After some deliberation, Lu Ze took out a Poké Ball and sent out his second Pokémon.
"Go, Hydregion!"
Lu Ze's second Pokémon wasn't Kyurem — it was Hydregion.
Kyurem's movepool did include Water-type moves like Aqua Edge.
But that was a close-range move, and it was far too easy for the opponent's Camerupt to counter it.
After all, whether it was Flamethrower or Heat Wave, they were wide-area fire damage moves.
They could easily deal damage to Kyurem even at close range.
On top of that, Camerupt was a Fire type. Moves like Will-O-Wisp weren't friendly toward Kyurem's physical-oriented build.
So rather than send out Kyurem, Hydregion was the better choice.
Hydregion had a type advantage against Fire-type moves, and its ability, Levitate, made it immune to Ground-type moves.
Hydregion could render Camerupt's two STAB moves completely useless.
And since Hydregion was specially oriented, it didn't need to worry about Camerupt's Will-O-Wisp.
On top of that, Hydregion's movepool also included Water-type moves.
Using Hydregion against Sui Yan's Camerupt was practically perfect.
True enough — when Hydregion appeared on the field, Sui Yan's brow furrowed slightly.
If it had been Kyurem, it would've been tough, but manageable.
But Hydregion was a real problem.
"Flamethrower!"
With that, Sui Yan directed his Camerupt to test the waters with an attack.
Camerupt was still at full health. Using Flamethrower would deal the maximum damage.
On top of that, there was the STAB bonus and the Sunny Day boost to Fire-type moves.
Even though Flamethrower had no additional effects and couldn't trigger Camerupt's Sheer Force ability,
The damage would be absolutely brutal.
As long as it landed, it would deal considerable damage to Hydregion.
But Lu Ze clearly wasn't about to let Flamethrower hit his Hydregion so easily.
Surf surged outward, barely managing to reduce the Flamethrower's damage.
But with all those multipliers stacked on top of each other, Surf couldn't fully block the Flamethrower.
Steam rose continuously in the arena. Mega Camerupt's flames gushed outward without pause.
After using Surf to slow the flames down, Hydregion immediately gained altitude.
Then Dragon Pulse swept across the arena, constantly suppressing the Flamethrower's damage.
"Come back, Camerupt!"
When Flamethrower ended, Sui Yan recalled his Mega Camerupt into its Poké Ball.
"Go, Marowak!"
Camerupt's type matchup was far too disadvantaged against Hydregion. Better to swap it out for Marowak.
At worst, they could force a one-for-one trade.
His Mega Camerupt still had a huge advantage against Kyurem anyway.
Marowak, with its Fire and Ghost type from Alola, also had a type disadvantage against Hydregion.
But Sui Yan was confident — as long as he could find an opening, Marowak could take Hydregion down.
The前提 was, of course, that such an opening would actually appear.
Lu Ze's level was incredibly high. Even though Sui Yan considered his own command skills solid, he still felt a twinge of insecurity standing across from Lu Ze.
"Shadow Ball!"
The moment Marowak entered the arena, Sui Yan directed it to fire a probing Shadow Ball attack.
"Space Slash!"
But to Sui Yan's shock, Lu Ze actually directed Hydregion to use Space Slash in response?
A massive crescent blade of light, its edges tinged with the darkness of shattered space, cleaved Shadow Ball in two and came swinging toward Marowak.
Marowak hastily rolled to the side to dodge — but the following Malevolent Wave left no room for escape.
Hydregion dove down. Dark-type energy gathered in its maw and erupted directly onto Marowak.
"Boom!"
At the last moment, Marowak managed to block part of the damage with the bone club in its hand. Not all of the attack's power landed on its body.
But even so, the explosive force of the energy sent Marowak flying.
"What kind of move was that?"
Xiaohao watched in amazement, turning to Xiaoguang to ask.
He felt like that move didn't look like something Hydregion should be able to use.
In fact, he didn't even recognize the move at all!
He had no idea what that move even was!
"Malevolent Wave, obviously."
Xiaozhi gave Xiaohao a strange look. You can't even recognize that?
"Not that one! I mean the big crescent-shaped one before it!"
Xiaohao waved his hands frantically, turning back to Xiaozhi. "How could I not recognize Malevolent Wave?!"
"Oh, that one."
Xiaozhi scratched his head sheepishly. "If I'm not mistaken, that should be one of those legendary-exclusive signature moves."
"A legendary's move?"
Xiaohao was stunned. "Can regular Pokémon learn a legendary's signature moves?"
"Of course not."
Xiaozhi shook his head. "But Lu-ge's Pokémon are the exception."
"His Gengar can use Darkrai's Dark Void, after all."
"For real?!"
"For real."
Xiaozhi nodded. "But actually, it's not impossible for regular Pokémon to learn legendary moves."
"It's just extremely difficult — and the legendary has to personally teach it."
When Xiaohao heard that, his heart — which had just sparked with excitement — immediately cooled by a large margin.
The "extremely difficult" part was manageable. But "the legendary has to personally teach it"?
Unless you had an incredibly close relationship with that legendary, why would it bother teaching your Pokémon its signature move?
"Lu-ge is on very good terms with many legendaries. Not only that — there are quite a few legendaries living at his ranch too."
Xiaozhi looked at Lu Ze on the field, a hint of envy in his eyes as he spoke.
To be honest, Xiaozhi was also on good terms with quite a few legendaries himself.
But he couldn't do what Lu Ze did — having a legendary personally teach his Pokémon its signature move.
That was the part Xiaozhi truly envied about Lu Ze.
On the field, after Hydregion's Malevolent Wave connected, Lu Ze didn't give Marowak any breathing room. He directed Hydregion to keep pressing the attack.
Still Malevolent Wave!
The Marowak that had just been blown by the explosion scrambled to its feet and fired its own Malevolent Wave in retaliation.
But clearly, Marowak's Special Attack couldn't compete with Hydregion's.
Marowak's Malevolent Wave was being pushed back and overwhelmed.
Yet Sui Yan had never intended to overpower Hydregion in a Special Attack duel.
The instant Hydregion's Malevolent Wave pushed forward, Marowak detonated its own Malevolent Wave.
An explosion erupted between Hydregion and Marowak. Lu Ze hastily directed Hydregion to create distance.
Black smoke spread across the arena. Lu Ze instinctively felt something was wrong.
He activated his Aura — and sure enough, he detected Marowak moving.
"You're too slow!"
Sui Yan shouted excitedly. "Marowak, Outrage!"
Marowak burst straight out of the darkness. The bone club in its hand came down hard on Hydregion's head.
The terrifying damage from that single blow sent Hydregion plummeting from the sky.
But Marowak's attack wasn't over yet.
The bone club spun as dragon-type energy condensed around it — and it swung again toward Hydregion.
"Time-Space Roar!"
Lu Ze shouted. Hydregion stabilized in midair, gathered its energy, and a burst of white energy erupted directly, striking Marowak and sending it flying.
After using Time-Space Roar, Hydregion was left in a daze from the recoil.
Marowak's second Outrage missed.
It charged toward Hydregion again.
Sui Yan clicked his tongue slightly.
He knew about Lu Ze's Aura ability.
And precisely because he knew, he hadn't chosen to have Marowak use Bulk Up first before using Outrage.
If Marowak had Bulk Up'd first and then Outrage, there was no way it could've touched Hydregion.
He hadn't even been able to land the hit with a plain Outrage.
Hydregion was fast, and Lu Ze — with his Aura — had equally fast reactions.
"Outrage!"
Marowak charged again. Hydregion quickly recovered from the daze.
Lu Ze didn't hesitate. He directed Hydregion to use Outrage as well.
It had to be said — Marowak, holding a Thick Club, had truly terrifying Attack power.
That single Outrage had almost taken out his Hydregion.
But since it hadn't killed, that was fine.
Even though Outrage dealt no type-advantage damage to Marowak,
The STAB bonus meant that in a straight collision of Outrage versus Outrage, Hydregion would absolutely not lose to Marowak.
"Boom!"
The two Pokémon collided. The violent clash of dragon-type energy produced a shockwave so powerful that Xiaozhi and Xiaohao could barely keep their footing.
When the collision ended, both Pokémon staggered backward — each having been pushed back two steps.
Hydregion was in the air, but it had also been pushed back two steps.
Marowak's Outrage ended after that attack.
When Outrage ended, Marowak entered a state of confusion.
Hydregion's Outrage was still active. It charged forward and rammed into the confused Marowak, sending it flying.
"Marowak is unable to battle. Please switch to a different Pokémon!"
The Drone Rotom quickly moved in to inspect Marowak's condition, then spoke.
Sui Yan drew a steadying breath. He took out his Poké Ball and recalled his defeated Marowak.
Then he immediately sent out Mega Camerupt once more!
But before Mega Camerupt could launch an attack, Lu Ze also recalled Hydregion into its Poké Ball.
Hydregion had taken serious damage from Marowak's Outrage. Its health was running low.
On top of that, using Outrage had left it on the verge of confusion.
In that state, there was no way it could beat Mega Camerupt.
Rather than stay in and risk it, it was better to switch Pokémon directly.
"Go, Kyurem!"
Kyurem quickly entered the arena. The final battle between the two of them was about to begin!
"Camerupt, Flamethrower!"
Seeing Kyurem enter the field, Sui Yan directed his Camerupt to use Flamethrower once more.
Camerupt was at full health right now. Flamethrower would deal maximum damage.
"Light Screen, then Taunt!"
Lu Ze furrowed his brow. He directed Kyurem to use Light Screen to block the Flamethrower, then immediately followed up with Taunt.
The麻烦 with Kyurem versus Mega Camerupt was exactly this.
He had to constantly use Taunt to prevent Mega Camerupt from using Will-O-Wisp.
If Mega Camerupt landed Will-O-Wisp on Kyurem and inflicted Burn status,
Then Kyurem would essentially be unable to beat Mega Camerupt.
Though Kyurem was a mixed attacker, its Special Attack was nothing to sneeze at,
But compared to its physical Attack, it was still lacking.
On top of that, its Quark Charge ability also boosted its physical Attack.
"You're guarding against my Will-O-Wisp."
Sui Yan couldn't help but laugh. You Lu Ze, reduced to this?
Ha! Ha!!
But Will-O-Wisp wasn't the right move to use right now!
"Camerupt, another Flamethrower!"
To be fair, Flamethrower had a range that more or less covered the entire arena.
Kyurem had no way to dodge.
The only way to make Mega Camerupt stop using this move was to deal some damage to it.
"Aqua Edge."
Lu Ze was still furrowing his brow, directing Kyurem to use Aqua Edge.
He wasn't in a rush to attack Mega Camerupt. The water from Aqua Edge wrapped around Kyurem's body, shielding it from Flamethrower's damage.
Steam hissed as water met fire.
The instant Flamethrower ended, Kyurem charged toward Mega Camerupt at top speed.
One hand raised — using the steam as cover, it released Future Sight.
"Flamethrower!"
Sui Yan wasn't flustered at all. The moment he saw Kyurem burst out of the steam, he directed Mega Camerupt to use Flamethrower once more.
One trick, repeated endlessly!
"Magic Flare!"
With no room to dodge at close range, Lu Ze could only direct Kyurem to use Magic Flare in a damage trade.
Pink energy and red flames collided without interfering with each other, both striking the opponent at almost the same instant.
Mega Camerupt staggered back slightly. Kyurem, however, pressed forward through the Burn, charging toward Mega Camerupt again.
"It's about time, isn't it?"
Sui Yan smiled faintly. He pointed at Kyurem. "Camerupt, Will-O-Wisp!"
The close-range Will-O-Wisp landed directly on Kyurem, inflicting Burn status!
———
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