[Lock-on]!
Alice realized she had fallen into Baimu's trap.
She had intended to use the sandstorm weather to continuously exhaust Porygon II's stamina, then rely on Garchomp's Sand Concealment trait to lower its alertness, and finally, catch the opponent off guard with a close counterattack at the moment of its strike!
There was no doubt about it.
This was the royally-touted battle strategy.
Who would have expected Porygon II to lock on, directly ruining her series of setups.
Alice couldn't help but clench her fists.
Suddenly.
Garchomp fell from the icy white mist, landing with a thud in the sand, then as if losing balance, it kneeled, gasping for air.
Its face was full of the exhaustion from having consumed a significant amount of stamina.
"Garchomp! Quickly, return!"
She swiftly recalled it into the ball, saying gently, "You've done your best, take a rest for now!"
As long as it wasn't knocked out, everything was still salvageable, better than being withdrawn from battle directly.
The announcer shouted, "Alice recalls Garchomp! Taking the Frozen Beam, it has not yet lost combat capability! At the critical moment, the Iron Tail blocked the Frozen Beam!"
As the words fell.
The big screen replayed a close-up of Garchomp's tail post-impact, showing its rugged and robust Dragon Tail mostly covered in frost, with wisps of cold air rising from it.
Even the sand couldn't conceal it.
It was evident that Garchomp used a rotating maneuver with its Iron Tail to block the Frozen Beam, successfully avoiding being knocked out in a single hit.
Sadly, this was an unintentional act and failed to completely block the Ice Attribute energy beam.
Now having lost the vast majority of its combat strength, Garchomp was basically incapable of continuing to face off against Porygon II, leaving the field for later use was the only choice.
"Plip."
Porygon II slowly lowered its dimly glowing tail from high above, a look of pain from the sand scratches passing on its face.
The sandstorm weather indeed had its effects, not only causing harm to non-Ground, Rock, and Steel Attribute Pokémon but also having a vision-obscuring effect.
The farther away the opponent, the fuzzier its figure becomes.
Unfortunately, Lock-on only works once.
Of course.
What it couldn't accept the most was that the Frozen Beam failed to take out Garchomp.
Knowing its Download trait had given it an extra boost in Special Attack power, coupled with its inherent strength, how could it not finish the job?
Why!
Porygon II found itself somewhat restless, perhaps due to the tension.
The weight of the finals' opening indeed brought some pressure, not only to it but everyone in the team was acutely aware of what the current occasion signified.
To present the best state to face the opponent.
"..."
It adjusted its state and calmly overlooked the sand-wrapped arena.
Its own strength surpassing most of the opponent's Pokémon, there was absolutely no need to rush, missing an instant knockout is just a miss.
The other side should be worried instead.
Baimu gazed up at Porygon II in the high sky, murmuring quietly, "That's right, calm down Porygon II, this is merely the starting point, the outcome isn't determined by one moment's win or loss."
Bam!
The light sound of the Pokeball opening.
A bird with a serpentine head and colorful plumage quickly took the stage, landing on a protruding rock, and let out a hoarse and piercing cry toward Porygon II:
"Ah!!"
"Alice's second Pokémon is Archeops! It's an ancient bird Pokémon revived from fossils, with Flying and Rock attributes!"
The announcer's voice reached the ears of all the spectators.
Xiaogang pressed his right hand on his chin, left arm crossed, and murmured, "Archeops, it seems Alice intends to continue using the sandstorm weather for the first half."
The full six-on-six battle in the Ever Grande Conference involves mid-battle rest and field swapping, allowing for different planning in the two halves.
Alice's intentions were clear from her choices.
"Archeops..."
Xiaoguang watched Archeops nervously, knowing its trait is Weakness, which dramatically lowers Dual Attack when its stamina wanes.
That could be greatly disadvantageous!
If not taken down when full of stamina...
She began to worry for Alice, who was clearly on thin ice, the ball flower in her hand shaking helplessly.
On the field.
The two Trainers each gave their commands.
"Texture: Ground!"
"With the Wind!"
Porygon II high above flashed with white light, then its smooth appearance was gone, becoming covered in craters of varying sizes like the moon.
The color shifted from pink to a brown similar to the field.
"Ah-kaa!"
Archeops croaked hoarsely, spreading its wings as it ran forward for several seconds before calling forth a visibly white gale wind.
The gust blew away the yellow sand and swirled around its double wings, driving it forward swiftly toward Porygon II.
It was already fast, now bolstered by With the Wind it gained speed surpassing Garchomp, in the blink of an eye closing the distance between the two!
Baimu shouted, "Discharge!"
"Plip!"
Porygon II's eyes flashed with electric light as it gazed nonchalantly at the snarling Archeops, lunging like an ancient predator with claws extended.
The next moment.
A blinding thunderstorm erupted from its body!
"High-speed Movement!"
Boom!
As if out of nowhere, a thunderous boom echoed; a massive spherical lightning hovered over the field, violent currents within it writhed like thousands of snakes, shaking the heart.
However, Archeops was not among them.
This thing once again heightened its speed, narrowly avoiding the zone of the discharge attack, now skillful and swift, flying around the massive spherical lightning.