As Corviknight flapped its wings and adjusted its position—
Suddenly, a thick column of water came hurtling from the sky!
But before it could even reach Corviknight, it was pierced through by another jet of water!
Boom!
A spray of mist exploded outward!
Azumarill burst through the smoke like a water dragon, flying straight at the Pelipper that had been about to capitalize on Corviknight's position!
With Belly Drum and Huge Power, even though Pelipper resisted Water-type moves, it wouldn't be able to withstand the blow easily.
Eelektross didn't seem to care whether its teammate got taken out. The moment Azumarill charged in, it resolutely used Wild Charge, clearly treating Pelipper as a sacrifice.
Its decision wasn't necessarily wrong. A Pokémon that had used Belly Drum, even without the concept of stat stages in this world, would become terrifyingly powerful!
Perhaps taking out the speedy Corviknight was important, but ignoring Azumarill wasn't an option either!
The light of lightning and water blazed across the field!
Boom!
Aqua Jet struck Pelipper first!
White smoke billowed!
Pelipper cried out in pain as it was sent flying backwards. The rain boosted the power of Water-type moves, but its ability to take damage remained unchanged.
Azumarill descended.
While Aqua Jet gave it temporary flight, staying airborne for extended periods like in the anime was impossible. This meant that when Eelektross came flying over, it couldn't dodge—it could only hope to block with Protect and see what happened.
If it failed to block...
The stamina lost from Belly Drum combined with this hit would be enough to take Azumarill down!
In the blink of an eye—
Eelektross was surrounded by crackling, sharp bursts of lightning!
Crack—BOOM!
Protect never activated!
The electricity spread menacingly toward Azumarill!
But just as Eelektross was about to collide with Azumarill, a massive sky-blue figure slammed into it!
It was Corviknight, charging in at full speed!
BOOM!
A ball of flame erupted in the sky. Then, Azumarill plummeted even faster, while Corviknight, pushing Eelektross's body, burst through the choking smoke!
The bird and the eel shot straight into the sky!
The crowd gasped in astonishment!
Splash!
Azumarill fell into the water, its body marked with scorch marks from the electrical strikes.
Corviknight had arrived a moment too late—Wild Charge had still done some damage to it.
Combined with the stamina loss from Belly Drum, Azumarill was now exhausted and on the verge of collapse!
But now wasn't the time to recover with Aqua Ring.
It looked up, watching Corviknight push Eelektross to a certain height before shaking it off and flying away.
This was to give Azumarill time to react, as the pain had slowed its movements.
"Aqua Jet!"
Su Qian's command rang in its ears.
At the same time, its body was once again wrapped in water. Ignoring the fact that the opponent had recalled Pelipper, it shot upward!
Rumble!
A massive surge of water followed in its wake!
Azumarill shot skyward at an astonishing speed, like a water dragon, and slammed brutally into Eelektross's head!
Eelektross tried to use Discharge but couldn't activate Protect in time. The pain had slowed its reactions, and it was a moment too late!
Boom!
Water vapor burst apart!
Eelektross was never a bulky Pokémon to begin with, and even with the Defense boost from Coil, it couldn't withstand Aqua Jet from a Belly Drum-boosted Azumarill!
It lost consciousness and began to fall from the sky.
"BEEEEP—!"
The referee blew the whistle!
Eelektross was recalled by its trainer, whose face was dark with frustration.
On the other side, after Pelipper was recalled, Crawdaunt was sent back onto the field.
This time, its trainer had learned from the previous mistake. When Corviknight had shaken off Eelektross, he had ordered Crawdaunt to use Taunt.
Dark energy, accompanied by Crawdaunt's voice, was released, starting to affect Corviknight's mind.
However—
"Heh."
Corviknight gave an extremely human-like sneer.
What are you even saying?
"CAAAW—!!"
A piercing, bizarre screech echoed!
To the contestant's disbelief, Corviknight—who had used Taunt second—had actually managed to put Crawdaunt under the effects of Taunt first!
And Corviknight was completely unaffected!
"Crawdaunt used Taunt first, yet couldn't beat Corviknight's follow-up! What exactly happened!?"
"A later Taunt overriding an earlier one? How many years has it been since we've seen that?"
Both commentators were stunned. In all their years of casting, they had seen Taunt used tens of thousands of times, but rarely had they seen a Pokémon successfully pull off a later Taunt against an earlier one.
Whenever it happened, it felt like their understanding of the world had been refreshed.
Many knowledgeable spectators watching on the big screen noticed this too. They quickly captured it and posted it online.
Rare events were always worth sharing.
On the field, another Pokémon appeared on the rocky outcrop.
—A creature covered in yellow and blue fur, with two cable-like tails, resembling a large gorilla with a UFO-shaped head.
It was the Electric-type Electivire, with the Motor Drive Ability.
The moment it landed, it used Magnet Rise to float into the air.
"Liquidation!"
Crawdaunt raised its pincers high. From between them, a blue water blade extended, carrying the surrounding water as it slashed toward Azumarill!
It couldn't do much to Corviknight—Adaptability wouldn't help, since even Eelektross couldn't break through.
In that case, taking out Azumarill was the priority!
By then, Azumarill had just used Aqua Ring, wrapped in a blue aura to recover some stamina.
Faced with the incoming water blade, it had no room to dodge!
Fortunately, a massive dark shadow arrived just in time—or perhaps it had planned it all along. While using Taunt on Electivire, it also physically blocked the rain-boosted Liquidation!
BOOM!
Crack!
The sound of steel fracturing rang out!
When the smoke cleared, Corviknight stood on one leg on the rock, a prominent crack running across its wing!
Such terrifying power—it had actually split Corviknight's iron wing!
But it was fine. The Taunt had landed, sealing off Electivire's moves like Thunder Wave.
Not a loss at all.
Seeing his Pokémon hit with Taunt again, Electivire's trainer's expression turned sour. He cursed his teammate under his breath for failing to do his job as the Taunt user.
What he didn't know was that Crawdaunt's trainer was practically sick to his stomach. This was the first time in his life he had encountered something so absurd.
He knew Corviknight could swear and use Taunt—he'd even timed its effectiveness from recordings.
But it had only been two months—how had it gotten even faster!
Was Taunt really that easy to improve?
This was just insane!
To avoid having his next Pokémon, like Pelipper, come out and immediately lose stamina, he had no choice but to press on.
Li Xiang, seeing Crawdaunt remain on the field despite being Taunted, reluctantly recalled Corviknight.
He had planned to use Roost during the opponent's switch.
But now, having taken a Liquidation head-on, he had no choice but to swap out.
After all, on a water field, there weren't many places to stand. Corviknight couldn't utilize its land-bird advantage here.
Seeing Li Xiang make the switch, the opponent didn't hesitate.
"Thunder!"
Electivire raised its thick arms high. Just as Li Xiang's second Pokémon was released, it called down a roaring bolt of lightning!
The newly sent-out Pokémon had no way to dodge!
The thunder dragon roared!
BOOM!
The lightning struck Wash Rotom squarely, illuminating the sky beneath the dark clouds!
"Phew, that was close."
Li Xiang looked at Wash Rotom, which had taken the Thunder with no major issues, and breathed a small sigh of relief.
With Rotom's durability, tanking a Thunder from Electivire was nothing special.
The opponent wasn't surprised to see Rotom—he had already guessed Li Xiang's choice from the data he'd studied.
But the fact that Rotom had taken a Thunder without any significant damage was harder for him to accept.
Down below, Crawdaunt wasn't idle either.
The moment Rotom appeared, it immediately pursued Azumarill, opening its large pincers and spewing a torrent of foul-smelling sludge!
"Sludge Wave!"
Seeing this, Azumarill abandoned its recovery, letting Aqua Ring continue to circle it, and lunged at Crawdaunt!
Its body was enveloped in a green shield!
Protect clashed with Sludge Wave, canceling each other out.
But due to the Sludge Wave's sheer volume, some residual sludge remained and mixed with the water. After Protect faded, a portion splashed onto Azumarill.
It let out a pained grunt.
But using that chance, it had closed the distance with Crawdaunt.
Electivire tried to provide support, but Rotom intercepted it with Confuse Ray, forcing Electivire to dodge first.
"Sludge Wave!"
"Play Rough!"
Both commands rang out simultaneously!
Azumarill faced Crawdaunt, which had aimed its pincers at it, and raised a small arm glowing pink—then slammed it down with all its might!
Who gave a Dark-type the guts to attack a Fairy-type!?
"Azumarill!"
The adorable water rabbit let out a mighty cry!
Thud!
Splash—!
Smoke burst outward!
Purple sludge blasted Azumarill away!
Sludge Wave had landed squarely!
Not even a miracle could save it now.
Li Xiang watched Azumarill float unconscious to the surface of the water. He felt Su Qian had been a bit reckless.
But... oh well.
As long as they won, it didn't matter how they did it.
As the smoke cleared from Crawdaunt, its dazed eyes were revealed.
"BEEEEP—"
Two Pokémon down at once.
The applause from the stands lingered for a long time.
That left only Electivire and Rotom on the field.
"Electivire!"
Electivire let out a furious roar, but its trainer recalled it.
Taunted, it couldn't do much against Rotom. If it got hit with Will-O-Wisp or confusion, the situation would turn dire.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three flashes of white light appeared.
Taking the chance, Rotom used Nasty Plot, while a large white bird materialized beside it.
On the opposing side, the Pokémon that appeared was a brown-furred Raichu, standing on its tail—looking like a piece of chocolate. Quite adorable.
—An Alolan Raichu, an Electric/Psychic-type from the seventh generation, with Surge Surfer, which boosts its speed in Electric Terrain.
The other was a Pokémon with a lily pad hat, looking like a pineapple mixed with a platypus.
—A Water/Grass-type Ludicolo with the Swift Swim Ability.
These two... they came prepared.
Li Xiang stroked his chin.