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

He is very close to the Eastern Huang lineage of the Yulong family. The Duolongbaluto in the team also comes from Dragon Island and has met Xiaochun's cousin, Yulongdu, once.

If we round it off, Xia Chen and Xiao Chun can be considered acquaintances.

Like her cousin, Xiaochun also likes to wear a cool cape. Paired with her neat and tidy outfit and high-tied blue ponytail, she looks heroic and dashing, with a temperament just like Yulongdu.

Because the battlefield was very large, the two couldn't speak before the battle. However, in their gazes at each other from afar, Xia Chen could sense the mutual respect in Xiao Chun's eyes.

Perhaps it's because they all have a connection with Dragon-type Pokémon and Dragon Island.

Compared to the Dodo, which is known as the king of Flying-type birds, Tsubaki's Dragon-type bloodline is much purer.

The main lineup includes three pseudo-legendary Dragon-type Pokémon: Dragonite, Salamence, and Garchomp. The other three are the "disgrace of the Dragon Clan," Alterac Valley, the "traitor of the Dragon Clan," and the iconic Kingdra.

Of course, this is the standard lineup, and whether the lineup will be changed during the match is another matter.

The two players stood on opposite sides of the arena, and the match officially began with the referee's whistle.

Xiaochun stylishly tossed aside her cape and casually tossed out a Poké Ball. A flash of white light appeared, and her first Pokémon landed with a thud.

It was a land dragon with physical characteristics that combined those of a dragon and a shark—the Garchomp!

Meanwhile, Xia Chen's first Pokémon also appeared at the same time. Its tall figure floated in mid-air, and its white dress fluttered in the wind. It was Gardevoir.

A fairly standard starting lineup.

On one side is Garchomp, which can go toe-to-toe with anyone, and on the other side is Gardevoir, the natural enemy of Dragon-types.

In terms of attributes, Xia Chen has a slight advantage, but it's hard to say how things will go in a fight.

After all, Tsubaki is a trainer with enough strength to be one of the Elite Four.

Once both sides' starting Pokémon have appeared, the match officially begins.

…………

"Garuda, quicksand hell!"

"Gardevoir, Moon Power!"

The commands issued by the two trainers at the start of the match clearly demonstrated their drastically different strategies for the game.

Knowing that her attribute was at a disadvantage, Xiaochun wanted to change the field and take advantage of the chaos, but Xia Chen took advantage of Gardevoir's Fairy attribute and launched a decisive attack.

The moment the order was given, sand and dust rose up, a strong wind blew, and large swaths of flowing yellow sand rose from the ground with a slight rumbling sound, instantly turning the entire battlefield into a dangerous sand burial hell!

Fortunately, Gardevoir was floating three or four meters above the ground; otherwise, it would have been swept up by the quicksand.

At the same time, the faint purple glow emanating from Gardevoir's chest suddenly erupted, condensing into a beam of light as soft as moonlight, yet concealing a terrifying aura, which shot out.

"Garuda, Dig!"

Xiaochun is greedy. Before the Sand Hell was formed and the Moon Power had been released, she wanted Garchomp to hide by digging a hole.

But those who are greedy have the means to be greedy.

The ground, transformed by the quicksand hell, was soft and loose. Garchomp simply twisted its foot, and its entire body began to sink at an extremely fast speed.

Judging from their practiced manner, it's clear that this tactic of showing off and then running away is not the first time they've used it.

But no matter how fast it burrows, how can it be faster than the speed of light?

Just before Garchomp's spindle-shaped shark head sank into the ground, a pale purple beam of energy descended from the sky and slammed into Garchomp's head.

Chapter 384 The Wonderful Use of the Taijing Attribute

With a deafening roar, Garchomp plunged completely into the quicksand hell.

The extent of the damage inflicted on Garchomp by the Moon Force is unknown, but judging from the fact that the aftershocks of the explosion blasted the flowing sand more than ten meters high, the damage was likely considerable.

Whether it was due to the influence of Fairy-type energy or not, after Garchomp dived in, the sand became increasingly turbulent, and even occasionally burst into sand flowers.

Xia Chen, who was about to have Gardevoir set up the [Precognition] energy orb, paused.

He suddenly remembered Cynthia's Garchomp, the quicksand hell that could create terrifying sand hands.

Out of caution, he changed his approach.

"Be careful to avoid attacks from the quicksand hell, and prepare the energy for the freezing beam."

The method of issuing commands is naturally telepathy.

Xia Chen wanted to scheme against Xiao Chun.

Gardevoir silently agreed in her heart, and then quietly began to store up Ice-type energy.

Compared to Fairy-type energy, Garchomp, being a Garchomp, is even more afraid of Ice-type moves.

Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Garchomp, which had temporarily escaped the battlefield by digging a hole, did not give Gardevoir much time to accumulate energy. After buffering the energy impact of the Moon Force, it activated Shifting Sands to launch an attack.

A thick pillar of sand exploded up and shot straight at Gardevoir in mid-air. With Xia Chen's warning beforehand, Gardevoir easily dodged the sneak attack by slightly turning to the left during the gap in accumulating Ice Beam.

However, the attack of the Champion-level Garchomp was definitely not that simple. Before the dust from the explosion of the first towering sand pillar had even dissipated, the second and third sand pillars exploded in succession.

In an instant, the influence of the quicksand hell spread throughout the entire battlefield, plunging the arena into darkness.

Even so, Gardevoir was still able to move gracefully among the sand pillars with ease and grace.

Clearly, this whack-a-mole style of attack posed almost no threat to her.

Gardevoir was not at all relaxed; on the contrary, she became even more vigilant—because Garchomp had not yet appeared.

Just as the fifth sand pillar rose high and Gardevoir instinctively dodged to the right, the flowing sand beneath the ground completely collapsed, and a huge, ferocious Pokémon burst out, like a giant shark tracking its prey by blood, and suddenly pounced in the direction Gardevoir had dodged!

…………

"Gardevoir's movements are incredibly elusive; it dodged the fifth sand pillar again... Wait! What's that commotion? The Garchomp that was lurking has finally appeared!"

The commentator passionately shouted, "The sand pillar attack in the quicksand hell is just a decoy. Its real purpose is to immerse Gardevoir in a rhythmic and slow-paced 'dodge game,' to figure out Gardevoir's dodging habits, and then launch a surprise attack by changing the rhythm unexpectedly!"

"Just now, hunter, it's time to close the net!"

The commentator's analysis was accurate, but there was a deeper trap involved—Gardedo, with Garchomp's speed, had plenty of time to use Teleport to dodge the attack, but that meant she would have to give up her Ice Beam, which she was preparing to unleash.

Whether to fight or avoid battle is up to Xia Chen to decide.

Xia Chen was naturally unwilling to give up the Ice Beam, which was four times more effective against Garchomp. As Garchomp burst out of the ground, he commanded fiercely, "Gardedoll, Ice Beam!"

Gardevoir's beautiful crimson eyes were resolute.

Suddenly, the icy blue light intensified, and an energy ray radiating a chilling aura crashed down from above, aligning with the Garchomp, which was enveloped in earthy yellow energy and flowing upstream.

However, Garchomp's speed did not decrease at all, as if what was shot at it was not a four-fold super effective Ice Beam, but a completely immune Thunderbolt.

Just as the icy blue and earthy yellow were about to collide, a dazzling, radiant light suddenly appeared on Garchomp's body.

Xia Chen raised an eyebrow in surprise and looked towards the other side of the battlefield. Although it was a bit far away, his excellent eyesight allowed him to vaguely see the bead in Xiao Chun's raised hand that was shooting out strange energy rays.

Crystal Beads!

The sudden crystallization instantly reversed the situation.

Garchomp's Crystal type is most likely Steel-type—a type that resists Ice and Fairy-types. What could be more appealing to a Garchomp than that?

This means that the damage of the freezing beam will be greatly reduced, from four times the original strength to two times the resistance, which is an eight-fold difference!

It can be said that this Crystal type fills in Garchomp's last weakness besides not knowing Dragon Dance!

The biting, dangerous chill instantly lost its threat. Garchomp withstood the chill's corrosive power and charged towards Gardevoir, who was now unable to escape.

bang——

Garchomp unleashed all the Ground-type energy it had been accumulating under the quicksand, charging towards Gardevoir.

Even without restraint, that tall, fair-skinned figure still plummeted downwards along a parabolic trajectory with a cry of pain.

The audience in the stands cheered and clapped excitedly—it was truly rare to see Xia Chen being schemed against!

…………

The audience gloated, but Xia Chen remained relatively calm.

The quicksand hell on the field obscured his vision, and coupled with the vast size of the field, Garchomp's sudden crystallization was indeed somewhat unexpected.

However, it wasn't unacceptable to him, as it not only locked in the spot for the Crystallization, but also essentially locked in the remaining spots for the Mega Evolution.

These two pieces of information meant that the tunneling operation wasn't entirely unjustified.

However, Xiaochun was not satisfied with this. Seeing that Garchomp had the upper hand, she commanded without hesitation, "Continue, Ironhead, pursue!"

After the Titanite becomes Steel-type, Garchomp's Steel-type moves receive double the STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus), and with double the super-effectiveness, it can deal four times the damage!

With Garchomp's attack power and Gardevoir's physique, this would almost certainly result in a one-hit kill!

The Garchomp, which had been shooting vertically upwards like a rocket, suddenly plummeted downwards, its spindle-shaped shark head gleaming silver and shimmering with metallic luster.

The airflow swept past Garchomp's jet-like body, and driven by its internal energy, Garchomp caught up with the free-falling Gardevoir at an extremely fast speed.

Just as Iron Head was about to hit, Gardevoir suddenly disappeared.

Instant teleportation!

This unsurprising move didn't startle Garchomp. Instead, its heart sank, and it quickly used the protrusion on its head to sense Gardevoir's location—a signature move of the Garchomp family.

The special sound waves gave him a rather unexpected response; Gardevoir boldly chose to land on his back.

At this moment, both are falling downwards in sync.

With ordinary moves, that's a position that's impossible to hit.

Little Tsubaki had a sudden inspiration and shouted, "Garuda, take Gardevoir down!"

Garchomp lowered its head, its gaze fixed on the still-lingering quicksand hell.

He instantly understood his trainer's idea, and with a snap of the shark fin on his arm, he locked Gardevoir in place to prevent it from escaping, while his body fell even faster.

Although the two elves were fighting in the air, the battle was only a dozen meters above the ground.

Under the combined influence of gravity and propulsion, Garchomp is now about to plunge Gardevoir into the quicksand hell.

A Ground-type Pokémon falling into the quicksand hell it created is like coming home, but for Gardevoir, the environment there is truly like hell.

Using teleportation a second time would certainly allow one to escape, but using it continuously in a short period of time would exacerbate energy consumption.

Secondly, this confrontation will end with Garchomp severely injuring Gardevoir and escaping almost unscathed.

No matter how you look at it, Xia Chen is at a huge disadvantage.