Hurricane ranked near the top among Flying-type moves in raw power. Although Hisuian Lilligant's Special Attack was not especially high, Hurricane was still enough to interrupt Mienshao's assault and throw it into confusion!
"Then it's my turn now! Use Aerial Ace!"
Lilligant seized that instant and launched a high-speed, never-missing kicking slash! The blow sent Mienshao flying, and the fierce cutting wind howled as it blasted it away. Mienshao could not shake off its confusion, while Lilligant's attacks followed like a shadow!
Close Combat!
Marshal's expression turned grim.
"A winning position was reversed in an instant, all because of an unexpected move, one so far beyond imagination!"
"A miscalculation!"
"Still, because of the Toxic and that earlier Poison Jab, her stamina is almost gone too. As a Grass-type Pokémon, she should be able to learn Synthesis, right? Will you use it?"
On Hikaru's side, however, he was thinking that Lilligant could do more than just learn Synthesis. In this form, she could actually learn Recover as well!
And during their time in Paldea, she had already learned it through Leopard!
"As time passes, Toxic's damage keeps rising. At first it only deals one-sixteenth, but as time goes on, it gradually increases, up to a maximum of fifteen-sixteenths."
"The most effective way to remove it is Rest."
Of course, in a battle against an Elite Four member, sleeping for two straight turns was practically suicide. Especially since most Fighting-type Pokémon could learn Aerial Ace, and one Aerial Ace plus a Flying Gem would be enough to break through Lilligant!
So there was actually another way:
Hikaru: "Aromatherapy, then Recover!"
At the same time, Hikaru happened to think that Lilligant could actually be taught Heal Bell as well. More precisely, the original Lilligant form, and Petilil too!
In the natural world, only five Pokémon, Celebi included, could normally learn that move by level-up. And for the moment, there was no TM for it.
He had heard Celebi's Heal Bell before... but that time had already passed. Even using the power of recollection to try and learn it on the spot would be difficult, because it was a tutor move, not an Egg Move.
Marshal's expression changed sharply as he watched Lilligant instantly cure her condition and then use Recover.
"Re... cover?"
"Aromatherapy I can still understand, more or less. A soothing fragrance lets the allies breathe it in, healing the whole team's status conditions. Since she has a flower on her head, a Grass-type doing that... that's normal enough. But Recover, just like Hurricane... those are not moves a Grass-type should be able to learn."
"I've never seen that kind of power in a Unovan Lilligant before. I see now. Once the form changes, the difference in movepool can really be this great?"
Hikaru: "Not exactly. It's probably the result of the regional environment in Unova."
"The leaves on Petilil's head are commonly used as medicine. They're so bitter they make people dizzy, but one bite is enough to instantly refresh your mind. Because of that, in a faraway region, they gained the power of Recover."
"And through move tutoring, even my Hisuian Lilligant can obtain that move!"
"As for the original Lilligant, once it finds a male Pokémon it likes as a mate, its beautiful flower gradually dims and wilts. That is probably the root reason why it can't be taught Recover."
Marshal fell into thought. Though he was an athlete too, unlike someone young like Bea, he had a rich understanding of Pokémon ecology.
After all, he spent a great deal of time surviving in the wild and tempering himself, and he had traveled through many places, so he had seen a lot!
Looking at the Lilligant that still showed no sign of backing down, Marshal's heart filled with respect.
"Oh, how strong. This fills me with excitement!"
Lilligant raised her leaves, while the Pokémon Marshal sent out was -
"Lucario!"
What few people knew was that Marshal, too, was a Lucario user!
Almost every martial artist had a Riolu or a Lucario. That proved they could perceive the power of aura and true qi... and only those who carried justice in their hearts had the right to use Lucario!
And Lucario's movepool was unfathomably deep.
"Swords Dance, then Extreme Speed!"
Marshal did not hesitate at all. Lucario sharply raised its Attack with Swords Dance, then struck with a speed Lilligant could not even perceive!
"Upper Hand!"
Of course Lilligant answered with Upper Hand again, and after landing the blow on Lucario...
Extreme Speed still hit Lilligant squarely!
"Ability: Inner Focus." Marshal concentrated and muttered, "A Pokémon with that Ability does not flinch!"
Lucario's eyes blazed with the shockwave of psychic force!
Psychic!
Psychic was doubly super effective against Hisuian Lilligant. She staggered backward, and the powerful move collided head-on with her own!
Hikaru: "A Lucario using Psychic? So it's a ranged-type... Lilligant, Close Combat!"
Marshal: "Counter!"
The HP Recover had restored drained away at high speed. Hisuian Lilligant did not resist Fighting, so she took the full force of Counter's overwhelming retaliation!
"Dorei!"
She lowered her head in exhaustion, knelt on one knee, and stared at the blue dog in front of her in bitter frustration before losing the ability to battle.
Still, Lucario was shaken too. That Close Combat had made every steel bone in its body creak as if they might break apart!
As a Steel/Fighting dual-type Pokémon, being weak to Fighting instead was an extremely painful thing!
But fortunately, it had a Chople Berry! It weakened the damage of one Fighting-type move. From the very start, it had been holding that Berry in its mouth!
"First one down!" Marshal nodded, his focus sharpening.
With the first Grass-type Pokémon gone, the Spore-based tactics could finally come out!
Of course, before that!
Green light lit up both of Lucario's fists.
The next strike would be Drain Punch! First, it would absorb back the life it had lost!
And on Hikaru's side, the second Pokémon entered the field!
Riolu!
The little blue dog came out and immediately saw the big blue dog on the other side. Its eyes narrowed slightly.
Ruff! A substitute of the same kind as me!
"Hm? Riolu? An unevolved Pokémon is going to fight Lucario?" Marshal was a little doubtful, but he also knew that this Riolu came from Challenger's Cave and possessed tremendous strength.
And Lucario could already feel the powerful aura radiating from it. The blue-furred dog on the other side was nearly in disbelief. That immense aura was actually coming from a Riolu!
It tensed itself fully, and then light suddenly appeared before its eyes!
Hikaru took out a black orb. It burst above Riolu's head and formed a brilliant gemstone shaped like a fist!
"Fighting Tera!"
Marshal: "That is... the Terastalization Bea mentioned?!"
Hikaru: "Battles in the Unova League allow battle systems to be used. So even though this is a battle system that hasn't appeared here before, using it a little should be fine, right?"
"Hahaha! Of course it's fine! Come on!" Marshal's expression grew even more excited. This was the first time he had ever seen such a power, and the powerful aura radiating from that Riolu grew even stronger!
"Use Drain Punch!"
Lucario roared as it charged forward!
But -
Riolu's eyes shone!
Mind Reader!
"Rock Smash!"
This unimaginable punch not only avoided Lucario's attack, but instead, the instant the punch flew out...
a flurry of blows like a raging storm caved in Lucario's chest with crushing force!
Lucario's eyes went wide, and its body locked stiff. It could no longer move. Its mouth hung slightly open as the violent impact ran through its entire body, nearly shattering all of its steel bones into pieces!
Marshal was astonished.
"One attack... no, four punches!"
Hikaru explained slowly, "Agile Style: Rock Smash. This is an ancient battle technique that can unleash several strikes in an instant, though it does so at the cost of lowering the move's power."
But Marshal immediately shook his head!
"No... those punches could never have been Rock Smash! The power was far too great. There is no way that was Rock Smash! Lucario is unable to battle?!"
His Lucario had gone down in an instant, and that made Marshal realize that something was seriously wrong here!
"As expected of Mr. Marshal."
Hikaru looked genuinely surprised, then carefully explained.
"First... the battle system from the Paldea region is called Terastalization. In simple terms, it is a battle system that changes a Pokémon's own type through Tera power."
"Of course, even though the type changes, the Pokémon still keeps the same-type attack bonus from its original typing. And if the Tera type is the same as one of its original types, then that same-type bonus rises from 1.5 times to 2 times!"
"And there is another point. You said that move absolutely could not have been Rock Smash. No. It was Rock Smash."
"According to research and quantified battle data, Rock Smash's base power is around 40. After using the ancient battle technique, it drops to only 30. Very unfortunate."
"However, that technique happens to match Terastalization perfectly."
"Because after Terastallizing, there is also a special ability effect. That is the strange part of this battle system."
Hikaru slowly revealed another secret of Terastalization, a secret that perhaps even Dr. Sada, who researched Tera energy, did not know!
"When a Pokémon uses a move of the corresponding type whose power is below 60, the move's power is forcibly raised to 60!"
"At the same time, the battle item Riolu is holding is one that can trigger Rainbow! In Rainbow state, the chance of additional move effects occurring is doubled!"
"So then, after Terastallizing, Rock Smash, whose power was reduced by Agile Style, is forcibly raised to 60. And under double same-type attack bonus, that becomes 120!"
"Add Rainbow state, and Rock Smash's special added effect is guaranteed, which is lowering Defense by one stage!"
"My Riolu threw four punches in an instant, lowering Lucario's Defense four times in total. That means three of those punches landed after its Defense had already been lowered!"
After one drop, Defense falls by 33%.
After two drops, Defense falls by 50%.
After three drops, Defense falls by 60%!
As for the fourth drop... it was unnecessary!
The damage borne by a Lucario doubly weak to Fighting... if you calculate it based on a base Defense stat of 70...
If it were a level 68 Riolu with 180 Attack, and after the opponent's Defense had dropped several times, while Riolu itself started with one stage of Attack already raised, then under type advantage...
Seeing Marshal's expression change dramatically, Hikaru gave a concise and direct answer:
"For a Lucario doubly weak to Fighting, every one of my Riolu's punches should have dealt effective damage of over 200. Across four punches in total, Lucario had to endure 800, maybe even 1000 or more damage in an instant!"
Of course, the actual damage Riolu had dealt was far beyond even that number!
"Mr. Marshal, your Lucario can no longer continue battling!"
"And my Riolu has entered a Fixated state!"
"In other words, while in this state, my Pokémon's move power rises by 1.5 times!"
"Though the damage it takes also rises by 1.5 times... it's a double-edged sword!"
Riolu suddenly swung forward and sent out a wave of force. In the instant Marshal, still stunned, switched Pokémon, that tremendous shockwave blasted his incoming Throh into the air!
Throh had high HP and low Speed. Its design drew from the red oni and from karate practitioners, and it excelled in throwing techniques. Its martial move Storm Throw, which always landed a critical hit, was its signature technique!
And that move was also the lower-tier version of Wicked Blow and Surging Strikes!
But at this moment, Throh never got the chance to engage in close combat. It was struck by the powerful true-qi shockwave, and in an instant the light vanished from its eyes. Even the belt around its waist was blasted loose by the explosive vacuum wave -
"So low-power moves are boosted, and then they receive the doubled Tera bonus too. Which means that move just now..."
Marshal's expression was starting to lose control a little. He watched as his Throh was struck by four consecutive waves of air and, the moment it entered battle, was reduced to the brink of collapse!
That move was -
Marshal: "That was Vacuum Wave! But the power of that move was wrong too! Don't tell me that one was boosted as well?"
Hikaru gave him a small explanation as he watched Marshal's severe expression.
"No. Terastalization's forced power boost does not apply to priority moves."
"But because Riolu entered Fixated state, that missing power was compensated for. Under double Tera bonus and Fixated state, its power also reached 120!"
A 120-power Fighting-type priority move, and it could act at least twice in a turn!
Marshal's expression changed several times.
One of his own aces had been turned into someone else's stepping stone, and that felt terrible. Lucario, a fellow aura Pokémon, should have been Riolu's absolute superior form, and yet it had been defeated in such a bizarre way!
Yes... just as he himself had said before, true strength was not simply raw force. It was releasing the greatest possible output with the fewest possible movements!
Marshal: "Fixated... what is that?"
Hikaru: "Move power rises by 1.5 times, but when the user is struck, it also takes 1.5 times extra damage."
Marshal let out a heartfelt sigh.
"This truly... leaves me in awe! To think there is a battle style like this!"
(End of Chapter)
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