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The full power of the Earthquake was channeled into Venusaur, yet far from taking damage, it even looked a bit comfortable!
This unconventional situation left Paul dumbfounded once again.
What's going on? Why are Ground-type moves ineffective against Venusaur? Venusaur is a Grass and Poison-type, so Ground-type moves should normally deal neutral damage. But now—let alone neutral damage, it hasn't taken any damage at all.
[Author's Note: I hope readers will remember our domain name. For Taiwan novels, your first choice is always available.]
Watching from the stands, Conway couldn't help but adjust his slipping glasses. A hint of satisfaction flickered in his eyes behind the lenses; finally, someone—finally, someone could empathize with him!
As a Trainer who prioritized data above all else, he hated people who didn't play by the rules the most, and Ash was the king of unconventional play!
It was one thing to lose a battle against Ash; he could accept defeat. But he couldn't accept a baffling defeat!
Losing so inexplicably, without even knowing how he lost—just a series of chaotic events, and then all his Pokémon were wiped out.
The opponent could even shatter Trick Room directly. What a freak!
Well, now another victim just like him has appeared, and on the stage of the finals, no less.
Ground-type moves being ineffective... no matter how Conway thought about it, he couldn't understand how it was done. He could only say it was lucky he wasn't the one competing on the field right now, or he would have scratched his head raw.
Now, the one suffering was Paul. Faced with this situation, how will you respond, Paul?
Between Ash and Paul, Conway still hoped Paul would win. Although that guy was arrogant and cold, looking like a total show-off, as a fellow countryman, he naturally wanted Paul from the Sinnoh region to win. Besides, he and Paul had some history.
But given Ash's freakish level, it would probably be very difficult for Paul to win!
On the field, after Venusaur absorbed the power of the Earthquake, it instantly converted it into grass-type energy and funneled it back into the ground. The entire field began to vibrate, and then, thick thorny vines, even larger than before, erupted from the earth!
This was a Frenzy Plant used by stacking the opponent's power, making it thirty percent stronger than the one that attacked Froslass!
Venusaur possessed the legacy of Xerneas. Although those in Kalos called Xerneas the God of Life and Creation, a fun fact was that Xerneas also had another title—the Ruler of the Earth!
Its signature move, Geomancy, absorbs the power of the earth to drastically strengthen itself; the earth's power is its power.
That's why Xerneas is also known as the God of the Earth. This obscure fact was shared with Ash by the big shots in the group chat.
It was precisely because of this information that Ash had Venusaur battle with the other Pokémon on his team, attempting to absorb incoming Ground-type moves. As it turned out, as long as the Ground-type power didn't far exceed Venusaur's own strength, it could be absorbed and converted into its own power.
This was also an ability learned from Xerneas's legacy.
Now, Venusaur could be considered an existence immune to Ground-type moves. While it couldn't be said to be immune to all of them, it could basically achieve 100% immunity against any opponent weaker than itself.
However, against an existence at the level of Torterra, it was still a bit of a stretch to completely absorb its moves.
Venusaur actually did take some damage, but most of it was converted into its own power. Compared to the power absorbed, that bit of damage was practically negligible.
The erupting Frenzy Plant surged toward Torterra. Torterra was a Grass and Ground-type, and unlike Venusaur, who had a quadruple resistance to grass-type moves, grass-type moves would deal normal neutral damage to it. It would be trouble if it were hit directly by the Frenzy Plant.
"Come back, Torterra." Paul wasn't one to talk about the pride of grass-type Pokémon in the face of an unfavorable situation; he naturally chose to withdraw Torterra immediately.
This allowed him to use the window of switching Pokémon to dodge the opponent's Frenzy Plant, and it would also leave the opponent in a recharge state.
"Drapion, get ready for battle." With a flash of light, a hideous-looking scorpion appeared on the field. The scorpion was entirely purple, its body covered in a hard carapace, looking like a tough nut to crack.
"A specialty Pokémon of the Sinnoh region, Drapion, which possesses both Poison and Dark types. This Pokémon is one of Paul's signatures. Previous data showed Drapion's level was around Mid-Gym, but it might have reached a higher level by now," Brock analyzed with a serious expression.
Pokémon like Drapion almost never appear in the Kanto region. However, since this was Paul's main Pokémon, the three of them had paid close attention to it. Ash had researched the data, which in turn helped Brock and Misty learn a lot about Pokémon from other regions.
Drapion's dual typing meant that Venusaur's Grass and Poison-type moves would only deal minimal damage, so Drapion should have the type advantage here.
Furthermore, Paul's choice to withdraw Torterra while Venusaur was using Frenzy Plant was a very clever maneuver. This not only avoided the damage from Frenzy Plant but also forced Venusaur into a recharge phase.
Torterra's Ground and grass-type moves couldn't deal any damage to Venusaur at all. Therefore, sending out Drapion now gave him a good offensive coverage against Venusaur.
But then again, if it were Ash, he probably wouldn't have withdrawn Torterra. Even in an unfavorable situation or against a type disadvantage, as long as the Pokémon wanted to fight, Ash would see it through to the end.
Rationally speaking, such a choice isn't good, but that's exactly what Ash would do, and it's what sets Ash apart from ordinary Trainers.
So, Paul and Ash are like two sides of the same coin—one representing extreme emotion, the other representing extreme rationality.
After sending out Drapion, to Paul's surprise, the effect of Frenzy Plant hadn't ended. Although the time it took to withdraw and release his Pokémon wasn't long, it should have been enough for Frenzy Plant to start subsiding.
But now, the Frenzy Plant was still full of vigor, with no signs of disappearing at all.
The moment Drapion took the field, the Frenzy Plant seemed to come alive, quickly closing in on Drapion.
"Pin Missile!" Paul's expression tightened as he ordered Drapion to use Pin Missile in response.
Drapion crouched slightly, and the tail behind it fired five emerald-green sharp arrows. Pin Missile can fire up to five times in a row. For ordinary Pokémon, whether it fires five times is purely up to luck, but for professionally trained Pokémon, they can manage to fire five Pin Missiles every time, and Drapion was one of them.
Five sharp Pin Missiles imbued with Bug-type energy blasted toward the sweeping thorns. As a series of explosions rang out, thick smoke rose across the field.
A second later, several thorns burst from the smoke and lashed out ruthlessly at Drapion!
Bang! Bang! Bang!! Even though the effect was minimal, a look of pain still appeared on Drapion's face.
Paul's face darkened. This Venusaur was far more bizarre than he had imagined; not only did the Frenzy Plant stay on the field for a long time, but its power was also terrifyingly high.
Pin Missile is a Bug-type move, which inherently has a suppressive effect against grass-type moves. However, the five-hit Pin Missile only managed to slightly hinder the progress of the Frenzy Plant. In fact, it could be said that without even a moment's pause, the Frenzy Plant tore right through the Pin Missiles and slammed into Drapion.
Such a situation could only mean that the gap in strength between the two sides was far too vast.
After the Frenzy Plant hit Drapion, its power was finally exhausted, and it slumped down weakly. On Venusaur's side, although it had hit its opponent, it didn't seem very enthusiastic.
It wanted a showdown with that grass-type Torterra!
What the hell is with switching in a scorpion now? What happened to the pride of a grass-type duel? You turtle, where did your pride go!!
Ash noticed Venusaur's protest and gave a helpless smile. "Come back for now, Venusaur. We'll settle the score next time we get the chance."
Given Paul's playstyle, in a matchup against Venusaur, unless all his other Pokémon were incapacitated, he likely wouldn't send Torterra out to fight again.
After all, Torterra's disadvantage against Venusaur was simply too overwhelming. So, Ash simply recalled Venusaur to give his other Pokémon some time on the field.
"I choose you, Charizard!" Facing Drapion, Ash's choice was to send out Charizard!
There was virtually no type advantage between the two; it was a battle of pure strength!
"Charizard, huh? Drapion, use Toxic Spikes."
"Stop him, Flamethrower!!" Toxic Spikes, like Stealth Rock, was a purely annoying move. Any Pokémon that touched the field upon entering would be poisoned. Even Flying-type Pokémon would be affected by this move if they were grounded.
Poisoning would not only continuously drain a Pokémon's stamina but also hinder its movements. If the poison flared up while using a move, there was even a chance the move would fail.
So no matter what, Ash would never allow the opponent to set up Toxic Spikes.
Scorching fire gathered in Charizard's throat, and a second later, the crimson flames illuminated the entire field!
Just as the stinger on Drapion's tail stood up, it felt as if a giant sun was falling from the sky—that's right, Charizard's Flamethrower was like the sun itself. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought it was Blast Burn!
Paul was stunned, then suddenly looked up at the sky above the field. There, a blazing sun formed of energy hung high, and it was precisely that energy sun that amplified Charizard's flames so drastically!
"So the setup for Charizard's entry was already being laid? Drapion, Protect!" Judging by the speed of the Flamethrower, forget about successfully setting up Spikes; Drapion would likely lose its life under those flames if it tried.
This fire dragon's attack power was simply too high. Coupled with the boost from Sunny Day, Drapion wouldn't be able to survive it even with five lives.
Hearing the command, Drapion immediately canceled the Toxic Spikes and instead erected an emerald-green barrier in front of itself.
Boom!! An unparalleled explosion rang out on the field. Thick black smoke obscured everyone's vision, and the surrounding spectators wished they could plant their eyes right inside the field to see the situation clearly.
A moment later, a figure flew out of the black smoke like an arrow from a bowstring, then slammed heavily into the barrier.
Everyone cast their gaze toward that figure, only to find that it was Drapion!
Even after using Protect, it had still suffered such a heavy blow. What was going on?
"Charizard, Fire Punch!" Basking in the sun's glow in the sky, Charizard flapped its wings and dove like a flaming meteor, its clenched claws erupting into roaring crimson flames!
Boom!! The Fire Punch landed squarely on the immobilized Drapion. Brilliant flames flared up, burning all over Drapion's body.
Drapion let out a long, pained wail. A moment later, its body, which had straightened from the fire, slumped down weakly, and Charizard withdrew its fist.
"Drapion is unable to battle! Charizard wins!" It was another near-instant knockout. If Froslass was easily defeated because she was fragile and two levels below Venusaur, then what about Drapion?
It was clearly only one level below Charizard, and Drapion was definitely known for its durability. Yet, even while using Protect, it was still defeated by the opponent in two moves. Was that Charizard... really only at the Gym Peak?
Even if an Elite Four Class Pokémon were brought in, it wouldn't be able to finish off Drapion so quickly, even with the boost from Sunny Day.
Paul silently recalled Drapion. By now, three of his Pokémon had been incapacitated, while on Ash's side, only Infernape could be said to be unable to fight.
Normally, in a full six-on-six battle, even if three Pokémon were incapacitated first, he wouldn't be shaken, because the sacrifice of those three Pokémon would surely be worth it.
But now, despite three Pokémon being unable to battle, Paul hadn't gained anything of value.
The opponent had only lost Infernape, his weakest link, and Paul hadn't even figured out the rest of his lineup. Furthermore, among the Pokémon Ash had sent out, with the exception of Infernape, the others could only be described as bottomless pits of strength.
Before battling Ash, Paul never thought a peer could push him to this extent, not even Ash.
But only by truly facing Ash did he understand what a real genius was.
Victory in this battle was already drifting further and further away from him. In any ordinary match, he wouldn't continue fighting, because if he couldn't win, there was no point at all. But this was the finals of the Indigo Plateau Conference; he couldn't possibly forfeit here.
"Aggron, get ready for battle!"