"Swish!"
"Boom!"
Six opposing Pokémon launched a fierce assault, yet none of their attacks could mount an effective blockade against Hisuian Samurott.
Falling rocks were instantly shattered the moment they collided with Samurott's leg-blades. The toxic downpour was blown apart by its overwhelming momentum and power. The twin poisonous serpents couldn't keep up with Samurott's speed and were left trailing behind.
Gengar hovered near Venusaur, channeling a strong Psychic attack toward the approaching Samurott. But the sheer difference in power rendered it useless, Samurott charged through the attack with a single swing of its blade.
A blue streak of light tore through the air, breaking through all incoming attacks and clashing directly with Venusaur, who had just activated Protect.
Though Samurott was powerful, it couldn't shatter Protect in a single strike. But with its speed, it only needed to feint and shift tactics to bypass the barrier and strike Venusaur behind it.
Yet Samurott chose not to do that.
"Boom!"
A sharp collision echoed throughout the battlefield. Samurott used the barrier as a foothold to launch itself as a streak of blue light toward Gengar, who was still laughing.
In that moment, Samurott moved even faster than before.
SWISH!
Gengar only saw a blur of blue flash past. Its smile froze before it could even register pain—Samurott's blade struck true, decapitating it midair.
Shadow Sneak to a vital spot!
A critical hit!
It's super effective!
Before Gengar could even process why it was struck despite Curse and Destiny Bond being disabled, it lost the ability to battle.
Samurott feared no strong opponents, but it did loathe battling underhanded Pokémon with unpredictable and annoying tactics.
Even though Curse and Destiny Bond were banned, Samurott still chose Gengar as its first execution target due to its Ghost typing.
As for Venusaur? That was merely a decoy. If it could be taken out quickly, fine. If not, eliminating Gengar was the top priority.
Having dealt with one foe, Samurott stayed vigilant. Riding the current, it turned mid-air and slashed down two incoming Toxic attacks before charging back at Venusaur.
Seeing Samurott attack again, Venusaur didn't gamble on Protect this time. Instead, it launched Frenzy Plant, sending a tidal wave of monstrous vegetation hurtling toward Samurott.
"Roar!"
Nidoking, not holding back, revealed a fearsome glint in his eyes and attempted to weaken Samurott by unleashing Scary Face.
The two poisonous serpents, after their first attack, had burrowed underground. Their exact position was unknown, but the battlefield had turned a deep shade of purple, signaling that dual Toxic Spikes had been successfully laid.
Dodging the rockfall, Beedrill launched another Agility and now moving as fast as Samurott, flanked from the side. The sharp twin stingers glowed with deep violet.
If Samurott could slice through falling rocks, it could just as easily cleave through Frenzy Plant.
Despite its overwhelming appearance, the Frenzy Plant was sliced cleanly in two the moment it touched Samurott's foot-blades.
Samurott's Sharpness ability, combined with its naturally enhanced blades, made its slashes even deadlier than average.
As Samurott tore through the Frenzy Plant, Beedrill struck with Twinneedle, aiming both poison-tipped stingers at close range.
"Swish!"
Just before the attack could land, Samurott twisted its body in an almost unnatural motion, dodging Beedrill's ambush as if it had eyes in the back of its head.
"Tssst~"
"Boom!"
Before the stunned Beedrill could react, Samurott's twin blades pierced its body from an unexpected angle.
Aerial Ace!
It's super effective!
A critical hit!
In that moment, Beedrill realized it had been the second target all along.
As an assassin-type Pokémon, Beedrill had excellent speed and attack, but its defense and stamina were lacking.
Given the gap in strength, even without it, Samurott's strike would have one-shot it anyway.
The buzzing of Beedrill's wings ceased in an instant as it fell lifeless to the ground.
At that moment, the earth cracked open as two figures—one yellow, one purple—burst from underground. With mouths wide open, Seviper and Arbok lunged at Samurott, their venomous fangs glowing with poison.
Samurott's eyes glowed blue as it used Foresight, instantly reading the serpents' movement patterns.
Instead of dodging as most would, Samurott clenched its twin blades and struck forward with Aqua Cutter.
With Foresight active, the enemies' actions were fully exposed, leaving them no chance to evade.
The blade cleaved through Seviper first, just as Nidoking's Scary Face landed, slightly slowing Samurott's movements.
Thankfully, it didn't hinder its follow-through—the second slash fell immediately after.
"Boom!"
"Chaah?"
The attack passed through Arbok, causing Samurott's eyes to flash in surprise.
It wasn't the real body!
Samurott instantly understood.
"Chaaaaah~!"
But at that moment, the real Arbok finally revealed itself, unleashing its strongest move.
"Boom!"
"Chaaaah~!"
With a pained roar from Samurott, Arbok sank its Poison Fang deep into its body, immediately inflicting toxic poison. It then switched to Thunder Fang, repeatedly shocking Samurott to inflict even greater damage.
While biting down, Arbok coiled tighter, constricting Samurott with all its might. Even though Samurott's size made it difficult to fully bind, Arbok still managed to drag it from the sky and slam it to the ground.
Nidoking, who had been watching with sharp eyes, seized the opportunity. Activating Megahorn, its horn grew longer and sharper as it charged toward Samurott with massive strides.
Venusaur, struggling from the Frenzy Plant recoil, used Grass Knot to grow thick grass under Samurott, aiding Arbok in entangling it.
With three Pokémon working in tandem, even Samurott's fierce struggle wasn't enough to break free instantly.
"Blizzard!"
Paul's voice echoed in Samurott's mind. The moment of panic passed. Samurott regained its composure and lifting its unrestrained head, unleashed a concentrated Blizzard toward Nidoking.
Special Attack had always been Samurott's weakness and thus undertrained. But it lacked only in technique, not power.
"Nido~!"
Nidoking's ferocious assault was instantly halted as the Blizzard engulfed him. His entire body froze in place, as though he were about to be encased in ice.
"Chaah~!"
At the critical moment, Arbok abruptly ceased its Thunder Fang and let out a piercing Screech at close range. The disorienting and harsh sound waves struck Hisuian Samurott, causing visible agony and disrupting his Blizzard attack.
On top of that, the toxic damage was taking its toll, further weakening Samurott's offensive power.
"Dig!"
Leanne's voice rang out from the sidelines.
Seizing the chance to escape, Nidoking immediately ducked into the ground, vanishing from view and dodging the rest of the Blizzard.
Under normal conditions, Samurott could simply redirect the Blizzard into the tunnel to strike Nidoking underground. But restrained by Grass Knot and Arbok's tight Bind, he no longer had that option.
If this were a standard battle, Paul would already be shouting out strategies to help Samurott break free. But this was no official match, it was an informal wild battle between friends.
After giving only a single instruction, Paul fell silent, observing from the sidelines like an uninvolved spectator as his Pokémon endured the intense pressure.
"Chaah!"
Pushed to his limits, Samurott let out a low growl as torrents of water burst from his body. The surging Aqua Jet shattered Arbok's coils and sent it flying. As it hit the ground, Arbok instinctively began digging, trying to disappear into the earth.
SLASH!
Samurott prepared to pursue, but a barrage of thick Vine Whips suddenly came cracking through the air. Snapping back to focus, he crossed his dual blades and cleaved through every vine instantly.
Toxic damage struck again, and his movements briefly faltered.
"Boom!"
Just then, the ground ruptured beneath him—Nidoking's Dig attack landed cleanly, launching Samurott into the air.
"Megahorn!"
With a forceful stomp, Nidoking propelled himself skyward. His glowing green horn aimed directly at Samurott's airborne form.
But instead of panicking, Samurott smirked.
A dark aura surged across his twin shell blades as he vanished mid-air.
Before Megahorn could connect, Samurott reappeared in front of Nidoking and struck—both blades thrust forward.
Sucker Punch: Rapid Execution!
Nidoking didn't even have time to react. Pain erupted from his weak spot and darkness consumed his vision.
"Banaa~!"
Having downed another opponent, Samurott endured the poison's agony and turned his focus to Venusaur. With a powerful surge of Aqua Jet, he soared downward like a meteor.
Every swing of his blade unleashed a crescent arc of water-charged air, slicing through Venusaur's Leaf Storm and blanketing the battlefield.
"Protect!"
As a thousand blades rained down, Venusaur quickly conjured a translucent green barrier around himself.
"Boom!"
The impact triggered an explosion, and Samurott dove headfirst into the resulting smoke cloud.
Feigning a frontal assault, he shattered the barrier, then unleashed continuous Aerial Aces on the exposed Venusaur.
Within the smoke, a serpent emerged from underground. Arbok lunged with Thunder Fang aimed at Samurott's back.
At that range, mid-assault, Samurott shouldn't have been able to react—but he had.
As Paul's trained Pokémon, Samurott had learned to read opponents perfectly. He knew exactly when to strike.
Just as Arbok bit down, one of Samurott's shell blades darted backward and stabbed directly into Arbok's open mouth, disrupting the Thunder Fang and inflicting critical damage.
"Cha...ba~!"
Even so, Arbok used its last reserves of strength to slither away. Its mouth had gone numb, devoid of feeling.
As the blue-black figure of Samurott descended from the sky and landed before it, Arbok's consciousness finally faded.
At last, all six of Leanne's Pokémon had been defeated.
"Ahhh....noooo—I lost!"
Even though she'd mentally prepared herself for it, Leanne still clutched her head and let out an anguished wail as reality sank in.
"Chaaah~."
Samurott, having emerged victorious, silently sheathed his twin blades. Even as the poison raged inside him, he reviewed the battle in his mind.
He wasn't satisfied.
He had anticipated some of the opponents' attacks, but not all. The moment he failed to detect Arbok's Substitute was the start of a series of mistakes. If Leanne had been replaced by Paul, that one misstep would've led to his immediate defeat.
Even in victory, there was no joy. It had been a battle won by level advantage, not true mastery.
That kind of win wasn't worth celebrating, it only showed his own shortcomings.
"Forest's Healing. Heal them."
Paul's voice came from the side, quiet and measured.
As he spoke, the great tree on Torterra's back glowed with a radiant green light. Soothing waves of vitality filled the field, instantly clearing minds and restoring energy.
On the surface, top-tier Elite Pokémon may appear close in strength to Champion-level ones, but reaching the Champion class isn't just about raw power—it's a breakthrough in mastery, in potential, in life force.
Bathed in the light of Forest's Healing, Leanne's fallen team began recovering at a visible pace. In less than ten seconds, they started to stir.
"You should know what went wrong. From now on, focus on Foresight. Train yourself until you can see every move your opponent makes, even without using the move. Combine that with your critical-spot-reading skills to evolve a true counter-strategy."
Paul stepped next to the fully recovered Samurott, speaking in a cool tone.
Not every Pokémon could achieve total insight, but Paul believed Hisuian Samurott's unique typing, paired with Foresight and Sucker Punch, gave him the potential to enter a permanent state of heightened perception.
"When you strike, it's not enough to unleash an endless torrent of attacks. You must also master the power to end a battle in a single blow."
"Use the core techniques of Aqua Burst and Rapid Execution to build your dual-blade style—one blade to control, one blade to finish."
"Chaaah!"
Samurott let out a serious growl and gave a firm nod, committing every word to memory.
(End of Chapter)
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