Meanwhile, Tangela's vines shot around Poliwhirl from behind the protection and targeted Crawdaunt.
Crawdaunt reacted quickly.
Its pincers snapped shut around the incoming vines.
The opposing trainer smiled.
Tangela was ready.
"Tangela, use Mega Drain."
Green energy immediately began traveling through the captured vines.
Crawdaunt's expression changed.
Energy was forcibly drawn from its body.
The absorbed power flowed along Tangela's vines and entered her.
Crawdaunt tried pulling away.
"Mightyena, use Fire Fang on Tangela!"
Flames erupted around Mightyena's teeth.
The Dark type charged.
Tangela tried withdrawing her vines but she was too slow.
Mightyena's speed surprised Silas too. It closed the distance before Tangela could dodge.
Fire Fang bit directly into the mass of vines surrounding her body.
Tangela cried out in pain. She was forced to release Crawdaunt.
That was exactly the opening Crawdaunt needed.
Water-type energy gathered around its closed pincers and the water type rushed forward.
Silas responded immediately.
"Poliwhirl, use Brick Break on Mightyena. Tangela, restrain Crawdaunt again with Vine Whip."
Poliwhirl moved to intercept as soon as he heard the command.
Several vines shot forward from Tangela's body but this time Crawdaunt was ready.
It nimbly dodged the first and second vines as it rushed towards her.
Tangela tried adjusting their trajectories, but her lack of battle experience became obvious.
Crawdaunt closed the remaining distance and unleashed his species' favorite move, Crab Hammer.
BOOM!
Its water-covered pincer smashed directly into Tangela, launching her into the air.
She crashed into a large rock and dust exploded around her.
At the same time, Poliwhirl reached Mightyena.
Its attack was far more successful. Brick Break connected cleanly. Poliwirl followed up so the Bubble Beam before Mightyena had the chance to recover.
It was sent reeling backward and now eyed Poliwirl warily.
The opposing trainer immediately tried taking advantage of Tangela's position.
"Mightyena, use Shadow Ball! Crawdaunt, use Sludge Bomb!"
Mightyena began gathering Ghost-type energy into a ball.
Crawdaunt opened its pincers and purple poisonous energy gathered within them, preparing to fire.
Silas frowned. He fully understood they intended to take out Tangela and then focus on remaining Poliwhirl.
This was the classic divide and conquer strategy. Although it was a simple strategy, it was extremely effective.Silas refused to allow it to happen.
He was about to give another command when Poliwhirl surprised him.
Poliwhirl actually pressed the advantage on his own which made Silas grin.
The frog Pokémon gathered energy suddenly in its feet and then executed their team's personal technique, the Mega Shift.
Before Mightyena could recover enough to complete Shadow Ball, Poliwhirl appeared directly in front of it.
He mercilessly struck with Brick Break again.
The glowing fist came crashing down violently.
BOOM!
Mightyena's head was smashed into the ground.
The road cracked beneath it from the power.
The attack was super effective on a dark type like Mightyena. The second his head was smashed into the ground, he went limp.
Naturally, everyone understood that Mightyen had been knocked out.
Poliwhirl was beginning to make more decisions independently which was exactly what Silas wanted to see.
Unfortunately, Tangela wasn't having the same success.
Crawdaunt released Sludge Bomb.
Several poisonous spheres flew across the battlefield.
Tangela attempted to defend herself or dodge. Hit the damage from Fire Fang and Crabhammer had already accumulated.
She didn't have enough energy to avoid the wide area of effect.
Sludge Bomb was too much and with the type advantages, it wasn't long before Tangela collapsed under the relentless attack.
Poliwhirl attempted to approach and disrupt the attack but Crawdaunt managed to score a direct hit on him too. The attack managed to repel the frog Pokémon.
Silas frowned but remained calm.
This was exactly why his Pokemon needed battle experience. They needed to learn how to be flexible in battle and that could only be honed over countless trials.
The fight was now 1-on-1.
Poliwhirl versus Crawdaunt.
Both Pokémon stared at each other with intense focus in their eyes. The battle intent was nearly palpable.
The opposing trainer immediately gave his next command.
"Crawdaunt, use Dragon Dance!"
Crawdaunt began spinning and Dragon-type energy gathered around its body.
"Poliwhirl, use Water Pulse."
Poliwhirl thrust his hands forward and water condensed rapidly in front of them into a glowing sphere of water.
Poliwhirl shot it as soon as it finished condensing.
The attack struck Crawdaunt directly.
Water exploded violently around the crustacean but someone seemed wrong.
Silas' eyes narrowed.
Crawdaunt simply tanked the attack. It continued dancing through the impact and Dragon Dance was now completed.
Its Attack and speed increased both increased by 1 stage.
"Now, Crawdaunt, use Knock Off!"
Eerie Dark-type energy surrounded Crawdaunt's pincers as it rushed forward aggressively.
The Dragon Dance boost had made a noticeable difference in its speed.
Crawdaunt was already not very slow but now its speed was greater than Poliwhirl.
Poliwhirl attempted to reposition but it was too slow and Knock Off struck.
Poliwhirl was sent into the air.
"Poliwhirl, use Rain Dance!"
Still airborne, Poliwhirl raised his hands. Blue energy poured from his body and climbed into the sky.
Clouds rapidly gathered overhead and rain soon began falling.
The opposing trainer laughed.
"You understand that Crawdaunt also gets a boost from this, right?"
Silas smiled.
"Indeed."
Rain poured harder.
"But can he still keep up?"
Poliwhirl landed.
His body almost immediately felt different.
Swift Swim was now activated due to the rain.
Poliwhirl's speed surged as a result.
"Poliwhirl, use Brick Break and then Power-Up Punch."
Poliwhirl seemed to have disappeared.
Crawdaunt's eyes widened as he focused to locate his opponent.
Poliwhirl didn't keep him waiting long before he appeared directly in front of it.
His arm came down using Brick Break. The fighting type energy in his fist glowed with a crimson light.
The attack smashed into Crawdaunt's head but unlike Mightyena, he withstood the attack.
However, before Crawdaunt could properly recover, Poliwhirl struck again. He used Power-Up Punch.
Poliwhirl's fist slammed into Crawdaunt and he was sent skidding backward but he remained standing.
The opposing trainer finally understood.
"I get it now. With Swift Swim, you negated the speed boost of Dragon Dance."
Silas smiled.
The trainer wasn't discouraged.
"But it won't be enough. How will you account for Crawdaunt's formidable boosted power?"
"Hahaha, naturally I've considered this. As you can see, we absolutely dominate you in terms of speed now."
"Yeah but I'm talking about power."
"What I mean is that our speed prevents you from landing any hits so your increased power means absolutely nothing."
The trainer looked seriously at Silas before smiling.
"Yeah, we will see about that."
He pointed toward Poliwhirl.
"Crawdaunt, use Aqua Jet to close the distance then use Crabhammer until Poliwhirl is knocked out!"
Crawdaunt roared in response.
Water surged rapidly around its body and both pincers.
Silas laughed.
"Haha! I like your style."
He pointed forward.
"Poliwhirl, use Liquidation nonstop."
Poliwhirl charged as the rain water and his own water type energy combined into blades around his fistsz
Crawdaunt met him head-on.
Liquidation collided with Crabhammer repeatedly.
Water exploded around them after each clash then they would separated and size each other up before inevitably clashing again.
Again and again.
Neither Pokémon backed down.
The fight was going back and forth. Although Crawdaunt had the advantage in power, Poliwhirl's overwhelming speed nearly negated it.
He would always meet Crawdaunt before he generated enough power so from the outside it looked like they were evenly matched in power but only a trained eye could discern the true circumstances.
However, Crawdaunt's increased Attack from Dragon Dance combined with the rain made every Crabhammer dangerous.
Poliwhirl had to be wary of being struck at all times.
Silas smiled bitterly thinking that it would have been convenient to have the Water Absorb ability right about now.
However he put those thoughts away. Poliwhirl held the level advantage and was sufficiently talented.
As the repeated exchanges continued, that difference became increasingly obvious.
Crawdaunt's attacks gradually lost some of their force.
Its movements became slower while Poliwhirl remained relentless.
Another Liquidation broke through Crawdaunt's guard.
The attack struck directly causing Crawdaunt to stagger back several steps.
Silas saw the opening.
"Finish it."
Poliwhirl planted one foot and swung the other using Mega Kick.
The kick smashed into Crawdaunt and launched it backward.
The Pokémon crashed onto the road on its back.
It tried getting up, only to fall back on its stomach this time.
The battle was over.
Silas sent out Tangela to check her condition along with Poliwhirl.
"You both fought well. Poliwhirl, you were decisive and made no mistakes, great work."
Poliwhirl smiled proudly and even flexed his muscles provocatively at the defeated Pokémon, making Silas facepalm with embarrassment but the other trainer acted like he didn't see anything.
"Tangela, you did well but you need to be more decisive. In battle, I would rather you make the wrong decision than not make one at all. Don't worry, with time, you will learn how to properly conduct yourself in battle."
She looked thoughtfully at Silas before nodding.
Silas looked toward the opposing trainer who was also tending to his Pokémon.
"I seriously underestimated your team."
He nodded toward Crawdaunt's Poké Ball.
"I didn't think your Crawdaunt would be that strong."
The man laughed.
"Haha, no need for kind words."
He looked toward Poliwhirl.
"You won fair and square."
Poliwhirl straightened proudly.
"Your Poliwhirl is a true fighter."
The trainer smiled.
"You both have my respect."
Silas nodded.
After treating their Pokémon, the 2 trainers parted ways.
Neither bothered asking the other's name.
Sometimes trainer encounters were simply like that.
Battle, exchange a few words, then move on.
There was nothing wrong with it.
Silas continued traveling along Route 9.
Exactly as he intended, other trainers challenged him.
Tangela's relatively low level made the pair look approachable.
By the end of the stretch, Silas and his Pokémon had participated in approximately a dozen battles.
They won 8 out of 12 which he was content with.
More importantly, Silas had identified Tangela's biggest weakness.
She relied far too heavily on Vine Whip.
The technique itself was flexible, it could restrain, strike, grab, or even defend. It was actually perfect for group battles but she was not yet at the appropriate level.
It could even serve as a medium for techniques such as Mega Drain.
But Tangela could currently control only 2 vines effectively for combat.
Against slower Pokémon, that was enough.
Against opponents with good speed, footwork, or agility?
It became predictable.
Several of the Pokémon that defeated Tangela simply possessed enough dexterity to avoid the 2 vines.
Once they got past them, Tangela struggled badly at close range.
Silas watched Tangela walking beside him.
She had plenty of potential but that alone meant nothing.
They had found the first major problem they needed to solve.