In the arena.
The green smoke drifted into the clouds.
The fainted Politoed lay belly up in the scorched black grass, its bright green skin covered with dust turned dark.
"Politoed has lost the ability to battle! Aggron wins! The first half is over!"
The referee mercilessly raised the red flag.
The commentator shouted, "An unexpected exchange attack! Aggron ended the first half with lightning speed!"
Buzz!
The audience roared continuously, excitedly leaning over to overlook Aggron under the rain curtain, cheering wildly for this terrifying steel behemoth.
Several Aerial Rotom flew around, capturing this important moment.
Contestant Baimu retrieved Aggron, turned around, and walked down, saying to the two Pokeballs:
"Well done."
Hesitation is the biggest taboo in battles. When the opponent switches Pokémon, whether to switch or to fight, if you can't decide quickly, don't blame others for seizing the opportunity to attack fiercely.
Of course, being at a disadvantage really tests one's mindset, especially when the opponent has a huge advantage.
On the other side.
"..."
Leon's hands shook as if he had Parkinson's, almost dropping the Pokeball.
Just a little bit.
Just a little bit more!
He bit his teeth in extreme unwillingness, until he saw an Aerial Rotom facing his face, only then he dazedly retrieved Politoed and turned to step down.
Recalling everything that happened just now, Leon thought he had a chance to retrieve Politoed if he had taken out the Pokeball in time.
Why did he hesitate?
Did he think there was a chance seeing Aggron's weakness to Water Attribute?
However, just this second or even less than half a second delay, even if he realized something was wrong, the Thunder Strike had already fallen from the clouds.
There was nothing he could do.
Hydreigon, continuously taking down two of his main Pokémon, exerted too much pressure on Leon.
In the previous matches, he had never gotten this far.
The miserable situation made him extremely anxious.
The more anxious he got, the more chaotic it became.
Politoed was defeated by Aggron's Thunder Strike without achieving anything, dealing a more serious blow to his mentality.
Saying that he was disheartened would not be an exaggeration.
Fortunately, during the halftime break, even if it was only five minutes, he could try to adjust back.
In the rest room.
Baimu finished feeding the Tree Fruit to Hydreigon and patted its restless head.
"Alright, you'll be up in the second half."
The clumsy dragon had a sense of rivalry with Aggron, so it was indignantly frustrated that Politoed was taken down by the latter.
If it were to fight another Pokémon, it might not have been this upset.
"Sha-throat~"
Hydreigon buried its big head into its Trainer's arms, making a humming sound that vibrated his upper body. It was hard to say whether this fellow was complaining or being coquettish.
In the second half.
As expected, Hydreigon and Aggron were going to end the match together.
Leon's Pokémon had overall weaker capabilities, and his team's structure could hardly compensate for the hard strength gap. Even when facing him, just encountering Elma would cause his team to crumble under the latter's endless Transformation Techniques.
The final outcome was no more than two or three of Elma's Pokémon losing the ability to battle, advancing smoothly to the next round.
What a pity.
With him there, they were destined not to meet.
Speaking of which, during the first half, Leon only used the Physical Attackers for rainy days. In the second half, we might see his remaining Special Attackers?
Perhaps one of them is his trump card Pokémon.
Hopefully, it won't be too disappointing.
Baimu took a sip of water, noticed Xiaogang and the others coming in from outside, and pushed away the meaningless howling Hydreigon in his arms to greet them.
"Sha-throat?"
Hydreigon looked confused, only realizing the situation when it saw the others.
For a moment.
It glanced at Xiaogang and the others with a slightly resentful gaze.
"What's wrong with Hydreigon? It performed beautifully in the first half." Alice asked in confusion, always extremely concerned about the mood changes of Dragon-type Pokémon.
After all, her Special Ability specifically directs towards the Dragon Attribute.
Baimu waved his hand, indicating there was no problem.
——
The second half opened on time.
Loud sounds of the mechanism booming!
The field changed, and a giant pool rose from underground.
Leon looked at the rippling water in front of him, first stunned then showed great joy.
"It's actually the Water Field!"
He had been thinking about how to withstand pressure in the second half and then seize the opportunity to counterattack, unexpectedly, the computer gave him a big surprise.
Rain combo meets Water Field!
The advantage is mine!
Leon clenched his fist, feeling the cold blood boil again, exhilarated him.
Heaven is helping him!
What reason does he have not to get back up?
"Let's go!" Leon switched out the originally prepared Pokeball, ready to fight to the death.
Above the arena.
The commentator's voice was quite loud.
"Ladies and gentlemen! The second half of the semi-final first match of the championship, we see it's the Water Field! Currently, Contestant Baimu can use six Pokémon, while Contestant Leon has only three left! So what will their initial Pokémon be?"
Both sides threw the balls.
"Perk up, it's time to go!"
"You will herald the first round of the counterattack! Go, Pelipper!"
Bam bam!
Light flashed.
Bird-like Pokémon appeared in the skies on both sides.
Baimu's choice was undoubtedly Hydreigon, while Leon's choice was the Pelipper with a beak that made up two-thirds of its body.
"Sha-throat!"
"Pelip!"
They both let out cries, and then the sky over the arena was shrouded in lead-gray rain clouds again.
Even stronger rain than in the first half began to fall.
Whoosh-la-la-la—
The pool was surging, and the patchy raindrops created countless ripples, making most of the arena somewhat damp.
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