svetikya Chapter 534
Chapter 534
Chapter 534
The tailwind effect left by the Dragons before they left the field was still there, and Latias's movements were faster and smoother than usual.
Just before the light wall completely closed, the mist ball was launched.
Theoretically, the faster Latias would have had a chance to strike again before Tapu Fini's Taunt hit.
But Xia Chi ignored him and said, "Continue, Mist Ball!"
He didn't even look at the approaching, provocative dark red ripple, as if it didn't exist at all.
The second mist ball was fired.
The pale purple energy blast passed through the light wall again, which reduced some of the damage.
The energy aura from the explosion when the mist ball hit Tapu Fini was slightly dimmer than before, and the damage was not significant.
The good news is that this time its "probability of reducing the opponent's special attack" feature has finally taken effect.
At the moment of impact, a dark purple aura of energy suddenly surged around Tapu Fini.
That's a sign that your special attack has been reduced.
Tapu Fini's Special Attack has been reduced by one level.
Dr. Kukui was not in a hurry.
A single attack reduction is nothing to a legendary Pokémon; there will be plenty of opportunities to clear it with Black Mist later.
Using the black mist now is a bit of a waste.
Latias hasn't started its buffing yet, so releasing Black Mist at this point would only reset a negligible Special Attack stat reduction, which is completely not worth it.
It's more effective to wait a while before using it. Wait until Latias has stacked a few more layers of enhancement before using Black Mist to wipe it all out in one go, killing two birds with one stone.
"The Power of the Moon!"
He chose to start the bombardment with fairy-attribute moves.
Tapu Fini gently waved its arms in front of it, and the pink energy membrane of the misty arena quickly converged above its head under its pull, and a pinkish-purple energy moon slowly rose behind the light wall.
The power of the moon condensed into a shape, transforming into a pinkish-purple beam of light that pierced through the light wall and hurtled towards Latias.
Xia Chi's expression remained unchanged. "Charging Beam."
Latias's red wings folded slightly at his sides, and two golden electric cores lit up at the tips of his wings.
Countless fine golden arcs of electricity surged from the wingtips, converging along the edges of the wings towards the center of the body, condensing into a golden beam of light in front of the chest that was only as thick as an arm but so bright it was almost piercing.
The charging beam shot out, narrowly missing the oncoming lunar energy in mid-air.
The two attacks did not collide; instead, they flew towards their respective targets.
Electric-type moves are twice as effective against Water and Fairy-type Tapu Fini, and even with Light Screen reducing their effectiveness, the damage is still considerable.
More importantly, the Charging Beam has a very high probability of boosting its own special attack ability.
Upon a successful hit, there is a 50% chance that the user's special attack will increase by one level.
A beam of charging energy struck Tapu Finch precisely.
The wall of light trembled violently on the contact surface, and the pale golden hexagonal light grid was briefly deformed under the impact of the electric current, but ultimately did not shatter.
The charging beam was weakened considerably after penetrating the light wall, leaving only a light golden arc burn mark on Tapu Fizz's dark skin.
But at the same time, a golden light flashed across Latias's body, and a layer of pale golden energy aura appeared around her and then instantly receded.
That means that one of her abilities has been improved.
Special Attack has risen a level.
Dr. Kukui frowned slightly.
He saw the direction of the flashing golden light; it was the standard visual effect of a special attack boost.
Is Xia Chi going to need further enhancement?
Didn't he guess that he would use the Black Mist later?
If you don't deal enough damage before the enhancements are cleared by the black mist, all those enhancements will be wasted.
This is a risk that any champion-level trainer should have been able to anticipate.
Xia Chi couldn't possibly be unaware of this.
No, if it were someone else, that possibility would certainly exist.
But that's Xia Chi.
It is no exaggeration to describe him as having "calculated every move perfectly".
He would never make such a basic mistake as "blindly strengthening his abilities only to have them wiped out by the black fog".
Unless... he has some hidden trick up his sleeve?
A backup plan that can render the black fog ineffective, a strengthened protection mechanism that exists outside the logic of the black fog.
Dr. Kukui's heart tightened.
He decided not to take any more risks and immediately chose to launch the plan ahead of schedule.
"Tapuffin, use Black Haze!"
He is about to remove Latias's Special Attack boost and also reduce Tapu Flipper's Special Attack nerf to zero.
We can't wait any longer. If we wait any longer, and Latias makes his move first, the black mist will be too late.
Tapu Fizz immediately agreed, slowly spreading its arms in front of its body, and a layer of dark gray mist began to appear on its dark body surface.
That was a harbinger of the black fog.
But then, Tapu Fini's body suddenly stiffened, and the mist vanished abruptly as if a fountain had been cut off.
A moment of surprise flashed in its indigo eyes.
It cannot be used.
How could this happen!
Tapu Fizz panicked and tried again to mobilize the black mist energy within its body, but every time that energy surged to the surface of its body in preparation for release, it would trigger an indescribable feeling of stagnation.
Still no success.
Dr. Kukui, watching from the sidelines, felt a sinking feeling in his heart.
Is Tapu Finch being provoked and blocked?
impossible!
He witnessed firsthand how the provocative dark red ripples struck Latias precisely the moment the light wall was erected, even though the dark energy had clearly seeped into her psychic field.
How could Latias possibly use provocation again?
This is nothing like Pokémon!
A Pokémon locked in Taunt cannot use any status moves, and Taunt itself is a status move.
Using a blocked ability to block an opponent is impossible in any version of the battle rules.
At the same time, this phenomenon also sparked heated discussions in the live stream chat.
[Huh? What's going on? Tapu Fini can't use Haze? Latias used Taunt? When?]
[I was watching the screen the whole time and didn't see her use Taunt! I only saw two mist orbs and a charging beam, all offensive moves, nothing special!]
[No, this isn't about when she used Taunt. What Pokémon would taunt back after being taunted? Being taunted means all status moves are locked, and taunting yourself is also a status move. How can you break the lock when you're already locked and then lock someone else down?]
[Strange, isn't it? Don't forget who the trainer in Latias is—it's a prison!]
Even so, this is still a bit outrageous...
On the battlefield, Xia Chi looked at Tapu Fini, which was unable to release its black mist, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, I had good luck today. I triggered Latias's Psychic Bond Pact with just three moves, which locked down Tapu Fini's status moves.
The effect of the Psychic type bond is "there is a 20% chance to inflict a Lock status on the opponent when using a move". This Lock status is almost identical to the effect of Taunt, which prevents the user from using status moves.
However, the difference is that this effect is not applied through moves, but rather through the passive judgment of the Psychic type bond itself.
It doesn't require Latias to actively use Taunt, or even for Latias to be in a state where it can freely use transformation moves.
It is a mechanism completely independent of the move system.
So even though Latias was hit head-on by Tapu Fini's taunt, and even though her own status moves were completely blocked.
The special status of the Psychic-type bond can still be triggered by attack moves and can still be applied to Tapu Fini.
This has led to the current situation that has made Dr. Kukui question the meaning of life.
Latias was indeed provoked, but Tapu Fizz was also indeed blocked.
The black mist was sealed off, the light screen continued to burn its effective time, the tailwind was allowing Latias to attack at an even faster frequency, the mist ball was constantly lowering its special attack, and the charge beam was steadily increasing its special attack.
Dr. Kukui had always thought the Black Mist was still there, so he wasn't in a hurry to fight it. Now he suddenly realized that the Black Mist couldn't be attacked at all, and Tapu Fini's condition had been silently weakened for several rounds.
Xia Chi's lips finally curled up slightly.
This trap was set the moment he issued the first "Mist Ball" command.
Next, all I need to do is keep attacking and keep provoking, and I'll likely win this match.
"Continue, charging beam!"
Xia Chi continued to give instructions at a leisurely pace.
The golden arc of the charging beam condensed again at Latias's wingtip, and the slender, bright current beam sliced through the pink light membrane of the misty arena, landing precisely on Tapu Fizz's dark body once more.
Because the light wall's weakening effect is still present, the damage is still not very high.
But the golden light that followed once again illuminated Latias, boosting its Special Attack by another level.
On the other end, Dr. Kukui took a deep breath.
With the black mist sealed off and Taunt unusable, Tapu Fini's entire tactical system of transformation moves was uprooted.
He gritted his teeth and commanded, "Moonlight Power!"
Although I don't know why I can't use transformation skills anymore, I can't just starve myself, can I?
He had no choice but to change his strategy, abandoning his original plan to strengthen Black Mist and continue his attack with pure Fairy-type damage.
Since most of the tactical aspects have been blocked, let's fight with damage, raw strength, and the most primal energy clash of legendary spirits.
On the battlefield, the energy fluctuations caused by the moves spread outwards.
The golden arc of the charging beam and the pinkish-purple pillar of the moon's power crossed each other in mid-air, each flying toward its own target, and then exploding into two halos of energy of different colors at their respective landing points.
Golden lightning exploded in front of Tapu Fizz, while pinkish-purple light burst open beside Latias.
However, neither move deals very much damage.
The former is due to the obstruction of the Light Screen, while the latter is because Tapu Fini's special attack ability has been repeatedly reduced by the Misty Ball.
The Fairy-type STAB move, which was originally powerful enough to severely damage the opponent, has now had most of its power reduced.
Given the durability of two legendary Pokémon, this will most likely be a tough and protracted war of attrition.
That's exactly what happened.
Latias and Tapu Fini moved swiftly across the battlefield, their legendary Pokémon figures constantly intersecting within the pink light membrane of the misty arena.
The golden arcs of the charging beams and the pinkish-purple pillars of lunar power intertwined in the sky above the arena, creating a dazzling yet deadly web of light.
Although theoretically Tapu Fin has a more advantageous attribute.
However, in reality, each Charge Beam has a 50% chance of boosting Latias's Special Attack by one stage, and each Misty Ball has a 50% chance of reducing Tapu Fini's Special Attack by one stage.
These probabilities may not seem high individually, but when the number of moves accumulates to a certain scale, the cumulative effect of the probabilities becomes significant.
Latias's Special Attack had already stacked up several times, and the energy core on its chest shone even brighter under the repeated golden light of the Special Attack boost. Each charging beam was more powerful than the last.
Tapu Fini's Special Attack has been repeatedly weakened by Misty Ball, and the beam of Moon Power has changed from being thick and bright at the start to being thin and dim now, making the damage it deals to Latias increasingly insignificant.
Between the rise and fall, the advantage of attribute advantage was offset by the change in ability, and Latias gradually gained the upper hand.
Dr. Kukui gritted his teeth slightly, knowing that if things continued like this, they would definitely lose.
If the firefight continues, the light wall will eventually dissipate, but the gap in special attack power will only widen.
By then, the damage from a single charging beam from Latias will be equivalent to two Moon Powers from Tapu Fini. How can we possibly fight against that?
He needed a way to break the deadlock, and the only way he had was the move that he hadn't been able to use since the start of the match.
He spoke again, his voice now carrying a hint of desperation: "Black Mist!"
I refuse to believe it. I just saw with my own eyes that Latias didn't use Taunt at all. Could she possibly be blocking her own transformation moves again?
However, when Tapu Fini tried to use the Black Mist again, it failed once more.
Dr. Kukui's face darkened.
No, this is too outrageous!
He stood on the contestant's platform, his fingers tightening on the surface of the Poké Ball.
He didn't know how Xia Chi did it.
Latias was completely blocked by Taunt, unable to use any status moves herself, yet it was able to continuously block all of Tapu Fini's status moves.
This is a state that is impossible under any theoretical framework of combat, and this "impossibility" is now playing out vividly before his eyes.
Xia Chi smiled slightly.
He knew Dr. Kukui's personality all too well.
The founder of the Alola League is a man who refuses to admit defeat easily. Faced with an unknown blocking mechanism, he will try repeatedly until he confirms that the black fog is truly completely blocked.
Knowing that Dr. Kukui would still try to use the Black Mist again, he never let Latias use any power-up moves.
While Butterfly Dance is tempting, rushing to stack buffs before fully confirming that the opponent has given up on Black Mist could result in your special attack advantage being wasted if it gets cleared out even once.
Now that Dr. Kukui's attempts have all failed, he has given up on the idea of breaking through from the level of variation techniques, and his entire tactical thinking has been forced to completely shift to offense.
Now, we can begin the final assault.
"Latias, Butterfly Dance!"
This move was unlocked by Tongzi's move learning machine.
Previously, Latias's main way of boosting its stats was through Meditation, which was stable and reliable but only increased its Special Attack and Special Defense, and its weakness was that it didn't increase its Speed.
Butterfly dances are different.
The Bug-type's ancient dance can simultaneously boost Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. Each Quiver Dance is equivalent to using Meditation once plus half a Dragon Dance.
Previously, there were almost no opportunities to use it in actual combat, but today is the best time.
Tapu Fini's black mist was sealed, Taunt was unusable, and all countermeasures were firmly suppressed by the Psychic Bond, leaving Latias with no way to stop it from completing its power-up.