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Umbreon shook its head and stood back up as if nothing had happened, which was a little beyond Luther's expectations.
But thinking it over, from the very start of this battle, Umbreon's role had been to support Xatu. In other words, Risa had deliberately focused on training Umbreon's defensive capabilities.
Umbreon closed its eyes, and a strange light flashed briefly in midair.
'Wish?'
At the same time, Xatu, having used 'Calm Mind' once, spread its wings, and a vast surge of psychic power poured out. Marill, standing at the front, was the first to sense that something was wrong.
This felt exactly the same as when she had acted as a punching bag while sparring with Kirlia. Marill grabbed the sleeping Gengar and hurriedly retreated, but Mira suddenly waved her fist and shouted,
"'Sleep Talk!'"
Luther looked at Mira in astonishment. Xatu was clearly covering Umbreon with everything it had; the range of the Psychic waves covered nearly half the field, and 'you still want to gamble on a random attack here'?
"Don't chicken out! Why give her time to recover? This is exactly when you should attack! You can't back off just because Psychic has a wide range; timing is everything! Show some courage!"
'…What kind of heroic declaration was that?'
'Just moments ago, you were baiting moves with flawless precision. Luther had even been about to ask why you were so experienced at that. And now you're suddenly charging in headfirst?'
Luther really wanted to calmly issue an order and have Marill use 'Work Up' once more. But Gengar had already charged in while taking damage, standing idle now would feel like outright abandoning his teammate.
Thinking of what Mira had just said, Luther suddenly felt that it all seemed very 'Showa-era'.
Well then… Showa it is.
"Use 'Ice Beam' on Xatu, cover Gengar!"
Luther suddenly wondered if 'he' had turned into the wingman.
Gengar's 'Sleep Talk' randomly triggered 'Drain Punch'. Umbreon didn't retreat and countered with 'Dark Pulse' instead.
The two Pokémon collided head-on without dodging or yielding. Marill, barely making it in time thanks to Trick Room's speed reversal, swept an Ice Beam across the field, intercepting Xatu just as it was about to take off to assist Umbreon.
At the same time, Luther seemed to realize something and glanced at Mira.
Mira was grinning right back at him.
As expected, the reckless charge was fake. Splitting the battlefield was the real goal.
Although Luther had gained the upper hand earlier by reading the Gym Leaders' moves, their coordination was still there, and their doubles strategies were rich and varied. It wasn't impossible for them to recover their rhythm and counterattack.
But once the battlefield was split, the battle turned into separate one-on-one fights.
That was the kind of battle both Mira and Luther were most familiar with, the format where individual strength could be brought to bear directly.
Umbreon's 'Wish' had created a brief, exploitable opening, so Xatu had used 'Psychic' to defend.
This tactic had probably worked countless times before. Most people wouldn't dare take a Calm Mind–boosted Psychic head-on, especially not a type-disadvantaged Gengar.
But Mira dared to do exactly that. She saw the timing and decisively cut in. It didn't matter what move Sleep Talk triggered, and it didn't matter whether it hit Xatu or Umbreon. What she wanted was 'this', the current one-on-one situation.
If Luther hadn't followed up just now, the opportunity Mira seized would have been completely wasted, and Gengar would have ended up in danger, trapped within the attack range of two Pokémon.
"So you really trusted that I'd follow up?" Luther asked.
He felt that Mira hadn't been gambling on whether he would move, but was absolutely certain that he would, that he would never let her plan fail.
After taking a Dark Pulse, Gengar was jolted awake by the pain. Reassessing the situation, it lunged straight toward Umbreon.
Mira's command was simple: do everything possible to prevent Umbreon and Xatu from regrouping.
This was no easy task for Gengar. It was type-disadvantaged against Umbreon, and the Fighting-type move it excelled at, 'Drain Punch', was hard to land on a speed-boosted Umbreon.
Using its speed and exceptional defensive power, Umbreon steadily wore down Gengar's stamina.
Luther noticed Mira's Gengar's predicament and understood, Mira was buying him time.
The battle had now become soldier versus soldier, general versus general.
The main attackers, Xatu and Marill, were also locked in fierce combat. Unlike Mira's side, Luther's matchup had the advantage.
Because Trick Room hadn't worn off yet, Marill's speed remained high, causing Xatu's attempt to recover stamina with 'Giga Drain' to fail.
Marill seized the moment and smashed an 'Ice Punch' into Xatu, then shoved hard, sending it flying and completely separating it from Umbreon, cutting off any chance of avoiding Marill and regrouping.
Risa anxiously looked toward Kenichi. Although her Umbreon held the upper hand, finishing off Gengar wasn't easy. Gengar had successfully stolen stamina once with 'Drain Punch', allowing Mira to immediately adjust the battle rhythm and shift into a stalling approach.
Meanwhile, Kenichi's Xatu was being relentlessly pressured at close range by Marill. Xatu couldn't even properly adjust its posture to use Psychic-type moves and could only hurriedly fire off 'Air Slash' in response.
When that happened, the Trick Room enveloping the entire field finally dissipated.
Sensing that Trick Room had ended, Kenichi was overjoyed. "Xatu, 'Rest'!"
Xatu, having just been knocked away by Brick Break, immediately closed its eyes upon hearing the command, recovering its stamina.
Regaining its speed, Gengar happily zipped around Umbreon in circles. It wasn't in a hurry to deal damage, instead, it started pulling faces at Umbreon, deliberately disrupting Umbreon's mindset.
Seeing Xatu recovering stamina, Marill grew anxious. She desperately wanted to rush forward and land another Ice Punch, but Luther hadn't given an order, so she didn't move.
Luther would never let such an opportunity slip by. If he said nothing, it meant he had other plans, this was the tacit understanding Marill had developed with him over a long time.
Many people in the stands couldn't understand this choice. Xatu was practically a sitting target; if it were them, they would definitely rush in and attack. Letting Xatu recover so comfortably was outrageous.
Did Luther even know how to battle?
"'Work Up'."
When Kenichi heard Luther's command, he let out a deep sigh. "Young people these days are terrifying."
At that instant, Risa also realized that Kenichi could no longer stop Luther, so she began launching a frantic all-out assault on Gengar.
Enduring the damage from Dark Pulse, Gengar grit its teeth and released the extremely stamina-consuming 'Trick Room' once more.
Mira extended her fist and bumped it against Luther's. "My Gengar's about to go down. A double knockout shouldn't be hard, right?"
"Has anyone ever told you you're a great teammate?" Luther couldn't help praising her. "If not, I'll say it first."
Once again boosted to maximum speed, Marill dragged afterimages behind her as she threw a punch into Xatu. The shimmering points of light surrounding Xatu scattered and vanished.
From the very start of the battle, Luther had been wary that Xatu and Umbreon might be running a synchronized setup, which was why he had warned Mira early on.
However, when he saw Xatu enter Rest without any hesitation, Luther's heart skipped a beat, he seemed to realize something.
Xatu's stamina had been severely worn down, but with Trick Room already gone, it should have relied on speed to dodge moves and let Umbreon protect it instead.
There was only one possibility for using Rest alone like this, this Xatu wouldn't fall into prolonged sleep.
It wasn't running Synchronize at all. It had 'Early Bird'.
Xatu, which had already woken up early, had fully gathered the energy for 'Giga Drain', waiting to catch Marill off guard the moment she closed in.
But Luther had seen through it. He held his position and chose to continue boosting instead, aiming for one-hit-kill power, completely shattering Kenichi's calculations.
Mira hadn't only been focused on her own battle; she had also analyzed Luther's situation. At the critical moment of Luther's move, she endured the damage and set up Trick Room again.
Mira had read the situation, and read her teammate's actions as well, leaving Kenichi feeling utterly powerless.
His Xatu was eliminated by the combined efforts of Mira and Luther.
After being battered by consecutive moves, Gengar lost its ability to battle, and Xatu collapsed unconscious as well.
Empowered by Trick Room, Marill turned her gaze toward the panting Umbreon.
"'Wish!'"
"'Focus Punch'."
After being boosted twice and using 'Bulk Up', Umbreon, despite having just used Wish, didn't dare use any move to interfere with Marill. Instead, it started running, trying to evade.
But the effect provided by Trick Room plunged Umbreon into despair. Before Umbreon could even get moving properly, Marill caught up, and the fully powered Focus Punch struck cleanly.
Umbreon was blasted out of the arena, only falling from the air afterward, completely losing its ability to battle.
'(End of Chapter)'
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New Novels- 1. One Piece- Maxed Out Conqueror's Haki!
2. One Piece- Master Of Devil Fruits
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