Chapter 260: Even Among Aces, There Are Levels
Will had observed this Gogoat before. Its stats were higher than his, but not to the point of being overwhelming.
And...
Gogoat was different from other Grass-types. It specialized in physical Grass-type attacks and didn't learn tricky status moves like Stun Spore or Sleep Powder. This was great news for Will.
So...
Will didn't need to avoid a direct confrontation.
"Battle begin!"
BANG!
The starting pistol fired.
"Leech Seed!" Ramos commanded.
The bushes on Gogoat's back shot out sprouting seeds into the air.
Will looked up, remaining motionless.
The seeds flew past him, one by one, landing on the ground around him.
"Sunny Day." Ramos ordered again.
"Go~"
Gogoat roared at the sky. The overcast sky instantly cleared, and the sunlight became intense.
Will glanced at the blazing sun, his expression turning strange.
This move was indeed unexpected.
But...
Wasn't this helping him?
"Mud Shot!"
Gogoat spat out balls of mud continuously.
"What is he doing?"
Will still stood still, but this time he frowned.
Something was wrong.
First Leech Seed, now Mud Shot. Gogoat wasn't aiming at him. It was aiming at the ground around him.
"Trying to restrict my movement? But won't that restrict his own movement too?"
Will looked at the ground. It was covered in sprouting vines and sticky mud. It was hard to find footing; one misstep and he'd be caught.
But the problem was... Gogoat relied on running even more than Piplup did. For a Gogoat, nothing was more important than flat, clean ground.
Although he didn't know what Ramos was planning, Will wasn't going to just sit there and wait to die.
He stomped his foot. A massive wave, seven or eight meters high, surged from beneath him, crashing down on the surrounding ground. Surf.
Woosh~
The wave swept through, washing all the Leech Seeds and mud off the field.
"Hoho, clever little guy." Ramos grinned, stroking his beard. "Was it too obvious?"
He had planned to follow up with Earthquake.
If he used Earthquake, Will would have to jump to avoid damage. But at the same time, the seeds and mud would be shaken into the air, ensnaring the airborne Will who couldn't dodge easily.
Ramos had prepared this tactic specifically for Will. Having watched the previous matches, he knew Will's evasion was exceptional. So he designed this strategy to limit him. If even one seed or glob of mud stuck, Will's evasion would plummet.
Unfortunately, Ramos's scheme was a bit too obvious. He didn't even try to hide it. Otherwise, Will might not have noticed.
Though it wouldn't have mattered much. Will could have just used an Aura Barrier to block everything.
"Since that didn't work... Magical Leaf."
"Go~"
Gogoat shook its body. Dozens of glowing leaves shot toward Will from all directions.
Will didn't bother dodging. He waved his flippers.
A biting cold wind materialized behind him, blowing fiercely toward Gogoat, sweeping away the incoming leaves in the process. Blizzard.
Sunny Day had an interesting effect. It boosted Fire damage and lowered Water damage, but it had no effect on Ice.
So Will's Blizzard was a full-power Ice-type ultimate move.
"Dig."
Gogoat dove underground, vanishing instantly.
To the audience, Will now looked like a headless chicken, unable to see his opponent.
"Heh." Will smirked.
He stomped the ground hard.
BOOM!
A massive pillar of rock erupted from the earth, forcibly launching Gogoat out of the ground. Stone Edge.
"Go!!"
Gogoat cried out in pain.
This was clearly unexpected for everyone.
Ramos fell into thought, then suddenly realized something. "I see. It's not just powerful evasion... he has some kind of bizarre sensory ability?"
Ramos had figured it out. He looked up at the airborne Gogoat.
"Aerial Ace."
"Go."
Using the momentum from falling, Gogoat glided toward Will with blinding speed.
"Hard to dodge..." Will pressed his lips together, giving up on dodging.
Even with Extreme Speed, he wouldn't be faster than Gogoat using Aerial Ace. The success rate of dodging was too low.
So Will gave up on evasion.
He spread his flippers, erecting an Aura Barrier in front of him.
CRASH!
The moment the barrier formed, Gogoat slammed into it.
Will was sent flying backward, tumbling several times on the ground.
"Need to be faster on the offense," Ramos muttered.
Aerial Ace was special. It gave the user a burst of extreme speed, making the attack unavoidable—"fooling the opponent with agility before striking."
Gogoat itself wasn't fast. It relied entirely on Aerial Ace to hit.
But using Aerial Ace in the air and on the ground were two different things. Ramos didn't think a ground-based Aerial Ace could match the speed of the one just now.
So, he decided to change tactics.
On the other side, Will bounced up from the ground, rotating his shoulders.
Gogoat's hit was powerful. Those 8 levels of difference weren't for show. But thanks to the Aura Barrier, the damage was limited.
Seeing Gogoat wasn't attacking again immediately, Will took the initiative.
He kicked off, skating across the battlefield at high speed. A thin layer of ice formed wherever he passed; if Gogoat stepped on it, it would slip.
"Ice Spinner? Isn't that speed a bit exaggerated?"
Ramos frowned, staring at the blue blur on the field. Human eyes could barely track it.
He didn't know that it wasn't just Ice Spinner... it was Ice Spinner boosted by Extreme Speed.
"Gogoat, Earthquake."
"Go."
RUMBLE!
Gogoat stomped rapidly. Shockwaves tore through the ground, shattering the ice.
But by then, Will was already airborne, kicking Gogoat right in the face.
SMACK!
Gogoat, still in the middle of Earthquake, was sent flying by the kick. It crashed heavily into the ground, kicking up dust.
Ice-type moves were super effective against the Grass-type Gogoat. Even with its higher level and tankiness, taking an Ice Spinner hurt.
Will wiped his beak and pressed the attack.
Using Extreme Speed, he leaped into the air, spinning like a drill and diving toward Gogoat. Drill Peck.
"Now! Horn Leech!"
"Go!"
Gogoat jerked its head up. Its horns glowed green as it thrust them forward.
CLASH!
The two collided.
Will instantly felt his stamina draining rapidly.
Gogoat, on the other hand... although it took massive damage from the Flying-type Drill Peck, it recovered some health thanks to Horn Leech.
And Will, hit by a Grass-type move, took massive damage. Two more hits like that, and he'd be out.
This was why he didn't want to fight Ramos. Getting hit once was life-threatening.
But at that moment...
Will didn't retreat. Instead, he reached out and grabbed Gogoat's horns.
"Hm?!" Ramos frowned, sensing danger. "Razor Leaf!"
But it was too late.
Will opened his beak and spat out a gray-white ball. Under the intense sunlight, the ball instantly turned fiery red.
PFFT!
Will spat the fiery ball right into Gogoat's face at point-blank range, then kicked off Gogoat's face to retreat.
BOOM~
A massive explosion rang out.
The audience stood up in shock.
Gogoat was engulfed in raging flames!
"It's Weather Ball! Ramos's Sunny Day didn't weaken Piplup; it helped him use a Fire-type Weather Ball!"
An experienced spectator spotted it immediately.
Will had used the move he learned by accident: Weather Ball.
He hadn't expected to use it until Ramos set up Sunny Day at the start. Ramos probably intended to weaken Water-type moves.
But Ramos hadn't realized Will never intended to use Water moves. He had plenty of Ice and Flying moves; why use a resisted Water move?
Instead, Sunny Day turned Weather Ball into a 100-power Fire-type nuke, dealing super-effective damage to Gogoat.
Now, Gogoat was rolling on the ground to put out the fire.
Will wasn't going to miss this chance.
A beam of freezing light shot out. Ice Beam.
It hit Gogoat square on, giving it the experience of fire and ice.
After that hit, Gogoat couldn't hold on any longer. Its eyes swirled, and it fainted.
"WOOOAH!!"
"That Piplup beat Ramos's Gogoat!"
"Unbelievable! A Water-type won against a type disadvantage!"
"Who knew Piplup could learn Weather Ball? That move is so niche, I've never even heard of it being used like this!"
The Ace vs. Ace battle ended.
Will stood panting, relieved.
Even if they lost the rest of the match, he and Lorelei had earned enough glory.
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