Chapter 428: A Minute on Stage, Ten Years of Practice Off Stage
Arthur had Little Eevee easily block the Sceptile's Grass Pledge with Protect.
It wasn't hard to block a move when you had already guessed the opponent's opening strategy.
In fact, knowing that his opponent would definitely switch Pokémon, Arthur hadn't even bothered to have Little Eevee evolve.
But this did not mean Arthur could relax.
Although Grass Pledge is an attacking move, capable of summoning pillars of grass from the ground and whipping up a storm of leaves to strike the enemy, its main purpose is not entirely damage.
It's that after the move is used, the ground near the target is dyed green with Grass-type energy.
A simple green field has no special effect.
But if this green field encounters another Pledge-type move before the Grass-type energy has dissipated, it can trigger a very strange energy reaction!
And the true ace that Roman was about to send out next, Swampert, just so happened to have the corresponding Water-type Pledge move—Water Pledge!
The Pledge moves are very rare. There are only three in total: Grass Pledge, Water Pledge, and Fire Pledge.
Very few Pokémon can master them. Only the starter series Pokémon can learn them.
Or perhaps it should be said that in this world, it is precisely by the ability to learn a Pledge move that the starters are defined.
Although Arthur's Old Flame and Lina also belong to the starter series, neither of them know Fire Pledge.
Greninja also had not yet learned Water Pledge. And even if it had, it would be useless. The opponent wanted the combination of Grass and Water Pledges.
Roman then sent out his Swampert. His opening command was also easy to guess.
"Swampert, use Tackle to accelerate forward! After you get close, use Water Pledge!"
The basic move: Tackle. A simple and unadorned charge at the opponent, its power negligible.
Roman didn't care about the damage. What he wanted was the acceleration effect during the charge.
A lower-tier version of Quick Attack.
The key is that basic moves have a fast cooldown, which ensures that the Swampert can release the crucial Water Pledge the moment it makes contact!
A pillar of water erupted from the ground!
The flowing water combined with the residual Grass-type energy on the green field, and in an instant, a strange reaction occurred—
The green field became soft and muddy, the air moist!
Half of the arena's floor was quickly transformed into a muddy swamp in just one second!
There was no leverage on the soft swamp, and this swamp, formed by the reaction of two types of energy, was far more viscous than a normal swamp in nature. It had a stunning suction force.
This made it so that every Pokémon standing in this swamp had to use all its strength just to lift its feet. If it wanted to take off, it would be met with a multiplied suction force!
Even the most agile Pokémon would not be able to perform high-speed dodges and maneuvers within the range of the swamp.
And this was exactly the effect Roman wanted to achieve!
This opening of two Pledges had almost become his signature move.
And against this, Arthur's previous response was—
"Little Eevee, use Baby-Doll Eyes! Then evolve into a Leafeon!"
Evolving into a Leafeon in this round was a given.
Swampert is a Water/Ground type, with only one weakness: Grass.
But after using Protect, Arthur's second move was the non-damaging Baby-Doll Eyes. It was hard not to draw a certain conclusion.
The fans all exclaimed, "What the hell?! He's not going to do that again, is he?!"
"Is it starting again? Arthur's dark personality!"
Because Arthur's performance in that one match at the All-Star Weekend had been so abnormal, the imaginative netizens had come up with an explanation of a "dark personality."
It was quite the meme.
And in reality, Arthur had been preparing for this match against Roman at that time!
Taking advantage of the long cooldown after his opponent had used Water Pledge, Arthur had his Leafeon quickly add a Leech Seed!
And then, the moment all of the previous training had been waiting for had finally arrived!
Roman's Swampert, after its cooldown period ended, immediately used its signature ultimate move—
"Swampert, Hammer Arm!"
In that instant, Swampert's right hand clenched into a fist. The muscles on its entire right arm bulged, the green veins on it clearly visible!
It swung its arm like a hammer!
The descending arm was like a city-breaching siege hammer!
The Fighting-type ultimate move: Hammer Arm!
And at this moment, Arthur's response was exactly as the vast majority of fans had foreseen—
"Little Eevee, Sand Attack!"
Sand Attack!
Sand Attack again!
The reason Little Eevee had practiced Sand Attack for a whole round with the Toxicroak before was all in preparation for this moment!
Using Sand Attack to make a Toxicroak's Poison Jab miss wasn't a particularly great trade, and the success rate was not 100%. That risk had seemed inexplicable to the audience at the time, as if it were purely for fun.
But now it was different!
If you're facing a close-range burst ultimate like Hammer Arm, if you can really deflect it with a cheap handful of sand, that would undoubtedly be a huge win!
But the problem still existed—
The success rate of this strategy could never be guaranteed to be 100%!
Sand Attack only works if it gets in the opponent's eyes. This requires the timing of the release to be extremely, extremely precise! A hair's breadth of difference, and you've missed by a mile!
Otherwise, if the sand just hits other parts of the enemy's body, it doesn't even count as chip damage. At most, it's a sand bath…
Countless people were wondering: Can it really work?
"Now—"
Arthur spoke!
And Roman immediately realized something was wrong, shouting a warning, "Look up, Swampert!"
But in the end, Arthur was faster.
"—Little Eevee, Sand Attack!"
A handful of sand was thrown!
Within the swamp, even if Leafeon used Sunny Day to trigger its Chlorophyll ability, there wasn't much room to maneuver.
The combination of the Water and Grass Pledges was too much of a counter to agile Pokémon.
Conventional speed and evasion were completely useless in the swamp. That's why Arthur had come up with the out-of-the-box idea of using Sand Attack to limit Swampert's close-range burst!
He had been pondering this strategy ever since his regular season loss to the Metro team. When he had first proposed the idea, it had sounded like a work of surrealist, absurdist art.
But to Arthur's great surprise, both his teammates and the headmistress had given him their full trust!
Putting the captain up front, sending him to guard the final captain's battle.
Everyone had agreed to his seemingly impossible idea without a second thought.
He could not betray this trust!
And he certainly could not betray Little Eevee, who had been practicing the Sand Attack technique with him day after day for these past few weeks!
In fact, long before that match where Little Eevee had practiced on the Toxicroak, he had already practiced Sand Attack no less than a hundred thousand times off the stage!
A minute on stage, ten years of practice off stage!
The suffering of the Toxicroak at that time was not without reason.
The moment Arthur's voice fell, the sand had already been thrown!
So practiced it was heartbreaking.
A hit!
Then, a massive "BOOM!"
The Hammer Arm crashed down, sending mud splashing, the sound deafening!
As if a high-explosive landmine had been detonated in the swamp. The power of the ultimate move was terrifying!
But at this moment, very few people were paying attention to the power of the ultimate. The commentators were the first to shout anxiously.
"Did it hit?!"
The audience was also on the edge of their seats, waiting to know the outcome.
And in the next moment, the Leafeon was the first to leap out of the muddy swamp with difficulty.
Completely unharmed!
In an instant, the audience in the stadium erupted in thunderous applause!
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