Chapter 704: Ye Wen Da Dan

Slap! Slap! Slap!

A wave of applause erupted from the crowd.

Although most people didn't understand the specifics of the battle, that didn't stop them from finding the match thrilling.

Especially the fact that the ferocious Dreamgore Cactus was completely powerless against the gentle, adorable Happiny.

Because even in Silibery City, everyone generally believed that more aggressive Pokémon were stronger.

What level is Happiny?

Look at something so frail and delicate, usually working as a nurse in Pokémon Centers—can it fight? No, it lacks the ability—

What? It actually won!?

The stark contrast was laid bare before every spectator.

"So strong!"

"No wonder the city hall keeps posting his battle videos!"

"A dual winner of the Grand Festival and League Championship—of course he has real merit. He's practically the second strongest after the Champion."

"Champion? Is the Champion that strong?"

"The Champion isn't just strong—he's super strong! There are only a handful in the entire world!"

An outsider carefully explained to those around him what the title of "Champion" meant in other regions, but most Orei people struggled to grasp the weight of those two words.

Because Orei's battle culture is nowhere near as widespread as elsewhere.

Inside the arena.

Zhengyi smiled and praised: "An extremely brilliant tactical variation. Happiny's defensive capability is equally astonishing—no wonder it's considered Orei's raw gem."

"You're not bad either."

Baimu automatically ignored the other's address and replied sincerely.

Dreamgore Cactus employed a conventional Sand Veil tactic, using weather and ability to confuse opponents and their Pokémon's vision—something Baimu had demonstrated yesterday to the trainers at Huang Tie Arena using Tyranitar.

The details differed, but the essence remained unchanged.

This tactic is common among Sandstorm and Snow teams, and highly practical; had Happiny not possessed exceptional psychic power, merely guessing Dreamgore Cactus's true location would have taken considerable effort.

Just by this alone, Zhengyi already qualifies as an excellent trainer.

Not to mention using a type-advantage move to break through a status move, dispelling Telekinesis even Alice had failed to remove.

Of course.

Alice's fighting style differs from his; Telekinesis wasn't the central focus at that moment, and differences exist between Pokémon themselves.

As for the later stage—setting up comprehensive tactics with three Pokémon or more…

Baimu didn't expect it; even powerful trainers from outside struggle to achieve this, and even he often chooses Pokémon in pairs or lets them fight independently.

Both sides exchanged brief compliments, then the battle resumed.

Zhengyi sent out his second Pokémon.

"Your turn!"

Boom!

A flash of Bai Guang.

Entering was a large Pinsir, its back covered in deep brown spines, sharp claws glinting like twin white daggers capable of piercing steel under the sunlight.

"Sangduo!"

Another Sand Veil ability?

No—Sand Rush.

Baimu observed Pinsir charging toward Happiny at high speed, kicking up a storm of dust behind it, and made an initial judgment.

"Light Screen."

He gave the order softly.

Zhengyi, distracted by the crowd's murmurs, couldn't hear clearly and had to judge Happiny's move by its actions.

The Happiny, staring at Pinsir, suddenly raised its small hands, its eyes covered in blue light.

Here it comes!

The hand-raising motion combined with psychic energy—

Telekinesis? Whether it was or not, avoid the direct hit!

"Rolling Dodge!"

Zhengyi shouted loudly; the charging Pinsir immediately lunged forward, curling into a deep brown spiky ball midair, then skidding sideways upon landing!

Sand Rush made Pinsir so fast it nearly left afterimages; when Happiny lost track of its position, it instinctively turned toward the direction of the afterimage.

But.

The move it used wasn't Telekinesis as Zhengyi had guessed—it was a floating, multicolored square of glass.

"—Low Kick!"

Zhengyi's prediction failed, but he wasn't discouraged; his entire purpose in having Pinsir charge head-on was precisely this fleeting moment.

Light Screen? Just smash through it!

Along with the Reflect left over from the last battle!

"Sangduo!"

Pinsir, originally aiming to circle behind Happiny, now found itself angled sideways due to Happiny's turn—it leapt forward, uncurling midair, and swung its claws wreathed in brown-red energy toward Happiny's round head!

Ah!

The crowd gasped—the two Pokémon were too close!

At the eleventh hour.

Baimu's calm voice came: "Step back!"

Amid countless tense gazes, Happiny lifted its foot as if foreseeing the future, making its retreat nearly simultaneous with the trainer's command.

The Sandslash's fierce Brick Break missed by just that tiny step.

"Sandslash?!"

Startled, it swung its claw sideways; Happiny, having caught its form, leaned back to evade again, then rapidly retreated to dodge the Sandslash's continuous claw swipes!

The scene unfolded as skillfully as Ip Man dodging Zhang Tianzhi's relentless punches, leaving spectators breathless.

How was this possible? It was unbelievable!

But Zhengyi knew this was the enhanced evasion granted by 【Shrink】, which sharpened Happiny's senses and improved its body coordination—even if it could not maintain the shrunken state, the ability boost did not fade easily.

Damn it!

This isn't scientific!

Sandslash has the Sand Veil ability!

He realized Happiny was outspeeding Sandslash in reaction time, so even with inferior speed, it could still dodge Sandslash's attacks with agility.

After all, evasion often doesn't require large movements.

Failing to land consecutive attacks, Sandslash's claw speed slowed; it stopped holding its breath, rolled sharply backward, and transformed again into a spiky ball, distancing itself from Happiny.

"Dig!"

Zhengyi abandoned ground combat.

Sandslash was skilled in close combat, but Happiny clearly wasn't a good close-range opponent—if it got controlled, trouble would follow.

"Sandslash!"

Responding, Sandslash churned up vast amounts of sand and vanished underground in an instant.

To his surprise, Baimu immediately pulled out a Poké Ball and swapped out Happiny, who was clearly winning.

Was this necessary?

Happiny was still fighting well!

Zhengyi didn't understand, but when he saw the new Pokémon sent out, his heart tightened abruptly.

"Porygon2!"

Porygon2 flew from Baimu's raised phone into the arena, hovering above ground with its wobbling oval legs.

A glow of ability enhancement lit up.

The 【Download】 ability boosted its Special Attack.

Onlookers cast curious glances; rumors said this Pokémon was extremely rare outside, an artificially created Pokémon.

At the Hoenn League Finals, Baimu had used it to toy with his opponent's two Pokémon, stealing the spotlight.

Zhengyi's tension came from how little online data existed about Porygon2; its creator, Dr. Akihabara, had frequently appeared on TV shows introducing its pre-evolved form, Porygon, but revealed little about its battle traits.

For instance, what moves it could learn, its exact ability—everything was vague.

What about Porygon2's performance in the finals?

To be honest, Zhengyi hadn't understood much of it—he couldn't grasp how Porygon2 had used Substitute to block attacks without anyone noticing.

In short, this was a very difficult Pokémon to handle—

Just attack first!

Boom!

Sandslash, spinning like a drill, suddenly burst through the ground beneath Porygon2, its sharp, gleaming claws clamped together into a silver spearhead, stabbing its abdomen and launching it skyward!

Yet.

Its attack failed to produce any effective result.

At some point, Porygon2 had emitted a blinding white light; when it faded, its original red-and-blue coloring had inexplicably changed to sky blue and white clouds.

And atop its bald little head now rested a pair of wing-like appendages.

Undoubtedly.

Porygon2 was now a Flying-type.

It looked down at Sandslash, which had stopped spinning and was falling weightlessly; in Sandslash's stunned gaze, it turned its oval tail.

"Ice Beam!"

"Rapid Spin!"

Baimu's calm command contrasted sharply with Zhengyi's urgent shout.

A bolt of ice-blue lightning suddenly descended, striking Sandslash the instant it curled into a brown spiky ball and hit the ground; the struggling Sandslash was instantly sheathed in translucent ice crystals—

Only for a brief moment.

Though struck by a super-effective move was agonizing, Sandslash's back, even without its spikes, had thick fused rock and keratin layers, and its pain tolerance was strong; soon, it shattered the ice, rocketing away like a giant soccer ball.

Sssssrrrrr—

Behind it, a huge cloud of dust rose, obscuring the gradually dying sandstorm.

Baimu was slightly surprised.

Like most Ground-type Pokémon, Sandslash's Physical Defense far exceeded its Special Defense—in other words, its Special Defense was pathetically low.

Porygon2's Special Attack output was certainly lower than Dragonite or Salamence, yet even with 【Download】 activated, it shouldn't have been…

The only conclusion was that this Sandslash was unusual.

"Magic Room."

He was certain Zhengyi wouldn't abandon triggering Sandslash's Sand Veil ability, and preemptively gave the order.

As expected.

"Use Sandstorm!"

Looking at the panting Scizor that had returned before him, Zheng Yi carefully noted the ice crystals still clinging to its back, then glanced at the super-evolved Flying-type Poliwhirl II.

【Texture 2】—what a cheap move.

Scizor's favored Ground-type moves had been so thoroughly "nullified."

"Swoosh!"

It cried out, tilting its head upward.

Boom!

Rolling sands surged up from beneath Scizor, reigniting the nearly subsiding sandstorm into dense fury.

Poliwhirl II landed slowly, blue light spreading from its body to the arena's edges.

Spectators instinctively stepped back, then saw a translucent blue wall rising from the ground, stabilizing at a certain height to form a massive pale-blue rectangular prism covering the entire arena.

"What is this?"

"Psychic Space! A Psychic-type move that makes slow Pokémon faster!"

"I don't get it…"

The crowd buzzed with noise.

But Zheng Yi, witnessing this miraculous sight, looked slightly grim.

Too clever by half?

No.

He had considered it.

"Return, Scizor!" He recalled Scizor into its Poké Ball.

He chose it to exploit its Sand Veil ability and quickly take down Happiny—but he never expected the opponent's reaction to be this extreme.

If Slash had landed, how much better.

With no small regret, Zheng Yi sent out his third Pokémon.

"Raaah!"

Scizor, resembling a fusion of scorpion and bat, emerged, gliding atop the sandstorm's winds to high altitude, vanishing within the swirling grit to gaze down at Poliwhirl II below, its bright eyes brimming with interest.

The sandstorm buffeted Poliwhirl II's light body, gradually inflicting a subtle but cumulative penetrating damage.

It ignored this, calmly gazing upward through the grit at its slightly blurred new opponent.

Sand Veil ability.

It was regrettable the Ice Beam hadn't taken down Scizor—if 【Texture】 had been switched to Ice-type, perhaps there'd have been a sliver of chance.

But its experiences training under Shi Yuan Zhi on the Stormbringer had made it more cautious; Dustox and Cradily had both taught it: if the Trainer doesn't command it, don't gamble on uncertain odds.

So it conventionally used 【Texture 2】 to become Flying-type, nullifying the opponent's Dig and potential Earthquake.

Even though Scizor's energy level was unlikely to exceed its own.

"Electro Float!"

The Trainer's command came.

A brilliant flash of electricity surged—Poliwhirl II gained far greater mobility, raised its tail toward the enemy, and suddenly noticed dozens of identical dark shadows appearing in the sky.

They flitted wildly through the sandstorm, not fast, but enough to blur the vision.

Baimu: "Same trick again…"

Another Sand Veil tactic—but Scizor, as a Flying-type, seemed to execute it far better than Dreamsong Cactus.

At least Dreamsong Cactus couldn't fly around in midair to confuse the eye.

Now even Happiny's return might not immediately locate its true form.

【Lock On】?

It had no special effect to pierce through the true form—Alice's Garchomp had merely used Sand Veil to conceal itself—

Huh?

Could this guy have deliberately chosen Scizor with Sand Veil specifically to counter it?

Otherwise, why bring out a Pokémon with quadruple Ice weakness after seeing Ice Beam?

Baimu recalled how Dreamsong Cactus had shattered Telekinesis, and suddenly realized Zheng Yi had likely studied the tournament finals footage and designed this tactic specifically to exploit Poliwhirl II's revealed weaknesses.

Shadow Clone plus Sand Veil…

To think this alone could defeat Poliwhirl II is to vastly underestimate super artificial intelligence.

"Close in and use Discharge!"

He gave the order; spectators nearby gasped in shock.

Why use an Electric-type move!?

Scizor is Ground and Flying-type—Electric moves are ineffective! Has it lost its mind?

"Pah-ree!"

Poliwhirl II shot skyward; the Scizor shadows, seeing it come to them, swarmed from all directions, their sharp fangs flashing with blinding electricity!

"Thunder Fang!"

Zheng Yi's voice was muffled by the sandstorm.

But the next moment—

Poliwhirl II unleashed a far more terrifying, massive Lei Ting than Thunder Fang; surging currents exploded outward from its body, forming a vast tide of lightning that engulfed every Scizor shadow!

Then—

Spectators closed their eyes and turned their heads—but when they looked up again, the sky's lightning had vanished, along with countless Scizor illusions and the sand.

Scizor's true body bit down hard on Poliwhirl II, all the lightning flooding into its body.

"Pah-ree."

The Multilateral Beast II ignored its bodily pain, its gaze sharp as it stared at the Scorpio King.

Got you!