Chapter 262: The Gambit
Ivy had thought her Ninetales was the one chasing down Arthur's Little Lapras.
She never imagined that this was Arthur's plan from the very beginning—to lure her Ninetales away from Froslass.
They had both assumed that the main attacker in this match would be the Weavile, with its Dark-type advantage over Froslass. But the truth was, Arthur and Asher had decided before the match—
The core of their offense was Arthur!
It was Little Lapras!
It was a new move from Little Lapras that the opponent knew nothing about and therefore could never have predicted—
The Steel-type move: Smart Strike!
Little Lapras, who had been drifting backward, suddenly reversed course upon receiving the command. It slid rapidly towards Ninetales, lowering its head as a deep gray, metallic energy phantom flickered to life on its short horn.
As an attack, Smart Strike itself wasn't particularly remarkable; it was just a ramming attack using a horn.
What made this move the ultimate weapon in this match was the fact that Alolan Ninetales's two types, Ice and Fairy, were both weak to Steel!
For Ninetales, Steel was its greatest vulnerability!
At the same time, Weavile coordinated perfectly, immediately using Taunt on Froslass!
With a beckoning finger, it forced Froslass to use only attacking moves.
Bianca had already shouted the command for a retreat, but at the last moment, Froslass was unable to execute the move.
Only then did the two sisters realize they'd fallen for it hook, line, and sinker!
At the start of the match, Arthur and Asher had made Weavile's charge so blatant, so frenzied—taking a Dazzling Gleam head-on just to get close to Froslass—that it all turned out to be a tactical deception.
Their real target had been Ninetales all along, yet for the first few minutes, they had almost completely ignored it.
Weavile had aggressively rushed Froslass, while Little Lapras had provided cover from the rear with the most basic Water-type move, Water Gun.
Under these circumstances, any normal person would assume their target was Froslass.
And so, Mist and Aurora Veil were both used to protect Froslass, leaving Ninetales completely unguarded.
The metallic horn struck Ninetales unexpectedly and fiercely, causing it to cry out in pain.
A double-super-effective hit—the feeling was truly unbearable.
"Fall back! Move towards the mist and use Aurora Veil!" Ivy's command quickly followed.
There was no time to marvel at how this handsome, clean-cut kid could play such dirty tricks. Ninetales immediately used Aurora Veil.
However, this was a move born of desperation.
When multiple Aurora Veil barriers appear in the same area, their effects are diminished.
Auroras are not so common a phenomenon.
If she had known Ninetales was the real target, Froslass would never have used Aurora Veil first.
But for now, Ivy couldn't worry about that.
Ninetales was retreating, trying to regroup with its teammate, while Little Lapras pursued relentlessly!
Can't let the opponent recover!
The opponent's move pool was much deeper than his own. If this dragged on, they would quickly find a countermeasure. He couldn't underestimate professional players, especially ones who were contenders for Best Rookie!
This strategy had to be executed in one fell swoop!
On the other side, Weavile endured Froslass's Draining Kiss without retaliating, and as soon as its cooldown ended, it immediately began targeting Ninetales again.
"Weavile, Screech!"
The Normal-type move: Screech. Emit a piercing noise to disrupt the opponent. The energy in the sound waves softens the defense of a Pokémon's exoskeleton, shell, or fur.
Ninetales had neither an exoskeleton nor a shell, so the weakening effect of Screech was significantly reduced, but it was better than nothing. It at least canceled out a portion of Aurora Veil's defensive buff.
Most importantly, Screech was a very low-cost move, with an even shorter cooldown than Water Gun or Tail Whip. (In the games, Screech has 40 PP, the maximum value.)
In less than a second, Weavile used another move.
"Use Taunt on Ninetales too!"
At this moment, Weavile had reached the peak of its life. After taunting Froslass, it was now taunting Ninetales, wagging its finger provocatively at the two females who had previously ignored it. Its arrogance was off the charts.
Whether it would be beaten to a pulp later didn't matter. For this one moment, its life felt momentarily complete…
Unfortunately for it, Ivy was no fool.
"Ninetales, turn around! Don't look over there! Use Disable!"
Ninetales gave a proud toss of its head, showing Weavile its stubborn back.
At the same time, Froslass swooped in, grabbed Weavile's head, and once again planted a firm kiss on it.
The enchanting and dangerous Draining Kiss was delivered, simultaneously interrupting Weavile's provocative finger-wagging.
Meanwhile, Arthur was also forced to command Little Lapras to abandon its pursuit with Smart Strike.
"Lapras, use Bulldoze!"
This was because the Ninetales in front of it was using Disable!
Besides its instantaneous stopping effect, this move also had a lingering effect: if the target tried to use its last-used move again, it would be repeatedly afflicted with intermittent stuns.
So Arthur was forced to have Little Lapras switch moves.
Smart Strike was the only Steel-type move Little Lapras currently knew. It absolutely could not be sealed away!
Fortunately, at the last second, Little Lapras successfully channeled its Ground-type energy.
Then, it was hit by Disable, and its whole body suddenly went rigid.
As it tried to lower its raised flippers, its movement would freeze every few inches. The action stuttered, making it look like a high-ping player in an online game, lagging with every frame of the move animation.
So Arthur decisively spoke: "Abandon the move! Continue the pursuit!"
There was no point in trying to force a move with such high latency. Bulldoze wasn't a particularly critical move anyway. Arthur was willing to sacrifice that move slot.
Keep chasing!
Although Weavile's Taunt had failed, the opponent's Disable had also failed to seal away Little Lapras's crucial Smart Strike.
This round of the gambit had ended in a draw.
Only poor Weavile had been viciously kissed by Froslass another two times…
The exchange was so fast-paced that even the commentator couldn't keep up, unable to analyze all the gambits and calculations for the audience in time.
But at the very least, they could understand the overall situation.
"Lapras is still in pursuit! She's still in pursuit!
It's unbelievable! It seems the MVP of this match might just go to Arthur's Little Lapras, a Pokémon that has only appeared twice!"
Yes, regardless of the intricate mind games, the narrative on the field remained unchanged—
Little Lapras, in only its second-ever professional appearance, was still ferociously hunting down the opposing Ninetales!
This was a sight that surely no one could have predicted before the match.
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