Chapter 291: Contributing to the Price Hike
If Shirou's Mienshao were to fight the Ghost Dragon Team's Nidoking, Mienshao would definitely be stronger. After all, it was the main Pokémon that had made Shirou famous for years.
But alas, competitive Pokémon battling isn't a simple comparison of stats.
Right now, Mienshao's performance against Greninja was even worse than Nidoking's had been…
At least that Nidoking was tough and beefy, with pecs strong enough to crush a man.
And that Nidoking had wisely started creating distance early on. It hadn't foolishly opened with an ultimate move and tried to go on the offensive like Mienshao.
However, a dozen or so seconds of getting beaten was more than enough time for Shirou to thoroughly grasp the difference in skill.
The moment his cooldown was over, his command quickly changed: "Mienshao, use Quick Guard!"
He didn't dare to attack anymore. He really didn't…
He truly couldn't win…
After receiving the command, Mienshao quickly executed the defensive move. With the skill's buff, its hand movements became noticeably faster, and it could finally block Greninja's close-range combos.
But by now, Arthur saw no reason to be polite.
At first, he had thought that if the opponent genuinely wanted a lesson in martial arts, they were planning to have a no-skills duel, which was why he hadn't even had Greninja pull out its weapons.
But who would have thought that Mienshao would open with Close Combat?
To be honest, that was a bit unsportsmanlike.
Fighting-type moves could arguably be considered part of "martial arts," so Shirou could still claim he hadn't broken his word. But if Arthur were to use a throwing move like Water Shuriken, he would likely be criticized even if he won, right?
Arthur smelled a rat.
The opponent's approach felt a bit underhanded.
And so, he decided to stop holding back.
"Use Night Slash!"
In an instant, black energy coalesced in Greninja's hands, and the force of its blows suddenly intensified!
Quick Guard primarily provides faster eyesight, sharper reflexes, and quicker attacks. It's especially effective against priority moves that rely on speed, but it's not as effective against moves that use brute force to break through skill.
With Quick Guard, Mienshao could finally keep up with Greninja's speed. The skill even guided it to raise its hands pre-emptively, blocking incoming attacks as if it had been given a passive ability with perfect intuition.
But it couldn't stop Greninja from simply ignoring its predictions and forcing its way through!
Its arm, now blackened with Dark-type energy, became a sharp blade, piercing through Mienshao's guard and stabbing into its opponent's side!
For some reason, whenever it used this move, Greninja always targeted the opponent's kidneys. It had been like this since it was a Froakie. Who knows where it picked up that habit…
"Chee!"
Mienshao cried out in pain again!
Its defensive stance was forcibly broken, and the effect of Quick Guard ended prematurely.
Greninja's storm of fists, elbows, and knees once again rained down upon it, making Mienshao's scalp tingle with fear!
Unbelievably, not even the master-level martial arts instructors and Fighting-type sparring partners at the training base had ever instilled such fear in it!
The pressure was suffocating!
It was only then that it finally understood the Nidoking from the video, the one that had been laid out flat in thirty seconds.
Until you've faced Greninja's close-range combos yourself, you can never truly understand what kind of terror it is.
Everyone laughs at Nidoking, but in the end, everyone is Nidoking…
Although the match had been going for less than twenty seconds, Mienshao's mental defenses had already been shattered by Greninja!
Once its spirit was broken, a situation that it might have been able to handle before became an unstoppable avalanche!
"Mienshao, don't give up! Get in close and grapple it! We still have a chance!"
Shirou, however, had not given up.
"Use Force Palm at close range!"
He was still desperately trying to turn the tables!
The Fighting-type move: Force Palm. Its effect is similar to a one-inch punch in martial arts. It can unleash its full power in a tiny space without any wind-up or even a punching motion, and it has a chance to paralyze the opponent. It's especially suited for close-quarters grappling.
A second ago, Shirou had his Mienshao endure a beating to forcibly grapple Greninja, locking it down so it had no room to move.
Then, he would use Force Palm, which required no prior action!
In terms of these small, on-the-spot tactical plays, Shirou was worthy of his All-Star title.
But unfortunately for him, Arthur was done being courteous.
"Substitute!"
His command was shouted in sync with his opponent's. The moment Mienshao used Force Palm, Greninja vanished with a poof.
The moment Mienshao had grappled Greninja, Arthur had predicted this move.
He had read his opponent's actions again.
Unfortunately for Shirou, even in the realm of on-the-spot commanding, Arthur was his equal.
And this time, Greninja's advantage was infinite. The teleportation effect of Substitute was essentially used as a forward flash!
The real Greninja hadn't moved far at all; it had appeared directly behind Mienshao.
And so, the combo continued!
Mienshao felt more and more like giving up on life…
Although Force Palm's damage wasn't particularly high, its cooldown was not short at all, almost approaching that of an ultimate move.
Greninja had activated its move at the same time, and the cooldown for its Substitute was even faster.
"Stop playing around. Water Shuriken. Finish it."
Saying "stop playing around" to his opponent's face—Arthur was not only beating him but twisting the knife.
But since the opponent had tried to trick him first, Arthur saw no reason to be polite.
Greninja, already pressing Mienshao to the point of suffocation, crossed its hands. Water kunai appeared, and its offensive power reached a new level!
"Swish, swish, swish!"
After three slashes, Greninja coolly turned around. With a single flick of its hand, it tossed its scarf-like tongue over its shoulder. It casually threw the unused water kunai to the ground and turned away, not even looking back.
A true man never looks back at the body.
As it took three steps, the dazed Mienshao first fell to its knees, then collapsed to the ground, unable to rise again.
The referee immediately raised his flag—
"Mienshao is unable to battle!"
In an instant, the stands erupted.
"Whoa! That was so cool!!"
"As expected of a Water-type, I'm soaked."
"That's it, I'm getting a Froakie when I get home. I have to have one. Not even Arceus can stop me, I swear!"
At this moment, Arthur had yet to realize that he had inadvertently contributed a significant force to the price hike of the already popular Pokémon, Froakie…
Right now, he just calmly walked past Shirou and asked Kevin.
"You want to give it a try?"
Shirou had ignored his own partner's wishes, but Arthur would not.
Kevin was an acquaintance, after all. It was a fan tournament; you couldn't just leave him out of the fun.
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