Chapter 414: Peak Duel
Saffron City.
Clear weather, cloudless for thousands of miles.
Today was the day the Saints Club hosted the Golden Armor Club. The Saints Stadium, with a capacity of ten thousand, was already packed to the rafters.
This was entirely due to Basalt and Gan Lin's popularity, as well as the heat from the challenge post. As time passed, the buzz around this battle continued to heat up, eventually attracting the attention of some live streaming platforms, who even spent heavily to buy the broadcasting rights for this match.
Broadcasting rights for the Second Division League?
This was previously unthinkable.
After all, what serious person watches a live broadcast of the Second Division League?
Are you kidding me!
Leaving aside the outcome of the battle, just from ticket sales and broadcasting fees, both clubs had already made a fortune.
Unfortunately, this match wasn't the first one but was scheduled as the last, the grand finale.
In the player room, Basalt was resting his eyes, reviewing the formulated tactics.
Meanwhile, on the field, the battle had already begun.
Unfortunately, few people watched these appetizers.
The audience only wanted to see the peak duel between Basalt and Gan Lin.
The winner takes home the MVP.
The loser sees their popularity drop.
It had to be said, the result of the competition was quite cruel!
Seeing Basalt seem a bit nervous, Jiang Jun stepped forward to comfort him: "Don't panic! Do your best and leave the rest to fate. If you win, you earn big; if you lose, you don't lose much."
"Coach, I prefer man conquering nature!"
Basalt opened his eyes, smiling slightly with certainty: "Besides, I've prepared a trump card. I won't lose this match!!!"
"Trump card?"
Jiang Jun was shocked: "Why didn't you tell me?"
For this peak duel, Jiang Jun had been racking his brains to help Basalt strategize, formulating tactics against the Pokémon Gan Lin might send out and potential countermeasures. Who would have thought Basalt held something back?
"You'll know soon."
Basalt smiled mysteriously and said no more.
An hour later, the first five battles finally ended.
The Saints Club had won one and lost four, losing the match prematurely.
But none of this mattered!
"Please welcome the final players from both clubs!"
A high-pitched voice rang out over the broadcast, instantly exciting the live audience.
"Basalt! Basalt!"
"Gan Lin! Gan Lin!"
Cheers rose and fell in the spacious stadium.
From the north and south player tunnels, Basalt and Gan Lin finally walked out.
Instantly, the atmosphere on the scene became even hotter.
On the large screen, each player was given half the shot, separated by a black line in the middle, distinct as the Jing and Wei rivers.
"Players, take your positions!"
Once both sides stood firm, the league referee raised a small flag.
Hearing this, Basalt and Gan Lin exchanged glances and threw their Pokéballs.
Basalt's Pokémon was Super Bell (Bronzong).
Bronzong was the core controller and a jack-of-all-trades, suitable for dealing with various opponents.
Unlike Excadrill and Cradily, who were versatile but not omnipotent. They had some minor weaknesses, but facing Gan Lin, Basalt dared not take risks.
Conversely, the Pokémon Gan Lin sent out was a green bird-like creature. It had a pair of long white wings with red and black stripes at the tips, a black neck, a pattern on its chest resembling a pair of red eyes, two long red feathers behind its head, and two yellow stripes around its waist.
"Xatu?"
Basalt's eyes widened in surprise.
This battle was too important for Basalt.
So during this time, he had been researching Gan Lin. Especially the data on Gan Lin's six main Pokémon and three substitute Pokémon, Basalt had imprinted them in his mind and had a basic counter-plan.
But the problem was, among Gan Lin's nine known Pokémon, there was no Psychic/Flying dual-type Xatu!!!
This really caught Basalt off guard.
Seeing Basalt's shocked face, Gan Lin's mouth curled up slightly, laughing proudly: "Just as I expected, Basalt, your Pokémon is Bronzong."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gan Lin said solemnly: "To be honest, this Xatu was originally prepared for my campaign in the First Division League. However, Basalt, you put too much pressure on me. I must win this battle; I cannot lose. I had no choice but to bring forward Xatu's debut."
"A trump card Pokémon?"
Basalt looked at the Xatu flapping its wings and sighed inwardly.
This was the benefit of a strong foundation; the selection of Pokémon could be broad, and tactics more varied.
Especially with a Pokémon that had never appeared before, the opponent's knowledge of the new Pokémon was almost zero, but your Pokémon data was mostly known by the opponent.
Coupled with calculation versus lack of preparation, the advantage was huge.
But soon, Basalt regrouped and regained his confidence.
So what if Gan Lin had a trump card? Didn't he have one too?
Besides, what serious person plays a joker right at the start?
"Players ready, match... begin!"
The referee's flag waved down.
This highly anticipated peak battle finally began.
But strangely, neither Pokémon on the field moved; only their eyes flashed with a strange light.
At the same time, on the field that was clearly under a clear sky without a breath of wind, fierce gales and rolling airwaves suddenly rose, blowing sand and stones across the venue.
This was the intense collision of both sides' psychic power.
Although the clash of psychic power was invisible and intangible, an unseen battle, sometimes it was more dangerous and thrilling than conventional combat.
"Xatu~"
Suddenly, Xatu, gently flapping its wings in mid-air, grunted and retreated a few steps.
"It seems my Bronzong is stronger in terms of psychic power!"
Basalt chuckled.
Gan Lin's words just now seemed to reveal Xatu's origin, but wasn't it also a psychological game? Attempting to suppress Basalt's confidence.
Now that Bronzong had the upper hand, Basalt naturally wouldn't show weakness and counterattacked.
Gan Lin curled his lip and didn't reply.
"Bronzong, Safeguard!"
Basalt issued the command telepathically.
As far as Basalt knew, Xatu had three abilities: Synchronize, Early Bird, and Magic Bounce.
The most troublesome was Magic Bounce, a bug-level ability that reflects status moves used by the opponent. Although the probability of this ability in Xatu wasn't high, in the professional league, Pokémon abilities often depended on practicality rather than probability. Because league players probably wouldn't cultivate Pokémon with impractical abilities.
Adding a "Safeguard" status gave Bronzong some insurance.
Conversely, Xatu used Lucky Chant, a status move that prevents critical hits.
Next, it was time to fight for real!
"Bronzong, Skill Swap!"
Basalt narrowed his eyes slightly.
Originally, the best move against Flying-type Pokémon was the gravity field. But fearing reflection by "Magic Bounce," Basalt dared not act recklessly; otherwise, the consequences would be severe. Fortunately, Skill Swap was not within the scope of "Magic Bounce" reflection.
Psychic power flew from Bronzong, connecting to Xatu, who had no time to dodge.
But unexpectedly, Xatu didn't react.
Conversely, Bronzong shuddered slightly, and the Psychic-type energy beam instantly dissipated.
"The opponent also knows Skill Swap!"
Bronzong's surprised voice rang out. Because it could sense that the opponent used Imprison to disrupt its energy. And to use Imprison, one must also know the move the opponent is using.
Skill Swap was a very difficult move to learn. Unexpectedly, Xatu knew it too. Truly worthy of being Gan Lin's trump card! Indeed, it couldn't be underestimated!
"Xatu~"
Just then, a beam of light shot out from Xatu's eyes, hitting Bronzong with lightning speed.
However, this beam didn't cause any damage to Bronzong.
"Broonz~"
Just as Bronzong was puzzled, its body suddenly trembled slightly, and it involuntarily fell to the ground.
Crack!
Given Bronzong's weight, a large pit was instantly smashed into the ground.
Bronzong had lost its Levitate ability.
"This is... Simple Beam!"
Basalt recognized the move just now.
There were only a few moves that could make the opponent's ability disappear or change: Skill Swap, Worry Seed, Simple Beam, Entrainment, Role Play, and Gastro Acid.
Skill Swap could be ruled out directly; if Xatu wanted to swap, it wouldn't have stopped it just now.
Besides that, the only one Xatu could learn was Simple Beam. This was a peculiar move that changed the opponent's ability to "Simple."
"Now, Shadow Ball!"
Gan Lin was overjoyed.
Bronzong lost its "Levitate" ability, greatly reducing its mobility, making it a sitting duck.
Hum! Hum! Hum!
Xatu was powerful; although not a STAB move, it instantly condensed three Shadow Balls, attacking Bronzong in a triangle formation.
"Bronzong, Rock Tomb!"
Basalt countered without showing weakness.
Large rock projectiles formed around Bronzong, colliding with the Shadow Balls and exploding, creating vast smoke.
Seeing single-target attacks struggling to break through Bronzong's skill blockade, Gan Lin changed his approach and shouted: "Xatu, Hurricane!"
Boom boom boom!
Violent winds formed under Xatu's wings, instantly expanding countless times to form a tornado sweeping towards Bronzong. The range of Hurricane was too large; there was no way to dodge.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The fierce wind was like blades, cutting into Bronzong's body, making teeth-grating friction sounds.
Bronzong's stamina began to drop!
At the same time, Bronzong also began to counterattack.
Golden electric currents formed on its body, turning into a beam of light sweeping out.
Electric-type move, Charge Beam!
Unfortunately, Xatu was too fast.
Although Charge Beam could break through the wind barrier, it was meaningless if it couldn't hit the opponent.
Bronzong was in danger!
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