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"Taunt, huh… that really is a troublesome move."
The moment Sato heard his opponent say the word Taunt, his expression changed drastically. A bad feeling immediately rose in his heart.
In the next second, a sinister black glow erupted from Absol's body. Almost simultaneously, a similar black light flashed across Pikachu.
In an instant, Sato realized that Pikachu's constantly maintained Magnet Rise had been sealed.
Under the pull of gravity, Pikachu—now deprived of its levitation—panicked slightly as it began to fall rapidly from the air.
"Good opportunity! Absol, rush in and use Night Slash!"
Seeing Pikachu falling from the sky, Hughes immediately realized his guess had been correct. Pikachu had been flying using Magnet Rise. Seizing the moment, he ordered Absol to move in and finish it with a single blow.
Without hesitation, Absol obeyed. Charging forward, the scythe-like horn on its head transformed into a massive blade of black energy as it fiercely slashed toward Pikachu, who was falling through the air with nowhere to brace itself.
"Perfect chance—use Thunder!"
When Sato saw his opponent choosing close combat at this moment, a strange smile appeared on his face. The instant Absol closed within two meters of Pikachu, he immediately gave the command.
Thunder possessed terrifying power, but it had an obvious flaw: low accuracy. Once the distance exceeded three meters, Pikachu would find it difficult to control the attack.
Therefore, unless it was raining, Sato usually instructed Pikachu to use Thunder only when the enemy approached close range. Now that his opponent had chosen melee combat instead of launching ranged attacks, Sato was pleasantly surprised.
A road to heaven you refuse to take, yet you throw yourself into hell.
However, the moment Sato gave the command, an uneasy feeling suddenly surfaced in his heart. His brows furrowed slightly as he sensed something was wrong.
But his order had already been issued.
Pikachu faithfully carried it out. The black lightning surging across its body became even more violent, and in an instant, a black bolt as thick as a water barrel shot out toward the charging Absol.
The lightning moved at incredible speed. Unless Absol used Protect immediately, dodging it was impossible.
"Now—use Role Play!"
At the exact moment the lightning appeared, Hughes' expression shifted slightly, but he remained calm. At that critical instant, he shouted the name of a move that caused Sato's face to change drastically.
Hughes came from a prestigious family and had memorized the information of countless Pokémon. From earlier observations, he had already determined that Pikachu's ability wasn't Static, but Lightning Rod. Furthermore, Pikachu carried an extremely high-quality Light Ball, giving it terrifying offensive power.
With that information, Hughes had quickly determined the best strategy against Pikachu.
And Absol's Role Play was the perfect weapon.
His earlier command for Absol to close in wasn't truly meant to defeat Pikachu in melee—it was meant to lure Sato into having Pikachu unleash a powerful Electric-type attack.
At the same time, it lowered Sato's guard and allowed Absol to approach Pikachu successfully.
Hearing Hughes' command, Absol managed an impressive feat: while maintaining the black energy blade formed by Night Slash, it simultaneously used Role Play on Pikachu.
Through Role Play, Absol's ability instantly changed from Super Luck to Lightning Rod.
As a result, Pikachu's terrifying Thunder had absolutely no effect on Absol. Instead, the electricity was absorbed, sharply increasing Absol's Special Attack.
"Use Iron Tail to defend!"
Seeing that Pikachu's Thunder had failed and that Absol's black energy blade was about to strike, Sato urgently used telepathy to command Pikachu to weaken the incoming attack with Iron Tail.
He could tell that Absol's Night Slash was extremely powerful—and it was aimed directly at Pikachu's soft abdomen. If Pikachu were struck head-on, its fragile body would almost certainly lose the ability to fight instantly.
Hearing Sato's telepathic command, Pikachu immediately reacted. Its lightning-bolt-shaped tail shone with a metallic sheen once more and clashed with Absol's descending black energy blade.
Clang!
A sharp metallic crash rang out as the two attacks collided violently.
Although Iron Tail was powerful, Pikachu had used it in haste. Meanwhile, Absol's Night Slash carried the momentum of its charge, greatly amplifying its strength.
Under these circumstances, Pikachu's Iron Tail ultimately lost the clash.
In the next moment, Pikachu's small body was sent flying by Absol's overwhelming force.
"Use Dark Pulse."
Hughes gave Pikachu no chance to recover. He immediately issued another command.
At once, a sinister wave of dark energy erupted from Absol's body. A ring-shaped pulse burst from its mouth and shot rapidly toward Pikachu, who was still airborne.
"Break it with Thunderbolt!"
Fortunately, Pikachu had reduced much of Night Slash's power with Iron Tail, so its condition remained fairly good. The only issue was that the Taunt status prevented it from using Magnet Rise to lessen the impact while being knocked back.
Upon hearing Sato's command, a powerful surge of black lightning erupted from Pikachu again.
However, because Absol had just absorbed Pikachu's Thunder through Lightning Rod, its Special Attack had risen by at least three stages. Its STAB Dark Pulse was now extremely powerful.
Even with Pikachu's Light Ball boosting its power—and the additional effect of Charge—its Thunderbolt could only barely cancel out Absol's Dark Pulse.
Seeing his attack neutralized again, Hughes' eyes flickered slightly. Instead of forcing his heavily breathing Absol to attack again, he simply stared at Sato with a serious expression.
Pikachu was still under the effects of Taunt, sealing its beneficial status moves. And now, its strongest Electric-type attacks were useless as well, since Absol had copied Pikachu's Lightning Rod ability with Role Play.
For a moment, the situation on Sato's side became extremely unfavorable.