Chapter 236: An Analysis Like Digging Up a Family Tree
The moment the referee waved his flag to signal the start, Arthur immediately gave the command.
"Greninja, Double Team, attack!"
On the other side, Elijah also showed complete trust, using a forward flash at the very start.
"Gallade, Teleport!"
And on the opposing side, Whimsicott first rode the wind to float up, proactively meeting its teammate Magnezone, and then, exactly as Arthur had predicted, its mischief began!
"Use Stun Spore!"
Greninja, already halfway through its charge, instantly stopped. The main body and all its clones halted mid-path.
However, the opponent's desire to make mischief was exceptionally firm.
"Magnezone, use Lock-On!"
The Normal-type skill: Lock-On. It marks the enemy's main body, ignoring all interference from stealth, clones, or smoke.
Immediately, a red bullseye symbol appeared on Greninja's chest, conspicuously distinguishing it from the surrounding clones.
The "Lock-On" move dealt no damage; it was purely a mark. Its cooldown was also not short at all, comparable to an ultimate move, so it was rarely used on the competitive scene.
However, at this moment, the opponent didn't hold back at all. Even at the cost of giving up the initiative for the next ten-plus seconds, they had to lock onto Greninja's main body to make it easier for Whimsicott to blow "Stun Spore" over.
At this moment, on the sidelines, Bella and Luna both shot to their feet.
"This is bad," they thought.
They had already realized something was wrong.
On the field, Arthur was the same. At this moment, he finally understood where his vague, ominous premonition before the match had come from.
The opponent had completely targeted his fatal flaw!
At the same time, on the Demon King Team's side, the analysis team on the sidelines saw the grim expression on Arthur's face in the camera feed and began to clap and high-five each other, cheering as if they had already won.
All of this stemmed from their entire team's comprehensive analysis of Arthur as a person before the match, an analysis so detailed it was comparable to digging up someone's family tree!
Before the match, an analyst had introduced him like this: "This rookie named Arthur first appeared in the public eye at the end of Alliance Year 252. At that time, he was briefly associated with the Legendary Pokémon Suicune due to a short video that was later deleted, which allowed him to briefly trend in the regional searches.
Why this rookie is related to the Legendary Pokémon Suicune is currently unknown due to a lack of data. But analyzing his subsequent series of actions, from participating in amateur leagues, to streaming at sea, and even appearing in the Star Brilliance Alliance, this person's behavioral logic and style are less like a feral child raised by a legendary beast in the mountains, and more like a young soldier with a military background!
During his time in Star Brilliance, he was suspected of being involved with the Alliance military, which can also be used as supporting evidence.
Using this to build a character model and applying some of the behavioral characteristics of military trainers, we can roughly deduce that this player's most likely characteristic is: he values a Pokémon's conventional combat power, and is prone to neglecting defenses against various status conditions in the arena!"
This was not an unfounded accusation, but because most trainers with a military background shared this common characteristic!
Because on a real battlefield, the most common method for those soldiers to deal with abnormal statuses was always to recall the Pokémon to its Poké Ball and then use medicine.
When logistical supplies were abundant, they would even deliberately prevent Pokémon from using their own skills to deal with abnormal statuses, in order to save the Pokémon's stamina and energy.
In the minds of these people, every bit of a Pokémon's stamina and energy on the battlefield was precious, so if a problem could be solved with medicine, they would try not to use a skill.
This huge difference in underlying concepts and behavioral logic was also one of the major reasons why the various Alliance militaries gradually stopped participating in modern Pokémon competitions.
And all of this had been dug up by the Demon King Team's analysis team!
In just a few short days, they had stayed up all night to watch every single one of Arthur's match recordings, live stream recordings, video materials, and news reports that could be found online. From character analysis to behavioral logic, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they had done everything short of stealing Arthur's underwear for lab testing.
In a sense, they were indeed a professional team.
And this time, they had undoubtedly targeted Arthur's character weakness!
The moment Arthur saw Whimsicott spread "Stun Spore," he understood the opponent's intention.
He even guessed at the same time that this Whimsicott's ability must be Prankster.
Ability - Prankster: Pokémon with this ability dislike harming others but are keen on playing tricks. When using non-damaging skills, their cooldown period is greatly shortened.
The opponent then revealed their dagger. After "Stun Spore," Whimsicott immediately began to spread "Poison Powder."
The next step was probably the speed-reducing "Cotton Spore."
And with Greninja's main body locked on, even if it created clones, it couldn't dodge the tracking powders.
At this time, the opponent's intention for using Magnezone was also completely exposed—
Electric-type Pokémon cannot be paralyzed, and Steel-type Pokémon cannot be poisoned.
And Magnezone's typing happened to be Electric/Steel.
So it could recklessly roll around and bathe in its teammate's Stun Spore and Poison Powder without worrying about being affected itself.
Faced with such a thorough targeting, even Arthur couldn't help but feel a sense of powerlessness.
He quickly asked Elijah beside him, "Can you cure these statuses?"
Elijah replied helplessly, "I have 'Rest,' but I can't help you."
Elijah came from a formal training background. Unlike a real-combat pragmatist like Arthur, his Pokémon would not be left with such an obvious shortcoming. To deal with such status attacks, his Gallade at least had the common move "Rest" to cope.
The Psychic-type skill: Rest. It heals injuries and removes all abnormal statuses such as paralysis and poison through sleep.
However, this move could only be used on oneself; it couldn't help a teammate.
Arthur helplessly let out a breath and instantly made up his mind.
He was also a decisive person. There was no room for indecisiveness at a time like this: "I'm going to force a trade with Whimsicott, you coordinate with me! Before I'm knocked out, I'll cover your Gallade's retreat to use Rest."
He had already prepared to have Greninja trade one-for-one with Whimsicott.
Otherwise, a Greninja successively afflicted with poison, paralysis, and even more status effects later on was destined to be unable to function effectively in the subsequent battle.
"Okay!" Elijah nodded grimly.
Subsequently, Greninja no longer cared about evading the drifting powders.
"Shadow Sneak! Main body, go directly!"
"Gallade, Psycho Cut! Cut down Whimsicott!"
Their focus fire was instantly synchronized!
And Magnezone clearly couldn't protect its little fairy teammate from two high-speed, high-agility assassin-type Pokémon.
To be precise, it seemed it had no intention of trying very hard to protect it.
The opposing Whimsicott was not strong. Arthur quickly judged that this was likely a Whimsicott that had been forcefully evolved with an evolution stone. Its foundation was not solid at all, and its movements and combat power were all very mediocre, even a bit unsightly.
Arthur was not surprised by this.
Or rather, this was in line with the style and temperament of the Demon King Team.
"There's hope!" he clenched his fist at this moment.
As long as they achieved a one-for-one trade, there was not necessarily no chance in the subsequent battle.
However, at this moment, after Whimsicott had released "Stun Spore," "Poison Powder," and "Cotton Spore" in order, its trainer gave an incomparably cold command: "Use Memento."
In that instant, the Whimsicott on the field did not respond immediately.
But Arthur's eyes widened in an instant, and for the first time on the competitive field, he showed extremely obvious shock and anger.
"No!"
Seeing Whimsicott not executing the command immediately, the trainer coldly issued a second command: "Whimsicott, use Memento!"
"Stop it, Greninja! Take it down quickly, now!!"
Whimsicott was still struggling. It still had not carried out the command, and large tears welled up in its cherry-colored eyes.
It was crying.
And at this time, Greninja's attacks became even more frantic.
"Save it, Greninja!" Arthur shouted.
It was very ironic: at this moment, the Greninja on the field that was constantly attacking Whimsicott was actually trying to save it, while its own master, commanding it in battle, was coldly pushing it into the abyss.
Memento: A Dark-type skill. Through an extremely cruel act of self-harm, it passes a cursed gift to an enemy, applying a curse of weakness and energy suppression for a period of time. The user itself will fall into a near-death state as a result, and its life may even be endangered.
(End of Chapter)
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