Arcanine.
This Pokémon runs like the wind, galloping as if riding the very air itself.
Setting aside its base Speed stat of under one hundred, as well as the speed differences caused by level and training, Abigail's Arcanine, under the effect of Extreme Speed, was undeniably fast.
With a whoosh, it charged forward like a high-speed racing car.
Unfortunately, its speed still couldn't match Riolu's. And Greninja, who was very familiar with Riolu's speed, genuinely felt that Arcanine was slow.
Therefore—
Bang!
Choking smoke exploded like a grenade, spreading to every place around it.
Thud!
Arcanine arrived a step too late, bursting through the smoke in front of it and inevitably pouncing on empty air.
It dodged pretty quickly!
It sniffed the air. The pungent smoke didn't interfere with the effects of Odor Sleuth. Moves weren't the same as ordinary olfactory senses.
However…
Hmm? It lost its target?
Arcanine's dignified brow furrowed.
Once Odor Sleuth found its target, the opponent would be in a "revealed" state, continuously locked on. It shouldn't be possible to lose the target and need to search again.
What was going on?
It didn't have much time to think. From the not-too-distant smoke, a white light shone.
"Snarl!"
"ROAR!"
The roar was like sudden thunder!
From Arcanine's mouth, a black-purple energy shockwave burst forth, looking incredibly fierce!
The air let out a sharp shriek. Along its path, the thick smoke was completely scattered by the shockwave!
A Snarl specialist?
Li Xiang's eyebrow twitched slightly. Seeing Snarl blocked by a green light within the smoke, which then exploded into a cloud of smoke, he relaxed his expression.
He still remembered Abigail's Houndoom, whose Snarl was almost indistinguishable from Dark Pulse.
He didn't expect Arcanine to be much the same.
Having missed once, Arcanine wasn't flustered. It had already found Greninja's location, and Odor Sleuth had relocked onto it!
In an instant, explosive blue flames ignited on its body. The high temperature immediately scorched the ground black. Like a cannonball, it charged forward viciously!
Flare Blitz!
A temperature of at least three thousand degrees nearly warped the air. Wherever it passed, the heat was scalp-tingling, and the choking smoke screen was completely dispersed!
Its body crashed heavily into something transparent!
Bang!
The explosion of flames thundered. The power of this move was truly immense. Even without any boosts, its ferocity was terrifying!
Unfortunately, it was blocked again by a green circular shield.
Double Protect?
What kind of toxic player!
Arcanine, the flames on its body gradually dying out, leaped back, creating some distance from Greninja to ensure it had room to dodge.
After all, Greninja was a Water type. If it got too close, it wouldn't be able to withstand or dodge a Hydro Pump.. but if it got too far away, it might miss a good opportunity.
Therefore, it needed a very thorough understanding of distance management.
What Arcanine wanted to do was dodge at the right moment when Greninja used Hydro Pump and counterattack with Wild Charge.
This was a tactic it had always liked to use, and thanks to its exceptional burst speed, it had succeeded many times.
On the opposite side, as if realizing there was nowhere left to hide, the fake Greninja stopped using the smoke screen for cover. Two shimmering translucent Water Shurikens materialized in the air, spinning as they flew out.
The Water Shurikens let out whooshing sounds as they cut through the air!
"Agility!"
Arcanine's eyes narrowed. Its leg muscles tensed, and it twisted its body, dodging the two Water Shurikens with great agility!
Its speed was so fast that afterimages were left in its wake!
But immediately after, a third Water Shuriken flew in from afar, right where it had dodged, as if it had known all along that Arcanine would go that way.
Bang!
The Water Shuriken hit Arcanine's head, exploding into a cloud of water mist!
"Arf!"
Arcanine grunted. Even though the fake Greninja hadn't used any boosting moves, its special attack was still this high.
Even though it had taken the single hit on its hardest part, its head, it still found it very painful.
Fortunately, it wasn't to the point of needing Morning Sun. But taking this opportunity—
"Wild Charge!"
Arcanine's movement began almost a second before the words were spoken.
Swoosh!
The sound of breaking wind suddenly rang out!
Followed by the crackling explosion of electricity!
Arcanine suddenly exerted force, using the even quicker burst speed brought by Agility. Its entire body surrounded by surging electricity, it charged fiercely like thunderbolts racing across the sky!
In an instant, the bright electric light drained all color from everything else, forcing onlookers to focus their gaze on Arcanine, unable to look away.
It was like a flash of lightning. To the spectators, it was but a brief moment.
Arcanine, roaring with thunder, suddenly crashed into the fake Greninja!
Crackle—Bang!!
Smoke abruptly rose, but the cloud was very small. It didn't spread for long before dissipating completely.
The fake Greninja's body flew high into the air, then appeared mid-fall, landing on the distant ground with a smack.
Its body surface was covered in scorch marks from the electricity. It was clear it had been badly hit by that Wild Charge.
After all, it was a super-effective Electric-type move, executed with blinding speed. Such damage was inevitable.
In the spectator stands, many felt a sense of disappointment. Rotom had performed so well in the previous round, so why was Greninja falling short?
Was this the limitation of Camouflage?
However, seeing the fake Greninja fall to the ground, Abigail showed no sign of joy. In fact, her pupils sharply contracted!
She knew she had made a mistake. This battered creature wasn't the real Greninja; it was just a Substitute!
"Protect!"
Arcanine, hearing this, suppressed the pain of the recoil damage and used its fastest speed to raise the shield, but its reaction was, after all, a bit slow.
Or rather, it wasn't as fast as its better-prepared opponent.
The moment after the fake Greninja's body hit the ground, an enormous Water Shuriken suddenly appeared behind Arcanine. It spun at high speed, cutting down like a buzzsaw!
A surge of dense water vapor shot into the sky with a bang!
The high-pressure impact sent Arcanine flying high, just like the fake Greninja, before it crashed heavily to the ground!
Bang!
Greninja had deliberately aimed for its soft waist, making this strike effectively equivalent to a critical hit!
Meanwhile, as onlookers stared in stunned disbelief, the fake Greninja in the distance dissipated into a wisp of smoke.
That was a Substitute!
Many could hardly believe their eyes. The one Arcanine had knocked out of its Camouflage state with Wild Charge was a fake!
When had it used Substitute? Back in the smoke at the very beginning?
Even as spectators, many hadn't realized what had just happened on the field.
"Morning Sun!"
Abigail remained calm.
The semi-open field allowed sunlight to fall on Arcanine, transforming into tiny, sparkling emerald lights that rapidly restored its stamina.
But Greninja, unlike the goofy anime characters, wasn't about to wait obediently for Arcanine to finish healing before attacking.
With a mighty leap, a Water Shuriken in its hand rapidly expanded, emitting a azure glow. Under its deliberate control, it spun at extreme speed!
Swoosh!
Like a thin line of water!
The high-speed spinning Water Shuriken tore through the air with a sharp whine. In an instant, it struck Arcanine, which had interrupted Morning Sun and decisively dodged!
It couldn't escape!
Arcanine realized it could barely dodge only half of it before the giant Water Shuriken was already upon it.
It suddenly expanded!
Azure light shot into the sky!
Bang!
Smoke erupted. The smoke cloud soaring into the sky proved its power!
In the air, Greninja's figure slowly materialized, standing outside the smoke, arms crossed in a cold stare.
As if responding to its gaze, a blood-red glow lit up within the smoke, like two searchlights.
Then, Arcanine, its body covered in wounds, gritting its teeth in a ferocious expression, stumbled out—
Bang.
Its body tilted and it collapsed onto its side, temporarily unable to battle.
"Beeeeep!"
Miao Shuang blew the whistle.
The students in the stands could no longer contain themselves and erupted into noise.
Ignoring the previous Water Shuriken for a moment, how could that Substitute enter a Camouflage state?
Combined with yesterday's battle, an answer emerged in their minds.
Li Xiang's Greninja could make its Substitute use moves!
Really?
They had never heard of such a thing!
Up above, arguments broke out. Who knew what they were arguing about?
Down below, Greninja put its hands on its hips quite smugly and let out two satisfied hums.
Fighting it was either a game of hide-and-seek or guessing which coin was which. If you found it, you still had to figure out if it was the real one.
Guess wrong and you were done. Even Incineroar couldn't avoid this. What could a mere Arcanine do?
It wasn't even about an information gap because even if you knew it had this ability, there was simply no way to avoid it.
Truly, I am amazing.
Shadow Stream · Master A-Gua · Lord Greninja!
Greninja struck a pose it thought was cool.
But speaking of which, it had actually expended a lot of stamina as well. Arcanine's nose was too keen. Greninja didn't dare stop moving, constantly circling behind the Arcanine, afraid that if it stopped, its own scent would attract the Arcanine and make it realize another Greninja was there.
When would Hidden in Shadow start affecting smell?
Greninja, which had once disliked Hidden in Shadow, was gradually coming to appreciate it. Especially after discovering that Hidden in Shadow, which initially only affected vision, had started affecting hearing.
Across from him, Abigail's brow furrowed, then relaxed slightly. It wasn't that she was dissatisfied with her own loss, but rather that she recognized Li Xiang's growth.
She had also been to Mist Island and understood the power of that environment.
The fact that Li Xiang had been able to raise his strength to this level in such a short time was inseparable from the factors there.
Moreover, Mist Island held many secrets.
The fact that Li Xiang could leap several tiers, going from evenly matched with her when she didn't use her trump cards to now being able to dominate her, meant he must have gained some advantage that she hadn't.
This was normal, and Abigail was quite pleased.
But she was worried. With Li Xiang advancing so quickly and incredibly, would it attract unwanted attention?
One wasn't afraid of thieves so much as thieves setting their sights on you.
Abigail didn't want Li Xiang to be harmed because of his "conspicuousness."