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"The offensive pattern is somewhat similar to Surging Strikes, but different..." Mustard observed carefully.
"It's more focused on offense, with no consideration for defense..." he continued his analysis.
However, he then reconsidered. With this complete 360-degree assault that left no blind spots, the opponent wouldn't be able to counterattack unless they chose to meet the attack head-on with equal force.
In other words, there was absolutely no need for defense when using Thousands of Cascading Strikes.
Damn, this move seemed even stronger than the exclusive technique "Surging Strikes" that his Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu possessed.
Mustard felt somewhat deflated.
Chris's Urshifu had simply observed two scrolls and learned two exclusive techniques. Worse yet, both techniques it comprehended were superior to his own Urshifu's signature moves.
Could this Pokémon be some kind of martial arts prodigy?
But wasn't Chris's Kubfu originally given to him by me?
Chris was also analyzing "Thousands of Cascading Strikes." According to game mechanics, it should have the same effect as Surging Strikes—both possessed a "guaranteed critical hit" property. The move typically struck three times consecutively.
However, in reality, the effect of the Crazy Attack Style Urshifu's technique clearly involved far more than just three attacks.
The endless barrage finally concluded.
The Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu remained completely uninjured.
After all, it was nearly twenty levels higher than its opponent.
An explosive attack like Martial God Strike might cause serious damage if one wasn't careful to defend properly.
However, continuous-type moves like Thousands of Cascading Strikes delivered their damage through multiple smaller bursts rather than one overwhelming strike.
While the individual hits were weaker, they were still somewhat immature when facing an old master of the Rapid-Strike Style.
"Your Urshifu appears to represent a martial arts school that combines both Rapid-Strike Style and Single-Strike Style elements. I suggest we call it the All-Around Style," Mustard proposed thoughtfully.
Chris smiled slightly and shook his head once more. "Hold on, let's continue testing the final exclusive move."
"There's still another one?" Mustard's eyes widened in disbelief. "Didn't it only observe two scrolls?"
Chris shrugged casually. "Who says you can only comprehend two exclusive techniques after studying two scrolls?"
Mustard was left speechless.
That was true—his own Pokémon couldn't even comprehend two exclusive techniques despite studying both scrolls extensively.
"Exactly how many exclusive moves has your Urshifu mastered?" he asked, his curiosity overwhelming his pride.
"Only three total. This is the last one," Chris confirmed.
Mustard could only signal for his Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu to continue maintaining its defensive stance.
"Urshifu, use the final move—Infinite Chaos Form!"
Chris's Crazy Attack Style Urshifu slowly assumed a Fighting stance, and a faint airflow immediately manifested around its body. The energy spiraled inward like a vortex, absorbing power from the surroundings. This was clearly drawing in waveguide energy.
This represented a charging phase.
Compared to Martial God Strike, it was less concealed, but possessed more visible raw power. Additionally, it was evident this move was based fundamentally on the power of Aura.
"Energy condensation? So this is also a Single-Strike Style technique?" Mustard speculated aloud.
The moment the energy finished gathering, it lightly enveloped the Urshifu's entire body, as if constructing an elegant golden aura around it.
This scene reminded Chris of the sync moves used in the Galar Region.
When a Pokémon prepared to unleash a sync move, energy concentrated throughout the Pokémon's body, and a distinctive aura would materialize on the Pokémon's surface.
In fighting game terminology, this was called "powering up."
The Crazy Attack Style Urshifu's gaze locked onto its target once more. For a brief moment, the Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu experienced the illusion of being cornered by a savage beast.
This feeling was completely different from being locked on when the Crazy Attack Style Urshifu used "Martial God Strike."
Previously, it had felt a cold sweat across its entire body. Now, it felt genuine terror.
Recalling the devastating power from the previous demonstration, the Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu quickly activated both Wide Guard and Protect, then assumed a defensive blocking posture.
The attack from the Crazy Attack Style Urshifu came in the very next instant.
Beginning with Quick Attack, it teleported directly in front of the Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu.
The Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu's vision blurred, and suddenly the Crazy Attack Style Urshifu had appeared in all directions simultaneously!
An illusion?
Not an illusion!
The Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu could determine with absolute certainty through its Aura perception and Mind's Eye ability that all eight Crazy Attack Style Urshifus surrounding it were completely real.
Substitute technique?
Before the Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu could analyze the situation further, a storm of attacks engulfed its entire body.
"Martial God Strike" struck from directly ahead, "Thousands of Cascading Strikes" hammered from behind, Aura Sphere fired from the left, Blaze Kick connected from the right...
Different attacks launched simultaneously from eight different directions.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!..."
Sonic booms, collision impacts, and energy explosions all merged into one chaotic symphony.
In just a few seconds, the Wide Guard constructed by the Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu shattered completely, its Protect barrier was destroyed, and then the full force of the assault landed directly on its body.
In what felt like merely a dazed moment, the Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu was already lying on the ground, defeated.
Mustard and Chris, who had been observing the battle closely, looked at each other and fell into stunned silence.
Neither could find words.
The confrontation had occurred incredibly quickly, yet they had both clearly witnessed everything that transpired.
The so-called Infinite Chaos Form was essentially an organized group assault.
The Crazy Attack Style Urshifu transformed itself from one into eight figures, launching a ferocious coordinated attack on the Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu from eight separate directions simultaneously.
Chris realized this offensive strategy was derived from Greninja's Substitute tactics. It seemed that Kubfu had truly absorbed and integrated the strengths of numerous different fighting philosophies.
When the eight figures attacked, they used various moves without any apparent pattern or coordination.
However, all the offenses shared one common characteristic.
They were fast and devastating!
If the speed of "Martial God Strike" and "Thousands of Cascading Strikes" when used by the Crazy Attack Style Urshifu was rated as 1, then when using "Infinite Chaos Form," the speed became 2, or perhaps even 3.
Incredible!
For top-tier Pokémon, unless they specialized specifically in speed, the gap in velocity typically wouldn't be so overwhelming that they couldn't react at all.
However, the attack speed displayed by the Crazy Attack Style Urshifu just now...
The Rapid-Strike Style Urshifu found it difficult to react not because of the eight-directional assault, but because of the speed from even a single direction.
With a level advantage of over twenty, this crushing speed differential...
"Is this a +4 priority move?" Chris's mouth trembled slightly as he spoke.
He carefully examined the detailed description of "Infinite Chaos Form."
Infinite Chaos Form
Power: Variable
Priority: +4
After using this technique, the user enters a continuous state of "confusion" and summons seven equally confused Substitutes to attack a single target.
Attack moves will be used randomly.
The technique always hits and always results in a critical hit. (This condition cannot be removed, and the attacks will not cease until the user loses the ability to battle.)
The priority level of Infinite Chaos Form had reached an astounding +4.
For reference, Quick Attack only had a priority of +1, Extreme Speed had +2, Fake Out possessed only +3, and the only move with the same priority level as Infinite Chaos Form was Protect itself!
There were only a handful of moves in existence that could act faster than Infinite Chaos Form.
In a competitive battle scenario, regardless of which master trainer you faced, upon engagement you would have to endure a devastating opening attack from the Urshifu first. Who could possibly withstand that?
So, was the advantage of Infinite Chaos Form simply its incredible speed?
Then wouldn't the designation "First Strike Style" be more appropriate for this technique?
No... the description of Infinite Chaos Form also contained the phrases "always hits" and "always results in a critical hit."