The full force of the Earthquake surged into Venusaur, yet Venusaur didn't even seem to be hurt; it actually looked somewhat comfortable!
This unconventional situation left Paul dumbfounded once again.
What's going on here? Why are Ground-type moves ineffective against Venusaur? Venusaur is a Grass and Poison Type, and Ground-type moves should normally deal normal damage, but now... it didn't even deal any damage at all.
Watching from the stands, Conway adjusted his glasses which had slipped down, his eyes revealing a hint of satisfaction. Finally, someone... finally someone else could empathize with him!
As a data-driven Trainer, what he despised the most were those who played their cards out of order, and Ash was the king of playing out of order!
Losing to Ash in a match was one thing, he could accept defeat, but he couldn't accept losing inexplicably!
Losing without understanding how it happened, just a mess, and his Pokemon would be completely wiped out.
The opponent could even shatter Trick Room directly, what a freak!
Now, another 'in-misfortune' companion appeared, and this happened on the finals stage.
Ground-type moves are ineffective, and Conway couldn't figure out how this was done, just glad that he's not the one on the field now, otherwise he'd be scratching his head.
And now, the one troubled is Paul. In the face of such a situation, how will you respond, Paul?
Between Ash and Paul, Conway still hopes that Paul would win. Although that guy is arrogant and aloof, looking like a show-off, as a fellow native of the Sinnoh region, of course, he wants Paul from Sinnoh to win, moreover, he and Paul have had some interactions.
But with Ash being at such a monstrous level, Paul winning... it might be very difficult!
...
On the field, after Venusaur absorbed the power of Earthquake, it immediately converted it into Grass-type power and infused it back into the ground. The entire field began to tremble, and then, thicker verdant thorns than before shot out from the ground!
This was enhanced with the opponent's power into Frenzy Plant, even stronger than the Frenzy Plant used previously against Froslass!
Venusaur with Xerneas' legacy—though in Kalos Xerneas is called the God of Life and Creation, as a lesser-known fact, Xerneas also bears a title—Earth God!
Its exclusive skill, Geomancy, greatly enhances itself by absorbing the power of the earth, and that power is its own strength.
Therefore, Xerneas is also called Earth God, this little-known fact was shared by the big shots in the group to Ash.
It was precisely because of this information that Ash had Venusaur and the team's Pokemon battle, attempting to absorb the incoming Ground-type moves, only to discover that as long as the Ground-type power wasn't overwhelming compared to Venusaur's strength, it could be absorbed and converted into its own power.
This is also a capability learned from Xerneas' legacy.
Now Venusaur is somewhat immune to Ground-type moves. Not all Ground-type moves are immune, but against those with lesser strength, it can basically be fully immune.
But for a Gaia level like Torterra, absorbing all of its moves is still a bit of a stretch.
In fact, Venusaur still sustained minor damage, but more of it was converted into its own power, making the damage negligible compared to the absorbed power.
The frenzy-enhanced thorns surged towards Torterra. Torterra's attributes are Grass and Ground Type, unlike Venusaur with fourfold resistance to Grass Type, Grass-type moves can deal normal damage to it, and if hit directly by Frenzy Plant, it would be troublesome.
"Come back, Torterra." Paul wasn't going to talk about any 'dignity of Grass-type Pokemon.' Facing adversity, he was quick to decisively call Torterra back.
This way, he could use the moment of switching Pokemon to evade the opponent's Frenzy Plant, which would also leave the opponent in a state of rigidity.
"Drapion, prepare for battle." With a flash of light, a menacing scorpion appeared on the field, its body covered in a hard shell, looking like a tough opponent.
"A specialty Pokemon from the Sinnoh region, Drapion, possessing Poison and Dark Type attributes. This Pokemon is one of Paul's trademarks. According to previous data, Drapion's level was at the Gym-level, and it might have improved since then." Brock analyzed seriously.
Drapion is a Pokemon that rarely appears in the Kanto region. However, because this Pokemon is Paul's main force, they paid extra attention back then, and Ash's research led Brock and Misty to learn a lot about foreign Pokemon.
Drapion's dual attributes make Venusaur's Grass and Poison moves only minimally effective, giving Drapion the attribute advantage here.
Moreover, Paul's decision to recall Torterra during Venusaur's use of Frenzy Plant was a highly skilled move; it not only avoided the damage from Frenzy Plant but also left Venusaur in a rigid phase.