Chapter 231: The Foul Tactic
This double battle was on the verge of breaking the twenty-minute mark.
For a Pokémon competition, this match duration was extremely rare.
After fighting for so long, even Blaziken couldn't help but bend over and rest its hands on its knees.
The Blissey it had kicked dozens of times was fine, but the Pokémon doing the kicking was already on the verge of collapse.
There was no justice in the world!
Up to this point, Arthur and his team were holding on by sheer willpower.
They still had a chance to win.
Ultimately, the randomness of "Metronome" was too great. If Clefable failed to roll a useful skill four or five times in a row, the opponent's skill cycle would run into problems.
After all, only Chloe's Clefable's proficiency with "Metronome" was at its peak, allowing it to use it once every three seconds or so; its other skills were not as fast.
As long as they could seize one of those "unlucky" moments, Arthur and his team still had a chance to break through the enemy's defense!
Unfortunately, such opportunities had been too few and far between so far.
Because in reality, Clefable could only roll skills within its own range of cognition; it couldn't just produce the exclusive ultimate moves of Legendary Pokémon.
For this reason, Chloe usually kept her Clefable on a specially controlled daily routine.
It was definitely not allowed to come into contact with skills like "Self-Destruct," so it wasn't so easy for it to screw itself over.
The previous "Leer," "Tail Whip," and "Rest" were purely because they were too common; Pokémon all over the street knew them, so it couldn't be controlled. And "Splash" was its own skill, one it knew naturally from its Cleffa stage. Nothing could be done about that.
Other than those, most of the skills this Clefable knew were still useful.
The chance of having a string of bad luck four or five times in a row was still very small.
But since they had already persevered to this point, they couldn't just give up, could they?
Another "Metronome"!
This time, Clefable rolled the skill "Sunny Day."
A ball of energy flew from its body, rose into the air, and released intense light and heat.
The Fire-type skill "Sunny Day," similar to the dark clouds brought by Pelipper's Drizzle ability, was also a pseudo-weather effect that could influence the small environment nearby.
Under the light's shroud, the power of Fire-type moves increased, the power of Water-type moves decreased, and Pokémon could no longer be frozen.
Asher's eyes lit up.
He realized this might be an opportunity.
Because Blaziken was a Fire-type Pokémon!
But immediately, Blaziken's path was blocked by a "Reflect" from Blissey.
The opponent was clearly also diligently guarding against the various negative situations that "Metronome" could bring about.
The four Pokémon continued their back-and-forth battle.
Another three seconds passed, and Clefable used "Metronome" once again!
"BOOM!!"
This time, the wagging of its finger instantly caused a violent roar!
It had rolled the Ground-type ultimate move "Earthquake"!
Caught completely off guard, all three Pokémon on the field besides Clefable were hit, including its teammate Blissey.
Randomness was truly something no one could predict, not even teammates.
And at this moment, hot blood rushed to Asher's face, and his eyes sharpened.
He could already see that his Blaziken was done for.
After fighting for so long, Blaziken's stamina and injuries had reached their limit.
Not every move rolled by "Metronome" could be dodged in time; there were always moments when they were caught off guard and couldn't avoid it.
Now, both Blaziken and Greninja were in extremely poor condition.
Of course, who on the field wasn't? Even that pink demon with its bottomless vitality was visibly tired now.
He glanced sideways at Arthur, then resolutely said in a low voice, "It's up to you now, brother."
Arthur was stunned for a moment.
A month ago, Asher would definitely not have said such a thing to him.
This senior was an extremely prideful guy. Even though he was very sensitive about his age due to the impending retirement deadline, he always liked to put on the airs of a battlefield veteran and lecture the rookies.
In the past, he would always love to show off in front of Elijah and Riju, the two rookies who had just come up from the youth training camp.
Arthur knew that what he wanted most was to show off in front of him, but he just couldn't muster the confidence, which left him in a very conflicted state.
Towards such a senior, Arthur had always just hoped for peaceful coexistence; he had no demands, nor had he ever thought of competing for anything.
Who would have thought that at this moment, he would hear the other party proactively entrust his hope to him, and with such a low, peer-like posture.
Before he could marvel at this unexpected development, the next moment he heard Asher roar with all his might, "Blaziken, Flare Blitz!"
This was the last of his Hamon!
His Blaziken had the more common Blaze ability. The more injured it was, the more vigorous its fire energy became, and the stronger its Fire-type moves!
Plus, Clefable had just delivered a "Sunny Day."
At this moment, the power of the Fire-type ultimate move "Flare Blitz" was buffed to its absolute strongest!
Blaziken erupted, its whole body ablaze, and charged headfirst into the Blissey that had been destabilized by "Earthquake."
"BOOM!"
A violent explosion followed the collision!
Afterward, Blaziken was the first to fall due to the recoil damage from this move.
The referee raised his flag—
"Blaziken is unable to battle, please—"
But before the referee could finish his verdict, the already-fallen Blaziken suddenly propped itself up and took another step.
With this one step, it headbutted Blissey, interrupting the "Heal Pulse" she was about to release.
"TWEEET!!"
In an instant, the referee's whistle became shrill, and he didn't even finish reading the verdict.
"Sea Carp Team player, foul!! First warning, please recall your Pokémon immediately!"
This was a very serious foul on the competitive field.
After the referee raises the flag, a Pokémon deemed unable to battle is not allowed to interfere with the situation on the field, even if it is still conscious.
The phrase "please recall your Pokémon as soon as possible," which the referee emphasizes with each verdict, was not just for show.
As a veteran, it was impossible for Asher not to know this.
Blaziken's action just now was clearly commanded by its trainer; it was just that the trainer deliberately didn't speak up.
Asher quickly took out his Poké Ball and recalled Blaziken.
And at this moment, Arthur understood the meaning of his previous words—
I've really done all I can do.
He had committed the foul on purpose!
Just like how traditional basketball and soccer have tactical fouls, as a veteran, Asher naturally knew the competition rules inside and out. No one understood fouls better than him.
As long as he didn't speak, this kind of delayed recall wouldn't be judged as intentional, and the warning wouldn't affect the outcome of the current match.
It would only get him banned from starting for the next three matches.
But the impact it had already caused was now irreversible, and the referee would not correct it.
Thus, his objective was achieved!
It was equivalent to trading a three-match ban for one opportunity!
An opportunity to interrupt "Heal Pulse" and let Arthur finish off that pink demon!
With Blaziken's state already destined for a KO, this was truly the absolute limit of what he could do!
This face-saving, showboating senior, at this moment, had truly and completely trusted Arthur!
Just as he had said: It's up to you now!
And Arthur, in that instant, understood his expectation.
"Use Fling!!"
Under the effect of "Sunny Day," the power of Water-type moves was reduced, so he didn't choose "Water Shuriken."
Blaziken's charge just now had created distance between the two sides. Blissey was about to release "Heal Pulse" again, and Greninja didn't have time to rush up and use "Dark Pulse" or "Night Slash."
At the last moment, the only thing Arthur could rely on was a ranged skill that Greninja had practiced a long time ago: Fling!
Casually grabbing a broken piece of rock from the field, Greninja threw it with all its might, in the posture of a baseball pitcher!
The healing wave was about to fall;
The enchanted stone was flying at high speed!
This battle, which had dragged on for over twenty minutes, suddenly reached its most thrilling moment!
(End of Chapter)
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 35 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you