambush】 enabled Duo Long Baluto's energy circulation to reach astonishing speed; thanks to its priority nature, it activated the skill a step earlier.

Having been sped up by Dragon Dance, it was incredibly fast—fast beyond compare!

The air inexplicably rippled with translucent waves; a afterimage tore through the void, revealing its incredible speed.

Yet even so, it could not outpace the sound laden with intense Fairy-type energy.

Mmm—

"Ooh!"

Its tail was grazed by the pale pink ripples from the sound wave, and intense pain immediately flooded its mind.

After all, Ambush is essentially a close-range physical attack; it can be used as a displacement skill, but must also accept its inability to instantly teleport beside the opponent—a "flaw."

Pakura: "Roar hit! This move is very effective!"

Previously 【Ice Skin】, now 【Fairy Skin】, though Super Gardevoir's output is utterly incomparable to that of an ice-snow dragon.

Even if only grazing Duo Long Baluto's tail, it could still inflict terrifying damage.

If it took a direct hit……

It would likely "die" on the spot.

More importantly, Duo Long Baluto's trail had already been exposed,

Karuni smiled faintly, "Got you."

"Wah—!"

Super Gardevoir's eyes suddenly blazed with blue light.

As the black-red light-wreathed Duo Long Baluto gritted its teeth and lunged forward, its immense psychic power, like a shark smelling blood, instantly condensed a rainbow-hued pink barrier before it.

Psychic Shield!

Mastery of psychic power to such a degree is never anyone's exclusive domain.

For Karuni, mastering this little trick comes easily, yet it adds a fine layer of protection.

Unexpectedly, as Duo Long Baluto approached, the black-red light on its body actually dissipated.

"Dodge!"

The responding sound was a flash of white light.

Appearing above its head.

【Batons Pass】!?

Super Gardevoir's eyes widened; the barrier before it rapidly fragmented into a grid, attempting to bind Duo Long Baluto and even inflict damage.

"Too slow."

Baimu calmly drew a ball.

Duo Long Baluto turned into white light and flew back into its hand, replaced by the reappearing Happiny.

"Happy!"

It inherited the socially anxious dragon's Dragon Dance.

The instantaneous change left many spectators unresponsive until Pakura spoke.

"Player Baimu switched! It redeployed Happiny!"

Wow!

The crowd buzzed.

What a fast switching speed!

Dorbalto was clearly posturing to go up and attack, yet in the blink of an eye it was withdrawn and switched out?

Carney felt equally surprised, her gaze silently falling on Blissey.

"Psychic!"

Fire off one shot first!

Mega Gardevoir's eyes flashed, and countless purplish-red spheres of light emerged around its body.

They flew forward like so many meteors!

【Psychic】, a special move that calculates damage based on physical Defense, is extremely well-suited for dealing with an extreme Pokemon like Blissey.

"Minimize."

Blissey's body suddenly shrank to the size of a fist, and relying on the Speed boost from Dragon Dance, it began sprinting across the field in a bizarre posture.

Thump thump thump thump!

The Psychic spheres kept striking empty air, blasting out ring-shaped purplish-red shockwaves.

Every single one was dodged without exception!

Mega Gardevoir frowned; it wasn't the kind of Pokemon that just throws a move out and forgets it — it had controlled the spheres the whole time and even used Future Sight, yet still missed the mark!

Incredible!

It had even deliberately angled the attack to cut off Blissey's movement options!

But in the rapidly shifting future, the latter always managed to find a gap and slip away.

"What a handful."

Carney's words fully embodied Mega Gardevoir's current mood.

It was already tanky enough that special attacks couldn't do anything to it, and the one method they finally had turned out to be dodged too!

Pachira spoke up: "Psychic's scattered offensive isn't enough to hit Blissey; looks like Carney will have to adopt a different tactic."

In the stands, the fans anxious for Baimu and Blissey let out a breath of relief.

Worthy of the Aura Champion! He's got real skill!

"Swift!"

Carney refused to believe it.

Mega Gardevoir raised its arms, and countless stars flickered around it; they flew toward Blissey in an endless stream.

Without need for its control, possessing the "sure-hit" property, they would automatically track the opponent.

At the same time.

It actively closed the distance with Blissey.

"Taunt!"

"Taunt!"

Both sides gave the order in unison.

Baimu instantly saw through Carney's intent, and his voice kept Blissey from focusing solely on dodging Swift, concentrating its attention on the opponent instead.

She was figured out!

Carney's heart sank.

Swift was merely a decoy she had thrown out to divert Blissey's attention; the key was to buy time for Mega Gardevoir.

Time to gather energy!

But this trick was easily seen through by Baimu; now she could only hope the Swift stars hitting Blissey would hinder its move execution to some degree.

Under Carney's hopeful gaze, the round-bodied Blissey, dodging with ease, revealed a smile toward Mega Gardevoir.

The smile was faint and friendly, yet inexplicably sparked a nameless fire in the heart of the latter, which had intended to Taunt.

"Seena!"

Bang!

Smoke and mist swirled.

As it turned out, a Swift star had struck Blissey.

But the one interrupted was Mega Gardevoir's side — its Taunt failed.

It was hit by 【Taunt】!

"Contest failed! Baimu's decision successfully shut down Carney's tactic! Mega Gardevoir seems to have fallen into a disadvantage!"

Pachira's commentary left countless Kalos native viewers anxious.

Do Pokemon truly have such clear-cut counter relationships?

The Mega Gardevoir that had suppressed Dorbalto not long ago now not only couldn't handle Blissey, but kept getting the short end of the stick!

The only thing to be glad about, perhaps, was that Blissey's condition wasn't optimal.

The injuries it took from Abomasnow's 【Giga Impact】 hadn't had time to heal yet.

"Psychic!"

Taunt didn't work, so attack!

As long as it lands once, Blissey's condition will become extremely dangerous!

Carney gripped her Poke Ball, steeled herself, and didn't switch recklessly; she knew full well that even if she brought out Tyrantrum, Baimu would just match her with Dorbalto.

At that point, aside from stalling for time, it would be meaningless!

"Seena!"

Sensing its Trainer's resolve, Mega Gardevoir recalled the promise from days ago, and its mental power surged unprecedentedly!

Buzz buzz buzz!

Only excited sounds kept ringing through the air.

Its skirt hem lifted slightly, and the entire sky condensed into purple-red psychic spheres!

Smaller and denser than before!

—Since point-to-point strikes can't hit, then just saturate the area with all-out fire!

Boom boom boom!!

Countless light bullets rushed toward Happy Egg, whose pupils shrank sharply; it decisively dodged while putting up Guard to block.

Shrinking won't let it dodge anymore!

Happy Egg knew full well this was an exaggerated attack that could cover the whole field!

Bang bang bang bang!

A continuous string of explosions reverberated in front of Happy Egg; the light shield kept trembling and spiderweb cracks appeared, as if it would burst at any moment.

"Happy!"

It kept its little face taut, like an assault trooper holding a riot shield on a battlefield, constantly closing in on Mega Gardevoir.

In the blink of an eye, the psychic impact spheres dissipated and the Guard light shield shattered.

The distance between the two was already less than five meters.

Carney shouted: "Good! Psychic!"

Not afraid you're close — just afraid you stand too far!

"Kirlia—"

"Happy!"

Blue light suddenly flared in Happy Egg's eyes, a strand of psychic power guiding forward.

Mega Gardevoir foresaw the future, its expression changing wildly.

Switch moves?

Too late!

Its eyes lit up blue, a bullet formed from condensed massive psychic power shot forth!

Who knew the latter's move change was extremely bizarre, or rather, Dragon Dance's speed boost let it use a move even faster.

Mega Gardevoir's body shuddered, blue light enveloped it then vanished.

"Kirlia!"

"Happy!"

Happy Egg took a Psychic bullet head-on and was blasted away!

Bang!

Gunpowder smoke drifted across the field.

The move hit successfully, yet not a trace of joy appeared on Carney's face; her pupils suddenly contracted.

All Baimu wore an amused expression. "Time really isn't long, huh."

There are levels even between Foresight and Foresight.

Like Queen Leiguanwang and Wishing Star's Foresight — the gap is so large it equals two different abilities.

Mega Gardevoir is naturally no exception.

By All Baimu's judgment, its Foresight lasts at most two seconds, with an interval as long as half a minute!

To make Psychic hit Happy Egg, it decisively used this ability just now, resulting in the future it could see being incomplete.

One step slow, every step slow.

The final result is……

"Its Ability was swapped away!"

Paqila quickly gave her own judgment.

The scene on the field was exactly as she thought — Happy Egg used Skill Swap to exchange away Mega Gardevoir's Fairy Skin.

It became Natural Cure!

"Happy……"

Happy Egg in the dust struggled to its feet; tanking a Psychic, thank goodness its HP was thick enough, or Mega Gardevoir would have taken it out on the spot.

But its condition is indeed not too healthy.

By All Baimu's judgment, its stamina should be fluctuating around one-third.

Barely…… able to take another Psychic?

With Happy Egg's willpower, taking it down shouldn't be hard, but there's no need anymore.

All Baimu's objective is achieved.

In the distance, Carney hurriedly shouted: "Psychic!"

But he had already taken out a Poké Ball, recalled Happy Egg once more, and sent out Duraludon again.

"Duraludon!"

The social-anxiety dragon appears again.

Compared to the previous crisis, Mega Gardevoir's every aspect has now been weakened.

Even if its Dragon Dance is gone, relying on speed to deal with the current Mega Gardevoir is no problem!

【Taunt】, 【Skill Swap】.

Mega Gardevoir, bearing two negative statuses, looked up at the appearing-then-vanishing Duraludon.

Carney gripped a Poké Ball.

Switch?

Intuition told her she couldn't swap, or it would be over.

But if she didn't swap, the situation might not be much better, since Super Gardevoir is weak to Ghost-type and can't resist well.

Happiny's move that trades damage for status truly made Karuri feel troubled.

Huh!

Suddenly, many Dragonbaltos appeared, followed by countless afterimages filling the entire sky.

"Shadow Clone! Dragonbaltos's signature skill! It hides its body within them!"

Patira's commentary had the audience frantically searching for the real body.

Super Gardevoir was the same, but when countless Dragonbaltos swooped down from the sky at once, it froze.

Future sight is from the main perspective, not third-person; with its view blocked by decoys, it can only rely on attacks to clear the afterimages ahead.

But then it couldn't clearly see Dragonbaltos's attacks to react and strike back.

If only the Fairy Skin were still active...

Super Gardevoir deeply missed the move "Boomburst."

Karuri used the Pokémon's psychic power to cover the entire field, sharply detecting some clues.

"Psychic thrust downward!"

"Hyaah!"

Super Gardevoir hesitated not, its psychic power surging decisively downward.

Just then, within the shadow beneath it, a ferocious ghostly phantom lunged forward suddenly.

Bang!

A dull thud.

The ghostly phantom struck the shield, part dissipating, part retreating.

It was "Curse"!

This move cannot be blocked by "Guard"; one must dodge or precisely strike it down.

Dodging came too late; Karuri could only choose to strike.

Fortunately, Super Gardevoir reacted quickly enough to successfully block it.

The retreating portion entered Dragonbaltos's body—this is the stamina it expended for Curse.

In the game, Curse never misses, but the animation lacks such certainty; if Curse misses or is dispelled, the energy dissipates, and the stamina portion can return to the Pokémon's body.

Of course.

This stamina portion can be intercepted.

But only Ghost-type Pokémon, or certain special Pokémon, possess this ability.

Upon noticing Dragonbaltos's maneuver, Karuri made up her mind.

"Come back."

She recalled Super Gardevoir into its ball.

Thus, the taunt and ability swap conditions both disappeared.

And Baimu's Happiny not only lost the boost from shrinking and Baton Pass, but its stamina situation was also unfavorable.

To some extent, she had gained an advantage.

Karuri thought so, yet a sense of foreboding rose in her heart.

Boom!

"Roar!"

Garchomp entered the field.

At the same time, two explosive blasts suddenly echoed throughout the arena!

"Hehehe—!!!"

"Hehehe!!!"

Little Dragon Fighter Jet, sortie!