It's difficult to say whether dragons truly have seven inches. After all, most dragon-type Pokémon in the Spirit Monster Star, along with the majority of dragon-type Pokémon held by trainers, bear little resemblance to snakes. As for those that do, if you tried to measure a Gyarados for seven inches, it might just attack you.
Putting aside whether dragons have seven inches, Wang Zhen's Onix currently has no such concept. The means of a one-hit KO have been thoroughly defended against. Now, it's up to Wang Zhen to find a way to break through.
Wang Zhen counted on his fingers, estimating how long it would take for Onix to recover. However, the opponent from Lixing Nation, their team member, wasn't as composed as Wang Zhen. This battle of patience, which had barely begun, was about to end. "Weezing, go in and find him!"
Weezing eyed the hole Onix had just dug. It then rolled into the hole Onix had created. However, not long after Weezing entered, Onix emerged. With a sweep of its tail, it blocked both holes it had made. This was going to get interesting. Weezing had no idea Onix had already come out of the hole. It continued to roll around, likely already circling inside.
Wang Zhen stared confidently at the battlefield. After a brief moment of thought, he commanded, "Onix, let's give him a good shake."
Onix heard Wang Zhen's command, raised its tail, and slammed it down violently. The intense earthquake shook the battle arena, and it also continuously agitated Weezing, which was sealed within the hole.
Although Weezing wasn't directly defeated by the earthquake, everyone present knew that the end of the battle was only a matter of time.
While the Lixing trainer was also contemplating countermeasures, we know that Weezing cannot learn the move "Dig" for escape. Furthermore, it doesn't have long arms. If it wanted to get out, it would have to use its body to push out the dirt and rocks blocking the hole. However, any movement it made would make it an easy target for Onix. The hole was right there. As soon as Onix saw movement from the rocks, it would sweep its tail, disorienting Weezing inside the hole.
The Lixing trainer glanced at Cassviden. After receiving Cassviden's permission, he announced his surrender. It was difficult to gamble on a simultaneous KO when you couldn't see Weezing's condition. Moreover, his commands might not even be heard by Weezing.
After surrendering, the first thing to do was, of course, to rescue Weezing, who was still circling underground. However, after Onix dug another hole and brought Weezing out, Weezing, dazed, spun twice and then collapsed. Xia Hunauo chuckled, "It must have been dizzy. It was dark, the air wasn't circulating, and it was rolling at high speed. It's commendable that it was still conscious when it came out."
The first small round between the two sides concluded. Wang Zhen was temporarily leading one to zero. Both sides sent out their second Pokémon. Wang Zhen used Armaldo, while the Lixing trainer switched out for a Wobbuffet.
Xia Hunauo could no longer watch. Armaldo, being poor at offense, had base special attack and attack stats below one hundred. Relying on it against Wobbuffet, especially a Wobbuffet that knew Destiny Bond, required a careful approach.
Xia Hunauo waved his hand. "Perhaps I should go out for a stroll first? It's going to take a long time for these two to finish the second round."
Meng Tianya stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do you remember what you said during training before? 'When heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person...'"
Xia Hunauo removed Meng Tianya's hand. "So, can you just get to the point?"
"You stay here and watch. I'll go out for a bit..."
Just as Meng Tianya and Xia Hunauo had anticipated, the drawn-out battle of the second match was much more tedious than the first. Armaldo's attacks did no damage when they hit Wobbuffet. Wang Zhen was also shrewd, waiting until the two were very close before giving commands. Within this extremely short reaction time, it was impossible for the trainer to judge the specific type of move, whether it was Mirror Coat or Counter. As for relying on Wobbuffet, did you think this was Musashi's Wobbuffet?
The battle between the two sides was extremely boring. Even the referee team was dozing off. However, this match could still determine a winner, so the referees couldn't suggest a draw. Moreover, Xia Hunauo was present, which would make such a suggestion difficult.
In the battle against Wobbuffet, the attacker was also the one controlling the pace. Theoretically, the attacker could drag on for as long as they wished. Wang Zhen could fight for a whole day if he wanted to.
While Xia Hunauo had originally intended to use Protect to defend against the opponent's explosion and slowly chip away at the opponent's Destiny Bond with Armaldo's low attack power, the situation had developed in such a way that wearing down the opponent with patience was more appropriate. If they could crush the opponent's mentality in the second match, the chances of winning the third round would be very high. Winning three to zero had a completely different impact on subsequent matches compared to winning two to one.
Wang Zhen could fully grasp Xia Hunauo's tactical thinking. The second match was even slower than the first. Five minutes passed, and Armaldo had only used four moves, also displaying that it knew Protect.
As the match, which started at nine o'clock, was nearing ten o'clock, Wang Zhen felt it was about time. If they continued to dawdle, they would have only fought one match all morning, which seemed somewhat inappropriate.
"Armaldo, let's speed things up a bit."
As Wang Zhen's commands became faster, the Lixing student finally saw a glimmer of hope. However, unfortunately, this glimmer was not of victory but of the end of the match. Wang Zhen had an extremely precise grasp of Wobbuffet's HP for Destiny Bond. When Wobbuffet used Destiny Bond, he decisively launched a low-power attack to slightly reduce Wobbuffet's HP.
Xia Hunauo, from the sidelines, nodded in satisfaction. "Beautiful, absolutely beautiful! Where did Wang Zhen learn this skill? I need to learn from him."
As he spoke, Meng Tianya called from the sidelines, asking Xia Hunauo about the progress of the second match. Xia Hunauo glanced at the two who had already recalled their Pokémon. "How to put it? It's over. However, I don't recommend you come back because the third round will be even slower than the previous two."
Upon hearing Xia Hunauo's conclusion, Meng Tianya decisively decided to stay away a bit longer. He was steady, but these kinds of battles were too torturous for him.
Meanwhile, the Lixing player on the field was in a bad state, having lost two consecutive rounds, both without initiating any attacks. Although he was still trying to control his emotions, it was obvious to everyone that the powder keg was about to explode.
For the third round, the Lixing player sent out Gastly, a Pokémon that could also use Destiny Bond. However, unlike the previous Wobbuffet, Gastly's offensive capabilities were considerable.
Regarding the third choice, Xia Hunauo had defined Cassviden in this way: compared to evolving Pokémon, he seemed to prefer learning new moves as quickly as possible.
On the other hand, Minglong Nation's response to the third choice was Slaking.
Well, it was quite troublesome. After all, Xia Hunauo's plan was to stall if it was an Explosion-type strategy. As soon as he heard Explosion, he would simultaneously use Protect. If it was a Destiny Bond strategy, he would start with Yawn to make them sleepy and then deal with them slowly. Pokémon that possessed both types of strategies were rare.
But who would have thought that this time, Lixing Nation would send out a Gastly? How long would it take for these two to attack each other?
Wang Zhen scratched his head, trying to figure things out. Although Slaking had two attacking moves besides Yawn and Protect, one was of its own type, and the other was Fighting-type.
Lixing Nation was in an even worse situation. Besides Destiny Bond, the remaining three moves were Shadow Ball, Double Team, and Confuse Ray. His intentions were clear: use Confuse Ray first, then deal damage with Double Team. Since Destiny Bond was added later, this also made it ineffective against Normal-type.
The two sides were stuck in this awkward situation. The referee could understand the predicament. After all, using a Normal-type move against a Ghost-type Pokémon was something even a novice trainer who had just obtained a Pokémon wouldn't do. To cause such a blunder in a major competition would essentially end the trainer's career.
However, understanding did not mean they could stand by and do nothing. If neither side attacked, would the match ever end? Although the referees had considered many issues before, they had never expected to encounter such a situation. Furthermore, just before this match, all Pokémon exchanges had been banned.
The executive referee couldn't help but turn to look at the other members of the referee team. After a period of intense discussion and after seeking the opinions of both contestants and their coaching staff, the referee team decided that the third round would be a draw. This meant that after Wang Zhen's first match concluded, Minglong Nation would have a score of one to zero, with a sub-score of two to zero.
Xia Hunauo glanced at his phone. "This is really something. The match started at nine o'clock, and the first person will finish right before lunchtime."
Meng Tianya, who had finally returned to the arena, looked at Xia Hunauo. "It's all because of your strategy. If you hadn't chosen such a delaying tactic, would we have taken so long?"
Xia Hunauo also had his reasons. "Who knew that Lixing Nation would be so stubborn? I thought that moves like Explosion and Destiny Bond would only be used once in the first round. I didn't expect them to rely on such a single tactic repeatedly. Who knew they would do it again and again?"
On the Lixing side, Cassviden was also very frustrated. "I've read some writings from Minglong Nation. They emphasize never repeating the same military strategy. Xia Hunauo using this delaying tactic three times in a row is truly shameful!"
The two walked away grumbling. Xia Hunauo glanced at Cassviden, and both expressed the same sentiment in different languages: "This afternoon, we absolutely cannot have another match like this."