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Starting with Intimidate in a Double Battle is pretty standard.
The goal is to reduce the opponent's Attack. Some physical attackers can be ridiculously strong.
Therefore, it's completely normal to prioritize countering the Intimidate user.
Even though the opponents had this plan backfire on them, they didn't panic too much. Bisharp had a quadruple weakness to Fighting, and its physical defense wasn't that high either. Even if it managed to boost its Attack, it might not survive long enough to use it.
The key was that Li Xiang's Pokémon, that Riolu, absolutely could not be left alone, giving it a chance to act!
Both sides' Pokémon charged toward each other!
"Tailwind!"
"Charge over! Fake Out on Riolu!"
Whimsicott raised its little paws and called out, summoning a gentle breeze that swirled around it. Under the protection of this wind, Scrafty's movement speed skyrocketed!
Seeing the opponent's Scrafty aim so directly, Li Xiang couldn't help but feel surprised.
'How bold! Daring to Fake Out Riolu? Go ahead and try!'
Li Xiang and Gong Xu exchanged glances, almost instantly understanding each other's intent.
"Instruct!"
"Iron Head!"
Riolu pursed its lips, seeing the approaching Scrafty, and without hesitation blew out a sound, boosting Bisharp's Attack and Defense.
With Prankster activating, its move was incredibly fast, even landing before Scrafty's Fake Out!
Of course, the next second, it was hit by Scrafty's Fake Out and fell into a brief state of dizziness.
Beside it, Bisharp, which hadn't glanced at Riolu even once, sprinted forward. The moment Scrafty's move landed, it decisively charged toward the Whimsicott to the left front, and after closing enough distance, it lunged forward like a plane taking off!
A shining silver light blazed like a star!
"Protect!"
A green circular shield materialized in front of Whimsicott, blocking its path!
However, a mere Protect couldn't possibly stop a Bisharp with its Attack boosted this much. Almost the instant the silver-glowing axe made contact with the green shield, the shield shattered with a BANG!
Shield broken!
And even after breaking the shield, Iron Head's momentum didn't diminish. It slammed viciously into Whimsicott's chest, like a giant axe cleaving down from the sky!
Smack! THUD!
Whimsicott's tiny body crashed hard onto the ground, a pained expression flashing across its face before being obscured by the smoke from Iron Head's explosion.
But in the next moment, the smoke was dispersed by the Tailwind and Bisharp's movements, revealing the unconscious Whimsicott.
Instant KO, even through a Protect!
No fancy tricks!
'You attack my teammate, I'll instantly KO yours!'
"BEEEEP—!"
The referee blew his whistle!
Amid the whistle, Bisharp coldly glanced at Scrafty, which was about to use Zen Headbutt on Riolu. Its left arm instantly glowed with a reddish-brown light, chopping viciously toward Scrafty!
Brick Break!
On the other side, when Whimsicott fainted, its trainer couldn't help but click his tongue in frustration, but he didn't dare waste time. He quickly recalled Whimsicott and sent out his second Pokémon.
The pace of Double Battles was fast; a single moment of distraction could easily lead to your Pokémon getting ganged up on two-to-one.
The Pokémon sent out was a Tangrowth with the Regenerator ability. As soon as it landed, it without hesitation used Vine Whip on Scrafty.
Two azure-blue vines shot out from its body, yanking Scrafty back just before Bisharp's attack could land.
However, as a consequence, Scrafty's Zen Headbutt struck empty air.
The two had clearly coordinated countless times; otherwise, Tangrowth's rescue wouldn't have been so smooth.
Coincidentally, Riolu snapped out of its forced dizziness and saw Scrafty being pulled away by Tangrowth.
"Helping Hand!" "Brick Break!"
The next commands followed immediately!
"Riolu!"
Riolu raised its little paws, smacked its own head twice, and a ball of white light merged into Bisharp's body!
Bisharp, whose Brick Break had missed, frowned slightly. Feeling the surging power within, it turned and charged at Scrafty again, completely ignoring Tangrowth as if it didn't exist.
"Aura Sphere!" "Drain Punch!"
Considering the massive threat Bisharp posed, the two opponents, who had initially disregarded it, now decided to focus fire and take it down.
Tangrowth raised its long arms, condensing a pulsating reddish-brown sphere of energy in front of its chest.
Scrafty, now on the ground, clenched its right fist, a red vortex swirling around it. Both were focused on the charging Bisharp, ready to unleash their attacks!
But at that moment.....
"Follow Me!"
"Riolu!"
Two voices suddenly rang out from a distance.
Tangrowth and Scrafty uncontrollably shifted their gazes toward Riolu. The former immediately hurled the reddish-brown sphere, while the latter crouched and charged at Riolu!
But before it could take more than a step or two, this pitiful Mohawk-haired lizard-man was caught by Bisharp. A hand glowing with reddish-brown light chopped down hard on its head!
THUD!
Scrafty's head instantly made intimate contact with the ground!
The fragile earth cracked like glass!
Yet another instant KO!
Looking at Scrafty's head buried deep in the ground and its motionless body, the referee decisively blew his whistle!
On the other side, after using Follow Me, Riolu was in a state of being the center of attention and unable to dodge the rapidly approaching Aura Sphere. It had no choice but to take the hit.
BOOM!
Smoke exploded!
Fortunately, all those candies it had eaten over the years weren't for nothing. A single non-STAB Aura Sphere was something it could definitely tank, and it even managed to find an opportunity to heal.
Hearing the sound of splashing water behind it, Bisharp promptly retreated, soaking up Riolu's Life Dew to recover from the physical fatigue caused by its high-speed movements.
By the time the smoke cleared, Riolu's stamina had recovered to a healthy state.
The opponent's fourth Pokémon also took the field at this time.
—A Mienshao with the Regenerator ability, looking like a cross between a robed old man and a yellow weasel.
"Fake Out!"
It used Fake Out the moment it landed, targeting Riolu's position. The two sleeves formed from its fur trembled violently, releasing a white wave of light.
Tangrowth once again condensed a pulsating reddish-brown energy sphere, aiming at Bisharp.
Surprisingly straightforward.
"Quick Guard."
Just before the light wave could hit it, Riolu suddenly raised both paws. A brown circular shield unfolded in front of it.
The activation speed was actually faster than Fake Out!
Quick Guard, a status move that only succeeds when the opponent uses a priority move against your side!
THUD!
Fake Out collided with the brown circular shield and dissipated into nothing!
Beside it, Bisharp saw the Aura Sphere speeding towards it. Its body lit up with a eerie dark light, and with a strange burst of speed, it easily dodged the attack!
Simultaneously, it had already reached Tangrowth, thrusting its dark energy-infused arm like a blade!
'Take this!'
THUMP!
With this one strike, Tangrowth's nearly 300-pound body was sent flying over three meters back, clutching its chest in pain!
What a fierce Feint Attack!
The opponent's expression changed rapidly. He realized he had underestimated this Bisharp from the start...
No, he had underestimated both!
"X-Scissor!"
"Stun Spore!"
Tangrowth was already at point-blank range with Bisharp. Its overly large body size couldn't be hidden even by Tailwind.
So, the opponent decisively chose to lay groundwork for later!
Seeing its companion in dire straits, Mienshao hurried back to assist, hurling a light blue sphere of energy!
Aura Sphere!
However, while Mienshao used the sure-hit Aura Sphere on Bisharp, Riolu wasn't just watching either. Its head became enveloped in pink-purple light.
Chasing after the sprinting Mienshao, it suddenly leaped up and slammed its head hard into Mienshao's back of the head!
THUMP!
Zen Headbutt!
Mienshao took this super-effective hit and instantly face-planted into the ground, as if struck in the back of the head with a spiked club. It collapsed and lost consciousness!
'Such high damage output even after being Intimidated, and that speed!'
'It caught up even with Tailwind active?!'
The opponent was almost scared silly by this scene. He had thought that after being Intimidated by Scrafty, Riolu's offensive capability was mostly crippled; they just needed to avoid giving it chances to boost itself.
He never expected it could still deal such terrifying damage even after Intimidate!
Mienshao was actually instantly KO'd!
Both its movement speed and damage output were clearly abnormal!
Over at Bisharp... it raised its bladed arms high. A blue-purple cross-shaped energy blade flew out, slashing hard into Tangrowth, just colliding with the golden powder the latter was spewing out!
BOOM!
X-Scissor hit!
Smoke filled the field. The Aura Sphere Mienshao had launched flew into it, causing another explosion!
BOOM!
A direct hit!
The Tailwind breeze dispersed the smoke, revealing the scene inside.
Tangrowth had unquestionably been knocked out. After being hit by the Aura Sphere, Bisharp indeed couldn't withstand the quadruple damage and collapsed on top of Tangrowth.
Instruct had only increased its physical Defense, not itsspecial Defense.
Not being able to tank it was normal.
Gong Xu's expression was extremely calm. Bisharp taking on three opponents and wreaking havoc had already satisfied him greatly. He didn't extravagantly hope for it to be like Li Xiang's Pokémon, able to single-handedly take down three and still stand steadily.
Bisharp itself was the type that would keep dealing damage as long as it was alive.
Both sides recalled their Pokémon.
Li Xiang's side had lost one, with five remaining. The opponent had lost four, with two remaining.
A huge gap.
But there was no helping it. Bisharp's damage was too high. That first Iron Head breaking Protect and KO'ing Whimsicott was too shocking and directly caused the pace of the battle to fall under the opponents' control.
And then there was the crucial Follow Me.
Overall, this battle had been played terribly; they had only executed basic maneuvers.
The opponent's final two Pokémon.
A Hitmontop, brown all over with a single horn on its head and a blue lower body.
And a Torterra, with a tree growing on its back and three mountain-like spikes, looking very heavy, a combination of a turtle and an ankylosaur.
On Gong Xu's side, he chose a Shiny Drifblim.
Ghost and Flying type.
A Fighting-type Hitmontop and a Ground-type Torterra—neither could directly use STAB moves against it. They'd have to find a way to mitigate the type disadvantage.
Drifblim landed, ate a Sitrus Berry to restore health, rose in altitude, and immediately used Tailwind.
Hitmontop flipped its entire body upside down, using its spikes against the ground to start spinning rapidly!
Torterra roared, its front feet stomping heavily on the ground, creating yellow-brown shockwaves that surged toward Hitmontop and Riolu!
Hitmontop tanked the hit, using the shockwave's force to launch itself into the air. All three of its feet lit up with an icy blue glow as it kicked toward the airborne Drifblim!
Triple Axel! Power increases with each hit!
Riolu activated Magnet Rise, ignoring its airborne Drifblim teammate. Its form turned into a phantom, and with Tailwind's help, it was almost in the blink of an eye in front of Torterra. Its paw glowed with ice light as it smashed down!
THUMP!
Extreme cold instantly invaded Torterra's brain, freezing its way through its body!
It triggered the freeze effect!
Within a mere two seconds, Torterra turned into a massive ice sculpture!
Meanwhile, in mid-air, Hitmontop kicked frantically at Drifblim. Waves of cold air exploded in the air repeatedly. Expecting Drifblim to at least use Protect, it turned out Drifblim neither dodged nor evaded, tanking all three hits!
Then, it directly ran out of stamina and plummeted from the sky.
'What was this?'
The opponent was somewhat confused. Was it just a Tailwind tool?
But when Hitmontop landed, revealing swirly eyes indicating it had fainted, he understood. Drifblim had silently used Destiny Bond.
It had directly taken out their last Pokémon.
"This guy... sacrificed it so decisively."
The opponent couldn't help but stare in shock at Gong Xu. Even with such a big advantage on their side, just to precisely take out Hitmontop, he had sacrificed his full-health Drifblim.
This approach seemed simple, but it wasn't an easy decision to make.
Especially in such a certain victory situation.