Chapter 733: The Luck Game

"Provocation!"

Marine's choice was within reason.

After all, Slowbro doesn't only have the Own Tempo trait — it could also have been Oblivious or Regenerator.

Practice yields true knowledge; Marine had reason to suspect Lady Ayana's sending out Slowbro contained an element of deception, and so she boldly tried her luck.

The result was deeply regrettable.

Slowbro really did have Own Tempo.

At the same time, Lady Ayana seized this golden opportunity to have Slowbro complete another round of Rain Dance.

In an instant.

The pattering rain watered the battle arena a second time, shattered by the earlier earthquake; many places turned to mud, and pooled water slowly flowed out beyond the field.

Baimu could feel that the air in the arena was no longer as dry as before.

By now, three of the five matches had already decided their winners; Iron Town's side led temporarily with two wins and one loss, and the outcome of Lady Ayana versus Marine might well affect both sides' morale for the afternoon battles.

Just like this morning's warm-up match between Silver Ape and Zhengyi.

Inside the arena.

The two Pokémon launched into the first round of fierce combat.

Gothitelle tried to use Telekinesis to forcibly control Slowbro, but as mentioned before, sufficiently powerful psychic force and moves that counter the Psychic type both possess the ability to break through it.

Slowbro defended with Psybeam, and the two invisible psychic waves clashed violently, forcing even the falling rain to drift elsewhere.

As if a vacuum zone had formed at the center of the field.

Boom!

A heavy, muffled sound rang out.

The blank-faced Slowbro stepped back half a pace, while Gothitelle's body swayed and she let out a muffled grunt.

Since Swampert had been defeated by Gothitelle using this move, Lady Ayana had quietly prepared for it; the reason for choosing Slowbro, apart from guarding against Provocation, was precisely to hope it could use its psychic power to resist Telekinesis.

Fortunately, Slowbro did not disappoint her.

And two consecutive "failures" in using moves made Marine realize this was a Pokémon Gothitelle could not handle.

Just as Swampert had no real answer for Gothitelle, Gothitelle was also showing a trend of consecutive setbacks against Slowbro — unwilling to sit by and let the boomerang hit herself, she swiftly pulled out a ball to switch.

"Go!"

She decided very quickly.

Poof!

White light flickered, and the Pokémon that landed was an orange-skinned fat mouse with bat-like ears and a lightning-shaped long tail — Raichu.

"Another Pokémon she hasn't used this morning…"

"Just how many Pokémon does she have?"

The Iron Town trainers whispered among themselves.

In the Ore Region — or rather, within Iron Town — the preciousness of Pokémon made it hard for them to imagine a trainer raising more than twenty Pokémon, something that was extremely common out in the wider world.

After the disappearance of the Dungeon Pokémon Hypermarket, how to solve the Pokémon acquisition problem for Iron Town's trainers was undoubtedly an important matter as well.

Send people to capture Pokémon in other regions and have them transmitted back?

It could relieve the immediate pressure in the short term, but in the long run it was absolutely not a good idea.

Baimu's wandering thoughts quickly pulled back; he looked at the rain-soaked field where Lei Guang flickered, and suddenly saw Lei Qiu, tail raised like a lightning rod, using Thunder on Slowbro.

Boom!

A violent bolt of lightning plunged straight down; the thunderous explosion made many people instinctively cover their ears, and their vision was suddenly a sheet of white, while the momentary shockwave in the air made one feel as if the whole world were trembling.

Worthy of a same-type Thunder — just watching, it looked fiercer than the Thunder Sentret had used earlier.

But…

Baimu blinked; the white haze brought on by the harsh light quickly faded, and the smoke-shrouded field came into view, followed by Slowbro, its right hand pushing a blue-green vortex of water that burst through the smoke straight at Lei Qiu.

"Ya — do —"

Wisps of grey smoke curled around its body, clearly the traces of being hit head-on by Thunder, but judging from its stride and overall condition, the super-effective electric damage seemed limited.

Amnesia again?

The greatly boosted Special Defense let Slowbro take Lei Qiu's Rain-boosted Thunder, and immediately afterward it fiercely released a Water Pulse counterattack!

Crash!

The Water Pulse exploded violently against Lei Qiu's chest; the high-frequency vibration sent the fat mouse flying backward instantly, as if struck by a rocket.

It even flew out of the field, landing more than ten meters past the baseline, tumbling and rolling before finally coming to a stop.

Lady Ayana did not waste the excellent opportunity; knowing Water Pulse certainly couldn't finish off Lei Qiu, she immediately made full use of the time to have Slowbro use Slack Off to recover its condition.

Slowbro's face took on a weary, lazy look, and a pale green glow rippled across its body.

At the same time.

Lei Qiu staggered to its feet, hopped swiftly back toward the field under Marine's urgent commands; the moment its front foot stepped inside the baseline, its tail immediately rose to guide lightning crashing down toward Slowbro!

Boom!

The flash of lightning that streaked past in an instant was blindingly bright; the spectators raised their hands to shield their eyes but quickly lowered them again to look at the field, and immediately saw, amid the smoke, a wall of multicolored light suspended above Slowbro's head.

Light Screen — a defensive status move that effectively weakens special attacks.

With the double protection of boosts and reductions, Slowbro no longer needed to fear Thunder in the rain at all.

"Nicely done!"

"Take her down, big sis!"

The Iron Town crowd shouted excitedly.

Everyone had assumed that once Lei Qiu entered the field, Slowbro would be suppressed; who could have known that after two rounds of Thunder, not only did it fail to inflict serious damage, but it had given Slowbro multiple chances to use stat-boosting moves.

"Lost your rhythm?"

"What on earth is Marin planning!?"

From the trainers' perspective in Silicon Beryllium City, all they could see was Marin's back, so they had no idea what her expression looked like right now, and couldn't help thinking that if she lost to a trainer from Iron Town, they'd be the ones embarrassed.

And All Baimu kept his eyes locked on the two Pokémon, the corner of his vision catching the sudden upward curve of Marin's lips, and he realized something.

"Playing it this risky?"

The moment his words fell.

The Slowbro, just about to gather a Water Pulse and blast Lei Qiu away, suddenly had electricity arc across its body, and the step it had just taken froze in place.

It was Paralysis!

Someone cried out in shock, and the surrounding crowd erupted in an uproar.

Then the flashing Lei Guang and the crackling of electricity drew everyone's attention — they saw Lei Qiu at the baseline, its whole body bathed in current as it sprinted at full speed, transforming into a blinding thunder meteor, crossing dozens of meters in the blink of an eye as it charged at Slowbro!

"Block it with Shellder! Iron Defense!"

Lady Ayana shouted hurriedly. Slowbro's eyes were still vacant, but its movements weren't slow — it twisted its waist and swung its tail, grabbing the grey long Shellder up to shield itself.

Unfortunately, Lei Qiu's speed was just too fast.

Before it could even manage to use Iron Defense, Lei Qiu — attacking with Volt Tackle — slammed head-on into the side of the long Shellder. The tremendous impact force and the destructive power of the bursting electricity caused irregular cracks to spider across the Shellder's surface.

The next second.

The long Shellder was knocked aside, and Lei Qiu crashed squarely into Slowbro's chest, the roaring current exploding with a thunderous blast!

Boom!

Everyone heard a heavy crash by their ears. The pink Slowbro, just like Lei Qiu earlier, flew backwards dozens of meters as if struck by a high-speed train!

"Pursue it! Quick Attack!" Marin, worried about complications, tried to take advantage of Lei Qiu still having some stamina left to finish Slowbro off completely.

"Lei!"

Lei Qiu, its face twisted in pain from the recoil, gritted its teeth and took off running once more.

And Lady Ayana, staring intently at the Slowbro that had fallen before her, quickly commanded: "Hold on, Slowbro! Use Slack Off!"

"Yado…"

Slowbro kept its prone posture, trying to use Slack Off to recover its stamina.

Crackle!

Heaven would not grant her wish. The paralysis's current struck again, preventing Slowbro from getting Slack Off off in time. Lei Qiu, transformed into a streak of pure white lightning, followed right behind and slammed its head hard into Slowbro's soft belly.

Thud!

Bai Guang exploded outward, and Lei Qiu leaped out from the smoke.

"Lei!"

It panted heavily, great gulps of breath. Its once beautiful fur, like fresh orange, was now brown in patches and black in patches, smeared with mud, water, and the grime of energy explosions, looking as if it were rotting — a truly pitiful sight.

After all, with the Water Pulse's vibration and energy impact damage up front, and the full recoil damage from Volt Tackle behind, it was actually nearing its limit too.

If Slowbro didn't fall now, it really would be doing Lei Qiu a disservice.

Fortunately.

When the smoke shrouding Slowbro cleared, the Pokémon that had forced Marin and Lei Qiu to trade negative status conditions had finally lost the ability to battle.

"…Slowbro, thank you for your hard work."

Lady Ayana stopped her "sit-ups" cheer for Slowbro, gratitude mingled with unmistakable regret in her eyes.

Who could have imagined her luck would be this bad — Slowbro not only got paralyzed, but was affected during two critical moves.

She recalled Slowbro, quickly gathered her composure, and sent out the Blastoise that had already taken the field once.

"Thunder!"

"Withdraw and Hydro Pump!"

Marin and Lady Ayana gave their orders simultaneously.

"Kame!"

Blastoise, though it had just entered the field, reacted no slower than anyone. Its head, tail, and limbs withdrew into its shell, and the pair of silver cannons on its back aimed at Lei Qiu, firing without hesitation two jade-blue water columns as thick as a waist!

Boom! Boom!

"Lei!"

Lei Qiu, facing the cannon mouths, refused to dodge or evade, raising its tail high to draw lightning from the dark clouds above.

As the thunderbolt descended, the two water columns crashed into it in succession — two muffled blasts completely drained its last shred of stamina.

"Lei…"

Lei Qiu spun on one foot like a ballet dancer, its eyes swirling with spirals as it collapsed.

And Blastoise, hiding inside its shell, took the lightning — its power weakened by Light Screen — upon its body, suffering intense paralysis and a tearing, agonizing pain.

"Kame—"

Thud!

Smoke billowed, accompanied by the spreading stench of something scorched.

Marin swiftly recalled Lei Qiu and sent out Gardevoir, shouting:

"Use Psychic to disrupt it!"

Lady Ayana was not to be outdone: "Hydro Pump!"

"Saili!"

Gardevoir hummed softly as it raised both hands, its eyes lighting up with blue light. Bathed in the rain, it stared straight at the distant Blastoise whose cannon mouths were aimed at it — a watery gleam flickered at the muzzles, like two cross-stars.

Hum!

The invisible wave spread outward, and it unhurriedly performed a flipping motion.

In an instant.

Just before the water cannon fired, the Water Arrow Turtle's rear involuntarily lifted, and a stream of water gushed out, slanting violently toward the ground!

Puh—

The Water Arrow Turtle flew backward from the recoil.

Lady Ayana frowned: "Use high-speed rotation!"

Kame!

The Water Arrow Turtle in midair began spinning rapidly; Young Lady Goth's eyes retained their blue glow as she unleashed layer upon layer of psychic power toward the returning Water Arrow Turtle.

The first layer shattered the glow around the Water Arrow Turtle's body as it spun; the second layer halted it in place—

Sili!

Young Lady Goth pointed at the ground, and the Water Arrow Turtle plummeted like a meteor!

Boom!

Shards of stone flew everywhere; the impact from its fall made the Water Arrow Turtle cry out in pain—it had already endured two Thunder attacks from Chinchou and Lei Qiu, and its stamina was severely depleted.

Lady Ayana shouted: "Hold on! Use Water Cannon again! You can do it!"

"Psychokinesis!"

Marlin shouted; Young Lady Goth's blue eyes flared as she unleashed relentless psychic force, dragging the exhausted Water Arrow Turtle back into the air.

The Water Arrow Turtle's Water Cannon missed again.

The outcome was settled.

Everyone held their heads high.

Baimu looked regretful: in animations, psychic-type abilities always had such an advantage—full control, teleportation, damage—all of it.

Even in the game, even if the Water Arrow Turtle had taken two Thunder attacks and its remaining HP was barely a flickering candle, it could still fight.

It was faster than Young Lady Goth; in the rain, what could Young Lady Goth use to block its Water Cannon?

Courage?

What a pity.

Even if the Water Arrow Turtle had the ability to split one Water Cannon into two, Young Lady Goth had her universal psychic power to force it off-target.

Of course, Young Lady Goth in the game wasn't without a chance to turn the tide.

It's well known that although Water Cannon has an 80% accuracy rate, the higher the accuracy, the lower the chance of hitting—unless it's perfect, it will always miss.

Facing a Water Arrow Turtle with barely a flickering candle of HP, Young Lady Goth only needed to calmly use Psychic Shock, then wait for the Water Cannon to miss.

Inside the arena.

With Young Lady Goth's final Psychic Shock, the battle ended.

The trainers from Silicon Beel City cheered wildly, preserving their dignity.

The trainers from Huang Tie Town sighed, yet deeply understood and sympathized with Lady Ayana—Staryu's paralysis status was simply too deadly; it had been dominating the match.

"Return, Water Arrow Turtle. You've worked hard."

Lady Ayana silently recalled the Water Arrow Turtle, walked around the arena, and shook hands with Marlin.

Just as she was about to let go, Marlin suddenly said:

"This time I was lucky—I won the final gamble—but luck is part of strength. And next time, I'll still win, even without paralysis."

"Mm."

Lady Ayana nodded, showing no interest in further conversation, and turned toward the spectator seats.

This made Marlin feel bored; from the battle, it was clear Lady Ayana was also a bold fighter, yet her personality was so cold.

Back at Blueberry Academy, those defeated opponents would have been screaming and clamoring.

Spectator seats.

Baimu looked at Lady Ayana, who had sat down and exhaled a long breath, and asked with a smile: "How's it feel, Boss?"

"It feels great. My weaknesses were all exposed in this battle—this has pointed me toward new directions for the future."

Lady Ayana crossed her long legs, an unconscious smile tugging at her lips.

Though she lost, she was happy—she had made too many mistakes, witnessed too many things beyond her control.

Fixing them one by one in the future would surely be deeply satisfying.

And battling strangers truly brought her joy—the urgency of impending crisis fascinated her more than even moments of life and death.

"Next time, I'll win."

She propped her hands behind her head, declaring like a vow: "I won't bring shame to Teacher Baimu."

Baimu smiled warmly: "I believe you, of course."

The first round of the afternoon ended.

The second round began.

The exchange battles continued until 5:30 p. m.; some from Silicon Beel City even fought two rounds before finishing.

That arrogant brat Fode, who had been loud in the morning, won in the afternoon and regained his swagger—but Jin Ge still paid him no mind.

In the end, Huang Tie Town won 25 matches; Silicon Beel City won 26.

Lost again.

This left Baimu somewhat helpless, while Zhengyi looked delighted.

No matches were held in the evening; both sides were free to arrange their own time.

Zhengyi said he usually spent evenings instructing students or reviewing the day's events, so Baimu encouraged others to sneak in and listen.

As for himself.

He would definitely return to the mountains to be a fruit farmer and land-clearing laborer.