Spirits, who made him the Gym Leader’s directory 40

Chapter 40: He Said He’s Good with Poison

“Amazing~! Brother Red is truly amazing~!”

Seeing that Blastoise’s Water Gun finally hit Arbok, Satoshi’s eyes lit up.

“Indeed, Blastoise’s shell has excellent defense, making Arbok’s swift surprise attack almost ineffective.”

Takeshi nodded in admiration. Blastoise was able to counterattack precisely because its shell defended against Arbok’s surprise attack.

“But that Arbok is also incredibly strong! I’ve never seen an Arbok this well-trained,” Kasumi added, blinking her eyes.

She knew that the Elite Four’s Kiku (referring to the Elite Four member Kiku, a common name in Pokémon related literature) also raised an Arbok, supposedly a very special one, but Kasumi herself had never seen it.

However, without a doubt, Gu Xin’s Arbok was the strongest Arbok she had ever seen.

That surprise pounce was incredibly fast! If it were her Starmie, it probably wouldn’t have been able to react in time and would have been hit.

“But Brother Red will definitely win!” Satoshi had absolute confidence in his older brother.

“Unable to break through Blastoise’s shell, Arbok really has little chance of winning,” Takeshi pondered. Arbok isn’t good at special attacks.

And the clash between Sludge Bomb and Water Gun did indeed prove that Arbok’s physical attacks couldn’t break through Blastoise’s shell, thus causing little damage.

On the surface, Arbok stood little chance, that much was clear.

“Not so sure, Gu Xin that guy, said he’s actually better with poison.”

Xiaolan’s beautiful eyes glimmered slightly as she spoke with a gentle smile.

Yes, this was a significant variable!

Takeshi looked curiously at Gu Xin. Poison-type trainers were rare, and he was eager to see what Gu Xin could do.

…

On the battlefield.

“Blastoise! Water Gun!”

Akahana slightly lowered his hat brim, his red eyes under the shadow of the brim fixed intently on Arbok, initiating the attack.

Blastoise opened its mouth, a blue light flashing, before unleashing a massive torrent of water, a flood-like stream surging towards Arbok.

The extravagant amount of water shocked many in attendance.

A Water-type Water Gun! It’s Blastoise’s signature move.

This is a particularly powerful special attack among Water-type moves, as its power is based on the user’s stamina. The better the user’s condition, the stronger the Water Gun; conversely, the worse the condition, the weaker the attack.

And right now, Blastoise was in excellent condition, so the power of the Water Gun was exceptionally strong.

The powerful Water Gun nearly swept half of the battlefield and continued to surge towards Arbok, leaving Arbok almost no room to dodge.

“Dig.” Gu Xin chuckled lightly.

Arbok’s cold eyes stared at Blastoise beyond the torrent of water, before suddenly lowering its head and burrowing underground.

A Ground-type Dig!

As the name suggests, it allows the user to burrow directly underground.

The Water Gun’s torrent submerged Arbok’s original position, with quite a bit of water seeping into the hole left by Dig, but this amount of water clearly wouldn’t affect Arbok.

On the battlefield, only Blastoise was visibly present.

“Rapid Spin!”

Akahana’s red eyes glimmered slightly. The best counter to Dig would be Earthquake, but Blastoise hadn’t learned that move yet.

So, this would be simple enough.

Blastoise tucked in its limbs, its body rapidly spinning and rising into the air.

“Arbok!”

From beneath Blastoise, a four-meter-long purple, large cobra, Arbok, burst from the ground, lunging towards Blastoise.

Simultaneously, a faint yellowish-brown light surrounded Arbok, the energy from Dig!

Bang!

Dig slammed into Blastoise. Blastoise shuddered, its Rapid Spin interrupted as its body was pushed back slightly.

But like the previous surprise attack, because Dig also hit the shell, the damage done to Blastoise was minimal.

“Water Gun! Hmm?” Akahana immediately ordered Blastoise to counterattack, but the next moment, he frowned slightly.

This time, after Arbok’s attack, it didn’t stop but immediately lunged towards the nearby Blastoise again, its long body lightning-fastly wrapping around Blastoise’s shell several times.

This was a Normal-type Bind! Using its body to tightly restrain the opponent.

Blastoise let out an uncomfortable growl, lowering its head to glare at Arbok’s head; Arbok returned a cold stare.

“…” Akahana fell silent.

Under these circumstances, Water Gun couldn’t hit Arbok, as Blastoise’s Water Gun was either from its mouth or from the cannon on its back.

But there were plenty of ways to break free from Bind.

“Withdraw.”

Akahana calmly ordered, a Water-type move, Withdraw.

Blastoise’s limbs and head immediately retracted into its shell, a white light illuminating its body, enhancing its defense by a level.

“Arbok! Thunder Fang!”

Gu Xin gestured towards Arbok.

Arbok immediately understood, its fangs sparking with electricity, but this was purely a ruse.

Arbok suddenly thrust its head into the opening where Blastoise’s head had retracted, making it appear as if it were trying to attack Blastoise’s head with Thunder Fang.

But in reality, Arbok had already sprayed the deep purple venom it held in its mouth directly into the shell, covering Blastoise’s retracted head.

Blastoise was stunned; it wasn’t Thunder Fang?!

“Rollout.”

Seeing this, Akahana still frowned, feeling something was wrong, but he couldn’t let Arbok remain attached to Blastoise indefinitely.

Though Blastoise found the sticky venom on its face somewhat unpleasant, it still began to rotate at high speed.

A Steel-type Rollout!

A metallic sheen emanated from Blastoise’s body, the increasingly fast Rollout making it almost impossible for Arbok to maintain its grip, and its body was flung off, crashing to the ground.

The Rollout Blastoise immediately turned around to attack Arbok.

However, at that moment, a layer of strange deep purple light appeared on the Rollout.

Akahana noticed this, his eyes narrowing. This was…?

Rollout’s speed slowed, and though it still hit Arbok, the reduced speed meant the impact was minimal.

The power of Rollout depends on the speed difference between the two Pokémon; the faster the rotation, the stronger the impact.

Arbok and Blastoise’s speeds were similar, so the power of Rollout was naturally weak.

However, compared to this, the unusual state of Blastoise was the focus of the Pavilion Masters present.

Blastoise emerged from its shell, its eyes tightly shut, its face contorted, clearly suffering from the poison.

A shocking deep purple poisonous light flickered across its body, with patches of poison spots appearing on Blastoise’s limbs and head.

The symptoms were clear… it was poisoned!

And severely!

“…” Akahana frowned deeply.

“What was that?!”

“Severe poison!! But when was it applied?!”

“The problem is, he never gave the order for Arbok to use a poison move!”

“Amazing~!”

Satoshi and the others were all extremely shocked, their expressions varied.

“Thunder Fang was a feint, the poison was the real attack.”

Akahana understood now. He’d felt something was off. If he’d really wanted to use Thunder Fang, a direct bite would have been enough to spread the electricity throughout Blastoise.

The initial poison quickly subsided, Blastoise glared fiercely at Arbok. The feeling of the poison just now had been excruciating!

If it weren’t for its strong will, it wouldn’t have been able to maintain the Rollout.

But now that it was poisoned, the following battle would be truly difficult, Akahana’s red eyes glimmered slightly.

“Arbok, Earthquake!” Gu Xin’s lips curled into a slight smile.

Arbok swung its tail, then slammed it hard on the ground.

Rumble!

A Ground-type Earthquake!

The ground trembled violently, the tangible Earthquake shockwave radiating outwards.

“Rapid Spin.” Akahana rapidly simulated various tactics in his mind.

Everything had been going smoothly, but with Blastoise being poisoned, the situation reversed. After all, this wasn’t ordinary poison; the damage would worsen over time.

Blastoise rapidly spun into the air, avoiding the Earthquake shockwave.

Fortunately, the poison had just taken effect, so the damage wasn’t very high yet, and Blastoise could still fight for a while.

“Water Gun!”

In mid-air, Blastoise extended its head and limbs, its mouth glowing with azure energy.

The next moment, a terrifying torrent of water erupted, like a deluge from the heavens, far more extravagant than the water produced by Surf.

“Take Down!”

Gu Xin didn’t use Dig this time, instead ordering Arbok to use Take Down.

A black gleam flashed in Arbok’s eyes as its body darted forward with incredible speed.

A Dark-type priority move, Take Down!

Soon, Arbok reached Blastoise’s position, and by then, the water from Water Gun had begun to fall on Arbok’s original location.

The next instant, Arbok launched itself, shooting towards Blastoise as it fell toward the ground.

“Blastoise! Withdraw!”

Akahana said sternly.

Withdraw, then use Water Gun after Arbok’s attack ended. It should definitely hit; the plan was sound.

But… the poison might activate then!

His worry immediately became a reality. Blastoise stopped its Water Gun and tried to retract its limbs and head into its shell, but it only managed halfway.

The deep purple poisonous light appeared again, the intense poison causing Blastoise to roar in pain, its face contorting, and the withdrawing movement halted.

The poison struck!

Bang!

Arbok’s Take Down struck Blastoise on the head. Blastoise groaned, its body knocked sideways, crashing heavily to the ground.

“Earthquake!”

Arbok’s tail glowed yellow, and the moment it landed, it slammed into the ground.

An Earthquake attack!

Rumble!

A violent earthquake shook the ground, the shockwave radiating outward, directly passing through Blastoise’s body.

Blastoise, its body flickering with eerie poisonous light, painfully curled up. The pain from the Earthquake combined with the poison was unbearable, both physically and mentally.

Hiss~!!!

The onlookers and Kasumi and the others gasped, their hairs standing on end.

Even just watching, they could feel how much pain Blastoise was in!

That series of attacks… was terrifyingly effective!

(End of Chapter)

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