Jumpluff with its eyes covered by circles, Xing Bingwei clenched his fists in anger.
The referee came forward to declare: "Jumpluff has lost its combat ability!"
The commentator followed closely behind: "Trainer Xing Bingwei's Pokémon is down to the last one! The effects of Trick Room and With the Wind continue! How will he fight next?"
Many spectators looked at Porygon II, who successfully defeated an opponent, and suddenly noticed that the Corsola that had been on its back was gone!
Xing Bingwei also noticed this.
He immediately thought that Corsola might have gone underground with Drapion.
——Very likely!
Even though Cotton Spores slowed down Drapion, due to the presence of With the Wind, its theoretical speed is still the fastest right now.
Hence, within Trick Room, both Corsola and Porygon II are faster than it, making it easy for the opponent to stick to them with speed.
This despairing fact severely hit Xing Bingwei.
He shouted: "Drapion!"
Boom!
The ground beneath Porygon II's feet cracked as the enormous violet scorpion emerged from the pit, pouncing outward, roaring as it waved its dirt-colored claws to attack!
"Angularization."
Porygon II, who was already prepared, emitted a white light and transformed into a thin stick to evade Drapion's claw strike.
The thrilling scene excited the commentator.
"Porygon II used its Transforming Ability to dodge the attack! Ah! Corsola has appeared! It's actually caught by Drapion's tail!"
When Drapion fully emerged from the underground, the audience then noticed its tail claw tightly gripping a pale Raw Stone.
Xing Bingwei was overjoyed, shouting loudly: "Drapion, use Drain Life on Corsola!"
Even though Ghost Attribute Pokémon often have limited stamina, in the current situation, the cursed Drapion should recover as much as possible!
"Whoa!"
Drapion roared deeply, deftly twisting its body, opening its mouth wide, taking advantage of the green light behind to take a bite at Corsola!
Crack!
With a sharp sound, Drapion bit on Corsola, and a flat colorful light appeared on its body, but it was soon pierced, and a continuous green light emerged from its body, flowing back into Drapion.
Drapion's condition quickly improved!
"The Drain Life was successful! Corsola's stamina is flowing into Drapion's body! Drapion's consumed stamina has been replenished! How will Contestant Baimu rescue Porygon II's teammate?"
How to rescue?
The answer is cold indifference.
Porygon II, turned into a stick, showed no intention of giving Drapion a blow, and Contestant Baimu remained silent.
Confused discussions arose from the audience.
"Why doesn't Baimu give an order?"
Xiaoguang and Piplup didn't quite understand either, and their cheering stopped.
Xiaogang, who understood, was about to explain when Mann Chong already said seriously: "Because the match is over—at most only half a minute left."
"Eh?"
"Xiaoguang, look at Corsola carefully; isn't the green light on it a bit too bright?"
Under Mann Chong's guidance, Xiaoguang saw Corsola's silhouette encircled by the emerging green light, looking as brilliant as jade.
She exclaimed, "What is this? Is Corsola also recovering stamina?"
Xiaogang said: "Yes, if I'm not mistaken, Corsola should have used the Absorption Power move, which allows the Pokémon to recover the same amount of stamina as the opponent's ATK and simultaneously reduce the opponent's attack."
Xiaoguang's eyes trembled, "In that case..."
Mann Chong provided the final conclusion: "Drapion, already hindered by the Reflective Wall, will soon fall due to the incapability of Drain Life to compensate for the stamina consumed by the curse!"
In the arena.
Corsola stared silently at Drapion's fierce eyes, sucked forcefully.
Just Drain Life couldn't compare to Absorption Power, right?
And as Xing Bingwei watched, he gradually noticed that Drapion's condition wasn't right; why was it getting weaker with each use of Drain Life?
Why is Corsola unaffected!?
Aren't you a Ghost Attribute Pokémon!
He was about to speak when Drapion, reaching its limit, collapsed with the audience's gasp.
"Whoa..."
Dust rose and then settled.
The claws weakened, releasing Corsola, which rolled until being stopped by the remaining Cotton Spores.
The referee glanced at Drapion's swirly eyes, quickly judged, "Drapion lost combat ability! Corsola wins! The winner is Contestant Baimu!"
The commentator shouted: "The outcome is set! Contestant Baimu defeated Contestant Xing Bingwei! Successfully advancing to the next round!"
Wow!
The auditorium was in an uproar, what's going on? How did Drapion lose combat ability?
If Drapion hadn't collapsed voluntarily and hadn't risen yet, they would have suspected a fixed match!
Everyone hoped the commentator would provide an explanation, but the commentator was just as confused. After getting a note from a colleague who understood, he immediately started explaining.
The audience finally understood what had happened.
Xing Bingwei, who perceived it himself, was speechless. He had never heard of Absorption Power; such a strange move existed!
Unknown Pokémon, unknown moves.
Xing Bingwei felt the blow he received today was heavier than returning from his first Gym challenge in defeat.
If it were a game, he just didn't win against the Space Team, got "bombed" by "landmines," at most he could give up points to you in this match.
But this was a one-time only League tournament!
Xing Bingwei realized he didn't do enough pre-match preparation, had no excuse to complain, yet he was still unwilling.
Having tournament experience, he shouldn't have been stopped here!
He silently retrieved Drapion.
——
Xing Bingwei left in tears.
Baimu intended to go up and shake hands with him out of etiquette, clearly watching him do so.
"That's how cruel the tournament is."
He sighed.
Everyone only has one chance; normally, however many mistakes can be later remedied, not in the tournament, one mistake and it's over.
For this reason, he did his utmost to avoid giving any chance to the opponent.
Full force when the lion competes with the rabbit!
"Well done! This round was played very well!" Baimu embraced Porygon II and Corsola; the key role was undoubtedly played by Trick Room.
Based on what he knew about Xing Bingwei, without Trick Room, Drapion would safely enhance its abilities under the cover of Jumpluff's With the Wind, Anger Powder, and Cotton Defense combo.
Finally, smoothly taking down two tricky opponents.
But such tactics directly collapsed in front of Trick Room; With the Wind became a wedding dress for Corsola and Porygon II's maneuver, and Jumpluff failed to escape the Frozen Beam.
No wonder it was once named with Intimidation and Defend among the three core techniques in doubles battles.
Baimu said to Porygon II: "You'll still be needed for the next two rounds; wonder if Dr. Akihabara is watching TV..."
"Pa-lee~"
Porygon II hadn't forgotten his promotional work.
But strangely, he couldn't contact Dr. Akihabara recently; others who knew him said he was away for work.
The exact location they said they didn't know, but he was in regular contact to confirm safety.
Captured by Zeroth Machine?
Or, as Zeroth Machine said, No.1 Machine is the final big boss, so secretly detained him?
Recalling the series of events after Porygon II encountered Zeroth Machine that night, initially felt somewhat odd, even getting goosebumps.
Now thinking, it seems there are big issues with Dr. Akihabara as well.
He surely has a lot of inside information compressed without saying.
"After the match, find Hoopa to help sort it out."
Baimu thought Hoopa, having met the likes of Porygon Z, would definitely be able to summon Zeroth Machine, easy to spot with the huge zero on his forehead.
As for whether Dr. Akihabara would meet peril during this time...
He'd been fine before, even chasing Zeroth Machine around the world, coincidentally his match time something big happened? Won't be that coincidental, right?
Judging from Zeroth Machine's reaction after becoming Porygon Z, it probably doesn't want to take Dr. Akihabara's life.
After all, this is the main area, there are very few accidents and bloodshed.
"If something happens, save him with Nirvana Potion!"
Baimu thought optimistically, feeling the simulated memory reward could be put to good use.
Good news indeed.
Still, he thought Dr. Akihabara also hoped he would anticipate something good.