NOVEL NEXT Chapter 326: Forced Error
After the second round ended, anyone with eyes could see that Arthur now had the advantage.
The gasps from the live audience grew even more astonished!
Arthur's appearance today felt like it was specifically designed to slap the faces of his doubters.
At first, people didn't believe he could play as a main singles player, thinking he didn't have enough Pokémon. And then, he immediately pulled out a new Charizard.
Then, people questioned the strength of his Charizard, thinking it was just there to make up the numbers. And then, he used the Charizard in both of the first two rounds, and it delivered a stunning performance!
Now, there wasn't much left for the doubters to say…
In the next round, as the winner, the Sea Carp player got to send out his Pokémon first.
After a moment of deliberation, he ultimately chose not to switch Pokémon, having Mandibuzz fight again.
And so, Arthur sent out Greninja once more.
The whistle blew, and the battle began!
"Mandibuzz, use Air Slash!"
"Water Shuriken!"
Because Mandibuzz still had the speed boost from its Weak Armor ability, Arthur didn't choose to have Greninja blindly pursue. Instead, he simply engaged in a long-range battle of attrition.
Normally, this kind of long-range exchange isn't Greninja's forte. Using all of its Water Shurikens as throwing stars would be very inefficient; it would run out quickly.
But he could afford it, because Mandibuzz was starting in a terrible condition!
The Flare Blitz from Old Flame's daughter, boosted to its absolute limit by Blaze, had crashed right into the "armor-broken" Mandibuzz. The result was a massive explosion and an incredibly effective hit! It had dealt a ton of damage!
Even now, Mandibuzz's chest was scorched black, all the feathers on its front gone…
Therefore, Arthur didn't need to be in a hurry. As long as he played it safe and slowly wore down his opponent, it was only a matter of time before they cracked.
Sure enough, after a few rounds, his opponent couldn't hold back and changed his tactics.
"Fly down and peck it, then use Assurance!"
With its speed boost, Mandibuzz was still faster than Greninja. It suddenly dove down for a peck, and Greninja couldn't dodge it.
Then, its entire body ignited with a purple energy, and it transformed into a purple phantom, lunging at Greninja again!
The Dark-type move: Assurance!
When the target has a fresh wound, this follow-up attack will deal massively increased damage if it hits that wound!
The Mandibuzz species is not naturally gifted on the offensive end. In battles between Pokémon of the same tier, their attack power is often on the weaker side. Therefore, they particularly favor niche moves like Assurance, which have many restrictions but a very high payoff.
Its ability gave it a speed advantage, making it harder for the enemy to dodge when it was pursuing a wound.
But Greninja was no pushover!
"Water Pulse, while leaning back!"
The vibrations from the water slowed Mandibuzz's movements for a moment. Greninja seized the opportunity and threw its upper body backward, nearly folding itself at a right angle.
Mandibuzz's first follow-up attack missed completely!
By the time it turned around to try again, Greninja had already snapped back to its original position, meeting it head-on and offering one of its own arms to Mandibuzz's beak.
"No!"
The opponent panicked.
Because the wound Mandibuzz had just inflicted on Greninja was not on its arm!
If Assurance doesn't hit a fresh wound, its damage is only average, not nearly worth its long cooldown.
And it didn't end there!
"Greninja, control its neck!"
Arthur followed up with a command, having Greninja wrap its arm around the opponent's neck and pull it in close!
Since you're here, you're not leaving.
Let's have a nice, close-quarters chat!
Greninja's long tongue-scarf even unwrapped itself from its neck and coiled tightly around Mandibuzz's!
With its move having missed, Mandibuzz had now put itself in an extremely disadvantageous position.
This was a classic case of a home delivery.
The opposing Sea Carp main player grit his teeth, but he was helpless.
In hindsight, this pursuit could be called a shameful tactical blunder.
But if you really analyzed it, you couldn't entirely blame him for being impatient.
At the end of the day, the Sea Carp player had been at a huge strategic disadvantage from the very beginning of this round.
Normally, Mandibuzz, with its speed advantage, could have maintained distance and slowly worn Greninja down in a long-range battle. Greninja shouldn't have been able to outlast it.
But the problem was, their starting conditions were completely unequal!
Mandibuzz had entered the round heavily injured. The opposing main player had no choice but to be impatient.
The situation had forced him to take a risky gamble, otherwise he would just be waiting to lose. An error was almost inevitable.
In professional terms, this is called a forced error. It's the fault of the situation, not the player.
But regardless of whether this blunder was intentional or not, the outcome was the same.
After being caught by Greninja in close combat, Mandibuzz's situation became even more perilous.
"Another Water Shuriken!"
Assurance has a very long cooldown, so Greninja's move came back online first. It immediately used its signature Water Shuriken again.
Only this time, it could keep many of the kunai in its hands instead of throwing them.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
"CAW!"
Mandibuzz's cries grew more and more shrill.
After a few more exchanges, the opponent was forced to use his ultimate.
"Brave Bird!"
But by now, Mandibuzz was at the end of its rope.
"Substitute!"
Greninja used Substitute to calmly dodge the attack, then finished it off with a single kunai.
The referee raised his flag—
"Mandibuzz is unable to battle!"
Another round won. Arthur was getting closer and closer to victory!
At this point, the Sea Carp fans didn't even know what to feel anymore.
The rookie who had left their team had, in the blink of an eye, ascended to the main singles stage. They had thought he would be a clown, making a fool of himself, but he was just getting better and better. It looked like he was about to win!
The more brilliantly Arthur shone, the more complicated their feelings became.
In the fourth round, Arthur had Greninja fight again, while the opponent was left with only his last Pokémon, the Noivern that had already been on the field.
For this match, Arthur's request was very simple.
"At all costs, severely damage that dragon's wings!"
He didn't need Greninja to win, so its fighting style was exceptionally unrestrained, completely disregarding its own defense.
Faced with this kamikaze-style of fighting, Noivern was also helpless.
Although it could defeat Greninja, it couldn't stop this completely reckless, suicidal assault.
Soon, the round was over. Noivern had paid a heavy price to take out Greninja.
And at this point, the Sea Carp main player's face was grim. There was no joy of victory in his expression.
As a former teammate who knew Arthur's roster well, he could easily guess what was coming next.
As he expected, in the final round, Arthur calmly sent out Little Lapras.
Noivern is a Flying/Dragon type, making it doubly weak to Ice!
When Greninja had sacrificed itself with such resolute determination to cripple Noivern's wings, it had made it impossible for it to dodge Little Lapras's Ice Beam with its speed.
If both sides had their dodge buttons removed, even though Noivern was significantly stronger than Little Lapras in raw power, faced with the disadvantage of a double weakness, it was ultimately powerless…
The moment the final round began, Arthur's commands became exceptionally simple.
"Use Ice Beam!"
…
…
"Again, Ice Beam!"
…
"Continue using Ice Beam!"
…
"Give it one last Ice Beam!"
…
No need for fancy tricks. No need for pointless theatrics.
Of the four Ice Beams, Noivern only managed to block one with Protect. The other three all hit, completely ignoring all of its efforts and struggles, and coldly carried it off the stage.
A double weakness… is truly unforgiving…
And with that, the match was over—
Arthur was victorious
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