章節 1175: Fighting
Upon hearing Gladion's request, Yuga was surprised. "You really want to challenge me? It might be a bit difficult for you to win."
Gladion replied, "I know, but I want to get stronger. Whether I can win against you isn't important."
Since Gladion said that, Yuga had no reason to decline.
"Alright, but I won't hold back."
There were many battlefields in the Aether Paradise, and under Gladion's lead, Yuga quickly took his place on one of them.
The rules for the match were three against three, and neither side was allowed to switch Pokémon at will during the battle; the side whose Pokémon were all knocked out would lose.
"I'm older, so I won't take advantage of you." Saying this, Yuga released his first Pokémon—Decidueye.
As Decidueye emerged, it flapped its wings and gazed down at Gladion with a sharp look from the air.
Gladion thought for a moment and then released his first Pokémon as well. Yuga glanced and saw, to his surprise, that it was a Tyranitar—no wonder he was the heir of the Aether Foundation.
Since the Lycanroc had only been captured recently and had previously lost to Yuga, Gladion hadn't included it in this battle's roster.
Once Tyranitar appeared, it let out a deafening roar, seemingly trying to intimidate Decidueye.
However, Decidueye showed no signs of fear and launched the first attack, shooting arrows formed by Leaf Blade directly at Tyranitar.
Thanks to its ability, Decidueye could fire Leaf Blade as arrows from a distance.
"Bann!"
Tyranitar roared and used Sandstorm, swiftly swinging its arms to knock away all the arrows.
When the initial attack proved ineffective, Decidueye kept pulling back its bowstring, unleashing a barrage of green arrows that rained down on Tyranitar in rapid succession. Even with its formidable defenses, there was no way Tyranitar could fend off such a relentless onslaught.
The arrows, trailing green flames, sliced through the air and clanged against Tyranitar's sturdy armor, making it emit a series of low groans.
Decidueye's training under Mr. Genzo in archery wasn't for nothing; controlling so many arrows at once wasn't easy!
Seeing Tyranitar on the defensive from the start, Gladion's expression turned anxious. He shouted loudly to Tyranitar, "Tyranitar, stay calm and use Sandstorm!"
Under Gladion's prompt, a dense sandstorm kicked up in the arena, causing Decidueye to lose sight of Tyranitar in an instant.
For a sharpshooter, visibility is crucial, and the arrival of the sandstorm successfully disrupted Decidueye's focus.
Moreover, the constant impact of the sand and gravel made Decidueye's feathers disheveled, causing it to take damage every moment.
As Decidueye struggled to locate Tyranitar, sharp stone blades shot through the storm toward it. Fortunately, Decidueye's instincts were sharp enough to allow it to dodge just in time.
Seeing this, Yuga fell into deep thought; it seemed Decidueye needed to unleash a powerful attack.
"Decidueye, use Frenzy Plant!"
Although Frenzy Plant wasn't Decidueye's most commonly used or strongest skill, it was the most powerful move in its repertoire.
With Yuga's command, the ground of the battlefield began to tremble.
Before long, massive brown roots, thicker than an arm, burst forth from the earth and quickly filled the arena, snapping and clawing at the air.
In this situation, regardless of whether there was a sandstorm obscuring the view, as long as Tyranitar remained in the arena, it had nowhere to escape.
"Bann!!!"
As a scream echoed from within the sandstorm, Yuga knew Tyranitar had been caught.
Being a Rock-type Pokémon, Tyranitar was weak against Grass-type moves, and its level was lower than Decidueye's, so it quickly fell to the barrage of Frenzy Plant.
Though Tyranitar had been knocked out, the duration of the sandstorm wasn't over yet, and Decidueye continued to suffer from its effects.
After recalling Tyranitar, Gladion gazed at the Poké Ball in his hand, lost in thought. He could tell that Yuga's Decidueye wasn't vastly superior to Tyranitar, yet Tyranitar had gone down far too quickly.
Was this the strength of a League hall of Fame trainer?
Gladion's second Pokémon was Krookodile, a Ground-type Pokémon that was similarly unaffected by the sandstorm.
As soon as Krookodile emerged, it unleashed a loud roar aimed at the airborne Decidueye. Moreover, at that moment, Krookodile activated its Intimidate ability, startling Decidueye so much that it almost plummeted from the sky.
Under the influence of Intimidate, Decidueye's attack power decreased, which significantly impacted it, as most of Decidueye's arrow-based skills were physical moves.
Seizing the opportunity while Decidueye was distracted by the Intimidate effect, Krookodile used Stone Edge to control multiple sharp stone blades that shot toward Decidueye.
With few options for physical ranged attacks, Krookodile relied solely on this skill to reach the airborne Decidueye.
In the chaos, Decidueye was unable to dodge this round of attacks but managed to use Feather Dance on Krookodile before losing consciousness.
You attack me, then I'll lower your attack as well.
After recalling Decidueye, Yuga sighed and said to its Poké Ball, "Sigh... you still need to keep working hard."
Without a doubt, Yuga's second Pokémon was going to be Abomasnow; after all, he couldn't use a Champion-level Pokémon against Gladion—that would be too unfair.
As soon as Abomasnow appeared, it activated its Snow Warning ability, countering the sandstorm. By now, the sandstorm had long since passed.
Under the snowy weather, the surrounding temperature dropped sharply, and as a Ground-type Pokémon, Krookodile could hardly endure the low temperatures. So, it also used Sandstorm, trying to contest control of the weather with Abomasnow.
Abomasnow was called the "Blizzard King" because it was exceptionally skilled at controlling snowy weather, especially this mutated variant under Yuga's command, making it impossible for Krookodile to take control of the weather from it.
Not only did Abomasnow fully grasp the control of the weather, but it also opened its mouth and unleashed a blizzard on Krookodile, freezing it to the core.
With the howling wind and snow capable of easily slicing through skin, Krookodile lashed out with Dragon Claw, striking hard at Abomasnow. However, Abomasnow's massive size made it unable to evade the attack, and Krookodile managed to leave a deep gash along its side.
However, before Krookodile could celebrate, the wound on Abomasnow healed at a visibly rapid pace, leaving it dumbfounded.
Given the recovery energy that Abomasnow typically stored within its body, it was already difficult for Pokémon of the same level to break through its defenses, especially since Krookodile's attack power had been reduced by Decidueye's Feather Dance.
This scene not only astonished Krookodile but also left Gladion stunned: Does Abomasnow have recovery moves? Why didn't he notice how it was used?
In the moment Krookodile was dazed, a massive wooden mallet appeared in its line of sight, growing larger by the second. By the time it realized what was happening, it had already been smashed away by the mallet.
Although the mallet was a Grass-type move that caused recoil damage to the user, Abomasnow used it without hesitation; the recoil damage from the previous moment would heal automatically the next second.
Sent flying by the strike, Krookodile rolled several times on the ground before finally coming to a stop. Already at a disadvantage against Grass-type moves, it could barely catch its breath.
"Krookodile, use Swagger, then Bulk Up!"
With Krookodile's attacks being insufficient, it needed to raise its power.
However, to prevent Abomasnow from interfering with Krookodile's power-up, Gladion first commanded Krookodile to use Swagger to put Abomasnow in a state of confusion.
The Swagger accurately hit Abomasnow, causing it to go berserk in its confused state, even swinging its fists to hit itself.
Soon, Krookodile completed its power-up, and Abomasnow recovered from its confusion.
Now clear-headed, Abomasnow showed no signs of injury; the wounds it had inflicted on itself during its frenzy had vanished entirely due to its incredible recovery abilities.
Seeing this, Gladion gained a deeper understanding of Abomasnow's healing potential.
"Krookodile, use Outrage!"
Gladion's voice rang in Krookodile's ears as they prepared for an all-out attack. He realized that without a decisive strike, he would have no chance of defeating this absurdly strong Abomasnow.
Krookodile's eyes turned a fierce red. It pushed off with its powerful hind legs and dashed toward Abomasnow like a cannonball, swinging its fist down toward Abomasnow.
Abomasnow, not one to back down, countered with Ice Punch, throwing its fist back at Krookodile.
Although Swagger could confuse the opponent, it also had the side effect of increasing their attack power. Thus, in this clash of strength, Abomasnow was not at a disadvantage against Krookodile, who had used Outrage.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two Pokémon struck each other with countless punches. However, due to the side effects of Outrage, Krookodile became confused and attacked Abomasnow mindlessly. Unfortunately, Abomasnow had powerful recovery abilities, while Krookodile did not.
Bang!
Finally, Krookodile collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, kicking up a cloud of dust, while its body was covered in white frost from Abomasnow's Ice Punch.
In contrast, Abomasnow showed no signs of wear at all.
Seeing this, Gladion furrowed his brows tightly: Can I really defeat this Abomasnow?
Yuga smiled and asked Gladion, "Do you want to continue the battle?"
"Of course!" Gladion gritted his teeth, knowing he hadn't really expected to win anyway; victory wasn't his ultimate goal.
Gladion's final Pokémon was his starter Pokémon, Umbreon, which was also his strongest Pokémon. However, Umbreon was a defensive Pokémon and lacked the attack power of Krookodile, so against Abomasnow, he needed to find a different approach.
"Umbreon, use Toxic!"
At Gladion's command, Umbreon opened its mouth and shot a ball of venom toward Abomasnow. Gladion knew that Abomasnow, being large, wouldn't be able to dodge it.
As expected, Abomasnow fell into a poisoned state and began to lose health over time. Meanwhile, Umbreon started using its agile and petite body to cleverly evade all of Abomasnow's attacks.
Even if it was occasionally hit by Abomasnow's moves, Umbreon would use Moonlight to heal itself. With its high special defense, it was virtually impossible for Abomasnow to knock it out in one hit, giving Umbreon ample time to recover with Moonlight.
Gladion's strategy was simple: utilize Umbreon's strong defenses to engage in hit-and-run tactics against Abomasnow. While Abomasnow had considerable recovery abilities, those were clearly not limitless. If they could wear down Abomasnow's stamina with Toxic, victory would be within reach.
Yuga naturally saw through Gladion's intentions, but faced with Umbreon's nimble movements, the clumsy Abomasnow had no effective countermeasures.
Once Abomasnow exhausted all of its stored recovery energy, Yuga tried to have it use Grassy Terrain to counter the effects of Toxic on its stamina.
However, Toxic was not the same as being poisoned; it progressively deepened the damage over time, and the fixed healing from Grassy Terrain could not counteract this damage.
Just as it seemed Abomasnow was about to collapse from exhaustion, Yuga shouted, "Abomasnow, use Sheer Cold!"
Gladion immediately sensed trouble, but before he could warn Umbreon, an intense wave of cold erupted from Abomasnow.
Sheer Cold was a one-hit knockout move, and no matter how high Umbreon's defenses were, it wouldn't matter.
As Umbreon was frozen solid, Abomasnow also fainted, having exhausted its last bit of energy. Yuga had won the battle with a two-to-three advantage.
To be honest, Yuga had underestimated Gladion's strength earlier.
He had initially thought his Decidueye could at least take down two of Gladion's Pokémon, but it had only managed to take one. He also believed Abomasnow was invincible at its level, only to find it faltering against Toxic.
The mutated Abomasnow, while gaining tremendous offensive and recovery power, had its inability to move freely become its greatest weakness.
"Your performance was impressive, especially Umbreon's at the end." After recalling Abomasnow, Yuga gave Gladion a thumbs-up. "You will definitely become stronger."
"Thank you! I will keep working hard," Gladion replied with a smile.
After that, Yuga didn't continue touring the Aether Paradise but instead engaged in discussions with Gladion about Pokémon training experiences.
Though Gladion was young, he was a very thoughtful kid. During their conversations, Yuga found himself inspired by their exchanges.
Gladion mentioned that he wanted to visit Hoenn when he had the chance, and he intended to challenge the Verdanturf Gym with his Lycanroc to redeem its previous defeat.
Yuga smiled and responded, "You're welcome anytime!"
Following discussions with the Aether Foundation, Yuga spent the next two days traveling around Alola, enjoying the food and sights.
On the third day, the Minister of Foreign Affairs from the League Headquarters arrived in Alola. His purpose was to negotiate with the Aether Foundation about whether they would merge into the League.
Yuga had already opened the door for the League, and whether they could ultimately achieve their goal would depend on this minister's abilities.
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