"This guy is so underhanded. Luckily I didn't run into him, or I definitely would have lost."
In the spectator stands, Xiao Luoxue and Ling Wanqiu cried out at Li Xuan's deviousness. Had either of them been his opponent, they might have actually slipped up and lost to him.
After all, the information they had gathered previously painted him as utterly unremarkable. It felt like he had reached the Top 64 on luck alone.
Who could have guessed this guy was playing the pig to eat the tiger?
"Being so underhanded won't end well for him. Look, he's about to lose."
They had absolute confidence in Jiang Chen. No matter how deep Li Xuan hid his strength, he couldn't possibly defeat Jiang Chen.
After Salamence underwent Mega Evolution, its strength reached a level on par with Scyther.
Scyther was at Elite Four Stage 7, and Mega Salamence's current strength was also at Elite Four Stage 7. Usually, with equal strength, a pseudo-legendary would have the advantage, but Salamence's wing had been injured just moments before.
Even after Mega Evolution, the injury to its wing remained, making it extremely difficult for it to take flight.
As long as it couldn't fly, Jiang Chen's Scyther had a massive chance at victory.
"Mega Salamence, use Dragon Claw!"
Mega Salamence rapidly closed in on Scyther. As it neared, Scyther used Quick Attack, instantly vanishing from its spot.
Leaving an afterimage in the air, Scyther reappeared behind Mega Salamence, its scythes swinging down in a relentless series of slashes.
Under Scyther's assault, several wounds appeared on Mega Salamence's body. Before the pseudo-legendary could even begin its counterattack, Scyther flashed away again.
Once it had pulled back some distance, an Air Slash was fired across the gap toward Mega Salamence.
Scyther's combat experience was simply too rich. Jiang Chen had previously used Scyther as a sparring partner for his many other Pokémon, which had caused Scyther's battle instincts to skyrocket.
"Dammit! Mega Salamence, use Dragon Rage!"
Li Xuan was furious. If Mega Salamence's wing wasn't injured, there would be no room for Scyther to be hopping around like this.
Even though Scyther was fast, Mega Salamence's speed was absolutely not inferior, provided it could get into the air.
Crawling on the ground, Mega Salamence's speed was nowhere near its peak.
"Scyther, use Agility to dodge."
Scyther was fast to begin with, but after using Agility, its movements became a blur, and Mega Salamence could barely even see its silhouette.
"How am I supposed to deal with this?"
Li Xuan felt a massive headache coming on.
One wrong move had caused him to fall into a disadvantage. If the wing hadn't been hurt, he definitely could have suppressed Scyther and forced it into a pathetic retreat.
"Scyther, use X-Scissor!"
Closing in on Mega Salamence once more, Scyther merged its scythes together and snipped at its foe.
Mega Salamence was tough and could take a hit, but even with that durability, it couldn't withstand a continuous barrage from Scyther.
"Use Dragon Rush!"
Murderous intent locked onto Scyther. Mega Salamence forced its injured wing to flap, barely lifting itself a few meters off the ground before diving toward its opponent.
Because of the wing injury, the power behind this Dragon Rush wasn't particularly impressive.
It was even struggling to land a hit. Scyther had just used Double Team, and over a dozen copies of Scyther instantly populated the field.
In such a short time, Mega Salamence couldn't tell which one was the real body.
Li Xuan couldn't judge correctly either, so Mega Salamence could only pick one at random to attack.
The Scyther it hit simply vanished. Clearly, it hadn't struck the real body, but one of the images from Double Team.
"Scyther, use Swords Dance!"
Because Mega Salamence's attack had missed, Scyther was given a window to use Swords Dance. After the dance, its attack power surged.
A sharp glint radiated from its scythes, as if they could slice through anything in existence.
At this moment, Scyther exuded a dangerous aura that made even Mega Salamence feel a sense of peril.
"Keep up the attack! Use Cross Poison!"
This strike landed right on Mega Salamence's weak point and inflicted a poisoned status. For Mega Salamence, this was fatal.
"Keep going! Scyther, use Bug Buzz!"
The ultrasonic attack made Mega Salamence look incredibly uncomfortable. It shook its head, trying to regain clarity.
"While you have the chance, keep attacking! Use X-Scissor again!" Jiang Chen ordered.
In terms of stamina, Scyther couldn't compare to Mega Salamence. Thus, they had to end this quickly. Jiang Chen didn't want to drag this out.
If Salamence hadn't Mega Evolved, it would have been finished by Scyther already. It was a pity Scyther couldn't Mega Evolve.
If Scyther evolved into Scizor, it would then be able to undergo Mega Evolution.
After knocking Mega Salamence back with X-Scissor, Scyther followed up with Fury Cutter, slashing at its opponent continuously. This was Scyther's most adept offensive style.
"Mega Salamence, use Protect!"
Li Xuan had no choice but to have Mega Salamence use Protect to block the assault, fearing it would be defeated in one fell swoop.
"Pull back!"
Seeing Mega Salamence use Protect, Jiang Chen immediately had Scyther create some distance.
"You're not giving me a single opening, are you?" Li Xuan's brow furrowed.
He had been hoping Jiang Chen would keep pressing the attack. Instead, by having Scyther retreat, Jiang Chen denied Mega Salamence any chance of a counter-strike.
Because Scyther had pulled back, Mega Salamence's Dragon Claw was retracted, as any follow-up would have hit nothing but air.
"Attack again! Use Fury Cutter once more!"
Simple use of Fury Cutter was enough to deal with Mega Salamence. Although its base power wasn't high, the damage from consecutive hits stacked up to a considerable degree.
At the very least, Mega Salamence was starting to buckle under Scyther's damage.
Scyther had already boosted its attack with Swords Dance. No matter how strong Mega Salamence's defense was, it couldn't hold out forever.
"I, a dignified pseudo-legendary trainer, am actually being bullied like this."
Li Xuan felt incredibly stifled.
From the start of the battle until now, had Mega Salamence managed to inflict any damage on Scyther? Not a single bit.
"In terms of being a punching bag, I think your Mega Salamence is pretty impressive," Jiang Chen said, giving Li Xuan a thumbs up.
Li Xuan's face turned pitch black. Was he being mocked? The more he thought about it, the more suffocated he felt.
Ifif he had only taken Scyther seriously from the start, he would never have ended up this passive. In the end, it all came down to that injured wing.
If the wing were healthy, it could have soared freely in the sky. At that height, most of Scyther's attacks wouldn't have posed a threat to Mega Salamence.
"Mega Salamence, use Outrage!"
With no other options left, Li Xuan ordered Mega Salamence to unleash Outrage.
Although Outrage had its drawbacks and was a double-edged sword that hurt both the user and the foe, Li Xuan had no other choice.
If he let the battle drag on, Mega Salamence would eventually lose its ability to fight, slowly being worn to death by Scyther in a humiliating fashion.
"Scyther, what you need to do next is simple. Use Agility to continuously dodge Mega Salamence's attacks," Jiang Chen immediately instructed.
Now that the opponent was using Outrage, Jiang Chen wasn't stupid enough to let Scyther go head-to-head with it. Besides, Scyther wouldn't win a direct clash anyway.
Jiang Chen would never underestimate a Mega Salamence using Outrage.
The main issue was Scyther's fragile build; it wasn't very tanky. If Scyther were a Garchomp, Jiang Chen would have charged straight in for a head-on collision.
Scyther chose to avoid the fight. Relying on its own natural speed boosted by Agility, it ensured Mega Salamence couldn't even touch a hair on its body.
With its eyes blood-red, Mega Salamence was helpless. It lashed out in a blind rage, unleashing moves randomly. Even the referee scurried to a safe zone upon seeing this.
Referees were usually the ones who hated Outrage the most. Once a Pokémon used it, its rage would hit its peak, and it would lose its rationality. There was a high chance the referee could be caught in the crossfire.
However, the current competition did not ban the use of Outrage, so the referee could only deal with it.
"Is running away all you know how to do with your Pokémon?" Li Xuan couldn't help but snap.
"What else should I do? You want me to go head-to-head with a Mega Salamence using Outrage? Wouldn't that just be low-IQ behavior?"
Jiang Chen's words left Li Xuan with no rebuttal. Charging in against an opponent using Outrage was either a sign of extreme overconfidence or utter stupidity.
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