Chapter 578: A Balanced Success, A Balanced Failure
As an ultimate move, Outrage had its side effects. After the move ended, the Pokémon would fall into confusion and exhaustion.
At first, Future Yuzuru tried to grasp this last straw of hope, hoping Arcanine could stall through this period until the little dragonfly suffered the side effects, then seek a comeback.
However, Arcanine's advantage of being well-rounded turned into its disadvantage.
Because Arcanine was so balanced, with no obvious shortcomings in any aspect...
It also meant it had no outstanding strengths because it was too balanced!
In terms of strength, Arcanine couldn't match the little dragonfly after her Outrage dragon transformation.
In terms of speed, Arcanine couldn't outrun the flying dragonfly.
If it wanted to tank hits, Arcanine wasn't a Pokémon specialized in extreme defense like Bronzong or Shuckle.
If it wanted to go all-in, Arcanine didn't have the extreme offensive capabilities of Pokémon like Weavile or Alakazam, which completely sacrificed defense for attack.
In the end, Arcanine succeeded because of balance and failed because of balance.
Against weaker opponents, it was Future Yuzuru's most reliable Pokémon.
But against strong enemies, it brought the fewest miracles for its master.
Not to mention that in this battle, it was essentially stripped of one ability—in a 1v1 duel, if the enemy consciously avoided using Dark-type moves, Arcanine's Justified ability naturally had nowhere to shine.
This was why most Arcanine in stadium battles chose the Intimidate ability.
After finally managing to use Safeguard to clear the confusion, Future Yuzuru realized Arcanine didn't have much time left.
"Arcanine, use Play Rough! Fight her!"
Unfortunately, Arcanine didn't know any Ice-type moves and couldn't exploit Flygon's double weakness to Ice.
But the Fairy-type Play Rough could still deal super-effective damage, making it the relatively best choice.
This move, named "Play Rough," sounded innocent and harmless, but it was actually a pillar among Fairy-type attack moves!
Approaching the opponent under the guise of playing, lowering their guard, and then launching a surprise close-range attack—its power was considerable!
Even enemies deceived by the friendly illusion upon approach might have their aggression lowered, making it difficult to exert 100% of their combat power.
However, the dragon transformation brought by Outrage was like a bloodthirsty frenzy. During its duration, the Pokémon's fighting spirit was locked at its peak, so the little dragonfly wouldn't be fooled by Arcanine's playful act at all.
No feigned intimacy, only real combat!
Outrage versus Play Rough!
One was the most proficient ultimate move; the other was a targeted super-effective move!
It seemed like an evenly matched confrontation, but in the end, due to the gap in the Pokémon's conditions, it presented a nearly one-sided outcome.
Before this confrontation began, Arcanine's condition was already far worse than the little dragonfly's...
Although the little dragonfly had tanked two skill attacks from Arcanine earlier, the ravaging suppression she inflicted during the cooldown period returned even more damage to Arcanine!
Most Sakura trainers underestimated the game during the cooldown period, thinking the main damage source should be skills.
But this time, Arthur gave them a good lesson—
When the overflowing energy gradually subsided and the flying dust and gravel finally settled, Arcanine was lying on its back in the center of the battlefield, eyes closed tight, tongue hanging out.
In contrast, the little dragonfly roared rebelliously at the sky, though her constantly wagging tail really ruined her post-dragon transformation dominance...
But anyway, the other doggy had temporarily lost the right to wag its tail, so—
Victory decided!
Surrounding Sakura trainers sighed one after another.
"We actually... lost..."
They thought this year was the most hopeful year!
A year when, apart from the Grand Master Team of the Hoenn League, no one should be able to stop them!
Unexpectedly, before the Champions Cup even officially started, the Forest Maiden they had high hopes for suffered a Waterloo against Kubfu, the bottom-ranked of the seven major leagues...
Many people around didn't know the real reason for this fight.
But in the face of such a humiliating defeat, the reason for the fight seemed less important...
Future Yuzuru also realized this, and her face looked particularly gloomy.
It was a pity. Not only did she fail to teach Arthur a lesson and vent her anger as she wished, but her defeat helped him further clear his "suspicion."
Because she didn't have decisive evidence in the first place, and now that she lost, if she continued to pester him, others would only think she was a sore loser.
Recalling Arcanine, she glared at Arthur fiercely, too angry to speak for a moment.
"Phew..."
Arthur exhaled, feeling a long-lost sense of relaxation after the event ended.
He had been fighting since the sudden ambush by the Stitched Shadow Army until now, when he finally stopped.
Both his mind and body couldn't help but feel a bit exhausted.
It's finally over...
Did I forget something?
This thought flashed through Arthur's mind for a moment, but before he could think carefully, he was quickly overwhelmed by the surrounding noise.
"Holy crap?! Amazing!!"
"Kubfu actually has such a powerful trainer?!"
"Come on! Fight me again!"
"No, fight me first!!"
"Kubfu kid, don't run!! So your name is Arthur. This time I want to challenge you again!!"
Seeing this scene, Aaron and Leo were a bit confused.
"What's going on? Why do I feel like Arthur's popularity in the desert... seems a bit poor?"
Arthur smiled bitterly.
Before he could explain, Forrest answered for him.
"Be confident, you can remove 'seems'."
"Uh?"
Arthur spread his hands. "Before, to ask about some things, I offended some people. On the way here, I also robbed... cough, reasonably challenged some trainers from other places, so—"
That's right. Unlike his situation in the Kubfu Alliance where everyone loved him and fans responded to his every call, Arthur's interpersonal relationships in the desert, especially in the territory of the Phantom of the West, still had considerable room for improvement...
Having fought Future Yuzuru for a long time, more and more people gathered around. Unknowingly, many trainers he had beaten or robbed before appeared nearby.
Future Yuzuru had just arrived here and didn't know the situation. Otherwise, if she had used it reasonably, she might have facilitated an anti-Arthur alliance long ago.
It was just a pity that by this point, the prideful young lady was no longer willing to lower herself to pester him endlessly.
"What do we do now?"
"Run!!"
Arthur and the others running away instantly incited public anger.
"Don't let him run!!"
"Beat him up together while we can!"
"Even if we can't beat him, at least force him out of collecting Seeds!"
This last voice was quite insidious. Knowing they might not beat Arthur in trainer strength, they wanted to use this underhanded trick to force Arthur out of at least one leaderboard.
However, this unintentionally reminded Arthur—
Holy crap!
He instantly realized what he had forgotten!
At this moment, near the battlefield where Arthur had killed Dayna and Linda, the Sandslash Seed sat lonely by the battlefield, motionless as the wind and sand blew...
The car was destroyed. Arthur and Forrest had both left riding their respective Pokémon.
And everyone had forgotten about him...
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