Yu Longdu hesitated. Although he had made new progress, enough to surprise Xia Huna, he wasn't entirely confident he could defeat Xia Huna, not even with a 50/50 chance.
If it were any other battle, it would be fine. But the stakes in this match were clearly unequal. If Xia Huna lost, it would be an apology. For someone as shameless and without bottom lines as Xia Huna, an apology was no pressure at all. But it was different for Yu Longdu. The Yu family admitted they were goofballs, and if this news spread back to Linglong City, who knew how long it would be rumored.
Seeing Yu Longdu's indecisiveness, Xia Huna decided to provoke him further. "No, you were the one who initiated this, and now you're backing down. That makes you even more of a goofball, you know?"
Yu Longdu gritted his teeth. "Fine! A fight it is. Am I afraid of you?"
As Yu Longdu decided to accept the challenge, Yu Linglong's voice came from the training room entrance, "Now that's the spirit of a Yu family youngster! I support you. Even if you lose, lose beautifully."
Yu Longdu was initially happy, but hearing "lose beautifully" made him wilt like a frost-bitten eggplant. "Sister, why aren't you on my side?"
"I help what's right, not necessarily my relatives."
Everyone looked over. Zheng Xiaoxiao was holding a mobile phone, and on the screen was a video call with Yu Linglong.
Zheng Xiaoxiao handed the phone to Tong Ruo. "Ruoruo, hold this for me. I'll be the referee."
With that, Zheng Xiaoxiao walked to the referee's position inside the training room. "The official battle between Xia Huna and Yu Longdu will now begin. Each side is limited to using one Pokémon."
Seeing Zheng Xiaoxiao starting the match, Xia Huna casually walked to the battle area. "Alright, I'll use Greninja. You decide your move."
With that, Xia Huna threw out Greninja's Poké Ball. Greninja stood in the battle area and coldly glanced at everyone. Yu Tingyun said, "Why do I think Greninja looks so cool like this?"
Shen Yu also nodded. "Yeah, Greninja in battle mode is indeed cooler than usual."
Yu Longdu stood opposite Xia Huna. "Then let's go! Charizard, attack!"
Seeing Charizard standing on the field, Xia Huna blinked. "Charizard? When did you get a Charizard? That's quite a trump card."
"What do you think? Didn't expect it, did you? It's not just you who can quickly train a Greninja."
Xia Huna rubbed his chin and glanced at Greninja. Greninja was very agitated, seeming about to go berserk. Xia Huna quickly called out twice, "Greninja, calm down."
Hearing Xia Huna's shout, Greninja paused slightly and didn't fully lose control. Xia Huna breathed a sigh of relief. "What's going on? Normally, Greninja wouldn't react like this to another Pokémon."
If he couldn't figure it out, he asked the system. The system explained that because Charizard had once defeated a champion's Greninja, Greninja might have an innate animosity towards Charizard.
Xia Huna found this explanation a bit too metaphysical. As for the specific reason, he would wait until the battle was over.
Zheng Xiaoxiao waved her right hand. "Battle commence!"
"Greninja, attack!"
"Charizard, attack!"
Both sides launched their attacks simultaneously. Charizard flapped its wings and flew over, while Greninja quickly charged forward on its hind legs. Although both Pokémon had maxed-out Speed EVs, Greninja was still faster than Charizard.
Greninja's Water Shuriken directly hit Charizard's Dragon Claw. The two made contact and immediately pulled apart. Xia Huna looked at their health bars. "Greninja, use Double Team!"
Yu Longdu watched the charging Greninja clones and simply commanded Charizard to fly up.
"A flying Pokémon should eventually fly. Charizard, use Fire Blast on the ground!"
This strategy was sound. Fire Blast sweeping across the ground was a very useful AOE move. However, Xia Huna was prepared. "Greninja, block it with Dark Pulse!"
Greninja raised its hands, and Dark Pulse swirled in front of it. Although Fire Blast was already sweeping over, it came straight towards Greninja. Dark Pulse directly blocked Fire Blast, preventing it from having any effect.
"Charizard, grab him!"
Seeing Greninja being held back by Fire Blast, Yu Longdu quickly commanded Charizard to descend and grab Greninja.
Charizard swooped down but missed. To Yu Longdu's surprise, the Greninja that blocked Fire Blast was actually a Double Team clone.
"How could this be?"
Yu Longdu couldn't understand, but Xia Huna knew clearly. The "five points" of Fire Blast had attack power, while the empty space in the middle of the five points wouldn't be damaged. Because of this, many trainers used this method to dodge Fire Blast.
"Gotcha! Greninja, Water Shuriken!"
Greninja leaped from between the points of Fire Blast, and a Water Shuriken directly hit the slightly stunned Charizard, which had missed its target.
After being hit by Water Shuriken, Charizard accurately located Greninja and immediately took off to capture it. Seeing Charizard flying over, Greninja once again used Double Team to dodge Charizard's attack.
The two separated again. Xia Huna looked at Charizard still flapping its wings at low altitude. The annoying thing about these flying creatures was their ability to create distance.
Xia Huna clapped his hands. "Greninja, Hexa-Ninja Formation."
Clones surrounded the airborne Charizard on the ground. Yu Longdu didn't understand the purpose of this move. As long as Charizard remained in the air, it wouldn't be easily hit. But as Greninja continuously circled on the ground, Xia Huna's lips curved into a strange smile, as if to say, I knew from the start you would fly up.
Yu Longdu was well aware of Xia Huna's capacity for unconventional ideas. Seeing Xia Huna's smile, he became hesitant to launch an immediate attack and opted for a conservative defense, having Charizard retreat. Seeing Charizard withdraw, Xia Huna changed tactics. "Greninja, use Water Step!"
Since he had replaced Water Pulse with Water Shuriken, he couldn't execute the original Four Symbols combination. However, this didn't affect the use of Water Step. As for the coordination between Water Shuriken and Dark Pulse, that would be for later.
The Greninja clones leaped up one after another, attacking Charizard from behind. Xia Huna watched the Greninja clones getting closer and closer to Charizard and thought that perhaps he should sort out Greninja's moves properly. For example, Water Step and its falling palm technique were quite similar.
Greninja's Dark Pulse was directed at Charizard, but Charizard dodged the Dark Pulse aimed at its body by spinning in the air.
"Charizard, ascend, use Wing Attack!"
"Greninja, if you miss, retreat. We don't want to get into a direct confrontation. Why should an assassin face off directly against a warrior?"
The two sides clashed for a few more rounds, but neither gained a significant advantage. Yu Longdu asked Xia Huna, "Doesn't your Greninja have some ultimate move? Why aren't you using it? I'm quite curious to see it."
Xia Huna shrugged. "Whether I can activate that thing or not, I don't even know myself. You can try, maybe I'll draw out that ultimate move with the gacha today."
Hearing Xia Huna say this, the school team members chuckled knowingly. The "gacha" playstyle, a playstyle Xia Huna had developed before with infinite possibilities. However, Xia Huna's current setup wasn't very suitable for initiating the gacha playstyle.
"Charizard, let's descend and engage in close combat."
While staying in the air was beneficial for dodging Greninja's projectile attacks, it was also difficult to attack Greninja from a distance.
"Charizard, use Dragon Claw!"
Charizard's claws ignited, and it swiped at Greninja. Greninja dodged to the left but was then swept by Charizard's tail as it spun its body. Greninja was sent flying backward and fell to the ground. Yu Longdu shouted towards Xia Huna, "How about that? Didn't expect it, did you? My close-combat ability has also significantly improved."
Xia Huna frowned. The intelligence of this move set was comparable to that of a simpleton. If he remembered correctly, Yu Longdu's Charizard was trained for Special Attack. It had the same EV allocation as Greninja. Bringing out a Dragon Claw to broaden the attack range was understandable, but bringing out Dragon Tail was truly absurd. However, the battle was still ongoing, and Xia Huna decided to discuss this later.
"Greninja, use Ice Beam!"
"Charizard, Fire Blast!"
The two moves collided head-on, creating a large cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Greninja had vanished from in front of Charizard.
"Charizard, watch your back!"
As Charizard turned, it was immobilized by Greninja's Dark Pulse aimed at its head. "Sorry, it's my turn now. Greninja, use Tai Chi Slam!"
After evolving into Greninja, its weight had significantly increased, now around forty kilograms. Combined with Tai Chi, it could throw something weighing over one hundred and twenty kilograms. Dealing with a Charizard weighing less than one hundred kilograms was more than enough.
Greninja's leg stepped on Charizard's neck, and with a twist of its hands, it directly slammed Charizard down. Charizard fell backward, and Greninja jumped to the side, avoiding the falling Charizard.
While Greninja's attack didn't deal particularly high damage, its control effect was very strong. Charizard, with its back of the head hitting the ground, groggily got up. Xia Huna smiled. "I almost forgot I had this move."
"Charizard, get up! We need to prepare our counterattack! Let me show you the new move my Charizard and I have trained!"
Meanwhile, Xia Huna, having received a system prompt, reached for the weapon at his waist. "Then let's go."