"If you want to play a game of chicken, I'm more than happy to oblige!"
Silver Wolf's eyes glittered with a dangerous spark. She wasn't intimidated by Guinaifen's desperate "gutter fight" strategy; if anything, the high-stakes pressure made her code-driven mind sharpen. This was what she lived for—an opponent who forced her to stop thinking about the algorithms and start thinking about the soul.
"Dragonite, Air Slash! Keep the pressure up!"
At this range, a high-commitment move like Hurricane would leave too big an opening. Silver Wolf played it safe, raining down wind blades to keep Wigglytuff pinned.
"Wigglytuff, Protect!" Guinaifen countered.
A shimmering green dome materialized, the wind blades shattering against it with a series of rhythmic clangs. Silver Wolf didn't follow up with another attack, however.
"Safeguard, now!"
Silver Wolf wasn't taking any chances. She knew Wigglytuff often carried the Cute Charm ability, which could infatuate an opponent on contact. In a brawl this close, one unlucky proc of "infatuation" would end the match instantly. She had to cut that thread before it could entangle her.
"Wigglytuff, Stockpile!" Guinaifen shouted. If the opponent was going to buff, she wouldn't sit idly by.
"Extreme Speed!"
"Ice Punch, let's go!"
The two clashed in a blur. Dragonite was a streak of white, passing through Wigglytuff's space so quickly that the freezing fist hit nothing but air. Dragonite pivoted on a dime, immediately retaliating with a Fire Punch. It was a high-risk trade—Dragonite was 4x weak to Ice, but Silver Wolf knew that if she widened the gap, Guinaifen's area-of-effect moves would eventually win the war of attrition.
The stadium was a cacophony of sound.
"Play Rough!"
"Fire Punch, knock them back!"
"Ice Punch again!"
"Dodge! Thunderbolt!"
"Endure it—Disarming Voice!"
The commands were flying faster than the crowd could track. It was a dizzying display of instinct.
"Am I seeing things?" a spectator shouted over the roar. "Is Guinaifen actually winning the trade?"
"She's a tank! Wigglytuff has way more HP, and the Dragon is taking 4x damage every time an Ice move connects!"
Silver Wolf realized her predicament. Every time she tried to create space for a Thunderbolt, Guinaifen punishes the gap with a Disarming Voice. Without her Dragon-type moves—which were useless against the Fairy-type—Dragonite's melee options were severely limited.
Wait... Silver Wolf's eyes widened. She slapped her forehead in frustration. I'm being an idiot.
"Dragonite! Dragon Rush!"
Guinaifen froze. Dragon Rush? A Dragon-type move against a Fairy? It wouldn't deal a single point of damage. At this range, without a lead-up charge, it wouldn't even have its usual impact.
But as the move connected, Guinaifen understood. The energy of the Dragon Rush didn't hurt Wigglytuff, but the physical mass of the 460-pound dragon slamming into the pink balloon was enough to bowl it over.
"Now! Hurricane!"
"Wigglytuff, Protect!"
Wigglytuff rolled onto its back, the green shield activating just in time to stop the localized cyclone. But a shield only lasts so long. As the wind died down and Wigglytuff struggled to find its footing, Silver Wolf was already there.
"Air Slash!"
The wind blades caught Wigglytuff just as it stood up, knocking it back again.
"Thunderbolt!" Silver Wolf pressed her advantage, the electricity arcing through the air.
"Disarming Voice!" Guinaifen screamed. She knew she had to break the cycle. She chose a move that didn't need aim—a shockwave of sound that hit Dragonite mid-air.
Silver Wolf gritted her teeth. She could dodge with Extreme Speed, but that would mean resetting the neutral game. She decided to eat the hit. Dragonite took the sonic wave, its body shuddering from the super-effective damage, but it managed to get a Roost off in the following second.
The recovery was minimal—barely a fifth of its health—but it bought Silver Wolf a heartbeat of breathing room.
"Wigglytuff, Swallow!"
Guinaifen used the respite to activate her trump card. By "swallowing" the energy stored from her previous Stockpile, Wigglytuff's wounds began to knit shut, restoring a massive chunk of its health bar.
"Don't let them recover! Extreme Speed, interrupt it!" Silver Wolf commanded.
"Now! Take the hit and use Icy Wind!"
Guinaifen's eyes flashed. The Swallow was a bait. She knew Silver Wolf's aggressive nature would force her to try and stop the healing.
Dragonite slammed into Wigglytuff with the force of a freight train, sent spinning by the sheer velocity. Silver Wolf didn't have time to course-correct. As Dragonite made contact, Wigglytuff exhaled a frigid, concentrated gust of sub-zero air directly into the Dragon's face.
Icy Wind.
It wasn't the strongest move, but with the 4x multiplier and the Charge energy Guinaifen had been hoarding, it was a death blow.
Dragonite's wings froze mid-flap. Its momentum carried it past Wigglytuff, where it tumbled across the grass and lay still.
"Oh my stars!" Owlbert's voice was nearly a screech. "I don't believe it! Dragonite is unable to battle! Guinaifen takes the first point!"
The roar that followed was deafening. The underdog hadn't just survived; she had drawn first blood against a Stellaron Hunter.
Guinaifen, gasping for air and dripping with sweat, looked at her Wigglytuff. The "Soul Connection" was humming. They were in this. They were really in this.
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