Chapter 209: Earning the Right to Keep Playing the Game
On the other side, Gallade was like a matador on a tightrope, cautiously and attentively drawing Luxray's focus and stalling for time.
Even though Bella cried about "hugging a powerful thigh" every day and lacked a proper demeanor, she was still an active professional player. Elijah didn't dare to be the least bit careless.
But when that stunning blade light flashed in the distance, both his and Bella's attention was involuntarily drawn over—
Ultimately, that was the key to this round!
An attack buffed by "Swords Dance"—can it be withstood?
If it couldn't be withstood, then stalling was just empty talk.
A normal skill buff lasted for at least a minute or two. In that time, if you pushed it a bit, using a skill six or seven times wasn't a problem. It was impossible to just tank it all with absolute defense moves like "Protect."
Otherwise, buff-type moves wouldn't be held in such high regard.
Right now, this was only Empoleon's second slash; less than a fifth of the buff's duration had passed.
If they started being unable to block the attacks now, then there was no need to watch the rest of the match.
They would soon be cut down with ease.
So, even though many people could see that Greninja had no skills available at this moment, they still watched with close attention.
Because if it couldn't block this, this round might very well be over!
This slash—or rather, this wing—was crucial!
The blade light was upon it, the pressure was immense!
Fortunately, Arthur's commands always anticipated the opponent, helping Greninja to predict the attack route.
Upper right!
Empoleon's steel-hardened wing indeed slashed down from the upper right!
This prediction was very important; it helped Greninja get into position beforehand.
Blocking a buffed attack skill without a skill of his own—this was very difficult!
But he had to do it!
I can do it!
At this moment, Greninja seemed to return to the Star Brilliance Alliance, back to that night of drizzling rain.
In the final battle to rescue Mismagius back then, the pressure from the four Pokémon—Slowbro, Jynx, Electivire, and Raichu—was even greater than from the Empoleon now!
Each one of those cadres' Pokémon was stronger than the Empoleon before it now!
Although the main force at that time was actually Specter and its master himself, Frogadier had also participated in stalling them for a while.
Even though he was beaten black and blue and left on the verge of death in less than a minute.
And that was after Specter had instantly KO'd Jynx and scared away Electivire and Raichu at lightning speed.
Although he hadn't accomplished anything major in that battle, he had at least seen the world. From then on, his perspective had taken a qualitative leap. He was no longer the little country frog from a small, few-square-meter pond in a breeding center.
He had faced such powerful Pokémon!
He had even worked together with his master to defeat them!
What else was there for him to fear?!
A Steel Wing after a Swords Dance? Very strong? Could it be stronger than the enemies of that night?
Exhaling, stepping back, gathering strength, raising both hands—
Greninja roared in its heart!
"Block!"
With a loud "smack," Empoleon's wing was clamped between its hands, stopping abruptly just inches from its neck, unable to advance any further!
It had blocked this wing!
Subsequently, the energy erupted, and a spray of blood burst from Greninja's arm and the right side of its body—
This was the effect of energy corrosion, equivalent to sword qi entering the body, just like when Gallade's "Brick Break" was parried before.
Pokémon skills all contained energy; they weren't so easy to block.
But in any case, the most direct slashing damage of this move, Greninja had sealed it!
"Holy crap!!"
At this moment, the spectators on the sidelines couldn't help but shout out loud.
It seemed this round could continue for a while longer.
However, the others on the field were not just standing around like fools.
"Wild Charge!" Bella commanded at the first opportunity.
Luxray once again accelerated, its target aimed straight at Greninja, which was still blocking Empoleon's wing!
"Wild Charge" was like the Electric-type version of "Double-Edge." Its whole body was wreathed in electricity as it charged and slammed into the enemy. The side effect was that it would take recoil damage itself.
The recoil damage wasn't as severe as "Double-Edge," but its damage was also lower than "Double-Edge," making it a lower-spec Electric-type version.
But even if it was a lower-spec version, its charge was still unstoppable.
Gallade didn't dare to face this charge of sparks and lightning head-on for a moment.
"Gallade, use Rock Tomb!"
Fortunately, Elijah wasn't just doing nothing.
He immediately commanded a countermeasure.
Gallade threw several round stones inscribed with strange characters in Greninja's direction!
Rock Tomb: Throws special, enchanted rocks to attack the enemy. Any enemy that touches them will be slowed by the curse.
Normally, throwing these stones to hit someone would also cause damage, but Elijah was wise. He didn't get greedy for that little bit of damage and threw the stones directly in front of Greninja!
If Luxray continued to charge along its current path, it would inevitably hit the enchanted stone blocks before hitting Greninja.
That meant it would have to pay a price for this attack.
"Mrowr!"
The charging Luxray actually let out a roar like a tiger's.
"Jump up, use its tail to sweep!"
In the end, Bella was still unwilling to pay this price.
Luxray leaped up just as it was about to hit the stone blocks.
This bought Greninja an extremely precious bit of time!
"Shadow Sneak!" Arthur commanded immediately!
This time, Greninja didn't create a shadow to sneak attack, but instead, the entire frog melted into the shadows, teleporting behind Empoleon!
This was the second way to use "Shadow Sneak"!
The casting speed was a bit slower than the conventional method, but it integrated attack and movement into one!
The leaping Luxray swung its tail down, and electric light whistled, letting out a terrifying "Pika"-like electric sound.
But Greninja managed to dodge it at the last moment by slipping into the shadows.
It almost scared him into a cold sweat.
It also once again stirred up the emotions of the spectators!
Even though they didn't get to see the Swords Dance-buffed Empoleon sweep across the field, chopping up everything in its path, it was clear that the pressure from the professional pair was still immense!
"Steel Wing" was blocked.
But the pressure on the rookies was not over yet!
"Whew!"
Arthur let out a breath, relieving the pressure on his lungs from the series of RAP-style commands.
He had bought a sliver of hope.
But at this moment, their situation on the field was still not optimistic.
"Attack Empoleon, don't let it start spinning!" he immediately continued to command after catching his breath.
When its skills were on cooldown, Empoleon mainly relied on continuous self-rotation to build momentum and enhance the power of its wing slashes.
Just like a great sword warrior who always liked to swing their sword a few times before chopping someone.
Can't give it that chance!
As for Luxray, he placed his full trust in his teammate.
At this time, he could only trust his teammate.
Gallade charged forward with all its might and, with a slide tackle, grabbed the temporarily skill-less Luxray and wrestled it into the distance.
It still remembered its mission to stall Luxray.
In a state of extreme anger, he performed a slide tackle. Although he was repeatedly hit by swats and claws, at least he didn't feed Luxray a free kill on the spot.
The match was still going on.
It was still Arthur's Greninja stalling the Swords Dance-buffed Empoleon, while Gallade was locked in a philosophical wrestling match with Luxray.
At this point, there was still over a minute left on the "Swords Dance" buff…
Arthur and his team had just earned themselves the right to keep playing the game, but they were still at a disadvantage!
(End of Chapter)
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 35 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you