As the battle continued, Lucy naturally began to feel just how difficult Natsui's Milotic was to handle.
She could tell that Natsui's Milotic was stronger than her own in both offense and defense. It did not leave her any major openings. She had to focus with all her strength just to keep up. Even then, it was still difficult. If she lost focus for even a moment, she would be caught immediately.
However, she did not find that strange. She thought about how his Pokémon had fought in Regional League matches and had been trained through extremely harsh battles.
The thing that truly made her feel pressured was the man standing behind that Milotic.
His precise judgment and his steady yet bold battle style were the real problem.
Under that man's command, his Milotic could bring out even greater strength. It was as if he had given Milotic a second set of eyes and a brain. He made it perfectly clear just how important a Trainer was.
Because of that, she suddenly realized that her Milotic was falling behind as the battle continued.
Both Pokémon were the same species and shared the same typing. They even used many of the same moves. Even so, he was exceptionally skilled at turning tiny advantages into real gains. By the time she realized it, it was already too late.
At this point, a normal Trainer would choose to go all out. They would try a riskier approach to turn the situation around. Lucy did the same.
After all, she knew deep down that if things kept going like this, she would definitely lose.
"Milotic! Dive into the water!"
At Lucy's command, her Milotic did not hesitate and dove straight into the pond.
Natsui was surprised for a moment when he saw this, but he quickly understood what she was trying to do.
So that's it...
She realized she could not beat him while he was actively giving commands. She wanted to block his view and cut off the link between him and his Pokémon. She wanted the match to be decided underwater, where his Milotic would have to fight on its own.
It was a very good idea.
But unfortunately, Lucy did not know one thing. Just like Greta before her, she did not realize that fighting alone was also something his Pokémon were extremely good at.
You could only say that Lucy had chosen the wrong way to fight.
Natsui's Milotic followed right behind and dove into the pond. For a brief moment, the surface became calm again. Only circles of ripples remained, spreading quietly outward.
Soon, however, large numbers of bubbles began rising from the bottom of the pond. Then the water started churning violently, sending huge splashes into the air. Wave after wave crashed against the banks.
Anyone could tell that the two Pokémon were definitely fighting beneath the surface.
However, there were no underwater cameras or large screens here. No one knew what the battle looked like below the water or what the current situation was.
It was obvious that Lucy wanted to make use of her familiarity with the field. She wanted her Milotic to find a chance to defeat Natsui's underwater. Against an ordinary Trainer, this method might have worked somewhat. But for Natsui's Pokémon, fighting without commands was actually an advantage.
At that moment, all the delinquent girls in the stands clenched their hands tightly. They stared at the pond without blinking, desperate to know who would win.
Would it be their big sister's Milotic?
Or would it be that man's Pokémon?
Or would it be a draw, with both of them surfacing to continue the fight?
The answer came very quickly as they watched nervously.
The water burst open again. One Milotic had wrapped its tail tightly around the other Milotic and dragged it onto the bank. Then it gave one powerful squeeze. The trapped Milotic struggled a few times before going completely limp.
The two Pokémon looked almost identical. But people who saw them every day could still tell them apart through small differences.
At a glance, everyone could tell that the Milotic that had fainted was Lucy's.
The group of delinquent girls was clearly disappointed by that result.
"Big sister's Milotic actually lost!"
"I know, right? It's unbelievable. I can't believe it was beaten so cleanly..."
"As expected... is a Champion's Pokémon really just that much stronger?"
May looked very pleased when she heard the sighs and helpless reactions from those delinquent girls.
I told you so. There's no such thing as an attack that "no one can stop." Natsui is as amazing as ever.
Natsui, of course, had no idea what those people were thinking from the Trainer's platform.
At that moment, all of his attention was on his own Pokémon.
Looking closely, his Milotic also had some faint wounds on its body that were hard to notice at first glance.
It seemed that the underwater battle just now had been extremely fierce and dangerous.
In truth, it looked as though he had won very easily. But the details and danger of that clash were far more serious than they appeared to the people watching.
In terms of raw strength, the two Milotic were not that far apart. They were actually very close. Even if Natsui's Milotic had the edge, the gap was small. It was not an easy victory at all. If Natsui had to describe it, the difference between them was only around 5.3 to 4.7.
The real mistake had been Lucy's final choice.
Then again, it was not really that she gave the wrong order. She just did not understand Natsui's battle style before the match began.
If she had known that Natsui often had his Pokémon fight in situations where he could not give commands, she would never have chosen that method. He had deliberately trained them to battle on their own.
But it did not matter. After this defeat, Lucy clearly understood that point now.
It still was not too late.
She recalled her unconscious Milotic and took out a second Poké Ball.
The Poké Ball opened, and as the blue light faded, Lucy's strongest Pokémon, Seviper, finally appeared. The delinquent girls immediately raised their expectations.
"Big sister, go for it!!"
"Seviper, show that guy how strong you are!!"
If they had been ordinary staff members, they might have cared a little about the challenger's feelings. They would not have cheered this loudly for the Gym Leader or Frontier Brain. But these delinquent girls had no such concerns. They did whatever they wanted, and their shouts filled the entire Battle Pike.
Natsui ignored it completely. He acted as though he could not hear them. He did not even spare them a glance.
To him, this kind of scene meant nothing. It would have been strange if something like this could shake his focus. Even taking a 1-0 lead did not make him especially excited.
Natsui recalled his Milotic and looked at the Seviper in front of him.
When people thought of Seviper, they usually thought of Jessie's Seviper. After all, that Seviper was strong and had plenty of personality. It was one of Jessie's most memorable Pokémon.
Unfortunately, the Team Rocket trio had never dared to act up in front of Natsui. Ever since Jessie caught that Seviper, she had never shown it to him.
Even so, Natsui still knew plenty about this species.
Seviper's design was most likely based on a venomous snake, especially a black snake with extremely potent poison.
Seviper is a pure Poison-type Pokémon. It has the appearance of a dark snake, but its lower jaw is gold. There are also gold markings on its head and back. It has six gold bumps along its belly for movement, along with sharp red fangs and a blade-like tail.
As for its habits, it sharpens the blade on its tail against rocks. That tail is extremely sharp, and it also carries powerful poison, making Seviper very dangerous. It also likes to hide in tall grass and ambush prey with its venomous fangs when they get close. Then it slashes them with its tail while spreading the poison, turning the attack into a deadly strike.
In short, it was a dangerous cold-blooded hunter.
It was obvious that Lucy truly loved using snake-like Pokémon in battle.
She had used Milotic earlier, and now she had sent out Seviper. The rest of her team that had not appeared yet, like Steelix or Gyarados, also had long snake-like bodies.
It was obvious that she liked snake-like Pokémon just as much as she liked the narrow-eyed Pokémon she kept at home.
As for what to use against it...
Natsui put away Milotic's Poké Ball and thought for a moment. He considered Blaziken and Eevee for a short while. In the end, he sent out Eevee.
It was not that he did not want to train his other Pokémon. Compared with Eevee and Blaziken, Pokémon like Tyranitar, Metagross, or Scizor would clearly have had a much better matchup.
But he did not want to use them.
He knew exactly how troublesome delinquent girls could be. If he sent out a Pokémon with a strong advantage against Seviper, then losing would be one thing. But if he won, those women would definitely become even more annoying.
He followed the principle that less trouble was better. To avoid extra headaches, Natsui chose Eevee.
He was not only thinking about the battle itself. He was also considering everything outside the match.
This field was not an ordinary one. Since the pond took up more than half of the space, the terrain was very unusual. Because of that, the two Pokémon were not standing in the normal positions. Instead, each one stood on a small patch of solid ground on its side.
Still, that did not change much. Their starting positions were only slightly off to the side.
Both Pokémon were ready. The referee girl waved her hand once more. The second crucial match officially began.
Lucy still wanted to stay on the offensive even after losing the first round. The moment the battle started, she ordered Seviper to attack.
It shot toward Eevee and tried to bite down. Eevee jumped aside, but Seviper immediately swung its sharp tail at the spot where Eevee was about to land.
Fortunately, Eevee reacted in time and leaped away again, narrowly avoiding the strike.
However, Seviper's assault did not end there. Snake Pokémon had very unusual bodies. They could release explosive force in an instant and launch themselves forward with terrifying speed.
If it had been almost any other Pokémon at that distance, it might have already been hit.
But Natsui's Eevee was naturally agile and quick. In that dangerous moment, it still managed to react. Not only did it avoid the Poison Fang glowing with toxic light, it even used the momentum to push off and landed both hind legs on Seviper's head.
"Aww, what a waste!!"
Several sighs immediately came from the audience.
The delinquent girls knew that this was one of Seviper's signature attack patterns.
Once an opponent was bitten and poisoned, they usually lost the momentum right away. Very few were able to come back after that.
Unfortunately, Eevee had dodged it. Now that the opponent had seen it once, it would be even harder to land again.
While the delinquent girls were sighing, they did not realize that Natsui also thought it had been a very close call.
He was excellent at seeing the big picture and noticing fine details, but this was his first time battling Lucy's Seviper. There was no way he could have predicted that kind of assault pattern.
He could only say Eevee had been fast enough. Otherwise, the outcome would have been ugly.
It really has improved a lot...
His thoughts returned to the battlefield. That attack had missed, so now it was Eevee's turn to counter.
In terms of pure speed, Eevee was not as fast as Seviper. But its smaller body made it much more nimble. It was also very good at jumping, which let it move around the venomous snake and keep harassing it.
However, Seviper was extremely dangerous and had venomous fangs. Eevee did not dare get too close to launch a direct attack. That meant that even though it kept looking for chances, it still could not achieve any major results.
Lucy saw that neither side was gaining the upper hand. Her eyes sharpened, and she gave another command.
As her voice fell, Seviper's tail lashed toward Eevee like lightning.
It was incredibly fast. The sharp tail even cut through the air with a whistling sound.
"Eevee, dodge it!"
Eevee had already been on guard against the tail, but it was just too fast. Eevee leaped backward, but the tail slammed into the ground and exploded on impact. The shockwave blasted Eevee into the nearby pond.
Splash!
Eevee was clearly a little panicked after falling into the water. It splashed around like a soaked puppy. Once it got used to the water, it immediately started swimming toward the bank.
Lucy saw that perfect opportunity and had no intention of letting it slip away.
Seviper was not a sea snake, but it still dove into the water without hesitation and rushed straight toward Eevee.
The situation instantly became extremely dangerous.
Eevee could move freely on land, but in the water it had almost no ability to fight back.
What should he do?
Judging by the distance and speed, Seviper would definitely catch Eevee before it could reach shore.
If that happened, Eevee would be in serious trouble.
Natsui swept his eyes across the field and immediately came up with a plan.
"Eevee, jump onto that log next to you!"
During the previous battle, many bushes and small trees had been torn up by the giant whirlwind. Some had been blown out of the field, but more had simply ended up floating in the pond.
And now, that debris was clearly giving Eevee a small chance to escape.