In just a moment, Milotic followed the water on the ground. It had already reached the side of the field where Lina was.
This meant that all of Lina's previous hard work was now completely useless. Most importantly, as long as that water remained there, the same thing would happen even if she tried again!
"Damn it!!"
How did he think of this idea!?
Lina had no other choice. She had to deal with the standing water first. She gave an order, and Piloswine drew in a breath. Then it used Icy Wind.
The freezing wind swept across the water. In an instant, the shallow puddles froze into a thin layer of ice!
"An effective response! This way, no matter how much water there is, it can be frozen into ice in an instant!" the commentator praised Lina's way of handling the situation. But then the commentator became worried for Natsui. "However, this is not good news for Milotic. So, what will Natsui do now?"
Does she want to use this method to stop Milotic from moving?
Natsui saw that Lina on the other side looked relieved. He smiled gently.
Does she think she found a way to win?
She is thinking too simply!
"Milotic, use Rain Dance!"
Milotic heard Natsui's command. It raised its head and cried toward the sky. In the next second, the clear sky was suddenly covered in dark clouds. With low thunder rumbling overhead, rain began to fall. The rain covered the whole Ice Battlefield!
Rain Dance was successful!
Natsui looked at Lina on the other side again.
Come on, let me see how you deal with this now!
At that moment, Lina looked up at the rain. She was very worried, and she also felt helpless.
This is really...
She was powerless against this weather unless she could make the sky sunny again or wait for Rain Dance to end. Even if she told Piloswine to keep using Icy Wind until it was exhausted, it would not help at all.
Of course, she could use Blizzard to try to disrupt the dark clouds. But Blizzard would only last for a short time. Even if it could stop the rain briefly, Rain Dance lasted much longer.
Once Blizzard stopped, it would continue to rain. The situation would not change.
This is difficult...
Lina knew that fighting Milotic under these conditions was not wise. She shook her head. Helpless, she used a Poké Ball to recall Piloswine.
"Lina chose to compromise, but there is no other way..." the commentator said in a very regretful tone. "Originally, Piloswine had a chance to get close to Milotic, but the constant rain stopped that. Now, let's see which Pokémon Lina will send out next! Oh, it's out! It is her Swampert!"
Just as the commentator said, Lina sent out her last Pokémon: Swampert.
Since she sent it out now, this Swampert was likely Lina's first partner. It was almost certainly her strongest Pokémon.
In fact, it was not just Lina. Most trainers saved their strongest Pokémon for the second half of the battle. This way, they could preserve their strength and choose an opponent after watching the earlier rounds. Also, it gave them a better chance to turn things around when they were in a bad position.
This switch was very smart and very fast. It was lucky that Piloswine had just entered the field and had not taken damage yet. If she had waited until it was covered in wounds like Houndoom, it would have been too late.
This also showed that pressure could force someone to grow quickly.
Natsui did not change his Pokémon. He kept Milotic on the field to face Swampert. This caught the attention of Ash and his friends.
"Natsui... didn't change his Pokémon again?"
"Does he want to go for another three-Pokémon sweep?"
Two Pokémon, two sweeps? How much confidence did he have?
"Don't overthink it," Misty said, making Ash and the others calm down. "Natsui is just training his Pokémon normally. He has never set a goal for how many he can defeat!"
Ash gave a sheepish smile. Misty was scary, so he did not say anything else. He just sat up straight.
On the field, Milotic and Swampert started fighting.
They were both Water-types, but Swampert was also a Ground-type. That meant Swampert did not resist Water-type moves. It could also use Ground-type moves to attack Milotic.
But on this ice, it was not clear how useful Ground-type moves would be.
The rain continued to fall. Even the audience members near the field were getting wet. Under the rain, the two Pokémon stopped testing each other and began fighting seriously!
They both knew that Water-type moves would not do much. So, both Pokémon used other attacks instead. For example, Swampert used Mud Shot to launch mud at Milotic.
Milotic used Twister and blew the mud away.
Lina saw that long-range attacks were not working. She immediately told Swampert to charge Milotic and force a close-range battle.
Natsui was not afraid. However, he did not hurry to counterattack. Instead, he let Milotic act as though it were struggling around the ice rocks. That made Lina think it was weak in close combat.
The moment she became careless, Natsui told Milotic to use Dragon Tail. It slammed hard into Swampert's body!
Pa!
The hit was quite heavy. It knocked Swampert back several steps.
Lina was shocked. She no longer dared to let Swampert get too close. At the same time, she felt irritated by Natsui's tricks.
He is very strong, but he still uses little tricks. That is so annoying!
Natsui had no idea what she was thinking. He only saw that Swampert had become more cautious, and he felt it was a pity. If Lina had stayed aggressive, the battle would have ended quickly. But now, it would take more effort.
As Swampert became more reserved, Milotic became more forceful.
The roles of attack and defense changed very quickly. Milotic's smooth scales made it even harder to deal with in the rain and on the ice. Its attacks were difficult to avoid.
Fortunately, Swampert had two strong arms. That gave it an advantage in close combat.
But that advantage only lasted for a while.
Milotic avoided one of Swampert's Iron Tails, then moved like a snake. It found the perfect timing and used Wrap to bind Swampert tightly!
As Milotic tightened its body, Swampert's face turned red!
"This is bad!" Lina's expression changed. Even though she had been careful, Natsui had still found an opening. She shouted, "Swampert, break free quickly!!"
But it was not easy to break free.
Swampert was 1.5 meters tall. Natsui's Milotic, however, was 6.2 meters long. Its long body was a natural advantage. Even though Swampert was powerful, its arms and legs were pinned together. It had no room to use its strength!
Even so, Swampert did not stop resisting. It tried to force one arm free. It wanted to push Milotic away.
But the rain kept falling. Milotic's body was wet, and its scales were extremely smooth. Swampert could not get a proper grip at all!
This was a problem!
Even worse, as time passed, Swampert started to feel weaker and weaker. It felt as though its bones were about to snap!
"Swampert!!"
Lina knew that if this continued, she would lose. She quickly tried to recall Swampert with a Poké Ball. But Milotic shifted its body and used its back to block the red light!
Since the light never reached the target, Swampert could not be recalled. Lina's face looked even worse!
"It's over." Natsui lowered his gaze and said calmly, "Milotic, finish it!"
Milotic raised its tail high above Swampert!
Swampert struggled even harder. It even spat water at Milotic's tail, trying to force it back!
But a Water-type attack did not do much to another Water-type.
Milotic twisted its tail to avoid the water. Its tail then glowed with a blue-purple light. It released Swampert and brought its tail crashing down on it!
Pa!
The movement was as smooth as flowing water. Before Swampert could react, Milotic's tail struck it right on the head!
The blow was heavy, and it knocked Swampert unconscious on the spot.
"Swampert is unable to battle! The winner is Milotic!"
The referee raised the flag. Lina felt cold all over. Once Swampert had been defeated, all hope was gone. She was about to lose the match.
Her strongest Pokémon was down. Her other two Pokémon were both at a disadvantage against Milotic.
The rest of the battle played out exactly as she feared. She sent out Piloswine and then Houndoom, and both were easily defeated by Milotic...
She lost completely. She lost so badly that she never even got to see Natsui's third Pokémon.
This was a huge blow to her. For a while, she even started to doubt whether she was really qualified to stand on this stage.
Unlike her, Natsui was hearing the deafening cheers of the audience.
Using only two Pokémon, he had won two matches in a commanding fashion. This result was like a declaration to all of Hoenn that he was the strongest trainer in the Ever Grande Conference!
The top contenders and the breakout competitors had all been defeated by him with ease!
Only now did the audience fully realize how terrifying Natsui was. Before, they had thought he was merely strong because his battles had ended too quickly. But now, he had defeated another powerful trainer even more decisively. Everyone was watching him!
He had the ideal presence and the strength to match it.
Now, everyone had changed their view. Everyone wanted him to win the championship!
No one even doubted whether he could win anymore because he was simply too strong. The only thing people were wondering now was this: who would his opponent be, and how would he defeat them?
By this stage of the tournament, everyone had already seen the strength of every remaining player. But no one seemed to be on the same level as this man.
No one looked like a real threat to him!
Only two rounds of the main tournament had been played so far. Yet across those two rounds, this man had used eight Pokémon.
All eight had crushed their opponents with overwhelming force.
He had not lost a single round!
Compared to him, the other players had all lost their shine. There were no other undefeated competitors left. His strength was clearly above everyone else's!
Unless he made a huge mistake or intentionally threw the battle, people could not imagine anyone beating him!
The cheers of the crowd echoed through the stadium. Natsui waved his hand and walked into the tunnel.
Mr. Goodshow watched him from a window. He remained silent. He looked very old and worn out.
John smoked a cigarette and walked to his side. He gave a bitter smile and said, "Public opinion has already exploded. We can no longer stop his momentum. It seems the championship already belongs to him."
Mr. Goodshow said nothing.
John asked again, "What do you want to do now? Do you still want to keep arranging the strongest opponents for him?"
But the only answer he got was a helpless sigh.