Chapter 416: Sandstorm VS Aura
Extreme Speed appeared again; Lucario vanished and reappeared in an instant.
However, with Basalt's warning, Excadrill had prepared its response long ago. Crouching and digging its claws into the ground was to facilitate power generation.
Boom!
Sturdy rock blocks suddenly rose, surrounding Excadrill tightly. Lucario's Extreme Speed missed again.
Wide Guard!
"Is this a joke?" Gan Lin almost cursed.
This was Extreme Speed! How could it fail repeatedly?
He didn't know that Excadrill had consumed the "Sand Rock Crystal"; its execution of Rock-type moves was no slower than Bronzong's. Not to mention, Excadrill had received a hint from Basalt in advance.
Lucario crashed into the rock wall, its elbow strike creating cracks, but it couldn't penetrate.
However, Lucario wasn't discouraged. It repeated its old trick, using Aura to detect Excadrill's movements and condition within the rock wall, waiting quietly for an opportunity.
Unfortunately, the rock wall of Wide Guard was much tighter than Protect; its Aura could only seep through the cracks slightly, making detection inconvenient.
"Lu~ca~"
Suddenly, Lucario sensed a soaring killing intent from within the rock wall, causing it to shudder involuntarily and flip backward.
Whizz!
A teeth-grating piercing sound rang out. The rock wall shattered from the inside out, and a bloody stream of light flew out, transforming into a spiral energy body attacking at high speed.
"So fast!" Gan Lin gritted his teeth.
There were many battle videos of Excadrill in the early league, but as Basalt's other Pokémon improved, Excadrill, the ace, appeared less frequently. Its last match was a month ago.
He didn't expect that in just one month, the power of Excadrill's Drill Run had significantly improved again.
"Lucario, Detect!" Gan Lin shouted anxiously.
"Lu~ca~"
Instantly, a strange blue light appeared in Lucario's eyes.
At the same time, the fast-moving Excadrill slowed down in its vision, like a slow-motion scene on TV. Lucario could clearly see the patterns and bristles on Excadrill's lower body, as well as the trajectory of the Ground-type energy.
With a tap of its foot and a slight sideways shift, Lucario finally dodged Excadrill's "Spiral Drill Run" at the critical moment.
Even so, the residual energy of the Spiral Drill Run caused Lucario slight discomfort and minor abrasions.
As Excadrill actively shattered the Wide Guard rock wall, the rocks fragmented and accelerated decomposition. Soon, the air was filled with rolling yellow sand.
Shh-shh-shh-shh~
Yellow sand rolled, covering all directions, blotting out the sky.
"It appeared! Sandstorm!!!" Basalt's fans were greatly invigorated. As Basalt's strength improved, they hadn't seen Sandstorm weather for a long time.
Simultaneously, as the sandstorm merged with Excadrill, its Sand Rush ability activated, and its speed skyrocketed.
Whizz!
Excadrill, transformed into a drill, burrowed into the ground, instantly completed a turn, and then counterattacked with even greater speed.
"Lu~ca~"
Cold sweat dripped from Lucario's forehead.
This speed was truly too fast!
It dared not even use Circle Throw to leverage the opponent's force. Although its Aura could see Excadrill's attack path clearly, its own movements couldn't keep up to execute a perfect counter.
If it failed, Lucario might be instantly killed. Therefore, Lucario dared not use Counter either. It couldn't guarantee it wouldn't be one-shotted! After all, the Ground-type "Drill Run" was super effective against its Steel typing.
It dared not gamble!!!
Blue light flashed. Just before Drill Run approached, Lucario vanished from its spot.
It was Extreme Speed! Lucario was using Extreme Speed to escape because its normal speed was insufficient to evade Excadrill's assault.
Drill Run missed again, but Excadrill didn't care.
Adjusting the drill downward, it instantly burrowed into the ground, then reappeared ten meters away, bursting out to attack again. As the "Digging King," Excadrill's Drill Run and Dig had long merged into one, requiring no transition.
Just fight! Drill through, drill through!
On the battlefield, Lucario often just escaped Excadrill's assault, only to be locked onto again shortly after. Under the sandstorm, Lucario had nowhere to hide; Excadrill controlled everything on the field.
Thus, the scene showed Lucario fleeing in panic, constantly chased by Excadrill. Even Lucario's attempts to use Aura Sphere to lock onto and intercept Excadrill were useless, as the Aura Sphere was easily shattered by the drill.
However, Extreme Speed was indeed troublesome; integrating offense and evasion, its instantaneous burst speed was faster than Excadrill's current speed. So although it looked like Excadrill was chasing Lucario, it gained no actual advantage.
"Earthquake!" Basalt changed tactics.
Earthquake was an area-of-effect move. Since Lucario couldn't fly, it couldn't dodge. However, Basalt underestimated Gan Lin and Lucario.
Facing the incoming Earthquake, Gan Lin was not alarmed but delighted, shouting: "Bone Rush!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Receiving the order, Lucario condensed bone clubs with energy but didn't throw them at Excadrill. Instead, unexpectedly, it threw them into the air.
Then, Lucario tapped its foot lightly, flying onto the bone clubs like a martial arts master, jumping back and forth between them. The violent tremors on the ground had nothing to do with it.
Meanwhile, Aura surged from Lucario again. Its blood-red pupils stared at Excadrill looking up from the ground, a strange luster flickering.
"Bad, Basalt miscalculated!" Jiang Jun thought to himself.
Excadrill's Earthquake not only failed to achieve the desired effect but gave Lucario a breather. If Excadrill had continued chasing with Drill Run, Lucario couldn't have dodged every time in the later stages. Prolonged defense leads to failure. Moreover, although Extreme Speed was broken, it consumed significant stamina.
"Lucario, Role Play!" Gan Lin shouted joyfully.
Role Play, a move that allows the user to temporarily copy the opponent's Ability. And Excadrill's Ability was "Sand Rush."
Thus, with a flash of light, Lucario's speed increased significantly. Its Ability had also become Sand Rush!
"Tch!" Basalt gritted his teeth, realizing his miscalculation.
On the field, Excadrill used Stone Edge, but Lucario, already extremely fast, was now only a sliver slower than Excadrill. Leaping left and right, using the stone pillars as springboards, it easily dodged all attacks.
"Excadrill, Sand Tomb!" Basalt tried his best to remedy the situation.
Under Excadrill's Ground-type energy, the arena ground quickly turned into flowing quicksand, rolling golden waves.
Now, Lucario was backed into a corner again. Once it landed, it would be trapped by the quicksand, its movements inevitably affected.
One careless move, and the whole game could be lost!
"In that case, let's decide the winner!" Gan Lin's gaze focused, making up his mind.
"Lucario, Close Combat!"
Coincidentally, Basalt had the same intention.
"Excadrill, meet it with Drill Run!"
Two Pokémon, one in the sky and one on the ground, simultaneously locked their gazes on each other.
"Lu~ca~"
"Dorong-ss~"
Sandstorm and Aura locked onto each other.
Whizz!
The teeth-grating piercing sound rang out again. Excadrill once more transformed into a spiral energy body, charging upward.
Conversely, Lucario dropped all defenses, focusing all its mind on the attack, striking downward fiercely.
At this moment, the emotions of the live audience and the thousands of viewers on the stream exploded. Ace versus Ace, who would stand tall?
Boom!
At the center of the battlefield, the two Pokémon collided fiercely. Fighting and Ground-type energies clashed violently, triggering a sizable explosion.
"Who won?"
Everyone present, including Basalt and Gan Lin, stretched their necks, eagerly awaiting the outcome.
Ground-type moves countered Lucario, and Fighting-type moves countered Excadrill. Both sides were evenly matched in strength, typing, moves, and even speed under the Ability change. Full of suspense!
With everyone holding their breath, what was only a few seconds felt like centuries.
Just then, a faint sound was heard.
"Dorong~"
Basalt and Gan Lin shuddered simultaneously. However, the expressions on their faces were different. Basalt was overjoyed, while Gan Lin was greatly disappointed.
Before long, the smoke and dust cleared. Everyone finally saw the situation on the field.
Lucario lay on the ground, unable to get up, while Excadrill swayed unsteadily.
Although it won, it was a pyrrhic victory. Excadrill only narrowly won thanks to its enhanced defense from the "Groudon Scale" bristles. Otherwise, it would have been down too. Because Lucario's attack power was truly strong. Even with enhanced defense, Excadrill felt like its body was falling apart, its vision blurring. If not for the Emperor's pride forbidding it to fall immediately, it probably wouldn't have held on.
"Go, Haxorus!"
Recalling Lucario, Gan Lin impatiently threw his third Pokéball. He saw Excadrill's poor condition and wanted to take the opportunity to defeat it quickly. Excadrill put too much psychological pressure on Gan Lin.
☆☆☆
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you