Chapter 232: Giga Drain
"Nee-nee~ Nee-nee~"
Facing the multi-colored powders closing in from all sides, Lileep's expression was grave.
At the end of the day, it had lost its Water typing, so its Brine attack could only cover one direction. It wasn't enough to defend against an ambush from all sides.
"Lileep, surround yourself with your roots!"
Fortunately, Basalt's reaction was faster. He had already thought of a way to handle it.
At his command, the roots beneath Lileep shot out, wrapping around it and forming a massive, nearly airtight cocoon just before the powders could reach it, blocking them all outside.
"You think that's enough? You're underestimating my Venomoth."
Mr. Logan smiled slightly and shouted, "Venoshock!"
A shower of blackish-purple powder was sprinkled onto Lileep's root cocoon. The moment the powder touched the roots, a sizzling sound of corrosion erupted, accompanied by puffs of white smoke. Clearly, this powder contained a highly corrosive poison.
"Moth~"
Venomoth flapped its wings, gathering the blackish-purple powder in front of it. Before long, it formed a foul-smelling, dark purple liquid and splattered it onto the root cocoon.
Tssssssss...
A violent corrosive sound hissed, and clouds of white steam billowed up.
The crowd watched as Lileep's roots began to corrode at a visible rate. In just a few moments, a large hole had been eaten through them.
But unfortunately for him, Lileep's recovery ability was far stronger than Mr. Logan had imagined.
So what if you burned a hole in my roots? I'll just patch it up!
And so, after the Venoshock's corrosive effect ended, the roots began to grow back rapidly, returning to their original state in the blink of an eye.
"Gasp~ That recovery... is insane!"
The spectators sucked in a cold breath, once again amazed by Lileep's abilities.
"In that case, Venomoth, let's use Bug Buzz!"
At Mr. Logan's command, a series of piercing chirps began to emanate from Venomoth's mouth, the sound exceptionally crisp and loud.
The root cocoon could block physical attacks, but it couldn't block the invasion of sound waves.
"Nee-nee~"
Inside the root cocoon, Lileep let out a pained cry.
As a high-level Bug-type move, Bug Buzz was incredibly powerful. Coupled with the fact that it was super-effective against the Grass-type Lileep, the damage from this attack was not to be underestimated.
"Basalt is in trouble now! If Lileep opens the cocoon, it'll be hit by Venomoth's powder. But if it doesn't, it'll keep taking damage from Bug Buzz. Is this the strength of a Pro-level trainer? Terrifying."
Someone sighed under their breath.
Looking at the current situation, Basalt and Lileep were clearly at an absolute disadvantage.
"So, Basalt, how are you going to handle this?"
Mr. Logan's lips curled up slightly as he looked at Basalt with anticipation.
He wasn't in a hurry to defeat Basalt. On the contrary, he wanted to see more of his on-the-fly reactions. It was a little test for him.
Unfortunately for him, Basalt's expression remained neutral. He just quietly watched everything unfold.
"Why isn't Basalt reacting? Has he already given up?"
"Impossible! That kid is as sly as they come. He'd never give up so easily. It looks like he's waiting for something."
"Waiting? Waiting for what?"
One of the freshmen scratched his head, confused.
But in the next second, everyone understood.
Because the normal soil of the battlefield had suddenly begun to turn to sand again.
"So that's it! He was waiting for Lileep to drain the moisture from the soil and kick up a Sandstorm!"
Sshh-ssh-ssh...
As the sandstorm swept across the field, the sand not only pelted Venomoth's body but also got into its mouth.
This made Venomoth extremely uncomfortable, and its Bug Buzz was inevitably disrupted.
Not only that, but as the intensity of the sandstorm grew, Venomoth's stamina began to drain, and its flight became greatly hindered.
As for its poisonous powder, it was blown to the edges of the field by the sandstorm the moment it was released, making it impossible to spread freely.
With the arrival of the sandstorm, the tables had once again turned.
"Nee-nee~"
Taking advantage of Venomoth's discomfort, Lileep finally opened its root cocoon, panting slightly.
Although Ingrain could restore its stamina, Bug Buzz was a super-effective move. So even with the combination of Ingrain and Mega Drain, Lileep's health had dropped into the red.
Fortunately, the sandstorm was finally up, and the opponent's Bug Buzz had been interrupted.
"Rock Tomb!"
At Basalt's command, Lileep's artillery-cannon nature was once again on full display. All sorts of moves were fired off relentlessly, as if they were free, raining down on Venomoth.
At first, Venomoth tried to block with Psybeam, but in the next second, Lileep's Bullet Seed arrived.
Having no other choice, Venomoth had to use Double Team to dodge.
Unfortunately, its Double Team couldn't last. The swirling sand quickly tore its clones to shreds.
And its true body couldn't escape Lileep's senses.
Hindered by the sandstorm, Venomoth's speed had slowed. It could no longer rely on flight alone to dodge Lileep's attacks; it had to counter with moves of its own.
"Looks like Basalt has won! This is crazy. He beat a Pro-level trainer's Pokémon. Even if it wasn't his main, it's still incredible."
The tide of opinion once again shifted in Basalt's favor.
Although it hadn't taken a direct hit, Venomoth was also panting heavily, looking extremely battered. In the real world, the energy and stamina cost of attacking was also significant.
But in the next second, something that stunned the crowd happened again.
A dark purple, poisonous light suddenly began to glow on Lileep's body.
And with that, Lileep's continuous assault was forced to a halt.
"Lileep is poisoned! When did that happen?!" Basalt's expression changed drastically.
"It was the Venoshock from earlier."
Just then, Mr. Logan spoke up with a smile, clearing Basalt's confusion. "My Venomoth's Venoshock was blocked by your roots, but its toxins can dissolve in water and spread through the current."
"So when your Lileep was draining the moisture from the soil, it inevitably absorbed a large amount of the poison as well."
Basalt finally understood.
Even though he had been extremely careful, he still hadn't managed to defend against his opponent's dirty trick. It was truly impossible to guard against everything.
Pro-level trainers... none of them were to be underestimated.
"Now this is interesting. One side is having its stamina drained by poison, the other by the sandstorm. Now we just have to see who runs out of stamina first."
"Such an exciting battle, and it's come down to a battle of attrition? Tsk tsk."
"Lileep's advantage is its recovery, but its current stamina is probably much lower than Venomoth's. And while Venomoth has more stamina, it definitely won't dare to use Roost to heal, because if it gets caught by Lileep's roots, it's all over."
The crowd marveled at the situation. No one could have predicted this outcome.
"Nee-nee~"
After the wave of pain from the poison passed, Lileep recovered a bit of its spirit and, forcing through the discomfort, launched another attack.
But unfortunately, in its weakened state, its attack speed was greatly reduced. It couldn't hit its opponent.
Of course, Venomoth wasn't in good shape either and had almost no offensive capability left.
Both of them were just holding on, enduring.
And so, Lileep stopped wasting stamina on attacks and put all its focus into Ingrain and Mega Drain, trying to recover its stamina as quickly as possible and win this war of attrition.
"Nee-nee~ Nee-nee~"
Lileep's expression was grim, but its will to win this battle was unshakeable.
Fueled by this conviction, an unconscious change began to happen to its body.
The green energy points traveling up from its roots had become very sparse, but suddenly, they began to surge again, becoming dense once more.
As for Lileep's body, it began to glow with a strange green light, and its wounds started to slowly heal.
"That's... Giga Drain!"
Basalt's eyes went wide with joy.
The Ingrain was still the same Ingrain, but Lileep's Mega Drain had evolved into Giga Drain. This was a massive breakthrough.
It meant that Lileep's energy absorption speed had once again increased.
And in the current situation, it meant that Lileep's energy intake was now greater than its energy expenditure.
With that, Lileep's victory was sealed.
"A mid-battle breakthrough?"
Mr. Logan's eyes went wide, finding it hard to believe.
That luck... wasn't it a little too good?
Damn it!
After recovering a bit of stamina, Lileep's expression eased, and its face was full of excitement.
Venomoth, on the other hand, was already swaying unsteadily in the air, a look of helplessness on its face.
In the end, Lileep finished the battle with a single Rock Tomb.
"Venomoth is unable to battle! The winner is... Basalt!"
With the referee's final call, this long and dramatic battle, with its multiple reversals of fortune, finally came to a close.
"Lileep, drink this first."
The moment the battle ended, Basalt rushed out with an Antidote and gave it to Lileep.
"Nee-nee~"
Before long, Lileep's energy was restored.
And Basalt had successfully joined the Battle Club.
However, the upperclassmen from the club who had rushed over after hearing the commotion didn't look too happy.
They could already foresee that Basalt would be challenging them next, which was just annoying.
...
The series of exhilarating battles had given Basalt a clear understanding of Lileep's strength.
In a sandstorm, it was definitely at the Advanced-rank.
"In that case, I can go take the Advanced Trainer Certification exam soon."
Basalt raised an eyebrow, a look of anticipation on his face.
Once he became an Advanced-rank Trainer, he could finally go to the Takla Desert he had been dreaming of and enjoy the latest research on quicksand.
Just thinking about it was exciting.
"But I remember that besides testing a Pokémon's strength, the Advanced Trainer exam also tests a lot of theoretical knowledge. What a pain."
Basalt pouted.
But just then, his Pokédex suddenly rang. It was Agent Zhou.
"Hey, Basalt. When can you come to the Cinnabar Sanctuary? The special nutrient fluid for your Larvitar has arrived."
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