"Spinning Kick!"
The giant pressed the advantage, unwilling to let Lairon go, determined to take it down in one go.
"Iron Wall!"
Baimu still foolishly chose to defend.
The giant didn't understand what the opponent intended to do, or what unexpected strategy they might use. He only knew that no matter what transformation techniques they had, as long as he took down the Pokémon before they could use them, it would be fine!
Hitmontop spun forward, advancing with two legs and a tail whipping, leaving only afterimages, making it look terrifying.
But Lairon did not fear it.
On the contrary, it roared loudly, as if welcoming Hitmontop, allowing a silver halo to envelop its body, stepping forward to charge toward the incoming Hitmontop!
Boom boom boom boom!
The spinning kicks, like a torrential storm, immediately began pounding on Lairon's forehead!
Normally, two Iron Walls would reduce the fourfold effect of a Fighting-type physical move to nearly a onefold effect, but as previously mentioned, increases in skill power no longer improve by percentage, but by skill proficiency.
In other words, even though Lairon used Iron Wall twice, it still couldn't neutralize its fourfold weakness.
It was once again brutally hit!
But.
Compared to the last time it was sent flying, the injured Lairon instead stood its ground, gritting its teeth to withstand Hitmontop's kicks, eyes filled with burning anger and unyielding resolve.
Seeing this, Baimu immediately shouted, "Hold on! You can do it!"
"Grrr—ooo!"
Lairon gave a muffled roar in response, staring intently at Hitmontop right in front of it, its stamina constantly decreasing, yet its spirit rising!
In this moment.
The stadium seemed to fall silent, becoming unbelievably quiet.
Baimu and Lairon had entered a wondrous state, ignoring everything around them.
And then.
"Now! Brute Force!"
He roared with a restrained fury that exploded suddenly, as if he was possessed by Lairon, "Ram it for me!"
"Grrr-oo!!"
Lairon joined in the roar, mustering the last of its strength, its four hooves stepping out as its entire body emitted a dazzling white light, fiercely countering back toward Hitmontop!
Bam!
The air exploded with a massive boom!
What immense power!
Even Hitmontop, who had been continuously kicking Lairon, couldn't help but change its expression drastically, its face twisting as it was sent flying.
The giant wore an incredulous expression, while the commentator was screaming frantically:
"Lairon! Lairon has used Brute Force! A move that uses its remaining strength at its limits! What terrifying power! Audience, this is a move that returns all the damage it received!"
"Ah! Look! Where did Hitmontop land? Hitmontop landed in the still-spinning sandstorm! Could it be that Contestant Baimu calculated this in advance?"
As the words fell, the sandstorm that swallowed Hitmontop slowly dispersed.
Its head was buried in a massive pit, appearing before everyone in an upside-down position.
Beep—
A piercing alarm sounded.
"Audience, the AI has determined that Hitmontop has lost its ability to fight, and the first Pokémon to leave the match has appeared—ah, Lairon, Lairon has also fallen!"
The commentator looked regretfully at the Lairon that had fallen not far away.
"It seems that Brute Force already exhausted all its strength, but we still want to thank Lairon, for it showed us another fantastic reversal, another victory of the weak over the strong! Mr. White Bird, what do you think?"
"Heh, hehe... yes, you're right."
White Bird's mouth twitched, realizing that this commentator was one hundred percent targeting him.
Why?
Was there a grudge?
It seemed like he had offended Baimu too much, and the commentator found a hot topic and wouldn't let him go.
White Bird suddenly regretted taking the giant's money, cursing him in his mind.
This fool! Even a kid can put you on the back foot!
What promised results in the top four, to hell with that!
Deal with Baimu first!
In the stadium.
The giant felt a bit crumbled as well, because his Hitmontop had just prevailed, just forced Lairon down, how did it reverse suddenly like this.
Where did Lairon's Brute Force come from? It wasn't mentioned in the intel! And can it even use Brute Force?
The giant's mind was a bit scrambled.
On the other side.
Baimu was slightly regretful but still smiled as he patted Lairon's head, saying, "Thank you, you fought a very beautiful battle, rest assured now."
Evolution requires an opportunity, and the counterattack just now didn't capture it.
But as long as they continued, they would eventually find it. Evolution could even happen without battle, as there were countless examples of that in other regions.
"It's time to continue towards victory."
He tossed out the Pokeball.
The flickering white light successfully brought the giant man's mind back, but without a doubt, he had already lost the advantage.
As for this.
The giant man could only gamble that Hitmonlee could wake up quickly.
Facing the Mawile that landed, he sent out the still-sleeping Hitmonlee.
Baimu as usual gave no chance, having Mawile continuously use Fairy Wind to offer the latter a nightmare, and when Hitmonlee finally woke up, it was already in a state of complete exhaustion and fatigue.
Unable to even stand, it naturally could only collapse.
What made the giant man feel even more desperate was that when Mawile, panting from defeating Hitmonlee, quickly used both [Charging] and [Swallow], not only boosting its defenses but also partially restoring its stamina.
Even though Hitmonchan still had a fist left to use, there was no possibility of a comeback.
In the studio.
The host maintained his enthusiasm, occasionally turning his head to ask White Bird, who could only awkwardly laugh, saying a few clichés like 'Victory and defeat are common in warfare', 'Contestant Baimu's luck is really good', 'If it were me, I'd surely win'.
Causing many of the audience to burst out laughing, the arena was filled with a joyous atmosphere.
Everyone wasn't deaf; it was obvious that White Bird was knocking down Baimu while propping up the giant man, but who knew the giant man wasn't up to it! Ended up getting overturned by the underdog!
A bunch of gamblers tore up their betting slips while bitterly cursing White Bird.
"Why the hell did you open your mouth!"
"What kind of guest is this! Hah~tui!"
"Such a ghastly thing coming out of Silicon City!"
"I trusted you, damn it! Bet more at the last minute, and this is what I get?"
"I even swapped tickets with someone! I'm so regretting it!"
The wailing filled the side that bet on the giant man's victory, while those who backed Baimu, the dark horse, were laughing wildly, and those outside like Cheng Hong and others shouted themselves hoarse.
They made a fortune! Even if it's just a small windfall, they made a fortune!
The match advancing the top 16 to the top 8 also drew to a close along with the ending sound inside the arena.
"Let's congratulate Contestant Baimu, advancing to the top 8!"
The host's excited voice echoed continuously above the arena.
In the contestant lounge.
"Looks like you're my next opponent," he said.
The boy smiled as he watched the TV.
He was the one who exchanged glances with Baimu earlier, obviously not even on stage yet but already convinced of his impending victory, even predicting his next opponent.
——
"We made a killing, huh, Brother Baimu."
"Struck it rich, huh, Brother Baimu."
"The future is bright, huh, Brother Baimu."
As soon as Baimu emerged, he was surrounded by his teammates with beaming smiles, patting their bulging pockets, grinning from ear to ear.
"All right, made a few bucks and you're all flaunting it,"
he said with a smile, reaching out to pat heads, giving everyone a playful smack, "I've said it before, no more betting next time, win and stash it away."
"Hey—Baimu's on a roll, everyone is guessing your new odds. I heard some bets were so crazy, they pushed your odds to the extreme!"
Cheng Hong, having won money, got a bit carried away, excitedly pulling out various gambling jargon.
Baimu said nothing, just quietly watched him.
Noticing the awkward atmosphere, everyone else fell silent, closing their mouths.
Cheng Hong's voice gradually quieted down, looking at Baimu's inscrutable expression, feeling rather perturbed.
"In games where there's a chance to win, I don't mind you buying one or two tickets, because I think that's 'making money'."
He seriously said, "But now I'm not confident, I know I might have hit the end of the line, and buying more is just gambling. Betting on something I have no faith in myself, I don't approve of such things."
It's not about forbidding, not about strictly banning, it's about disapproval.
Baimu looked at everyone, "I cannot be responsible for everyone, nor dare I claim to have done anything as the team leader, to act tough and have the final say thereafter."
"I can only advise you, gambling is addictive, the chance of it causing harm is much greater than that of doing good. You—not just you, we people of Cyan Iridium Street, don't we know the dangers of gambling? Haven't we been tricked and bullied enough by casino people?"
"Moreover, we don't have that many chips to gamble with. Every bet should be made with the mindset of risking one's life, not being smug after making a bit of pocket change..."
He sighed, "I really don't want to preach, and I have no standing to do so, but I truly hope none of you step into this abyss, unable to return."
Baimu brushed past his teammates, silently heading out.
Cheng Hong and his peers exchanged glances, unable to speak for a long time, until the first person pulled out a fresh betting slip from their pocket and tore it in half.
"My uncle... because of gambling and debt, the casino cut off one of his hands, and he was completely defeated, becoming useless. I actually forgot that, damn it!"
That person slapped himself hard and then chased after Baimu.
The others silently took out the next round of betting slips they had secretly purchased, tearing them up and giving themselves a slap before chasing after as well.
Only Cheng Hong remained, muttering to himself.
"Every time I drag Baimu down, I'm such a failure." He was the only one who didn't secretly buy tickets for the next round, yet he slapped himself the most.
Once he was somewhat satisfied, Cheng Hong chased after the others.
The people in the hall looked at each other, completely unaware of what had just happened.