Chapter 270: Why Did It Turn Out Like This?
From Minun's opening move, it was clear the opponent had a very defined role for it—
Minun was the support for this match.
The move Helping Hand did exactly what its name implied: it helped its teammate, amplifying the power of their moves.
After charging to the halfway point, Ampharos immediately stood its ground and began to discharge electricity. The light it emitted was as dazzling as a torch!
With the boost from its ability plus the buff from Helping Hand, this attack was explosive!
However, Arthur remained unhurried.
"Greninja, Spikes."
The opponent's idea was undoubtedly a good one, but unfortunately for them, this Greninja was not the same one from the beginning of the season.
After the battle against the rain-and-thunder combo, Arthur had immediately helped it learn Spikes!
Now, when facing Electric-type moves, he no longer had to be as helpless as before.
Greninja waved its hand, scattering a handful of energy-forged caltrops on the ground.
That wasn't the main point. The main point was that this was a Ground-type move—
With the help of its Protean ability, Greninja changed its type to Ground just before the electricity struck.
The Ground-type has a massive resistance to Electric-type damage!
The scorching electric arcs crashed down. When the bright light dissipated, Greninja only swayed slightly before shaking its head hard.
After a few quick tongue-waggles, it quickly returned to normal.
Although there's no such thing as complete immunity in reality, the attack had visibly minimal effect.
Then, Greninja strode forward to meet Ampharos, beginning its counterattack!
This scene made the worried home fans breathe a collective sigh of relief.
On the opposing side, both players raised their eyebrows.
"This doesn't match the intel!"
"That Greninja has improved so fast!"
They exchanged a look. With no time to marvel at Arthur's miraculous creativity, they immediately initiated their Plan B!
"Ampharos, fall back! Don't get into a close-quarters fight with it!"
"Minun, move up and regroup with Ampharos."
By now, Gallade had also summoned its Psycho Cut blades and was charging forward, following in Greninja's footsteps.
Even though Gallade had swords in hand while Greninja was temporarily empty-handed, the opponent was clearly more wary of Greninja!
The Ghost Dragon Team's Nidoking had already served as a living lesson for everyone, a vivid demonstration titled: Never Fight Arthur's Greninja in Melee!
It felt like everyone was playing an RPG adventure game, and suddenly some guy barges in, starts a fighting game with you, and then combo-locks you to death…
It was a terrible gaming experience!
Even if Derek was confident that his Ampharos was stronger than the Ghost Dragon Team's Nidoking, there was no need to ruin his own gaming experience at a time like this.
Ampharos retreated, while Greninja and Gallade gave chase!
Soon, the battle line was pushed from the center of the field to the opponent's side.
At this point, the short-legged Minun successfully regrouped with its retreating teammate.
Then, it continued forward, even passing the retreating Ampharos, as if fearlessly charging towards the approaching final boss, Greninja!
"Minun, use Entrainment!"
What the—!
Arthur was shocked!
As expected, where there's smoke, there's fire!
Without a doubt, this was their Plan B!
The Normal-type move Entrainment, a very niche move. Arthur was surprised that the opponent had even prepared for this.
The move's effect is to perform a captivating dance that induces a form of mental assimilation, forcing the opponent to become its dance partner and, for a period of time, adopt the same ability as the user.
This was undoubtedly the sharpest, most lethal counter to a Pokémon like Greninja, which relies on its ability!
If Greninja's ability was assimilated into Minus, it would no longer be able to turn into a Ground-type to become immune to Electric moves.
Caught off guard, Greninja made eye contact with Minun.
Then, it began to dance along, flailing its limbs in a bunny-hop, even giving the jumping Minun a high-five in mid-air. It was a picture of two best friends forever.
However, while their side looked heartwarming, behind each of them, danger was lurking!
"Ampharos, another Thunderbolt!"
"Gallade, full-power Psycho Cut on that Minun!"
The real killing intent from behind and the false warmth in front formed a stark contrast.
It was a perfect illustration of the phrase: fairy tales are full of lies.
At the last moment, the two "best friends" quickly separated.
"Greninja, Substitute!"
With its ability assimilated, Greninja was forced to use Substitute to save its life.
And Minun took the full force of Gallade's loaded Psycho Cut!
But in the eyes of the Yankee duo, it was still worth it.
"Ampharos, pursue Greninja!"
"Minun, run! Just focus on surviving."
Now, it was their turn!
Substitute has a self-damaging effect, similar to Curse, and cannot be used frequently. And without its Protean ability, Greninja couldn't withstand many of Ampharos's boosted Thunderbolts!
"Greninja, run! Stall for time!"
For a moment, Arthur could only give the same command as Minun's trainer.
They had to try and wait out the effect of Entrainment.
At this point, the opposing rookie, Derek, had a faint smile playing on his lips.
Plan B had succeeded!
He felt as if the goddess of victory was already smiling upon them.
However, just as he was silently gauging the distance between Ampharos and Greninja with a heart full of excitement and anticipation, Arthur suddenly said.
"Greninja, use Haze!"
What is that?!
This time, it was Derek's turn to be shocked.
This… was another new move that wasn't in their intelligence reports.
Greninja quickly brought its hands together in a seal, then slammed them on the ground. Instantly, a vast, thick black fog spread out!
As they say, a ninja just has to clap their hands together and shout for something to appear. So this was perfectly logical.
The haze obscured Ampharos's vision, causing it to lose track of Greninja. For a moment, it was completely blind, utterly stumped.
Electric-type moves are generally hard to dodge because the speed of the arc is extremely fast, with almost no travel time.
But no matter how fast the attack, you still have to aim first!
How the hell are you supposed to hit anything when your screen is completely black?!
Helpless, Derek was forced to use another move slot.
"Ampharos, use Discharge!"
The move Discharge unleashes an indiscriminate wave of electric arcs in a circle around the user. Its range is similar to Dark Pulse, a circular burst centered on itself.
The reason this was a forced move was that in terms of power, cooldown, type, and added effects, Discharge and Thunderbolt were largely the same.
Thunderbolt was slightly stronger, while Discharge had a slightly shorter cooldown, but their overall function was still severely redundant.
In a professional-level battle, this was a clear waste of a move slot!
With only six slots, you weren't supposed to use them like this.
But he had no choice.
Shrouded in haze, if Ampharos continued to use Thunderbolt, it wouldn't even be able to hit Greninja's shadow.
But what was even more infuriating was—even after using Discharge, he still missed!
The range of Haze was larger than the range of Discharge.
From the feedback Ampharos sent back through their telepathic link, it was clear the move had missed.
This left Derek feeling utterly depressed.
His first time using his treasured Plus and Minus lineup, and his first time successfully tripping up this year's Best Rookie. Two joys叠加在一起, should have resulted in a dream-like situation.
But, why did it turn out like this?
Why… can someone please tell me why the hell the opponent's Greninja suddenly has so many new moves?!
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