Under the attack of Thunder Punch, an attribute-countering move, combined with Blaziken's strength far surpassing its peers, Poliwhirl was forced to continuously retreat in the rain.
"Hang in there, Poliwhirl! Use Mega Punch to fight back!"
Kaji anxiously shouted at Poliwhirl.
"Low Kick! Completely break its balance."
Silas commanded calmly.
From the moment Kaji made the mistake of underestimating Blaziken's Speed Boost ability, allowing it to close in on Poliwhirl, Silas knew he had already won the first match.
He had long anticipated Kaji's commands.
The two Pokémon responded differently to their respective trainers' orders.
After being struck by Blaziken's Thunder Punch, Poliwhirl's body tilted slightly backward due to the impact. Its fists began glowing white, preparing to launch Mega Punch in retaliation.
Blaziken, having landed its attack, immediately crouched slightly and swiftly executed a Low Kick with its long legs toward Poliwhirl.
Under normal circumstances, a Low Kick alone wouldn't be enough to trip Poliwhirl—it would take a dedicated trip move to accomplish that.
After all, while Blaziken was strong, Poliwhirl was also known for its physical strength. At most, its balance would be slightly affected, and its speed might decrease a little.
However, at this moment, Poliwhirl had just taken a Thunder Punch. It was also leaning back slightly to reduce the damage while charging up its Mega Punch.
Its balance was already unstable.
Now, with Blaziken aiming precisely at its legs with Low Kick, Poliwhirl completely lost its footing and tumbled backward onto the ground.
"Bang!"
The white glow on Poliwhirl's fists immediately dissipated Mega Punch had been interrupted.
"Finish it with another Thunder Punch!"
Silas naturally chose to strike while the opponent was down.
Before Kaji could react, Blaziken's Thunder Punch had already landed squarely on Poliwhirl's body.
Poliwhirl's eyes instantly turned into spirals, matching the pattern on its stomach it had lost the ability to battle.
"Return, Poliwhirl."
Kaji shook his head, knowing that this loss was entirely due to his own mistake. Otherwise, even if the outcome remained the same, Blaziken wouldn't have won this easily.
Analyzing mistakes was something for after the match. Right now, he needed to focus on the battle at hand.
Kaji regained his composure and sent out his next Pokémon.
"Go, Pelipper!"
Silas's expression turned a bit odd when he saw Kaji's second Pokémon.
Even though he already knew, it still felt strange.
"Why did someone like you, who mainly uses Water-type Pokémon, catch Blaine's attention?"
In the end, he couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked Kaji from across the battlefield.
Kaji shrugged and spread his hands, indicating that he had no idea either.
"I wonder that myself, but Blaine never told me."
"Seriously, does Blaine really like being so cryptic?"
"Yeah, he always...."
The two of them, standing on opposite sides of the battlefield, started casually chatting mid-match.
"Would the two trainers please continue the battle?"
The referee urged them to proceed.
While official tournaments didn't strictly prohibit verbal distractions, this was just a smaller match, and they were on a tight schedule.
Silas frowned slightly as he looked at the battlefield, where the rain continued to pour without any sign of stopping.
"Drizzle ability, not Keen Eye. Tch, wasted time."
A Pokémon's ability wasn't always listed in battle data, and Kaji hadn't used Pelipper in previous matches. He had relied on another standard-tier Pokémon alongside Poliwhirl to secure victory.
Silas had two reasons for engaging in conversation. One was genuine curiosity about Blaine's interest in Kaji. The other was to stall for time, hoping that Poliwhirl's Rain Dance effect would wear off.
Now that he had confirmed it was Pelipper's Drizzle and not Keen Eye, things were looking dangerous for Blaziken.
"Use Water Pulse!"
Kaji smirked. Of course, he knew what Silas was trying to do.
But since he was aware of Pelipper's ability, the longer the battle dragged on, the worse it would be for Blaziken, a Fire-type.
Blaziken was clearly growing more fatigued in the rainy weather. Caleb could already see the strain setting in.
Pelipper gathered a swirling mass of water and sent it surging toward Blaziken with a loud roar.
Silas remained unfazed.
"Return, Blaziken."
"Go, Pidgeot!"
Just moments before Water Pulse could hit, Silas swiftly recalled Blaziken and sent out Pidgeot.
In a 3v3 match, each trainer was allowed one Pokémon switch.
"Tch."
Kaji clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Of course, his opponent wouldn't let him win that easily, but it was still frustrating.
He had no choice. His mistake in the first round had cost him, and now he couldn't afford to switch in a lower-tier Pokémon.
"Caw!"
The moment Pidgeot appeared, it let out a piercing cry, displaying its dominance. However, the rain immediately soaked its feathers.
Pelipper stared at Pidgeot, which was nearly twice its size, with a dumbfounded expression.
Wait a minute Pelipper had encountered Pidgeot before, but wasn't this one way bigger than normal?
"Unpredictable Water Gun! Rapid-fire!"
Pelipper might have been stunned, but its trainer was fully alert. kaji had long since gotten used to Silas's unusually strong Pokémon.
He had come to understand something Silas probably had an exceptional talent as a breeder. That was the only explanation for how his Pokémon were so perfectly trained at this stage.
Unlike Kaji's own team, which still had some gaps in development, Silas's Pokémon were already at a near-perfect level.
Still, at higher levels such as Elite Four-tier battles and beyond the gap wouldn't be as pronounced. By then, most top trainers had near-perfect Pokémon, and victory would come down to superior battle strategy. Even Pokémon with Champion potential would only hold a slight edge in those matchups.
That was how Kaji saw it. After all, his talent was high as well otherwise, Blaine wouldn't have taken an interest in him.
But he was overthinking things...
As for why he didn't have Pelipper use Water Pulse again? Even against a normal Pidgeot, the move would be easy to dodge in the air. Against this oversized, highly trained Pidgeot, it was practically useless.
Kaji wasn't foolish enough to assume that just because Pidgeot was larger, it would be slower.
Even Blaziken, under poor weather conditions, had likely been fast enough to dodge Water Pulse earlier. Silas had simply chosen not to recall it right away.
Back in the battle, Pelipper, following its trainer's command, immediately spat out several high-pressure jets of water, firing them rapidly toward Pidgeot.
"Quick Attack to dodge, then Double Team followed by Wing Attack."
Silas gave his commands casually.
Pidgeot was on an entirely different level in this battle he wasn't even worried.
As expected, despite Water Gun's speed, Pidgeot was even faster.
Its body glowed white as it used Quick Attack, soaring through the air and nimbly evading the incoming Water Guns.
As it rapidly closed in on Pelipper, Pidgeot created multiple afterimages using Double Team.
To the naked eye, it looked as if a dozen Pidgeots were flying toward Pelipper at once.
Each of their wings began glowing with white energy, signaling the start of Wing Attack.
"Protect!"
This Pidgeot was absurdly fast.
Kaji gritted his teeth there was no time to counterattack. His only option was to use Protect and hope Pelipper could activate it quickly enough.
And it had to succeed.
If Protect failed, Pelipper would likely be caught in a devastating chain of high-speed attacks from Pidgeot.