Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Information Disparity Advantage
"Nicely done."
"Altaria, keep a close eye on Flygon! Pelipper, focus on Charizard! Walrein, stay on Feraligatr! Just wait for Heracross to defeat Electabuzz, and victory will be ours!"
The captain of the Sky Crown Team calmly issued commands to all the Pokémon, wearing a confident expression.
"Damn it, we can't let it go on like this."
"Charizard, Flygon, charge in and take down Altaria and Pelipper!"
The captain of the Devon Team had a dark expression on his face, directly ordering the two airborne Pokémon to attack fiercely. If they could defeat those two, gaining aerial dominance would make Electabuzz's defeat irrelevant!
Roar!
Charizard and Flygon both let out dragon roars before charging in. Charizard targeted Altaria, while Flygon went straight for Pelipper, engaging in close combat!
However, Altaria and Pelipper knew they couldn't compete in close combat against two Pokémon with dragon bloodlines, so they promptly turned to flee. Their job was simply to hold off their attackers until Heracross finished off Electabuzz!
Thus, the four Pokémon in the sky began a tug-of-war, with long-range attacks crossing between them!
Boom!
At that moment, a loud crash came from the ground. Everyone turned to see Heracross had already smashed Electabuzz into the grass, causing the latter to sink deep into it, already unconscious!
Against the Fighting-type Heracross, Electabuzz was doomed the moment it faced it head-on!
But as Heracross defeated Electabuzz on the ground, Charizard and Flygon had caught up to the slower Pelipper in the air.
The two Pokémon charged in, using Dragon Claw moves to attack, causing white feathers to scatter through the sky. With a cry, Pelipper fell straight to the ground, also unconscious.
However, in the midst of their struggle, Charizard and Flygon took several hits from Pelipper's desperate Hydro Pump and Altaria's Dragon Breath moves, sustaining injuries themselves!
Whoosh!
Just when everyone thought this round of battle had reached a conclusion, a loud whistle cut through the air, and they saw a massive Ice Ball hurtling toward Flygon in mid-air!
Feraligatr, seeing this, didn't wait for its master to command and immediately fired a Hydro Pump to intercept the Ice Ball, knowing that Flygon wouldn't be able to dodge it. If hit by this four times damage, it would surely be defeated!
But just as Feraligatr was about to unleash the Hydro Pump, it suddenly felt itself being launched backward, and the Hydro Pump it had stored up was left uncast!
It turned out that Heracross, having dealt with Electabuzz, charged in and knocked Feraligatr away with a single punch!
Boom!
At the same time, the Ice Ball crashed hard into Flygon, sending it plummeting from the sky like a kite with a broken string, smashing into the ground!
"Electabuzz, Pelipper, and Flygon have lost their ability to battle!"
With the referee's announcement, both sides reluctantly retrieved their Pokémon into their Poké Balls.
In this scenario, the Devon Team had lost two Pokémon, leaving only Charizard, Feraligatr, and Sneasel—each of which was heavily injured!
In contrast, the Sky Crown Team still had Altaria, Walrein, Heracross, and Rhydon remaining, all of whom were in excellent condition, virtually unscathed!
At this point in the battle, the situation was exceedingly clear: the Sky Crown Team had an overwhelming advantage.
And indeed, Heracross charged in to engage Feraligatr directly, while Altaria kept Charizard occupied in the air. Rhydon stood close by, providing back-up defense, leaving the Devon Team with no glimmer of a chance to turn the tide!
In the final moments, the Trainer of Sneasel also chose to make a desperate final move, attempting to target the Safety Barrier.
However, it only caused a tiny amount of damage to the Safety Barrier before getting hit by Rhydon's Spike Attack, thus losing its ability to battle.
That little bit of damage was the only harm the Devon Team managed to inflict on the Sky Crown Team's Safety Barrier, resulting in a total domination!
It could be said that from the very beginning, due to Pokémon selection, the Devon Team had already lost. Rhydon with its Lightning Rod ability had completely disrupted the Devon Team's entire strategy!
"So this is the Pokémon Alliance Professional League?"
Watching the Sky Crown Team bask in their victory and receive the cheers of the crowd, Ryoma suddenly felt his heart ignite. The passion for competitive gaming, his esports dream, was quietly awakened within him.
"However, my current strength is still far from being ready to compete!"
"But what if I become a Trainer?"
Ryoma thought to himself, calculating. During the earlier Pokémon selection stage, he had already guessed the Sky Crown Team's strategy very well. If it were him and he had seen the opponent choose Rhydon, he certainly wouldn't have opted for the hefty Feraligatr but would have chosen a Water-type or Grass-type fast attacker instead.
With either a Water or Grass type having a four times advantage, just one move could potentially take down Rhydon. If he could quickly defeat Rhydon, even if the ambushing Pokémon took some losses, it would definitely be worth it!
Once Rhydon, the defensive anchor, was taken out, Electabuzz in the air could become an artillery powerhouse, completely countering both Pelipper and Walrein!
In that case, it was indeed possible for the Devon Team to turn the tables and eliminate the Sky Crown Team, potentially claiming the championship!
Even without targeting during the Pokémon selection, the Devon Team's lineup could still have a chance at victory.
After all, Sneasel's Ice-type moves could still deal double damage to Rhydon. If they coordinated their Pokémon to focus on taking down Rhydon at the start, they would have a good chance of winning!
However, it was concerning that, at this moment, the abilities had not been fully disclosed, yet the Sky Crown Team had managed to develop Rhydon's Lightning Rod ability to such an extent, proving that this team was truly strong!
It's important to note that abilities can be quite elusive concepts. For instance, Rhydon's Lightning Rod ability, if not deeply trained, would only absorb a small amount of electricity, and it would need to be very close to do so!
This was also why most people, despite realizing Rhydon could absorb Electric-type energy, didn't think of the Lightning Rod ability. They simply viewed it as a special reaction of a Ground-type Pokémon to electricity!
For a Rhydon to attract lightning from the air like that was certainly not something that could be accomplished overnight!
With such thorough preparation from the Sky Crown Team, the Devon Team's defeat was not unwarranted!
And this was the significant advantage brought by the information gap; it was also Ryoma's greatest trump card!
As a crossover, if he could truly lead a team, it would definitely yield unexpected results!
Of course, Ryoma couldn't expose his status as a crossover. Also, at only 18 years old, if he ran into a team saying he wanted to be a Trainer, he would surely be seen as a fool!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone