Chapter 229: Do You Understand What an Artillery Cannon Is?
Although the students raising their hands all secretly wanted to beat him down, Basalt couldn't help but show a satisfied smile.
These were all walking XP fodder.
And the best part was, they were all tripping over themselves to be next. It was just... adorable.
"Will challenger number 558 please come forward."
Same old rules. Everything was proceeding in order.
This challenger was a short girl with glasses. Her figure was a bit on the plump side, making her look like a ball from a distance.
"Basalt, I'm sorry to do this, but I'm still going to have to defeat you."
The short girl blinked at Basalt, which made him feel a little nauseous.
Did she... just try to hit on me?
"Just send out your Pokémon. Hurry it up," Basalt said, his brow furrowed with impatience.
This was the kind of girl he couldn't be bothered to look at twice.
"In such a hurry, Basalt?"
The short girl giggled, then pulled a Pokéball from her barrel-like waist and threw it forcefully.
A Pokémon that looked like a pink dairy cow appeared. It had a black ball on the end of its tail, a very stout and round body, and two cute little horns on its head.
"A Miltank?"
Basalt's eyes widened. He looked at the girl, then at the Miltank. They were a pretty good match, even if it was a bit hard on the eyes.
"Could it be... the Sap Sipper Ability?"
Suddenly, Basalt smelled a trap.
Miltank had three possible abilities: Thick Fat, Scrappy, and its Hidden Ability, Sap Sipper.
If it had Sap Sipper, it would be a nightmare for Grass-type Pokémon.
Sap Sipper was similar to Storm Drain; when hit by a Grass-type move, the Pokémon would take no damage and its Attack would be raised instead.
And unfortunately for him, most of Lileep's offensive power was in its Grass-type moves.
If its Grass-type moves were sealed, Lileep's strength would definitely be crippled.
But even so, Basalt wasn't worried.
With Lileep's power, it had a way to deal with this.
"Both trainers, take your positions! Battle, begin!"
With the referee's command, the third battle was officially underway.
"Miltank, Rollout!"
At its trainer's command, Miltank quickly curled into a ball of flesh and rolled towards Lileep with overwhelming force.
It was clear this Miltank was very skilled with Rollout. It had been well-trained, which was why the move was so powerful.
Lileep, on the other hand, spat out a glob of gleaming blue liquid from its mouth, as if to meet the attack head-on.
But the problem was, this blue liquid had almost no force behind it and couldn't affect Miltank's charge at all.
POW!
The powerful Rollout hit its mark, and the force was so great that it even snapped several of the roots anchoring Lileep to the ground.
Fortunately, Lileep had many roots. A few broken ones were nothing; it could regrow them quickly.
"Now, Dizzy Punch!" the girl yelled, her face full of excitement.
Dizzy Punch, a Normal-type move. The user throws a rhythmic punch that has a chance of leaving the opponent confused.
Although Basalt hadn't fallen for her trap and attacked Miltank with a Grass-type move, if this Dizzy Punch landed, given how much she'd trained it, the chance of causing confusion was extremely high.
And once Lileep was confused, the match would be decided.
"Moo-moo~"
With a strange cry, Miltank uncurled from its Rollout. It balled its right fist and swung. The punch whistled through the air; it was clearly not to be underestimated.
"Whoa! A violent healer?" someone in the crowd exclaimed.
This girl wasn't much to look at, but to be fair, her skills were really impressive.
Unfortunately for her, Basalt and Lileep were not to be trifled with.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
From beneath the ground, countless roots suddenly shot out again. They not only enveloped Lileep for protection but also wrapped around Miltank, binding it like a mummy.
The murderous Miltank was instantly baffled.
It looked at Lileep, then at the roots on its own body, completely confused.
A Grass-type move... actually worked on me?! What's going on?
"That liquid just now... it was Gastro Acid!"
The girl's eyes went wide as she finally realized what had happened.
Gastro Acid, a move that could neutralize an opponent's Ability.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Once an opponent was trapped by Lileep, the outcome was already sealed.
One Wrap, one Rock Tomb, and one final Bullet Seed. Lileep easily scored its third consecutive victory.
"Damn! Wasn't it acting all wilted just a second ago? How did it suddenly become so full of life the moment the battle started?"
"It was an act! All an act!"
Some had seen through Basalt's clumsy performance, but others didn't care.
They just wanted a chance to beat him. Besides, losing cost them nothing.
And since Basalt was showing his hand, they could just choose a Pokémon with a type advantage!
So, after a brief silence, Basalt's fourth challenger appeared.
"Go, Ledian!"
The trainer threw his Pokéball.
Ledian is a Bug/Flying-type Pokémon that looks a bit like a fairy. It has a red body with beige parts on its mouth, belly, and wings. It has two pairs of arms, a pair of black antennae, and blue pupils. Its wings have two black spots each, with another on its head.
"You're using a Pokémon that's 4x weak to Rock against Lileep? Are you serious?"
Basalt had a look of utter confusion on his face. This guy was being a little too arrogant.
But soon, as the battle began, Basalt understood his opponent's trump card.
Mach Punch!
Ledian was already fast, but this one had incorporated Mach Punch into its movement. By throwing punches, it could use the force of the move to accelerate, achieving an effect similar to a short-range flash step.
So, at the start of the match, Lileep was completely on the back foot, getting pummeled by Ledian's Mach Punches.
But as the fight went on, the opponent finally realized something was wrong.
After unleashing four or five high-intensity attacks without a break, his Ledian was starting to run out of steam, gasping for air.
The problem was, although Basalt's Lileep was covered in wounds and panting heavily, it still hadn't gone down.
"What's going on?"
The Ledian's trainer was baffled.
These are super-effective moves! You took five hits and you're still not down? That doesn't make any sense!
It wasn't just Basalt's opponent. By now, everyone in the audience was staring wide-eyed, as if they'd seen a ghost.
"It's Ingrain!" one of the judges exclaimed. "Look at the roots under that Lileep! There are too many to count! My Tangrowth is almost at the Pro-level, but I don't think it has as many roots as that thing!"
"For real?"
"Not only that, besides the sheer number, I bet the area covered by those roots is huge. Otherwise, it could never keep up with the stamina consumption."
...
While the judges were discussing, Lileep took a deep breath. It formed several rock projectiles in front of its body and launched them at the exhausted, slowing Ledian.
Facing the crisis, Ledian pushed its body to its limits, narrowly dodging the first few rock projectiles, and then... got obliterated by the fourth.
4x weak to Rock. The ending was obvious—a direct one-hit KO.
"Sorry about that," Basalt said with a smile. "My Lileep's role is an artillery cannon. Do you understand what an artillery cannon is? When you're an artillery cannon, you don't just fire one shot. You've got to let at least six, seven, eight, nine rounds fly to really get your fill!"
"Nee-nee~"
After its victory, Lileep also had a happy smile on its face. Little specks of light flickered on its body as it absorbed nutrients from the soil, rapidly healing its wounds.
"I'm number 560! I want to challenge!"
The moment the battle ended, another freshman shot his hand up, looking incredibly impatient.
He had to be. Every second he delayed, Lileep would recover a little more.
If he could hurry up and defeat Lileep before it healed, it would be an easy win.
And so, Basalt's fifth opponent, a tall, chubby boy, rushed onto the stage. "Go, Froslass!"
Froslass is an Ice/Ghost-type Pokémon. It has no feet and floats in the air like a ghost. Its "body" resembles a kimono, with a red sash around its waist. Its arms hang from the sides of its head, and its head itself looks like a sideways water droplet, with two ice crystals on top.
One of Lileep's weaknesses was Ice, so Froslass had a type advantage. Not to mention, Lileep was currently heavily injured.
"Wait a minute!"
But just then, Mr. Logan stood up. He stopped the Froslass's trainer, then turned to Basalt. "You've fought four battles in a row. Do you want to take a break and let Lileep recover its stamina before the next fight?"
Hearing this, the tall, chubby boy's face darkened.
Are you kidding me? I was all set to go, and now you pull this?
But fortunately for him, Basalt didn't take Mr. Logan's suggestion. He just chuckled and said, "It's fine. My Lileep can handle it."
"It can handle it, even in that state?"
Mr. Logan's mouth twitched. He was just about to point at Lileep when he saw a massive wave of vivid green energy points emerge from its roots.
"Nee-nee~"
As the points of light flowed into Lileep's body, its injuries instantly healed by more than half, and it once again looked full of vigor.
"Holy crap! That bastard is tricking people again! He waited until the challenger was on stage to heal up!"
The students in the crowd sucked in a cold breath. They thought Basalt was a really sneaky person.
You're already the Rookie King, a max-level player among the freshmen, and you're still pulling tricks like this? Do you have no shame?
While the crowd was denouncing Basalt, only the judge next to Mr. Logan quietly frowned.
As a Tangrowth trainer, he knew a lot about Ingrain.
With the way that Lileep is absorbing nutrients and water from the soil... can the battlefield really take it?
RUMBLE!
And in the next second, the previously solid ground suddenly collapsed. The moisture had been completely sucked out of the soil, turning it into dry sand.
The field had been desertified.
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