Chapter 442: A Demon-King-Level Counter
The doubles pairs for the Otter Team have been relatively fixed for this entire regular season.
It's basically been the rain-and-thunder combo and the "Emperor of Luck" combo, with very few substitutions.
Among them, the rain-and-thunder combo is the Otter Team's old signature, famous for several years and still going strong. This year, with a new weather-setter, it has had a second spring.
And the "Emperor of Luck" combo of the couple, Harry and Andrew, was actually quite a cause for concern at the beginning of the season.
After all, luck is an ethereal thing. Relying on it for victory always seems a bit unreliable.
But after a full season, this rookie pair has proven themselves!
Some people get lucky once or twice and can't stop showing off. They're just posers, and one wrong move and they're done for.
But some people are always lucky and become true emperors of luck, and their longevity is quite impressive…
Harry and Andrew probably belong to the latter category.
Against this kind of overly stable instability, it's sometimes very difficult to formulate a targeted strategy.
Before the match, the headmistress was also a bit helpless.
"For this match, we'll try to catch Yujin's group in the first round! As long as they don't anticipate our change-up, we have a chance to catch them off guard! As for the second round against those rookies, we'll just have to see how things go on the field. Don't put too much pressure on yourselves."
A full-force assault against the rain-and-thunder combo! And leaving it up to fate against the Emperor of Luck combo.
It was quite a realistic approach.
If you didn't know better, you'd think they were trying to catch the rookies in the first round and facing the famous veterans in the second.
There was no other reason than the fact that something like "luck" is truly impossible to strategize against.
And then, after the first round began, both sides revealed their Pokémon—
The Otter Team was completely stunned, while the Starlight and Frost side clenched their fists.
"Yes!"
Their tactic had successfully caught its target!
Their opponent hadn't anticipated a trick. Yujin was still using his ace, Raichu, and hadn't rashly switched to Kingdra.
And this had played right into the headmistress's calculations!
Although the players for Starlight and Frost in this match were still Ivy and Bianca, their Pokémon had changed!
Ivy brought out a new Pokémon she had been training, but which was making its debut today: Gastrodon.
A slug-like Pokémon that looks a bit like a large snail. Its entire body is soft, with a slightly harder shell on its back, but it's still not particularly tough, about the texture of soft plastic.
Its type is Water/Ground.
Gastrodon has two forms, with no difference in typing, only in appearance.
Ivy's was the reddish-brown variety, commonly found in coastal waters.
And on Bianca's side, she had once again brought out the cute little pet, Pachirisu!
The moment this Pokémon appeared, the stadium was in an uproar.
"Pachirisu! Oh, my Pachirisu! It's so cute! How can a Pokémon as cute as Pachirisu exist in this world!"
"I want to hug it! I want to pet it! I want to rub its tail!"
"I want it to slap my face with its fluffy tail, hehehe!"
The surrounding spectators silently distanced themselves from this last person.
The gazes of the guys around seemed to be saying: A person's proclivities are their own, but I still suggest you see a doctor.
The commentators were also amused.
"This match between Starlight and Frost and the Otter Team is really interesting. First, the beginner-friendly Beedrill, and now a domestic pet, Pachirisu. The Pokémon choices of both sides in this match are really unique. It feels like the three teams remaining in the playoffs are all very free-spirited in this regard."
The new "big three" of the Kubfu Alliance were, in a way, all very free-spirited.
Perhaps it was a concentrated outburst after decades of suppression.
But at the same time, another guest commentator offered a more professional opinion.
"The type combination of both sides in this match is very similar. Both have Water and Electric types. Setting aside the unconventional choice of the cute pet, Pachirisu, Starlight and Frost's response is actually quite scientific."
For a moment, the audience could only see the Pachirisu that shouldn't have been on a professional stage.
Some may have even recalled the painful experience of being screwed over in their amateur matches by a teammate's pet Pachirisu, and their expressions subconsciously contorted in pain…
But the professionals obviously saw more—
In this match, Starlight and Frost's targeting was actually perfect!
Gastrodon has the Ground type, which gives it a massive immunity to Electric-type energy damage!
And Pachirisu has the Volt Absorb ability. Until its charge is full, it's also immune to Electric-type energy damage and can even heal itself by absorbing electricity.
This Pokémon combination from Starlight and Frost had directly and completely banned Raichu's strongest ultimate move, Thunder!
At the same time, Gastrodon's ability, Storm Drain—
It passively draws all Water-type attacks in a small area towards itself, while being completely immune to the corrosion of Water-type energy, and can even absorb the Water-type energy in the attack to boost its own stats!
It's essentially the Water-type version of Lightning Rod.
While protecting the Pachirisu, it had also banned most of Politoed's attacking options!
You have to say, the Starlight and Frost coach's arrangement was truly brilliant!
The rain-and-thunder combo was now completely sealed!
At the start of the match, Yujin had a headache.
How was he supposed to attack?
He had no ideas!
But on the other hand, Ivy and Bianca had so much they could do!
"Pachirisu, use Baby-Doll Eyes on the Raichu!"
"Gastrodon, protect the Pachirisu while setting up a Rock Tomb, then prepare to use Earth Power!"
In this round, as usual, the cute little Pachirisu was playing support, not attacking, and was fully dedicated to weakening the enemy and supporting its teammate.
And the Gastrodon stood in front of the Pachirisu, preventing the enemy from easily getting close to the cute little creature.
For now, this Gastrodon barrier was giving Yujin and his partner a major headache.
Thunder had no target…
Water-type attacks would be drawn in by the Storm Drain ability…
Their two main attack options were both useless.
And so, they had no choice but to—
"Raichu, use Iron Tail in close combat!"
"Politoed, Body Slam!"
But Bianca had anticipated this.
The Pachirisu hid behind the Gastrodon, occasionally popping its head out. After hitting the left side with Baby-Doll Eyes, it would hit the right. Occasionally, it would throw in a Charm, just not letting the two opposing Pokémon get a good charge or tail whip.
When the Politoed used Safeguard to clear the debuffs, the little guy threw a Sweet Kiss at the Raichu.
The Raichu was hit and became confused, jumping up and smacking its own teammate, the Politoed, with its tail.
When the Raichu used Safeguard to clear the status, the Pachirisu started to use Attract on the male Raichu.
The Raichu immediately expressed that this was a good idea!
For a moment, it was completely infatuated with the little guy.
And while the Pachirisu was showing off its skills, the Gastrodon had been diligently and silently repeating the two moves, Earth Power and Recover.
The Ground type is super-effective against the Electric type.
These continuous Earth Powers were making the Raichu cry out in misery!
In this round, Starlight and Frost had, for a rare change, pulled off a Demon-King-level tactical counter
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