Braviary versus Greninja. One excelled at close combat, the other at ranged combat. The latter clearly had a huge advantage. But it wasn't completely impossible for Braviary to win. Facing difficulties head-on had always been Braviary's creed.
Both sides created distance. Greninja used Smokescreen again. Camouflage couldn't hide the glow from using moves, so a physical obscuring screen was necessary. Either create smoke by colliding attacks or create smoke intentionally.
Up in the air, Braviary gained altitude. Following Ruan Jingjing's commands, it hovered back and forth at the estimated limit of Greninja's attack range, trying to bait an attack.
When it saw the smokescreen, it used Hone Claws. A dark light flashed across Braviary's talons, then spread over its entire body before fading. Its already sharp eagle eyes became exceptionally keen. It circled above the field, observing the situation below and began dispersing the smoke.
But this time, instead of using Defog, it used Whirlwind. Although the distance was a bit far, if luck was on its side and it managed to switch Greninja out, it might bring in a more favorable opponent for Braviary. Something like Incineroar, for instance. At least that would be better than fighting Greninja.
Gusts of wind howled. The cold gales dispelled the thick smoke, revealing an empty field. The tactic had failed. Long-range Whirlwind was ultimately too unreliable; it couldn't budge Greninja at all. Naturally, Greninja had vanished.
But Braviary believed that all traces left clues. A Pokémon that large moving around couldn't possibly leave no marks behind. Even stepping on the ground would leave slight impressions, like depressions.
With the sand and gravel from the previous match still on the ground, unless Greninja could fly, careful observation would surely reveal its location.
Braviary widened its eyes, afraid to miss the slightest detail. At the same time, it couldn't help feeling a bit strange, as if it wasn't in a battle but playing hide-and-seek. It was a little absurd. ...Whatever, never mind.
Braviary cast aside its stray thoughts, its sharp gaze sweeping across every part of the field. Suddenly, the wind stopped. The Tailwind that had been surrounding Braviary had run out. Its duration was over.
The disappearance of Tailwind directly caused Braviary's flight speed to drop significantly, and its movements were no longer as agile. It could no longer dance in and out of danger's edge like it had before. It was already at a disadvantage fighting at range as a close-combat specialist; how could it manage without speed?
Braviary maintained its focus, flapping its wings to once again summon the blessing of the wind to boost its speed. However, just as it began its motion, an ice-blue bolt of lightning appeared out of thin air. Cold air radiated along its path, almost freezing the atmosphere itself!
In the blink of an eye, the ice lightning crossed a distance of over ten meters, far exceeding the estimated range. Finally! Seeing this long-range Ice Beam, Braviary was overjoyed rather than alarmed. It abruptly changed its wingbeat.
Instantly, the white-headed giant eagle, looking like a Native American chief, became enveloped in pale purple currents. A spinning star cross spun rapidly in front of it as it charged viciously toward the source of the ice-blue lightning.
Giga Impact!
Like it was about to tear space apart, Braviary's projectile collided with the ice lightning, erupting into a dazzling flash and clouds of smoke. A thunderous boom echoed!
But within the freezing mist, Braviary's body was completely unimpeded, thundering downward! Like a meteor striking the ground, the resulting explosion was even more intense. Li Xiang even had to cover his ears.
On the field, grayish-white smoke filled the air. Strong winds blew all around as a reddish-brown giant eagle burst through the smoke, returning to the sky and riding the wind, seemingly unaffected by the move's recharge.
There it was. The technique of a master of aerial combat to reduce recharge time. Li Xiang watched with interest. The principle behind this technique involved using the wind, observing its direction. For example, where the wind was blowing, where it lingered, where strong gusts were, and where the wind turned.
Once the trainer and Pokémon became familiar with all this, they could borrow the power of the wind. Just as Braviary had demonstrated. Truly a trainer specializing in Flying-types. This was an impressive skill.
On the other side, Ruan Jingjing's face showed delight. Others might not have seen it, but from her angle, she could clearly see that Braviary had collided with something. Other than Greninja, Ruan Jingjing couldn't think of another possibility.
Giga Impact was a same-type powerhouse move, incredibly powerful. And Greninja, having just used Ice Beam, was an Ice-type that didn't resist Normal-type moves. If luck was on her side and she hit a critical spot, it might even be possible to take down a fragile Pokémon like Greninja in one shot!
She didn't use Close Combat because for a long-range dive like this, Close Combat wouldn't block Ice Beam. Otherwise, Close Combat would have been even more advantageous.
However, just as Ruan Jingjing looked into the smoke with anticipation, another bolt of ice-blue lightning shot out. Thicker than the previous one and with even greater range, it struck Braviary directly in half of its body.
Braviary was only borrowing the wind to fly; its body was still immobile. Hit by Ice Beam, from its left wing to its chest, it was instantly covered in freezing snow, looking like a half-finished snowman. Its weight had changed, and it could no longer keep its balance.
Braviary began to fall uncontrollably. Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, Ruan Jingjing shouted, "Roost!" At the same time, she prepared to switch out.
Midair, its wings unable to flap effectively, Braviary closed its eyes. Its body became surrounded by pure white feathers, which rapidly melted the ice and snow.
Thud!
Its solid body made intimate contact with the ground, but that didn't stop it from continuing to use Roost.
However, this command clearly showed a disregard for Greninja.
Then, they saw the yet-undispersed smoke suddenly disturbed by something, scattering to the sides. A bright, reddish-brown glow, approaching from far away, quickly leaped in front of Braviary and slammed into it as it staggered to its feet.
Thud!
A sickeningly dull impact.
Braviary's body, weighing no less than sixty or seventy kilograms, was blasted away by the glow. It flew high and fell hard, kicking up some dust.
And it wasn't over yet.
Before Ruan Jingjing could withdraw her Pokémon, several palm-sized, glowing blue shurikens materialized in the air. They spun rapidly, making a sound like an electric drill, and shot toward Braviary.
Braviary had just activated Protect when they heard four sounds of impact. Protect shattered into pieces, and Braviary's body was covered in explosive steam. It howled in pain. It tried to stand but staggered a few steps before falling to the ground.
"Ah, my mistake."
Ruan Jingjing hit her head in frustration. Li Xiang's Greninja was so skilled at feigning weakness.
Looking back, Greninja must have moved using a Substitute. The glow of the Substitute had been hidden by the smoke.
Giga Impact had hit the Substitute, and her vision had been obscured by the smoke, so she couldn't tell whether what was hit was the real body or a decoy. Hence, she let her guard down.
Her thinking hadn't been wrong. The key was that Li Xiang had outmaneuvered her, predicting that Braviary, unable to engage Greninja in close combat, would only choose to use Giga Impact to charge, then use the recoil to return to the sky.
Usually, as long as this move hit the right target, it would weaken the opponent's condition, and Braviary would return safely to the sky. She hadn't expected to meet a junior who had thoroughly studied her habits and prepared countermeasures.
Had he been thinking about how to beat her for a long time? Ruan Jingjing withdrew her Braviary with a strange expression.
As for the subsequent Roost, she didn't think that command was wrong because she had no choice. Part of Braviary's body was frozen. It couldn't fly, and it couldn't even run. Switching it out would just be waiting for it to faint. So, she might as well take a gamble.
Even though she lost the bet, at least she had tried. Losing a gamble was normal, right? Everyone said that Pokémon battles were fifty percent skill, twenty percent information, and thirty percent luck. With good luck, anything could happen, like an opponent's Sylveon missing nine times in a row.
In the audience, because Greninja had toyed with two Pokémon in a row while taking hardly any damage itself, achieving such an impressive feat, many people couldn't help but chat with those around them.
They discussed what moves Greninja had used and what it had done while under Camouflage.
Seeing this, Xu He knew a post-match review would be necessary.
Among the team members, several felt sorry for Ruan Jingjing. A Protean Greninja with Camouflage was simply too difficult to handle, mainly because it was so annoying.
It was hard to even find it, which made it very frustrating.
Using wide-area moves against this guy was the only option. Otherwise, playing hide-and-seek with it would be a losing game.
Down below, the final match began. Ruan Jingjing ultimately had only one Pokémon left—Salamence.
The rested, ferocious dragon landed and roared as usual, activating its Intimidate ability. Even though it didn't know where Greninja was, roaring twice certainly couldn't hurt.
In response, an ice beam shot toward it from the distance. "Protect!" A green circular shield blocked the Ice Beam. Salamence used this opportunity to fly high into the sky.
Having seen Greninja's maximum attack range, it wouldn't make the same mistake as Braviary. Unless Greninja was still hiding its strength. But that seemed unlikely, right?
Just as Salamence flapped its wings to ascend, it felt a touch on its back. Then came the feeling of carrying a heavy load, similar to when it flew carrying Ruan Jingjing.
But it knew Ruan Jingjing wouldn't get on its back at this moment, so the only thing on its back could be Greninja.
But—the Ice Beam had just come from directly in front of it! Salamence roared. Dual-colored dragon flames ignited on its body, but before it could unleash the attack, a bone-chilling cold had already seeped deep inside.
To the onlookers, it appeared that Ice Beam had suddenly flashed on Salamence's back just as it took to the sky, followed by the crackling of lightning and the crack of freezing.
The intense cold condensed the moisture in the air, creating snow and ice that left Salamence immobile.
Finally, it lost the ability to battle.
Why was Ice Beam on Salamence's back!? Everyone watched in stunned silence as Salamence, which had had plenty of stamina left, fell to the ground with a splat, looking like a giant combination of an ice block and a snowman.
"Beeeeep—"
Miao Shuang blew her whistle.