In double battles, unless the pair are twins with an innate telepathic connection and flawless synergy, there will always be one trainer who takes the lead.
Much like in volleyball, where the setter and attacker work together, the setter must deliver the ball the attacker needs. That's what cooperation looks like.
Even though the leading role doesn't necessarily have much to do with who deals the damage.
On the opponent's side, the leader was clearly the Electric-type specialist, while the Water-type handled taunting, restricting opponents, and finishing off weakened targets.
Unfortunately, it hadn't lived up to its responsibilities.
At the end of the day, it was because Li Xiang's Pokémon were too troublesome. First, they blocked the damage dealer, and then they forced the support into a position where it had to find opportunities to attack instead.
At least they had managed to force Corviknight out temporarily.
"Fake Out!"
Ludicolo dashed across the water, closing in on Wash Rotom at high speed. Alolan Raichu followed behind, maintaining a certain distance while deliberately and subtly blocking Togekiss's attack lines.
Clearly, this was to cover for Alolan Raichu's move.
Block one, cover the other—they had put a lot of thought into this.
Just as Wash Rotom finished its Nasty Plot, Ludicolo arrived in front of it. Its two beige little hands suddenly enlarged under a white glow, clapping together with force!
Slap!
The white flash of Fake Out burst right in front of Wash Rotom's eyes!
Forced flinch!
Facing Ludicolo less than three meters away, Wash Rotom's mind went blank for a moment.
But even that brief moment was enough for the opponents to achieve their goal because Wash Rotom's lapse allowed Alolan Raichu to successfully set up Electric Terrain.
In an instant, bright light spread like a net, illuminating the dark pool below and the gloomy field covered by clouds and drizzling rain.
Fine electric currents crackled and writhed, wisps of smoke and mist drifting across the water's surface.
Paired with the rain, it looked quite eerie.
Li Xiang looked at the Electric Terrain covering most of the field and shook his head.
A clever move.
As if confirming his thoughts, just as the terrain was spreading, suddenly, several visible wind blades shot through the air!
The air shrieked!
Ludicolo, pulling its hands back, couldn't dodge in time. The wind blades struck its chest and abdomen, sending it flying with a bang!
Swish!
A yellow blur streaked past Alolan Raichu!
Plunk!
Ludicolo crashed into the water!
What!?
The opponents stared in shock at Togekiss. The attack just now had clearly come from it!
It chose to attack Ludicolo instead?
The two Pokémon had deliberately positioned themselves to block attack paths, with Ludicolo meant to take the hits.
What if the opponent didn't boost?
If Togekiss had used Yawn and gotten interrupted, then the Fake Out would have been wasted.
They hadn't expected Togekiss to forgo boosting and instead attack Ludicolo with Air Slash!
This was bad!
The Chongzhou team student shouted nervously, urging Ludicolo to hold on underwater.
Without thinking, he knew the opponents were gambling on Super Luck.
Under normal circumstances, Ludicolo wouldn't be one-shot, even with a super-effective hit—it would lose at most half its health. But if Super Luck triggered, that was a different story!
The damage would skyrocket!
Just as his nerves were stretched thin, Wash Rotom recovered from the forced flinch and immediately used Taunt on Alolan Raichu.
Alolan Raichu had just finished setting up Electric Terrain and almost couldn't react. It barely managed to retreat at high speed using Surf!
Waves of water rolled up behind it!
Its speed was already decent, and with Electric Terrain, it became blazing fast!
In an instant, Alolan Raichu, which had already been quite far from Wash Rotom, successfully escaped Taunt's effective range!
At the same time, electricity flickered around its body, as if charging something.
Meanwhile, on the other side—
Finally, the result was in!
Ludicolo, which had sunk to the bottom, floated back up—back facing up, face down.
One-shot!
With just a single Air Slash!
"Beeeeep!"
The referee blew the whistle.
The Ludicolo trainer's expression was grim. There were only two possibilities for this outcome.
One: he had miscalculated Togekiss's damage output—his impression of Su Qian's strength was based mainly on the Spring Tournament and last year's match footage.
Two: Super Luck had triggered.
He preferred to believe it was the latter.
Because if it was the former, then not only their pair, but the other two pairs might also be in trouble!
Pokémon substitution.
His last Pokémon was Pelipper, which wasn't in good health. It had already taken two Aqua Jets from Azumarill, and its exhaustion was plain to see. It needed to recover quickly.
Li Xiang and Su Qian exchanged a glance when they saw Pelipper and nodded in silent agreement.
Plop!
As soon as it was sent out, Pelipper decisively dove into the water to use Roost.
Thanks to Ludicolo, it was far enough from both opponents. If it hurried, it could recover to a decent health level before it was forced to surface.
It was just afraid that—
Sure enough, what they feared came true!
When Pelipper dove underwater, the opposing Rotom also plunged in without hesitation, speeding toward Pelipper's location.
At the same time, a bolt of lightning shot from Alolan Raichu's body, crossing forty meters in an instant to land right under Togekiss!
A tree of wildly growing electricity surged upward!
Rising Voltage!
Togekiss shot upward, its green shield activating!
Crackle—Boom!
The sound of electricity and the dull thud of surging water!
Steam vaporized by the high heat obscured everything!
But then, Togekiss flapped its wings, emerging from the mist and climbing high, looking shaken.
Under Electric Terrain, Rising Voltage not only increased damage against targets at a certain height but also extended its effective range.
If Togekiss hadn't been on guard, it might have been hit.
But the miss didn't disappoint the opponent because his goal had already been achieved.
From the very start, he hadn't expected that attack to accomplish anything.
The real attack was this next one!
"Thunder!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs!
Alolan Raichu rode its tail, racing across the water's surface, raising its claws to summon lightning from the natural clouds above!
The biggest difference between a normal Thunder and a rain-boosted Thunder is the target!
Since Togekiss had been forced high into the air, now was the perfect moment for Thunder!
Fastest, largest, strongest!
"Reee—!!"
Alolan Raichu let out a long howl. The lightning surging in the clouds crashed down!
Its target was Togekiss!
As if realizing it had fallen into a trap, Togekiss didn't try to dodge. Instead, it attacked upward.
A pink glow suddenly blazed from its body!
Beams of light shot outward!
Dazzling Gleam!
Lightning and light collided!
Boom—!
A deafening explosion echoed in all directions!
Terrifying flames lit up the sky beneath the rain clouds, but were soon swallowed by black smoke!
Did it hit?
The opponent watched the sky nervously, but then heard his teammate shout.
"Watch out!"
Behind Alolan Raichu, an orange-red figure resembling a gourd burst out!
A pulsing dark-purple energy ball, carried by that figure, slammed into Alolan Raichu as it tried to dodge!
Bang!
While the sky blazed with fire, a dark-purple glow also flared below!
Regular Rotom!
When did it—
The opponent's eyes widened. He whipped around and saw Pelipper not far away, blasting a massive water cannon at Rotom!
And not far behind Pelipper floated another Wash Rotom with a strange grin, slowly fading away.
—Substitute!?
The man's eyes went wide. He belatedly realized that Rotom must have used it underwater.
Had his teammate been fooled?
Rotom cackled and dove back into the water, but the water cannon seemed to predict its movements, striking it through the water!
Thud!
Water shot into the air!
Even with the rain boost, the powerful hit still couldn't take Rotom down.
It returned to the water and put its "shell" back on.
In the sky, Togekiss flapped its wings and emerged from the smoke.
It had to admit Alolan Raichu's Thunder was incredibly powerful. But fortunately, Dazzling Gleam had been used in time.
It could still hold on.
Had its teammate succeeded?
Togekiss looked down and sure enough saw Alolan Raichu floating limp on the water, rising and falling with the waves.
Tactical success!
"Too slow!"
Pelipper's trainer gritted his teeth in frustration, furious at his own stupidity.
When Rotom had dove into the water, he had assumed it was coming after Pelipper.
He hadn't been too worried, because as long as Togekiss was held in check by Alolan Raichu, even a quadruple-weak move was manageable.
But he never expected that what charged in was just a Substitute!
Diving underwater was merely a distraction. The light from Electric Terrain had masked the glow of the Substitute being used.
Even Pelipper, in its Roost state, couldn't see clearly. It had been startled into stopping its recovery and surfacing, firing off Seed Bomb.
But Rotom had closed enough distance without attacking, which made him realize something was wrong.
Unfortunately, it was too late by then.
Rotom had already shed its shell. Taking advantage of its small size and the bright Electric Terrain, it silently moved behind Alolan Raichu.
A STAB, Nasty Plot-boosted Shadow Ball.
It took out the fully healthy Alolan Raichu in one hit.
Effortlessly.
What was even more infuriating was that Pelipper's Water Cannon had actually hit Rotom, and it still hadn't fainted!
With the attacks from the start, the Substitute, and that Water Cannon—was Rotom really that bulky?
Both Chongzhou students found it hard to believe, but they had no choice but to press on.
"Hurricane!"
Pelipper continued targeting Rotom, certain that it had little health left.
Countless arc-shaped blades of light howled from its wings. But before they could hit the water, Togekiss, as if sacrificing itself, intercepted the attack!
Bang!
Whoosh—
The light blades exploded!
The compressed winds were released, and the hurricane sent Togekiss flying far away!
But Togekiss had achieved its goal!
Electivire entered the field.
The rule in double battles is that a Pokémon is swapped in at the same position its teammate was withdrawn from.
So, underwater, Rotom put its shell back on, ignored the arc-shaped wind blades from Pelipper, and collided with Electivire!
Pain Split!
Light shimmered.
The newly sent-out Electivire visibly weakened in an instant!