The defeat of Scyther left many spectators astonished, as Murata Chihiro typically started with it in battles. Even against type-disadvantaged matchups, Scyther's high-speed movement allowed it to dodge opponents' attacks effectively.
By utilizing U-turn, Scyther could swiftly strike and retreat, then switch to a more advantageous Pokemon. This strategy often rendered opponents helpless, enabling both reconnaissance on their Pokemon and gradual attrition.
Murata Chihiro's Scyther possessed the rare Technician Ability, enhancing even moderately powerful moves to extraordinary effectiveness. Numerous students had fallen victim to this formidable Scyther.
"Did you notice? Charmeleon's Flamethrower seems different somehow." Some keen observers detected something unusual; the Flamethrower was exceptionally swift, striking Scyther in the blink of an eye.
"It does seem faster."
"Do you think Murata Chihiro might actually lose to Kalia? If he does, wouldn't that imply Kalia has top-ten potential?"
"Don't overthink it. Although Scyther lost, it was just bad luck. Defeating Charmeleon should be a breeze for Murata Chihiro's Empoleon," countered a student from the Ellie Region, unable to resist chiming in.
"It's hard to say..."
As the students continued their discussions, Empoleon descended onto the battlefield. Its blue, slightly chubby body displayed remarkably steady footing.
Lian observed the navy-blue Empoleon, knowing that as a dual Water and Steel-type Pokémon, it excels more in combat underwater, appearing somewhat cumbersome on land.
On solid ground, Empoleon's movement speed is relatively slow, with its Special Defense and Special Attack being its stronger attributes. However, Empoleon's greatest strength lies in its resistance; Steel-type Pokémon have one of the highest resistances among types.
Fortunately, Empoleon does not inherently resist Fire-type attacks due to its Steel typing neutralizing this weakness, allowing Fire-type moves to deal normal damage.
"Empoleon, use Rain Dance!" Murata Chihiro commanded. As a student of the Pokemon Academy, access to Move Disks was never an issue; the key factor lay in whether the Pokémon could learn them, and naturally, Rain Dance was no exception.
Rain Dance is an essential move against Fire-type Pokémon. By using Rain Dance, the weather transforms into rain, weakening the effectiveness of Fire-type moves from Fire-type Pokémon.
Empoleon assumed a praying posture, releasing a surge of Water-type energy from its body. This significantly increased the surrounding water energy levels, even affecting the sky above.
"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!"
Before Empoleon could complete Rain Dance, Kalia commanded Charmeleon to unleash Flamethrower. At this moment, Flamethrower would still have its full effect.
Lian was somewhat surprised that Empoleon had Rain Dance, but it proved futile and wasted an opportunity for direct Water-type attacks. With Empoleon's high Special Defense and resistance to Dragon-type moves, Lian anticipated that a single combo might not defeat it. However, if one set of moves didn't work, he'd simply use more combinations. If all else failed, he could switch to Ninetales and counter with Clearing Weather.
As Empoleon performed Rain Dance, Lian promptly unleashed Flamethrower - just a standard Flamethrower move. Empoleon's slow movements made evasion unlikely.
Murata Chihiro did not instruct Empoleon to dodge, likely aware of its speed limitations and opting to let it endure the attack, showing confidence in Empoleon's Special Defense.
The vibrant orange flames struck Empoleon without interrupting its Rain Dance. The surrounding Water-type energy increased, causing clouds overhead to accumulate excessive moisture and gradually turn dark.
Swish!
Suddenly, large raindrops began falling from the sky, creating a steady downpour that soaked the ground, making everything around damp.
Fortunately, Flamethrower had concluded, and Empoleon had fully endured its damage.
Murata Chihiro, seeing Rain Dance successfully cast, displayed a confident expression. From now on, Charmeleon's Fire-type moves would be weakened.
On the other hand, Empoleon's Water-type moves would receive a boost from Rain Dance, causing greater damage to Charmeleon, potentially leading to an outright defeat.
Boom!
As Murata Chihiro contemplated, he noticed that Charmeleon unleashed another move: Dragon Rage, a Dragon-type attack. However, Empoleon has resistance against Dragon-type moves due to its Steel typing.
Although Dragon Rage is a Special move capable of bypassing physical defense, it cannot ignore type resistances. It remains immune against Fairy-types and reduced in effectiveness against Steel-types.
Empoleon's resilience was impressive, with only three weaknesses—Electric, Fighting, and Ground types—and numerous resistances. Lian lacked any other moves to deal significant additional damage.
The Impact Wave struck Empoleon forcefully, but its effect seemed minimal; Empoleon merely retreated slightly, with most injuries still stemming from the earlier Flamethrower attack.
Kalia frowned slightly as Rain Dance limited Charmeleon's Fire-type moves, which already posed little threat to Empoleon, making them even less effective now.
Charmeleon's strongest moves were primarily Fire-type and Dragon-type, but their effectiveness was now diminished. Kalia began contemplating whether to send out Ninetales instead.
However, switching to Ninetales would reveal her Drought Ability. Having used it in the first round, others might catch on during the subsequent rounds.
"Charmeleon, continue using Flamethrower."
Kalia decided to stick with this move combination, as she observed Empoleon bearing numerous injuries. Clearly, Charmeleon's previous Flamethrower attacks had inflicted significant damage.
Even if its power is halved, Flamethrower remains Charmeleon's most potent move. Using any other move wouldn't yield better results.
Lian smiled, relieved that Kalia didn't instruct him to use random ineffective moves. In this situation, combining Flamethrower with Dragon Rage remained the optimal strategy.
He aimed to defeat Empoleon outright, disregarding the Rain Dance effect and the reduced power of Flamethrower. It wasn't completely immune, and given Lian's high Special Attack value, even at half strength, Flamethrower still caused more damage than his other moves.
"Not switching Pokemon?" Murata Chihiro chuckled upon seeing Kalia not making any substitutions.
"Empoleon, use Scald!"
With Rain Dance active, Water-type moves were more potent. In his view, without swapping out Charmeleon, Kalia had little chance of blocking this attack.
Once the Scald move was unleashed, Charmeleon would undoubtedly be defeated unless it managed to dodge; otherwise, there was no way it could withstand the impact.
Lian promptly released Flamethrower, but due to the rain's effect, the flames visibly weakened as they encountered the falling droplets, diminishing their size.
"Charmeleon, dodge the Scald!" Kalia warned, knowing that Charmeleon could evade the hot water. Although she still couldn't explain its sudden burst of agility, this was the perfect moment to utilize it.
Understanding Kalia's intent, Lian deliberately controlled the Flamethrower to avoid Empoleon's scorching Scald. If the two attacks collided mid-air, Flamethrower would surely be overwhelmed and unable to block the hot water.
"Hm?" Murata Chihiro was taken aback as the Scald narrowly missed Flamethrower, avoiding direct confrontation.
Was it merely coincidence?
Regardless, this allowed the scorching water to maintain its full force without being weakened by Flamethrower, ensuring it could defeat Charmeleon.
After releasing Flamethrower, Lian felt the incoming torrent of boiling water. With explosive speed, he swiftly leaped high into the air, dodging several meters above as the scalding flow struck the ground but missed him entirely.
"It avoided?" Murata Chihiro had been closely watching Charmeleon, expecting to witness its defeat. Instead, Charmeleon jumped and evaded the hot water effortlessly.
What sorcery was this?!
Meanwhile, after bypassing the water stream, Flamethrower accurately hit Empoleon again, pushing it back further. Although the move's power had diminished, it still inflicted significant damage.
"This Charmeleon is incredibly skilled!"
"Can it really dodge like that?"
Not just Murata Chihiro, but all the other students were astounded. Dodging Pokemon moves is notoriously difficult, especially with Pokemon from the academy, which undergo rigorous training to achieve high accuracy rates for their attacks.
Despite this, Charmeleon managed to leap and skillfully evade the Hydro Pump, showcasing a truly remarkable feat.