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There were many possible reasons for Charizard to fall again after hanging on.
Perhaps its Solar Power ability.
This ability, which continuously drained its stamina every moment, became the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Perhaps the pain from its wounds.
But no matter the answer, Charizard's fall was an undeniable fact.
To be honest, the opponent's luck today, like Li Xiang's, wasn't great.
They specialized in Fire-type moves, and their most powerful attacks were also Fire-type, yet they just had to run into a snowy field.
The collision between high temperature and the snowy field created massive amounts of steam, obstructing Charizard's line of sight.
Even though it later used a Flying-type move to disperse it, it was already too late.
In contrast, Riolu, with its Aura abilities, could completely ignore this steam and observe Charizard through another method.
And this was one of the main reasons why the high-damage, high-luck Charizard lost.
If its field of view had been just a little broader and clearer, it wouldn't have given Riolu the chance to use Rock Slide.
Now, it was too late for anything.
There was still a chance. Pokémon were creatures that often created miracles, like the two instances of hanging on just moments ago.
But the opponent's mental state... didn't seem ideal.
Li Xiang looked at the calm face of the team captain from Meicheng and keenly sensed that this person's inner state wasn't as peaceful as their surface.
After making eye contact and communicating with Riolu, he became even more convinced of this conclusion.
'Has his mentality shattered? He's only lost half the battle, at most.'
'Seems a bit too fragile...'
'Well.. It is what it is.'
After all, losing a ranked match in a game only meant losing points; it was just for fun. Losing like this in the Youth Tournament, a person could be cursed senseless.
Academic trainers really had it rough.
No helping it, since they were all competition-oriented, trending towards the celebrity-like trainers in Sword and Shield.
Different from the traveling trainers in the anime.
The spectator stands were noisy. The commentator took advantage of the break to drink water. Having talked non-stop, their throat was practically on fire.
On the field, Riolu stood in the crater, using Life Dew to recover stamina.
Ten seconds passed swiftly.
The opponent released Centiskorch, its crimson carapace quite eye-catching under the sunlight, the heater on its chest gleaming like Incineroar's belt.
This guy looked excited, the flames before its face and behind its tail burning fiercely, fluttering like ribbons, as if Dynamaxed.
Although affected by Pain Split, its mental state was clearly much better than Rotom's.
In fact, it seemed on the verge of breaking out, making one wonder if its ability was really Flash Fire, and not Swarm or Blaze.
Riolu looked wary. Fighting-type and Bug-type resisted each other, meaning neither would be very effective against the other.
But interestingly, this guy was also quadruply weak to Rock, just like Charizard.
"High Horsepower!"
The opponent let out a roar from the depths of their throat.
"Ssss!"
Centiskorch let out a hiss, its body bending and straightening like a whip. Its crimson carapace under the sunlight became even more dazzling as it suddenly sprang toward Riolu!
Thud!
The ground caved in!
The flaming antennae rapidly grew, instantly turning into bright yellow rings of fire encircling Centiskorch, like the core of a thousand-degree furnace.
Massive steam rose, mist swirling.
Centiskorch, like a cloud-and-mist-riding fire dragon, emitted high heat that warped the air, filled with an unstoppable momentum, surging forward!
The momentum was terrifying!
Riolu had no intention of taking this head-on. Its weight was far less than Centiskorch's, coupled with the Sunny Day boost, blocking with Protect would definitely shatter the shield.
Immediately, a faint blue light glimmered in its eyes.
With the help of [Foresight], Riolu effortlessly identified Centiskorch's landing point and sidestepped to the side and back.
Boom!
Ice and snow splashed. Flames burning caused massive steam to expand, waves of heat gusted like a fierce wind in all directions. Ice crystals melted by the high heat and then refrozen shot through the air like bullets!
Riolu was blown back into the air by the steam. With Electromagnetic Levitation still active, its figure was agile, easily dodging the ice crystals.
Then, it raised its right arm high. Brownish energy whirled and gathered above it, instantly forming a massive rock!
Whoosh!
The air howled as it was compressed!
The enormous rock fell from the sky, bursting apart mid-fall into a dense rain of stones!
"Fire Lash!"
The moment the command sounded—even before—Centiskorch, having missed with High Horsepower, suddenly whipped its tail!
Loose, lively, springy, shaking Fire Lash!
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Numerous cracking sounds!
With a whipping speed difficult for the eye to follow, Centiskorch lashed its flame-covered tail, actually managing to shatter all the incoming stone fragments!
It was a sight that made the audience exclaim continuously, the commentator shouting with effort!
'It really broke out!'
Li Xiang clenched his fist, expression grave.
Sunny Day, STAB Fire Lash was probably powerful. But in theory, compared to Rock Slide, which was quad-effective against it, coupled with Riolu's high output after Swords Dance, it was nothing.
Two unequal moves canceling each other out basically only belonged to the realm of wishful thinking.
However, the current scene was telling him this was definitely not wishful thinking, but rather downright reality.
Li Xiang didn't believe this wasn't cheating in some way.
He increasingly felt the opponent must have some kind of friendship system, where moves get a 50% power boost at five stars.
Well, there was nothing to say then.
'Time to fight to the death! See who can outdo the other!'
Li Xiang backed away while simultaneously returning Riolu, taking advantage of the moment when the flames on Centiskorch's tail diminished.
Immediately after, the ace who had been slacking for three consecutive battles made its appearance.
"Incineroar!"
Incineroar landed on the wet snow and ice, letting out a mighty roar, its belt burning fiercely. The air around it suddenly warped!
Intimidate activated!
Centiskorch in the crater showed a grave expression, crouching down as if encountering a natural enemy!
On its body, the glow of Coil flashed briefly.
Clearly, this guy was very clever and had rapidly boosted itself, its speed extremely fast, comparable to Riolu using stat-changing moves.
It seemed the move Coil had long become instinct for it.
"Don't be afraid of it! Its STAB moves can't hit you!"
The Meicheng team captain shouted, having wanted to switch out Centiskorch several times but not daring to execute it.
At this stage, the Flash Fire ability guaranteed Centiskorch wouldn't be damaged by Incineroar's Fire-type moves.
As for Incineroar itself, it didn't know any Rock-type moves. It did know Flying-type moves, but few trainers taught them to Incineroar.
Because there was no point.
Coil had raised Centiskorch's Defense and Accuracy, also compensating for Attack.
From now on, they just needed to use the energy of Rollout to defend against Incineroar's rotational moves, preventing it from contacting Centiskorch's body—
There was a chance to win!
The Meicheng team captain thought this way. Time was so urgent he couldn't think calmly, forced to give up the idea of switching in Torkoal.
Thus, Centiskorch once again transformed into a rocky wheel, charging toward the not-far-away Incineroar, who looked calm and was using Bulk Up!
Swift as wind and lightning!
Centiskorch plowed through water, white mist flying along the way. The uneven snowy ground caused it to spin in mid-air multiple times, whooshing sounds continuous, looking quite terrifying!
However, Incineroar remained unmoved, staring directly at the speeding Centiskorch, white smoke drifting from its body, like a beast of prey lying in wait for its prey to deliver itself.
Confident that its bulk was strong enough to withstand the initial Rollout?
The Meicheng team captain's throat was dry, waiting anxiously and nervously.
He was truly at his wit's end.
Torkoal was completely just a weather tool, only its unusually long-lasting Drought was worth praising.
Using Eruption under Sun could deliver a certain degree of damage, but it couldn't hurt Incineroar, coupled with its slow movement speed, without Trick Room it was just a stationary shooting target.
A snowy field was the worst place for stationary combat.
Unless they found a chance for Shell Smash + Earth Power combo.
But after Shell Smash, it would become like Charizard, trading life for output and speed.
Unfortunately, it wasn't as agile as Charizard, let alone compared to the speed phantom-like Riolu.
Once Incineroar got close after Shell Smash...
And if Centiskorch couldn't achieve anything, then this match was basically the tide had turned.
Therefore, victory or defeat depended on Centiskorch's performance!
On the field.
As the audience's exclamations rose, just as it was about to reach Incineroar, less than a meter away, Centiskorch suddenly leaped along the slope!
It actually jumped over its head, landing behind it, rolled onto an ice rock, and spun in mid-air!
The Rock-type glow grew brighter and brighter, faster than a sudden clap of thunder!
Even though Incineroar turned around the moment it did, it was still struck on the back by the wheel-like Centiskorch!
Thud!
A dull sound!
Incineroar was knocked bending over, one knee on the ground, while Centiskorch continued forward across its back—
"Roar!"
'Where do you think you're going!'
A roar exploded!
Incineroar's broad hands suddenly shot forward and grabbed!
Skkrrrrt—
A sound like a grinding wheel screeched!
The high-speed rolling Centiskorch was forcibly halted, its rotation speed slowing down at a visible rate!
Rollout was interrupted!
"Leech Life!" The Meicheng team captain roared; he smelled something ominous!
A flame-like glow lit up from the point of contact between the two, followed by dark red currents.
Incineroar grinned viciously, swinging Centiskorch's hundred-kilogram-plus body like a top, spinning rapidly!
Tornado destroys parking lot!
In an instant, a howling black storm took shape!
Its scale was immense, touching the sky and sweeping the ground, clearly a sky-piercing, earth-scouring tornado!
Countless ice and snow were sucked up, rushing toward the sky!
The sunlit field suddenly darkened; even sunlight couldn't penetrate this pitch-black curtain!
At this moment, it was as if a natural disaster had descended!
Whoosh— Boom!
From within the storm, a red figure flew out, violently crashing into an ice rock. The ice rock suddenly shattered, broken ice flying everywhere!
The crouching Meicheng team captain looked over, then his pupils contracted!
The one thrown out was clearly his Centiskorch!
Furthermore, a one-hit KO! Without any suspense!
The miracle of Charizard's second wind didn't repeat itself with Centiskorch.
It closed its eyes tightly, fainted.
After it lost its stamina, sunlight returned to the field. The black storm slowly stopped, revealing Incineroar's majestic figure.
Even though it didn't make a sound, its fierce, ferocious eyes were enough to make the Meicheng team captain terrified!
So what if Defense was raised?
Still a one-hit KO!
Incineroar clenched its fist fiercely, flames exploding from its palm with a loud crack!
"Roar!"
'Next one!'
It let out a provocative roar toward the Meicheng team captain.
"Beeeeep—"
The referee blew the whistle, announcing Centiskorch was unable to battle.
Cheers welcoming victory came from the Wudu University preparation area, while most in the Meicheng University preparation area looked downcast, lowering their heads in silence.
A small number hid in corners, not daring to speak at all. To this extent, they definitely understood the situation.
Fighting against such an opponent three-on-one, even if you gave Torkoal ten lives, it couldn't pull off a comeback.
The old coach remained silent, sitting on the bench thinking.