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The Grovyle's speed had reached its absolute peak in this moment. The months of intensive weight-bearing speed training had pushed the Pokémon to the pinnacle of its physical capabilities.
In terms of raw velocity, it was difficult for the Grovyle to fully unleash its speed advantage in such an open arena. In the rainforest, Grovyle's natural habitat, they were even more formidable.
Watching the Grovyle sprinting at top speed reminded Jacob of its extreme daily training regimen. The Pokémon's unwavering desire to become stronger had driven it to endure grueling training sessions exceeding ten hours a day.
Day after day.
The Grovyle would rise at six in the morning to train until ten at night. It never took a day off. Even Jacob allowed himself occasional rest, but his Pokémon always persisted.
Stronger! Stronger! Stronger! This word echoed through its mind because it was determined to become the most powerful Pokémon!
The Grovyle's eyes shone with determination, its gaze locked on the Cryogonal floating before it. The Ice-type was merely another obstacle on its path to greatness. Fighting spirit blazed in its eyes as it moved with such speed that the naked eye could hardly track its movements. The leaf blades on its wrists glowed with Bug-type energy as it pursued the rapidly rotating Cryogonal.
"X-Scissor! Keep up the pressure!" Jacob called.
The Bug-type energy enveloping the Grovyle's arms formed razor-sharp blades, which slashed toward the Cryogonal in quick succession. Using the combination attack three times in rapid succession had amplified its power to terrifying levels.
"BOOM!"
The high-speed rotating Cryogonal was forced to halt as if struck by a sledgehammer, with a deep, lengthy gash appearing on its ice-like body.
The Grovyle gave its opponent no chance to recover and slashed again!
"BOOM!"
Two consecutive strikes from its left and right arms left a cross-shaped wound on Cryogonal's crystalline body. Ice fragments scattered through the air, clear evidence of serious damage.
"Recover!" Elizabeth commanded.
Even with the protection of Reflect, Cryogonal couldn't withstand the combined power of the consecutive X-Scissor attacks, forcing it to use Recover once more!
The wounds on Cryogonal's body were quickly covered with fresh ice and snow, solidifying and healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
But before it could fully regenerate, the Grovyle launched itself forward again, preparing another Bug-type combination attack.
Elizabeth and her Cryogonal felt intense pressure as they faced the aggressive Grovyle. A simple combination attack had left them gasping for breath.
Cryogonal's body, not yet fully recovered, sustained new injuries. The fierce onslaught made it impossible for the Ice-type to defend itself effectively!
Elizabeth frowned. She needed a strategy to break this deadlock.
"Cryogonal, use Confuse Ray!"
The only solution she could think of was Confuse Ray, a status-altering move.
The transparent body of Cryogonal began emitting strange, pulsating light. Ghost-type energy surged through it as the crystalline Pokémon flickered continuously. In battle simulators, this would qualify as light pollution, with the dazzling display leaving opponents disoriented.
In the games, Confuse Ray had a 100% chance of confusing the opponent, making it one of the most powerful status moves.
But in real battles, there were various countermeasures. The most effective approach was to avoid looking directly at Cryogonal's glowing body. As long as the Grovyle didn't look at it, the light-based attack would be ineffective.
This reminded Jacob of a fighting technique he'd read about, where a martial artist avoided looking at his opponent's eyes and instead observed the movements of their feet, anticipating attacks through footwork. With the leaf on its head, the Grovyle somewhat resembled that fighter if you squinted.
"Grovyle, don't look at Cryogonal's body," Jacob instructed. "Watch the snowflakes falling beneath it instead."
Jacob naturally applied what he'd learned, preventing his Grovyle from staring directly at the eerie light emanating from Cryogonal's icy body. Instead, he had it track the snowflakes drifting below to pinpoint the opponent's position.
"Gro."
The Grovyle acknowledged Jacob's command, lowering its head to avoid direct eye contact with the confusing light. It pushed off with powerful legs and charged toward Cryogonal again.
Seeing that Confuse Ray had failed and the Grovyle's X-Scissor attacks were connecting again, Elizabeth grew anxious as Cryogonal's condition worsened. She issued another command: "Cryogonal, Recover!"
She could only hope to buy time through healing while relying on the poison to gradually wear down the Grovyle.
"Keep slashing! Don't give Cryogonal any chance to recover," Jacob called out.
The Grovyle's relentless assault put tremendous pressure on Cryogonal. At this crucial moment, both Light Screen and Reflect protecting Cryogonal disappeared one after another!
Without its defensive barriers, Cryogonal was vulnerable. Each X-Scissor strike left massive damage on its crystalline body. Combined with previous injuries, Cryogonal's condition deteriorated rapidly!
"X-Scissor, full power!"
"GRO!"
With one final, full-strength combination attack, the Grovyle sent Cryogonal flying backward. The Ice-type crashed to the ground, unconscious.
Jacob sighed with relief. Although he'd watched his Grovyle dominate the battle, he knew that if Cryogonal had employed Substitute or perfected its defensive strategy, his Grovyle would have struggled significantly.
He wondered which trainer had pioneered these frustrating defensive tactics in this region. They were even more annoying than competitive battle strategies he'd seen before, especially since Pokémon weren't limited to just four moves in real battles. Take Cryogonal, for example:
Toxic, Protect, Substitute, Light Screen, Reflect, Recover, Mist, Haze, Iron Defense, Aurora Veil—
A Pokémon mastering all these moves would be nearly impossible to defeat. Jacob found himself missing Fennekin at that moment; its Fire-type advantages would have quickly turned the tide. Unfortunately, China didn't have many native Fennekin, and newly introduced ones weren't battle-ready yet.
Jacob couldn't help but sigh while thinking to himself: if everyone's using defensive strategies, I can't blame myself for preparing some tricks of my own.
He contemplated strategies like "Shadow Trapper" and "Quick Claw Team." The latter wasn't very practical as it required extensive team coordination, but "Shadow Trapper" had potential.
He recalled having a Gengarite in his possession, so catching a Gengar wasn't impossible. Once he captured a Dragon-type Pokémon, he could search for a Gengar. It was time to show other trainers the fear of facing Shadow Tag.
As for Steel-type Pokémon... he'd wait and see.
"Jacob wins!" the referee announced.
Upon hearing the verdict, Jacob ran to his Grovyle, patted its head affectionately, and praised it generously: "Well done, Grovyle! Let's get that poison treated right away."
"Gro!" The Grovyle called back happily, its mood lifted by the victory. Its bond with Jacob grew stronger with each battle.
Looking at his towering Grovyle, Jacob felt a moment of nostalgia, remembering when he'd first encountered the tiny Treecko in the sanctuary months ago.
Before he knew it, the Treecko had evolved into a Grovyle. When the college tournament began, he planned to return to the Grass Secret realm so his Pokémon could reunite with its parents.
By then, his Grovyle should have evolved into a magnificent Sceptile.