Chapter 79: Flying Side by Side

Thirty-two into the Sweet Sixteen.

The quality of the opponents was visibly rising.

Looking purely at knowledge — if the previous round's opponents were only at the level of Unova Kanto Ash, then this round's were at least at the level of Unova Johto Ash.

The most obvious point—

The opponent recognized Magnet Rise and immediately ordered his Hippowdon to cancel the Sand Tomb it had been using.

And in terms of battle quality, daring to use Dig repeatedly to dodge moves was also worth praising — at the very least, when Elite Four Agatha was beating the seven-badge Ash, she really liked that routine.

And it really did work well.

But.

"Fire Fang!"

Boom!

The ground collapsed, sand and stone exploded, and a massive yellow-skinned Hippowdon with a black nose burst up from the earth, its ferocious aura mixed with the blazing flames of its enormous bloody maw, biting toward the Marill suspended in midair.

"I've been waiting for you! Leaning-back Ice Punch!"

"Chiyido!"

Marill suddenly threw back its head, narrowly brushing past the Hippowdon as it leapt three or four meters high — the gushing flames nearly scorching its face.

But after missing, Hippowdon's lower jaw was exposed right in front of it.

Marill's small fist rapidly gathered bone-chilling cold, then radiated a jewel-like brilliance — pull back, rotate the hips, drive the shoulder, all in one fluid motion, and suddenly thrust forward!

Thud!

The powerful fist slammed into Hippowdon's lower jaw, producing the explosive crack of bursting cold!

Hippowdon was sent flying uncontrollably, hitting the ground with a boom and tumbling many times over.

Under the Hustle ability, Marill's abnormal strength was unleashed to perfection!

"Impossible!"

The opponent cried out in shock, utterly unable to believe his Hippowdon had shown an opening in the clash.

However, the two previous attacks bursting up from underground had already exposed the flaw that he couldn't make Hippowdon dodge moves in midair — so for Marill, who had already figured out Hippowdon's pattern—

It was a living target.

Dodge the pounce and do whatever you want.

So Hippowdon was nearly knocked out cold by Marill's punch — if not for its decent physical defense and the fact that Ice wasn't Marill's own type, it absolutely couldn't have tanked that hit.

"Come back!"

The opponent couldn't wait to rush forward and recall Hippowdon.

Although this effect is impossible in the games, Pokémon returning to their Poké Balls really can recover a certain amount of stamina through rest.

"Won't slack off? Or doesn't dare use it?"

Baimu silently guessed.

The next moment.

The opponent wasted no time sending out his second Pokémon, and placed it relatively far from Marill.

Normally, everyone releases them like this — unless you're as stupid as last round's opponent, dragging out your own time without considering positioning.

And getting swept in one combo.

Poof.

Bai Guang flickered.

A majestic, large eagle with flowing head feathers appeared in the sky — its full chest muscles and broad wings made its flight posture extremely agile.

Its nearly 1.8-meter-tall frame also proved its trainer had raised it very well.

"Pidgeot."

Baimu narrowed his eyes, pulled out a Poké Ball to recall Marill, and in the same motion sent out Chansey. "Come on — time to test the results!"

"Lucky…"

Chansey looked up at the spirited Pidgeot, a little intimidated by its size, but still stood its ground stubbornly.

Over the past month or so, it had been through quite a lot, and had long since shaken off the habit of getting nervous when sent out alone — only one step away from truly standing on its own.

But even if it couldn't attack right now, it could still contribute to the team.

Baimu had told it so, and it believed him completely.

"Quick Attack!"

Pidgeot beat its wings, transforming into a streak of white light as it dove — so fast that even dynamic vision couldn't precisely track it.

Facing such a ferocious assault, Chansey stood still on the spot, dumbly waiting for the opponent to rapidly close in, as if stunned — until—

"Protect!"

"Lucky!"

Chansey's face tightened, its two small paws rose, and a pale-green light barrier snapped up just before Pidgeot crashed into it!

Boom!

Pidgeot's Quick Attack hit the barrier but couldn't advance an inch — its energy and impact vanished like Shi Chendahai, completely absorbed by the green light membrane!

【Protect】 — can shield oneself from the effects of most of other Pokémon's moves.

Chansey's recent important achievement!

The opponent was briefly stunned, but didn't think too much of it — he knew Protect was hard to use consecutively, and with Pidgeot and Chansey in close quarters, the advantage was clearly his.

After all, Chansey's physical defense wasn't great.

Playing this kind of trick only hurts yourself!

But Baimu didn't think so. "Use Telekinesis to grab its chest feathers!"

"Nani!?"

The opponent was shocked. "Sneasler, don't let it succeed!"

"Chirp!"

Sneasler cried out in response, struggling violently as it flew backward, but Chansey shut its eyes and pounced forward, sticking right onto its chest and belly on the spot.

A pale pink glow took effect on both Chansey and it, making the two of them fly wing-to-wing.

No matter how it struggled, it could not break free.

"Peck its head! Use Wing Attack to knock it down! Hurry!"

The opponent did not know what Chansey was planning, but waves of crisis welled up in his heart.

Sneasler lowered its head and furiously pecked at Chansey's smooth skull, but unfortunately it did not know the move 【Peck】, so the attack at this moment carried no elemental energy.

On the other hand, Wing Attack produced streaks of Bai Guang, yet it was still of little use.

Telekinesis was like superglue, keeping the two Pokémon inseparable forever.

"Take Down! Use Take Down to bring it down!"

The opponent was trying anything in desperation.

And All Baimu unhurriedly shouted: "Shrink! Crawl to the back of its head!"

Chansey, enduring the wing slaps and pecks, shuddered, and at once shrank dramatically at a speed visible to the naked eye, and before Sneasler crashed into the ground with Take Down, it thrillingly arrived at the back of its neck.

Boom!

Sneasler tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice, and crashed itself into a grimacing mess.

From this position, the clinging effect of Telekinesis held firm—Sneasler couldn't shake it off, nor could it land a hit.

Moreover, because it kept flapping about, the opponent's Poké Ball also failed to recall it smoothly.

"How can this be! How is this even possible!"

The opponent was dumbfounded. Though his knowledge reserves could rival those of an Elite Four member from Johto, encountering some first-time tricks, he could still easily fall flat.

"Sing."

All Baimu coldly and mercilessly pronounced Sneasler's death sentence.

Pink sound waves, accompanied by a soothing song, lit up above Sneasler's head; the latter's eyelids grew heavy, and it uncontrollably descended to the ground and began dozing off.

"Stealth Rock."

Chansey's setup was still ongoing.

The opponent glanced at All Baimu, whose moves flowed with silky smoothness, gritted his teeth, wanting to struggle a bit more.

But as the earthy-yellow sound waves from Chansey spread across the entire field, and countless rocks floated in the air before vanishing—

The Hippowdon that the opponent had switched in, the moment it landed, took the brunt of Stealth Rock—

And collapsed on the spot.

Sneasler came back out.

Being a Flying-type, it suffered pain on top of pain, yet it was still fast asleep.

The Mawile that All Baimu switched in coldly finished it off.

"You—this—Chansey—I… ahhhhh!" The opponent was so angry his face was about to contort, feeling extremely unwilling to have lost like this.