The sight of Zoroark had terrified the trainers present, but setting them aside, the two trainers on the field had already begun their second match. Shen Yu attacked first, as usual.
Shen Yu calmly tossed out a Poké Ball. Che Dong, slightly agitated, eager to avenge his previous defeat, forcefully threw out a Great Ball. "Go, Dedenne, and take care of him!"
Although Che Dong's shout had a certain force to it, as he looked at Aggron on the field, Che Dong hesitated. Where did this Pokémon come from? Why wasn't it in his Pokédex?
It wasn't just Che Dong who didn't recognize it; even the classmates who had come with Shen Yu had never seen this Pokémon before. This was understandable. After all, Shen Yu's Pokémon had first appeared in public during the college entrance examination, and how many people knew about it then? Coupled with the public opinion surrounding Xia Hu Nao, Aggron's information had simply not spread.
Shen Yu pointed at Dedenne, and Aggron began to walk towards Dedenne. Dedenne dodged with its short legs, but its ten-centimeter stature offered little resistance against the 2.3-meter tall Cincinno. After just a few kicks, Dedenne lost its will to resist. Even with Che Dong's commands, Dedenne struggled to cope.
"Dedenne, use Electroweb!"
After several shouts, Dedenne finally seized an opportunity and unleashed a web towards Cincinno's location. Cincinno, however, simply leaped over the Electroweb. Those long legs certainly had their advantages.
Seeing that the Electroweb was ineffective, Dedenne didn't know what to do. Che Dong, seeing the attack fail, continued to command, "Dedenne, use a larger Electroweb! You must block him!"
Dedenne retreated, drawing its small legs back, and spat out Electroweb from its mouth towards Cincinno. This time, perhaps due to charging, the Electroweb was much larger than the first. Seeing that jumping would not be enough to dodge, Cincinno actually took two steps forward, about to collide with Dedenne's Electroweb.
"This, this isn't necessary, to just ram into it? Won't that be a disadvantage?"
Cincinno directly collided with the Electroweb, but the web had no effect, passing right through Cincinno. Or rather, it passed through Cincinno's true form.
Looking at the shadow, which was only one-third the height of Cincinno, everyone present sighed. It was Zoroark again.
"Is it that strange? As long as Zoroark is willing, it can transform into any of its teammates for battle. This is also a type of gacha strategy. When I was learning from Coach Xia before, I even used Zoroark to transform into Ditto, which was incredibly mind-bending."
Lu Bingming casually explained the gacha strategy to his juniors. On the other side, seeing that Cincinno had reverted back to Zoroark, Shen Yu said directly, "If that's the case, let's not play around anymore. Zoroark, let's finish this quickly."
Upon hearing Shen Yu's voice, Zoroark vanished from the field. When it reappeared, it was already beside Dedenne. With a single paw strike, it hit Dedenne, causing Dedenne to stumble back several steps. It then tilted its head and spat out a web towards Zoroark.
After striking Dedenne, Zoroark quickly dodged and retreated, but it was precisely caught by Dedenne's web, making it difficult to move. Seeing Zoroark immobilized, Che Dong quickly commanded Dedenne to attack, "Dedenne, use Slash!"
"Hmm, that's a good choice. While the opponent is unable to resist, using a move like Slash, which increases in power with consecutive hits, to establish an advantage. Hmm, it seems like they have some skill."
Lu Bingming, sitting on the side, nodded with satisfaction as he watched Dedenne's small legs scamper. Chu Xiaodie, standing beside him, stomped her foot, "Captain, who are you rooting for?"
Lu Bingming gripped the railing of the stands with both hands. "Well, as a third party, I should remain neutral. Only then can I accurately analyze the situation on the field."
Seeing that she couldn't get the answer she wanted from Lu Bingming, Chu Xiaodie turned back to watch the battle on the field, where the situation had also changed.
Due to the level difference, Dedenne's sticky web wasn't very effective. Coupled with Zoroark's constant struggles, although Zoroark couldn't fully escape when Dedenne approached, its two front paws could already move. As Dedenne was about to use Slash, Zoroark directly extended its claws to counter with Fury Swipes.
Although both moves rely on multiple hits to deal damage, there was a fundamental difference between Slash and Fury Swipes: their attack speed. If Slash had a small cooldown after attacking, Fury Swipes only had a cooldown after several scratches. Even if Fury Swipes' base damage was lower, it benefited from the sheer number of hits.
As expected, the first clash between the two Pokémon saw Zoroark use a two-hit Fury Swipes to block Dedenne's Slash, and the third hit of Fury Swipes landed directly on Dedenne's head.
"This makes the situation very clear. Zoroark has a comprehensive advantage in this kind of direct confrontation."
"How so?"
Ou Lingling, quick-witted and eager to learn, came to Lu Bingming for guidance. Lu Bingming replied, "As you just saw, Zoroark used a two-hit Fury Swipes to block Slash. If this continues, Dedenne's every Slash can be blocked by Zoroark's two-hit Fury Swipes. And Fury Swipes' minimum is two hits, meaning Zoroark has a high probability of counter-attacking the opponent in a direct confrontation."
Ou Lingling continued to ask, "But doesn't the power of Slash increase with each use?"
This question didn't need Lu Bingming; Chu Xiaodie could explain it to her. "Slash indeed is a move whose power increases with consecutive hits, but this must be based on hitting the target. Otherwise, Slash is just a normal attack and will definitely be blocked by Zoroark's Fury Swipes."
As expected, just as they had said, the two Pokémon in the field exchanged blows several times. Relying on the multi-hit nature of Fury Swipes, Zoroark eventually gained some advantage. However, whether it was Che Dong's stubborn refusal to surrender or his intention to rely on Slash's higher PP compared to Fury Swipes to forcibly drain Zoroark's energy, it was unclear.
"Even if I don't know what he's thinking, no matter what he's thinking, it's somewhat foolish. If he continues to deplete his energy like this, he will soon be strongly countered."
Everyone turned their heads to see a handsome young man with a somewhat intellectual air approaching them. He greeted them, "Good morning, everyone."
"Coach Wei, what are you doing here?"
Coach Wei sighed helplessly. "I don't know what possessed me, but the league assessments are off today, and I wanted to take the Advanced Trainer exam but failed, so I came back. What's going on with this battle?"
"We'll talk about that later. Old Wei, explain the situation on the field first."
"Alright. While Sticky Web can forcibly prevent an opponent from escaping, and can also prevent the use of Teleport, moves like Gust and Roar are normally affected. Furthermore, moves like U-turn and Volt Switch can also function normally. This means that when Zoroark can no longer hold on, that's when U-turn will come into play."
As they were speaking, the two dueling Pokémon had already reached a conclusion. Zoroark's Fury Swipes successfully executed a "Lightning Five-Hit." The first two hits blocked Dedenne's attack, the third and fourth landed on Dedenne's head, and the fifth directly knocked Dedenne over.
Although Dedenne looked similar to Squirtle, there was a significant difference between the two species. At least the knocked-over Dedenne could still get up, unlike Squirtle, which couldn't flip over after being knocked down.
However, Dedenne didn't just flip over; it remained lying on its back and launched an attack.
"Dedenne, use Thunder Web!"
Hearing this combination that wasn't on the skill list, both Lu Bingming and Coach Wei became intrigued, wanting to see what this combo move was all about. Dedenne swayed its head and spat out several balls of electric-infused webbing in all directions. One of them headed directly for Zoroark.
Zoroark didn't waste time. It raised its two front paws and skillfully placed Dark Pulse in front of itself. The rotating Dark Pulse intercepted the incoming electric web and, with Zoroark's Tai Chi-like technique, sent it flying back.
The web that flew back directly ensnared Dedenne. While one's own moves generally don't cause damage, they can be quite troublesome. For instance, the web brought some trouble to Dedenne, which was trying to flip over.
Taking advantage of Dedenne being tripped by its own web, Shen Yu commanded Zoroark to launch the final attack on Dedenne: "Zoroark, Dark Pulse."
With the most innocent expression, Shen Yu uttered the most ruthless words, chilling the surrounding audience.
Dark Pulse, Dark-type, power 85, PP 10. It was the last move Zoroark could learn through leveling up.
As the intelligent students, they naturally understood the knowledge surrounding Dark Pulse and knew that it was nothing strange for Zoroark to know it. However, if Zoroark knew this, then perhaps no one on the school team could defeat it.
Che Dong was also startled by Shen Yu's command. If you really knew Dark Pulse, then what was there to fight for?
Zoroark leaped high into the air and then slammed a paw onto the ground. Accompanied by waves of dark energy spreading out, the Dedenne, which had finally managed to get up, was struck by the dark energy and immediately fell to the ground, losing its ability to battle.
Student Shen Yu successfully achieved a "one versus two" victory.