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Chapter 301: About the incident where I pulled out the nut dumbbells during the rainy day battle (816 chapters owed for monthly votes)

Although they managed to temporarily block Rotom's Phosphorus Fire by holding their ground, Qingyu needs to adjust their strategy as soon as possible to prevent the opponent from launching another Phosphorus Fire.

After all, phosphorescent fire can be fired in succession, but it cannot be held in place.

Gambling on the opponent's move to miss is clearly not Aoba's style.

Qingyu's solution to this is very simple—

"Swamp Monster, Stand!"

Having completed Mega Evolution, its ability has changed from the meaningless Torrent to Swift Swim.

Nowadays, Swampert is a blue flash in the rain, and its speed when it attacks at full power is almost like a blur.

Soon, Swampert used some of its energy to create a clone that looked almost identical to itself, which stood in front of its muscular body.

Upon seeing this, Mikoli couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

"Teacher Yu realized it so quickly?"

Rotom's use of Phosphorus Fire, a dirty trick, was something he stumbled upon while searching for optimal solutions for rain teams in the Pokédex.

Generally speaking, no one would expect a Water-type Pokémon to suddenly use this move.

However, his clever trick was clearly not fooled by Qingyu, who, after decisive command, easily intercepted it.

He even used Swampert's speed advantage to use Substitute first, preventing himself from using Phosphorus Flare to limit Swampert's main attacker.

The Stand has a very good defensive effect, able to block almost all abnormal statuses and most status moves, and can also take at least one attack in place of the user.

Although the downside is that it consumes about a quarter of the Pokémon's own HP, it is clearly worth the price.

Right now, only by breaking through the Stand can Swampert be threatened again.

Therefore, Mikoli decisively chose to replace him.

He also has a "civil war god" on his side, and its speed may not necessarily be inferior to Qingyu's Mega Swampert!
"Go, Lucky Kappa!"

The appearance of the Lucky Kappa, with its honest and simple appearance and a huge rain-collecting plate on its head, immediately made Qingyu raise his eyebrows.

Ludicolo also has the Swift Swim ability, and coincidentally, its speed is exactly the same as Mega Swampert.

In other words, if they have the same configuration, they will act simultaneously.

Facing this duck that can only use grass-type moves and has a great advantage in rainy day battles, even though he has a substitute that can block one move, Qingyu is not willing to fight it head-on.

Because this thing can learn to do it again, and doing it again happens to be one of the moves that can penetrate a substitute and affect the opponent.

Qingyu might not be so worried about the others, but for Mikuri, who had clearly "gone astray" and even brought out phosphorescent flames, doing it again would only be considered a basic skill.

If Mega Swampert is locked out of moves, you'll still have to switch out.

So it's better not to give him a chance in the first place.

While Aoba was pondering, Mikoli, as expected, preemptively gave the order:
"Lucky Kappa, one more time!"

"..."

Daigo, sitting next to him, suddenly felt a pang of anxiety and subconsciously glanced at Michael, who was still focused on the battle with a serious expression. His expression instantly became complicated.

No, brother?
Why has your command style changed so much since I last saw you?

It probably wasn't prepared for me...

But Daigo quickly returned to normal.

It doesn't seem like a big problem. After all, I specifically tamed a Salt Stone Giant in Padia, intending it as a "meeting gift" for Mikkuri, to let him taste the freshness of Padia...

Now they're heading in both directions.

"Knew it."

Qingyu clicked his tongue in amazement, and immediately made a rotation command to recall the Mega Swampert.

As the original body withdrew from the battlefield, the substitute body it left behind quickly turned into energy and disappeared.

"Next up, I choose you, Kingdra!"

After Kingdra appeared, it was immediately hit by an energy wave from Ludicolo.

However, since it hadn't used any moves before its appearance, it wasn't affected by the "one more time" rule.

"The premise for the second turn to work is that the opponent's Pokémon has already used a move. If you students react quickly enough, you can also do what Teacher Yu does and recall the Pokémon the moment it makes a move, thus achieving a safe rotation."

Qingyu quickly explained.

[666, although I can't understand the game between the two sides anymore, it seems pretty impressive!]

[What's all this chatter? All I see is both sides constantly switching players. Are they trying to capitalize on their matchup advantage?]

[That's right, both sides seemed to be playing conservatively at the start, as if they were testing each other's strategies. But judging from Yu's rotation, it seems like they're about to start breaking through the opponent's zone defense, right?]

In singles battles, especially in ranked matches, because the types of the Pokémon on both sides are not significantly different, the only way to win is to suppress the opponent's HP at the lowest possible cost.

Therefore, rotation is also a very important part of singles battles. The more skilled a trainer is in battle, the more likely they are to seize opportunities to gain an advantage in a matchup.

Clearly, Mikkelsen thought so too.

Kingdra has a guaranteed-hit storm in the rain, which poses a significant threat to Ludicolo.

The only agile fighter on my team can't be so easily defeated, or I'll become incredibly passive.

Therefore, Mikoli immediately chose to recycle Rakuten Kappa.

Seeing this, Qingyu also recalled the Thorn Dragon King that had just been substituted in and chose to make a substitution as well.

The reason is simple: he had already guessed that Mikkelsen would be traded back to Rotom as a zone defender.

Or rather, he was deliberately inducing Mikoli to make that substitution.

Kingdra poses almost no threat to Rotom, but he is extremely effective against one of Rotom's core heroes, Ludicolo. Therefore, anyone who can read the situation will definitely make the same choice.

Qingyu's level is slightly higher than Mikoli's.

He anticipated Mikoli's move, so he simultaneously recalled Kingdra and seized the opportunity to switch to Iron Egg, which seemed out of place in the rain.

Nuts Dumbbell, whom Qingyu called "the eternal god of rainy day battles," finally got his chance to play.

"Tsk..."

Faced with this Pokémon that theoretically shouldn't pose much of a threat, Wallace found himself in a dilemma.

Indeed, Ferrothorn's offensive capabilities are almost negligible. Even with Grass as its STAB, which is extremely effective against Water, its combat strength seems to be just so-so. It can't just one-shot Rotom, can it?

But the problem is, this thing is hard enough!

Given Qingyu's style, this nut dumbbell is definitely a wall of sighs with maximum durability, making it impossible for him to get past.

Let alone Rotom, it seems like no one on my team can break through its steel body.

Since things have come to this point, all we can do is wait and see.

"Rotom, Phosphorescence!"

Mikoli made a decisive command.

Although not a major threat, Ferrothorn has decent physical attack capabilities and can learn powerful moves rarely seen in Grass-type Pokémon, such as the Power Whip with a power of 120.

If you don't further restrict yourself by the burns, getting hit can be quite painful.

Fortunately, the Nut Dumbbell has virtually no speed; it's so slow it can't even dodge attacks. Therefore, after Mikoli gave the command, Qingyu didn't devise any countermeasures, but instead followed suit with her own words:
"Nut dumbbells, parasitic seeds."

As Rotom spewed a burst of phosphorescent fire from his chest, Nut Dumbbell silently manipulated the wildly growing vines on its body, scattering its vibrant seeds into the air.

The eerie flames penetrated its body, quickly leaving some burn marks on its surface.

Clearly, it has fallen into a state of burns, which will not only continue to deplete its stamina, but also significantly reduce its offensive capabilities.

But Rotom of Mikkelsen is clearly not having an easy time either.

The parasitic seeds have a very strong adhesive ability; even Rotom, whose body is made of electrical appliances, is quickly partially eroded by the seeds.

After the abundant life energy is absorbed, it is quickly fed back to the body, helping it to rapidly recover the physical strength lost due to the burns.

Why are nut dumbbells considered a godsend for team battles in the rain?
First, it only has two weaknesses. Fighting-type moves basically require close contact with it, and it will not only suffer the backlash from the spikes, but it is not too fatal for the durable Ferrothorn.

Another fatal weakness is the fire attribute, which is greatly reduced in rainy weather. Moreover, his teammates are all good at dealing with fire attributes, so this flaw can be basically eliminated.

Even without weaknesses, an impenetrable shield bearer still possesses the ability to attack.

With its powerful Whiplash, which is a signature move, and Gyro Ball which turns its speed disadvantage into an advantage, as well as classic combo moves like Iron Defense, its offensive capabilities should not be underestimated.

And this Pokémon has a lot of unusual moves!
Is it reasonable for Grass-type plants not to use Leech Seed? Of course not!
In addition, Spikes, Stealth Rock, Knock Off, and Thunder Wave are also its specialties. Without the restriction of moves, Qingyu has too many choices.

Of course, the most crucial thing is...

Grass/Steel is quite unpopular in the Pokémon world, and it's surprising that no one has developed such a versatile shield.

Although it's a bit ugly, its strength is undeniably high.

Even if there is a real risk of being breached, they can rely on a life-or-death explosion to take someone down with them in the end.

No matter how you use him, he's a perfect shield that fits his tactical setup perfectly.

"..."

Mikoli fell silent.

He suddenly recalled the painful memory of being ruled by the Salt King with salt for one night, and the scene before him seemed exactly the same as that time.

Once Rotom is possessed by Leech Seed, it becomes a lifesaver for Nutcracker on the field. The damage from burns isn't even enough to compensate for what Leech Seed steals, and the stamina Rotom loses is something it can't recover from.

So he decisively chose to rotate again.

The only way to break this deadlock is to send out Ludicolo again and use its powerful Fighting-type move, Focus Blast, to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop.

however……

"too naive!"

Aoba revealed an elegant smile and once again made the same rotation as Mikoli.

Fighting in the rain, in the end, comes down to skill level.

Even though Mikoli has a level of skill comparable to a champion in actual combat, his experience in competitive games is still far inferior to his own.

and so--

"Your next Pokémon is—Ludicolo!"

As soon as Qingyu spoke, Mikoli, just as he had expected, substituted Duck God into the arena once again.

This time, Qingyu did not choose Kingdra as the opponent, but instead sent out the weather setter Pelipper just as the rain ended.

The appearance of the beaked gulls caused the clouds that were about to dissipate to gather again, and the rain started pouring down once more.

At the same time, he also hinted at something to Michael.

"Judging from the timing, the Blue-feathered Big-billed Gull did not choose to carry damp rocks to prolong the duration of the rainy days."

Mikkelsen quickly realized this.

"Therefore, this Pelipper is very likely to be configured primarily for offensive purposes."

"And my Ludicolo probably can't withstand a full-power Gale attack from Pelipper..."

Michael quickly realized the seriousness of the problem.

Qingyu seemed to have anticipated his moves repeatedly and kept trying to make him switch roles.

Every time Ludicolo is driven away and has to be replaced by another Pokémon, Qingyu will always send out his own difficult-to-deal-with Ferrothorn to continuously harass and reduce its stamina.

Unbeknownst to him, it seemed that Qingyu had already gotten his foot in the bag.

Mikoli was horrified and quickly began to think of a way to break the deadlock.

If I don't recall Ludicolo, Pelipper definitely won't replace it; instead, it will look for an opportunity to use Hurricane to take down its core team member.

If he were to be substituted, Qingyu would definitely make the same substitution again, sending out the annoying Nut Dumbbell once more.

How can there be such a well-mannered Pokémon!

Mikoli took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

At this point, you only have one choice—

"I'm going to explode!"

Mikoli had already made up her mind.

"Come back, Lucky Kappa."

"Go, Swampert!"

As Mikoli made the substitutions, Qingyu smiled slightly and calmly gave his instructions:
"Peacock, use U-turn."

When his opponent switched, he chose a substitution move that required some time to complete.

While rotating, you can also slightly deplete your opponent's stamina.

After Swampert appeared, it was slapped by Pelipper with its flapping wings, and it still looked confused, but it was helpless against its opponent.

Taking advantage of the moment when the Pelipper was being retrieved, Mikey quickly seized the opportunity, gripped the necklace on his chest tightly, and shouted:
Swampert, Mega Evolution!

That's right, Mega Swampert's speed is no less than Ludicolo's, and it can also learn many Fighting-type moves, so it might just be able to take down this troublesome Nut Dumbbell in one hit.

Mikkuri's plan was indeed brilliant, but the Pokémon Qingyu sent out wasn't the Ferrothorn he had planned, but rather...

"Go, Scizor!"

Knowing that the opponent was going to fight to the death, how could Qingyu let the Pokémon in his team that was "most capable of tormenting the opponent" go to its death?

"Too young, Mikoli~"

Qingyu's lips were now turned up in a wide smile, revealing a rather pleased expression.

Scizor has a very solid build and only one weakness: Fire.

Regardless of whether Mikkuri deploys Swampert or not, he can use Scizor as a relay to scout out his opponent's plans.

Now, Mikkelsen has revealed his last trump card.

"Scizor, get started."

Facing the Mega Swampert, which had already completed its Mega Evolution and whose combat power had instantly increased, Aoba casually gave his orders.

(End of this chapter)