Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

In other words, it's a seven-word mantra: protect or not protect, protect.

However, in real-world, non-turn-based battles, the protection is far less effective.

Its principle is to activate a special energy within the body to resist damage from the outside world.

This special energy is not inexhaustible; it has different "cooldown times" depending on the Pokémon's own strength.

The stronger you are, the shorter your cooldown time.

Bai Mu, a mere elite-level one or two-star Shield Sword Monster, although he mastered the Protect skill through the special move [King's Shield], which was not something he could learn at his current level, had an interval of nearly three minutes between his two [Protect] attacks.

Three minutes is almost enough time for two equally matched Pokémon to decide a winner.

Fortunately, this does not affect the Aegislash's ability to switch between its two forms. As long as the sword is sheathed quickly enough, its sturdy shield can still protect it from most of the damage.

Fortune favors the bold.

Since the dance has already been performed, every sword strike landed on Milotic is a gain for me!

With this thought in mind, Bai Mu firmly commanded, "Shielded Sword Monster, fly over there!"

As a Ghost-type Pokémon, Aegislash can naturally fly. Although it is not fast, in its shield form it looks like an impenetrable city wall, or a riot control soldier holding a riot shield and approaching layer by layer.

Bai Mu is not afraid that Milotic will use high-powered moves such as water jets or water cannons during the time it flies over.

On the contrary, he hoped that Milotic would attack at this time.

This means that after taking the attack in shield form, Aegislash can draw its blade without hesitation and launch a full-scale attack.

Bai Mu understands this principle, and Xia Chen would never make such a basic mistake.

He then commanded, "Melnas, rain!"

…………

Faced with the relentless approach of the Shielded Sword Monster, Xia Chen's choice was... to pray for rain! Why pray for rain? Was it because he had nothing else to do?

The narrator seemed somewhat confused, while Ma Xiu, standing to the side, appeared thoughtful.

“If it were Butterfly Dance, Aegislash might be eager to speed up its attack, such as by directly firing Shadow Ball. But if it were Rain Dance, which has less impact on the battlefield, Bai Mu wouldn’t be in such a hurry. For example, right now, Aegislash has not made any aggressive moves other than speeding up to get closer.”

The commentator nodded in realization, "That makes a lot of sense. Back on the field, Aegislash is already within its attack range, while Milotic's Rain Dance is still just a little short of completing... Blade unleashed! Aegislash uses Shadow Claw! To be precise, it should be Shadow Sword! Wow, even Milotic, with its massive size, was knocked back several meters. The output of Aegislash in its Sword Dance form is terrifying!"

"Looking at it now, Xia Chen has gotten himself into a bit too much trouble with this Rain Dance... If another Shadow Claw comes along, Milotic won't be able to stay on the field. Who is he going to use Rain Dance on then? Oh? Aegislash didn't switch to Shield Form, but instead seized the opportunity to press its advantage and conjured another Shadow Claw! What should Milotic do now?"

Milotic's response was... Dragon Tail! A clever idea! If I can't handle you, I'll switch to another Pokémon. Aegislash, being too close, couldn't dodge the Dragon Tail, so the damage was low, but it bounced it directly back into its Poké Ball. Bai Mu seemed a little disappointed, perhaps regretting not being able to unleash his Shadow Claw attack before leaving the field...

"The moment of choice has arrived. Will Bai Mu choose to switch to Chandelure or Mismagius? Ah, now the rain is showing its value. Chandelure is not only countered by Milotic, but it also can't unleash the power of its fire-type moves in the rain. Xia Chen, was this part of your calculations?"

"It's here! It's not Chandelure, nor Mismagius, but Dusknoir, a Pokémon that Bai Mu hadn't used before! I didn't expect Bai Mu to reveal his trump card so early! But this is a wise choice. If he had to hide this Pokémon and let Chandelure be suppressed when it came out, that would have been putting the cart before the horse."

"Now, let's see how Bai Mu's trump card, the spirit, performs!"

…………

Xia Chen was somewhat surprised to see the ghost-like... no, ghost-like spirit appearing on the battlefield.

Is the trump card actually the Night Demon?

Xia Chen was actually less familiar with this Pokémon than with its unevolved form, Dusknoir.

In game battles, Dusknoir with an Evolution Stone is a more useful Trick Room setter and support Pokémon than its evolved form, Dusknoir.

Of course, the same principle applies: reality is different from games. Evolution is a leap in the life level of an elf, so there's no reason for it to be weaker after evolution than before.

The key evolution item for the Night Demon, the Spirit Realm Cloth, is as rare as the Beautiful Scales, so this Night Demon must have been nurtured by Bai Mu with all his resources, and its strength should not be underestimated.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Xia Chen focused and commanded, "Milano, Surf!"

The power of the dragon allowed Xia Chen and Milotic to connect with each other.

He could sense that Milotic had only suffered damage from that Shadow Claw attack since the start of the match.

But that one attack alone caused considerable damage to Milotic, to the point that even the power of its water jets couldn't compare to its surf!

Xia Chen decided not to let Milotic waste the enormous energy required to unleash its water jets.

Let's test our opponent's strength with a little surfing first.

Faced with Milotic's attack, Bai Mu remained fearless and commanded Night Demon to launch a strong counterattack.

"Night Demon, earthquake!"

The moment the water energy condensed into a surging wave, the ground also began to tremble.

Xia Chen raised an eyebrow in surprise. Was the speed at which this Night Demon released its attacks no less than Milotic's?

That's something...

The two Pokémon's moves clashed fiercely, but the field suffered the consequences.

The floods were devastating, and tremors were frequent.

Under the influence of moves that indiscriminately target both allies and the terrain, the rocky terrain groaned under the strain.

Of course, Milotic and Dusknoir, the primary targets of these two attacks, will suffer even more direct and intense damage.

After their devastating attack ended, the two Pokémon finally revealed themselves to the crowd.

Night Demon floated steadily toward Milotic as if nothing had happened, while Milotic, its opponent, had to lower its proud head and gasp for breath.

It is obvious which one is stronger or weaker.

…………

"As expected of Bai Mu's trump card! Night Demon's strength is terrifying. Surfing with the rain and Butterfly Dance buffs couldn't do much damage to Night Demon. In comparison, Milotic is already in a precarious situation!"

"With this level of attack power and durability, this Night Demon is probably close to the strength of an elite-level three-star monster... Several rocks shot out at high speed from in front of Night Demon, blocking Milotic's surroundings. The purpose was not to damage it, but simply to slow down Milotic and leave it with no way to retreat."

"Nightmare's right fist was already crackling with electricity; he made no attempt to hide his intention to unleash a lightning fist. Nightmare was boldly declaring that nothing could stop its advance, and no matter how Milotic resisted, it would be in vain!"

"If Milotic were to actually be hit by that lightning punch, it would be in for a lot of trouble... Water Cannon! Milotic tried to use this extremely powerful move to force back Dusknoir's approach, and it had some effect, but not significant. Dusknoir, which floated up to dodge, didn't even take the full damage from the Water Cannon and was still closing in on Milotic!"

"Thunder Punch is coming! At the critical moment, Xia Chen recalled Milotic, and Dusknoir's Thunder Punch missed. However, it stopped in place unhurriedly, as if waiting for Xia Chen to switch to the next Pokémon."

"So, which Pokémon will Xia Chen choose to deal with this powerful, almost invincible Night Demon?"

On the battlefield, Xia Chen frowned, but a faint smile appeared on his lips that no one could detect.

His hand holding the Poké Ball trembled slightly, not from fear of Dusknoir's power, but from excitement for the moment that was about to arrive.

The stage is set for you, Zoroark, unleash your most stunning performance!

Xia Chen said this to himself, then threw the Poké Ball in his hand.

A flash of white light appeared, and not far in front of the Night Demon, "Sylveon" suddenly appeared!

"Xenbu, meditate!"

Xia Chen's first command after Xianbu's appearance stunned all the audience, especially Bai Mu on the other side of the battlefield.

Having witnessed the power of the Night Demon's attacks, how dare you make Fairy Cloth do something with almost zero return?

What is Xia Chen thinking? Has he gone mad?

Immediately, the barrage of comments erupted in an uproar.

…………

"Did Xia Chen get stunned by Dusknoir? What's the use of Meditation? A boost to Special Defense is useless against Dusknoir. Just add some Special Attack and you're good to go! Milotic couldn't do much damage with Rain and Quiver Dance, but you, Sylveon, can?"

"Don't be so hasty. Master Pigeon has watched so many competitions. When have you ever seen him make such a basic mistake? He's definitely setting a trap for Bai Mu."

"Fun fact: Master Pigeon's fourth Pokémon is Zorua, which hasn't appeared in videos for a long time. Its ability is... Hallucination! Is it possible that this isn't Sylveon?"

"So what if it's Zoroark? Does Zoroark think it can defeat Night Demon? Based on its noble Dark attribute?"

The comments section was buzzing, but no one could guess Xia Chen's intentions, except for two pretty ladies in front of the screen who were smiling knowingly.

On the battlefield.

Like many other viewers, Bai Mu's first thought was to suspect Zoroark.

Then, his logic was no different from all the other comments: even if it's Zoroark, so what?

As he pondered, a sudden realization dawned on him: wasn't this a classic empty city stratagem?

Xia Chen, that cunning fellow, must have deliberately made such a low-level mistake to lure me into thinking about "why he would do such a thing".

Then, if he can't figure out the answer no matter what, he will miss the opportunity to attack, while he can let Xianbu get a meditation for free.

Thinking of this, Bai Mu immediately shouted, "Night Demon Spirit, use Shadow Fist!"

Earthquake is too slow, and other moves don't have STAB boosts and aren't very powerful. So, Shadow Fist, which combines speed and damage, seems to be the most suitable.

Glancing at "Sylveon," Bai Mu suddenly realized that she was still meditating and had no intention of dodging Shadow Punch.

Still playing tricks?

Bai Mu sneered slightly. In his current view, Xianbu was no different from Zhuge Liang, who was forcibly calmly playing the zither on the city wall.

Whether you're Sylvanas or Zoroark, take this Shadow Punch first!

A dark purple-black energy, imbued with a sinister aura, flowed through the Night Demon Spirit's fist, which was nearly the size of a fairy's head. With intent, it unleashed a powerful punch!

The powerful fist whipped up gusts of wind and, accompanied by a slight sonic boom from the friction of energy against the air, blasted towards the various parts of the fairy cloth!

Xianbu neither dodged nor avoided, and continued meditating.

No, judging by the timeline, this is already the second meditation!

In everyone's eyes, Xia Chen and Xian Bu have become incredibly greedy!

No matter how much you meditate, if you don't add any physical defense, won't you just get blown up by the Night Demon in a few punches?

The first punch has already landed!

…………

Amidst the tense, curious, and excited gazes of the audience, Dusknoir's Shadow Punch struck Sylveon with unstoppable force.

However, the scenario that I had imagined—Senbu being blasted several meters away by a single punch—did not occur.

call--

A very faint sound, like the sound of wind, was transmitted through Rotom, the cameraman hovering near the two elves, to the ears of all the viewers in front of the screen.

The scene, and even the entire live stream, fell silent for a moment, and even the comments section became much quieter.