Chapter 251: News of the Exchange Match
"That Earthquake from Excadrill... it lasted for a good five or six seconds, right? How can it sustain a high-level move like that for so long?"
Dante's eyes were wide with terror.
It wasn't that Earthquake couldn't last that long—a Pokémon's endurance depends entirely on its stamina and strength. A strong enough Pokémon could definitely do it.
But the problem was, Earthquake was a high-level move. For a typical Advanced-rank Pokémon, just mastering it was impressive enough. I know your Excadrill is exceptional, but this is just ridiculous, isn't it?
It was too much.
As a trainer specializing in Poison-types, if his Pokémon had to face an Earthquake that lasted that long, they would be utterly annihilated. Besides his Crobat, any of his Pokémon on the ground would be completely helpless.
At that moment, the way Dante looked at Basalt was tinged with fear.
"I imagine that Excadrill must have obtained some priceless Ground-type treasure. Otherwise, its control over Ground-type energy couldn't possibly be this strong."
Blaze's eyes glinted with envy. It was obvious this treasure was no simple thing. In terms of just the Earthquake move, his own Camerupt might only be a cut above. The problem was, his Camerupt was a peak Pro-level Pokémon, a full rank and more above Basalt's Excadrill.
And Basalt... hadn't he only just become an Advanced-rank trainer?
"Has Basalt's strength already reached this level without anyone noticing?"
Sylvie's brow furrowed, a sigh escaping her.
When school had started, she had been impressed by Basalt, but she hadn't paid him too much mind. With her Milotic and its type advantage, she had been absolutely confident she could take down his Excadrill.
But now, she wasn't so sure.
"It looks like I'll have to make a trip to Azure Lake this weekend," Sylvie resolved silently.
...
On the battlefield, Roman's face was the color of a pig's liver. But the die was cast. He couldn't just surrender without a fight, could he?
"Go, Honchkrow!"
Roman released his second Pokémon.
It was a vicious-looking avian Pokémon, resembling a crow. It wore a large, fedora-like crest on its head, and its wings and tail had prominent red markings. It was the Flying/Dark-type Pokémon, Honchkrow.
"Honch-krow!"
A hoarse cry came from Honchkrow's beak, enough to give anyone goosebumps.
But in the next second, it was on its knees.
RUMBLE!
The giant rocks that had been floating around the edge of the field, as if equipped with a homing function, swarmed towards the airborne Honchkrow like piranhas smelling blood.
"KROOOW!"
Honchkrow let out a piercing shriek.
When the dust settled, the proud, aloof expression it had upon entering the field was gone, replaced by terror. It was panting heavily.
The move Stealth Rock's damage is calculated based on type matchups. Against the Flying-type Honchkrow, it was super-effective.
Furthermore, Pokémon like Honchkrow were typical glass cannons, with high attack but fragile defenses. They couldn't take a hit.
And on top of all that, Excadrill's mastery of Rock-type energy was incredibly high.
With all three factors combined, it was understandable that Honchkrow was left with critical health after just one hit from Stealth Rock.
Of course, it was only understandable to Basalt. Everyone else found it hard to accept.
Stealth Rock was supposed to be a support move, the icing on the cake. But in Excadrill's hands, it had become a primary offensive weapon.
If it were a Pokémon with a 4x weakness to Rock, would it have been taken out in one hit?
With the Stealth Rock activated, the battle resumed.
Roman, his eye twitching, was clearly going for broke. He shouted, "Honchkrow, Mean Look!"
"Looks like Roman is going for a desperation play. The next move has to be... Perish Song."
Shane smacked his lips, his eyes narrowing, having seen through Roman's intentions.
As fellow reserve members, he and Roman were in the same class and got along well, so they knew each other's strategies.
Honchkrow was already at critical health. If Perish Song succeeded, he could at least salvage some pride. Then he could use his third Pokémon against Basalt's second and try to even the score. That way, the loss wouldn't be quite so humiliating.
As for actually winning, Roman had already given up hope.
"Krow! Krow! Krow!"
In the air, Honchkrow flapped its wings, circling as a black, cold light shot from its eyes. This Honchkrow was clearly very skilled with Mean Look. With just a single glance, Excadrill was hit by the black light and was now trapped, unable to be switched out.
But Basalt wasn't concerned.
Can't switch out? Then I just won't switch out.
As long as I strike fast enough, Perish Song can't catch me!
"Rock Slide!"
Basalt launched a fierce assault, but Honchkrow seemed prepared and blocked it with Protect.
Unfortunately for it, Excadrill's Rock-type moves weren't known for their endurance. So, Honchkrow managed to defend against it.
"Krow... Krow... Krow..."
A strange song began, turning into energy notes that scattered and seeped into Excadrill's body.
Perish Song, successful!
But Basalt paid it no mind and ordered another Rock Slide. With such abundant Rock-type energy, he could afford to be reckless.
Honchkrow, however, couldn't. It was impossible for it to use Protect again so soon. It tried to dodge the barrage of rocks, but there were too many of them, and it wasn't particularly fast or agile. In the end, it couldn't escape its fate and was defeated.
But fortunately for Roman, it had laid the groundwork for him. At least he wouldn't be swept.
"Thank you for your hard work, Honchkrow."
Roman recalled his Pokémon, thanking it before throwing out his third.
It was a crocodile-like Pokémon with dark red skin and many black stripes. It had three sharp claws on each hand and foot and a long, powerful jaw. Its belly was white.
"A Krookodile?"
Basalt's eyebrow shot up. This was an excellent Pokémon, one he was very fond of. The only pity was that it wasn't native to the Alliance, but seemed to live in large numbers in a region analogous to Africa.
BOOM!
Stealth Rock activated again, but it wasn't very effective against Krookodile.
On the contrary, after the rocks hit, Krookodile shot a dark glare at Excadrill. A dim light flashed over the latter's body.
The Intimidate Ability. Upon entering the battle, it lowers the opponent's Attack.
Without a doubt, Excadrill's Attack had been lowered.
But Basalt wasn't worried at all.
"Earthquake!"
At Excadrill's stomp, the ground began to shake violently once more.
"Krookodile, use Earthquake too!"
If you can't dodge it, you have to join it. Having no other choice, Krookodile also used Earthquake, but its power and duration were completely overwhelmed.
And so, Krookodile was caught in the aftershock.
Taking the opportunity while it was reeling, Excadrill sent a compressed, spiraling orb of energy at it. With a super-effective hit, Krookodile, as expected, went down. Intimidate could lower Excadrill's physical Attack, but not its Special Attack. And since Krookodile's own defenses were average, it couldn't take the hit.
The moment Krookodile fainted, a black aura finally appeared around Excadrill, but Basalt was quick and recalled it to its Pokéball.
The battle was already over.
Perish Song was one step too late.
"Krookodile is unable to battle! The winner is... Basalt!"
With the referee's final call, the showdown between the Rookie Kings of Centralis and Ganford Province finally came to a close.
"Just a narrow victory, just a narrow victory."
Basalt chuckled, clasping his hands in a gesture of humility as he walked off the field, still looking as calm and unbothered as ever.
After absorbing the Groudon scale, Excadrill's Ground-type moves were no weaker than an average Pro-level Pokémon's. And since its other aspects weren't weak either, beating the newly-promoted Roman was a piece of cake. Basalt wasn't surprised at all by the clean sweep.
But the more nonchalant he acted, the more everyone thought he was just showing off.
"Dante, this guy is so arrogant. Don't you want to go up there and teach him a lesson?" Blaze said, looking at Dante, clearly trying to stoke the flames.
But Dante wasn't falling for it. Excadrill's Ground type completely countered his Poison Pokémon. Going up there would be serving himself up on a platter.
"Lana?"
Not giving up, Blaze turned his attention to Lana, the Rookie King from Qiong Island, but she simply ignored him.
Seeing this, Blaze beat his chest in frustration. "You're young! Just go for it! Failure isn't scary. What's scary is being afraid to face failure, being afraid to challenge a strong opponent!"
But the freshmen turned a deaf ear, acting as if he were just talking out of his ass.
Just then, a beautiful woman in a white dress with long, black hair walked in. Seeing that no one was training, she asked, "Hey? What are you all doing? Don't you need to train?"
"Captain? Why are you back?" Blaze immediately stopped trying to instigate a fight and dropped his act.
"What's going on?" Bella Bai raised an eyebrow, a look of displeasure on her face.
"Basalt and Roman just had a spar. Everyone was just watching and talking about it."
"Oh? A spar between Basalt and Roman? What was the result?" Bella's interest was instantly piqued. As things stood, both Roman and Basalt were likely to become official members of the school team by their senior year. Of course, she was keeping a close eye on them.
"Err... Basalt won. With a 3-0 sweep."
Bella's eyes went wide. She felt like she must have misheard, her face filled with disbelief.
She looked seriously at Blaze. "A 3-0 sweep? Are you serious?"
"Captain, would I dare lie to you?" Blaze's face was full of grievance, all of his earlier swagger gone.
Hearing this, Bella looked at Basalt and nodded in satisfaction. "It seems your strength has improved quite a bit recently. Not bad, not bad."
"You flatter me, Senpai," Basalt said with a humble grin.
But Bella's eyes narrowed. "But Basalt, I hope you can maintain this momentum in the upcoming exchange match against Saffron University."
"An exchange match against Saffron University?"
Basalt's eyebrow shot up, his interest piqued.
Speaking of which, it had been a while since he'd had a proper match.
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