Chapter 69: Grovyle versus Milotic

Xia Yu calmly considered countermeasures. It was obvious that this Milotic's tactic relied on Toxic to slowly wear down opponents. (Sword and Shield actually deleted the Toxic move!)

Tricky, far too tricky!

Facing such a sickening tactic, Xia Yu also found it quite troublesome. The only good news was that this Milotic had not yet learned Substitute, which was a blessing in disguise, but it still left Xia Yu feeling disgusted.

At this moment, Xia Yu completely forgot the scene where he had disgusted Wu Yaozu's Charmander using his Noibat. Right now, he also desperately wished he had a Pokémon that knew the move Taunt.

"Grovyle, Grassy Terrain!"

When in doubt, set up the terrain first. After hesitating for a moment, Xia Yu decided to deploy Grassy Terrain first. Grass-type moves would have increased power within Grassy Terrain, boosting Grovyle's output.

Seeing Grovyle release Grassy Terrain and showing no rush to attack, Su Muzi was not in a hurry either.

"Milotic, Aqua Ring."

[Aqua Ring]: Covers the user's body in a veil of water, continuously restoring HP.

Milotic radiated Water-type energy, enveloping itself so that its body was covered by a water veil, constantly nourishing its body and recovering stamina, essentially offsetting the continuous damage caused by burns.

After releasing their respective moves, both sides temporarily chose to remain stationary. Xia Yu did not dare let Grovyle get close, lest it fall victim to Milotic's Toxic move.

In reality, moves like Toxic were only likely to hit when released at close range; once distance was created, it was very hard to strike the enemy. Therefore, as long as the distance was properly controlled, Grovyle could also avoid being poisoned.

Seeing that Xia Yu kept Grovyle maintaining a distance from Milotic, Su Muzi did not mind at all, patiently waiting for Xia Yu to make a move.

"Grovyle, Leech Seed." Xia Yu hesitated slightly and chose to let Grovyle use Leech Seed. Since he was prepared for a battle of attrition, the Leech Seed move would come in handy.

"Milotic, Water Pulse." Su Muzi naturally saw through Xia Yu's intention. The moment Grovyle threw Leech Seed toward Milotic, she immediately commanded Milotic to use Water Pulse.

Water-type energy surged, forming a sphere of water in front of Milotic that spun and flew out, colliding with Leech Seed and knocking all the seeds away.

Although keeping a distance between Grovyle and Milotic could avoid poisoning, it likewise made it very hard for moves like Leech Seed and Worry Seed to hit Milotic. It could be said to have both advantages and disadvantages.

At the same time, this Milotic also possessed the move Mirror Coat, which required special attention. If Grovyle went all-out in a desperate gamble and used a high-power Grass-type move like Leaf Storm, getting caught off guard by a move like Mirror Coat would likely lead to an immediate defeat.

[Mirror Coat]: The user bounces back the special damage taken from the enemy with double the power.

"Xia Yu, if you're not going to attack, then I'll have my Milotic make the first move. Milotic, Ice Beam!"

Seeing that Xia Yu kept delaying his attack, Su Muzi took the initiative to have Milotic launch an offensive. Milotic opened its mouth to gather Ice-type energy in front of it, and then an Ice Beam erupted from its mouth, flying toward Grovyle.

Ice-type moves had a type advantage over the Grass-type Grovyle. If it took a solid hit from an Ice Beam, it would definitely deal massive damage to Grovyle.

Therefore, Xia Yu did not dare let Grovyle take it head-on.

"Grovyle, dodge the Ice Beam and charge in!"

This was the moment to test the results of Grovyle's special training. Grovyle fully displayed the advantage of its high speed, moving flexibly across the battlefield, easily dodging the Ice Beam move, and charging straight toward Milotic.

Xia Yu had another purpose in doing this: he did not want Grovyle to get bogged down in a prolonged engagement with Milotic; he planned to have Grovyle resolve the battle as quickly as possible and finish it swiftly!

The decisive moment was right now. If a powerful wave of attacks failed to take down Milotic, Grovyle was bound to lose.

"Night Slash!"

"Toxic!"

Both sides gave their commands almost simultaneously. The instant the two closed in, Milotic spewed venom from its mouth, successfully hitting Grovyle and causing it to fall into a poisoned state. Meanwhile, Grovyle also successfully executed Night Slash, Dark-type energy surging to cover the leaves on its wrists, slashing instantly across Milotic and tearing its scales, causing blood to well up.

Xia Yu had already guessed that the opponent would definitely use Toxic when Grovyle closed in, so he chose to have it use the high-power Dark-type physical attack move Night Slash, striving to inflict as much damage on Milotic as possible.

"Protect!"

After a wave of attacks, Milotic predictably used Protect. Xia Yu had anticipated this long ago and simultaneously commanded Grovyle to use Absorb: "Grovyle, Absorb."

This was simply a move Xia Yu had Grovyle use casually, with the sole purpose of breaking through the light shield of Protect. Just as Xia Yu anticipated, the Grass-type energy was successfully blocked by the Protect move.

"Milotic, Recover!"

"Grovyle, Grass Whistle!"

Following Protect with Recover to restore stamina and heal its injuries was something Xia Yu had also foreseen long ago. Therefore, the true trump card he had prepared was the Grass Whistle move chained right after Absorb. A Milotic using Recover was completely immobile, which meant Grovyle's Grass Whistle move was guaranteed to hit!

A flute formed from concentrated Grass-type energy condensed in front of Grovyle, and the melodious sound rippled out. Milotic, currently executing the Recover move completely unguardable, was struck by the Grass Whistle move and fell into a sleep state.

In the games, a Pokémon could only be afflicted with a single status condition at a time, but in reality, it was different—multiple status conditions could be inflicted simultaneously. Thus, Milotic was able to fall asleep despite already being burned.

It was uncertain how long the sleeping Milotic would take to wake up, and that duration of sleep was the key for Grovyle to secure the victory.

"Grovyle, Magical Leaf at maximum power!"

The move Xia Yu chose to have Grovyle use at this moment was none other than Magical Leaf. This was also the strongest Grass-type move Grovyle had learned so far, aside from Leaf Storm.

The Grass-type STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) combined with the boost from Grassy Terrain, along with the Grass-type's type advantage over Water-type moves, made the damage dealt by Magical Leaf extremely high. Sharp leaves slashed fiercely at Milotic, and as the leaves danced, countless tiny wounds were carved across Milotic's body, blood flowing freely.

However, Milotic's stamina had been replenished after using Recover, and its Special Defense was also extremely high; one or two Magical Leafs were simply not enough to knock Milotic down.

"A-aah..."

Having taken two Magical Leaf moves head-on, Milotic's body began to sway. The pain on its body gave signs that it was about to wake up. Seeing this, Xia Yu knew it was time to decide the outcome!

The moment Milotic woke up, the combination of Protect and Recover would not give Grovyle a single opening! Besides, the poison on Grovyle was already starting to take effect slowly.

"Grovyle, Leaf Storm!"

As Xia Yu's voice fell, leaves danced wildly, and a full sky of foliage wrapped around to form a gigantic Leaf Storm flying toward Milotic. Countless leaves cut through Milotic's body, enveloping it in a green ocean.