"Thank you for your hard work, Gorebyss."
As a seasoned Water-type Pokémon Trainer, Gao Mei has excellent ability to adjust her mindset.
She understands that the information gap, beyond blaming herself for not doing enough pre-match preparation, is pointless to fret about.
Instead of regretting the loss in the previous battle, it's better to focus and win the next round!
"My second one is this child!"
The Pokeball flew up.
Bang!
A flash of white light.
A Starmie, composed of two large, light violet sea stars stacked together with an octagonal red gemstone embedded at the center, fell onto the stone platform.
"Sssda!"
The sound it emitted from somewhere was somewhat muffled.
The commentator passionately announced, "Gao Mei's second Pokémon is Starmie! How will Brother Dragapult respond?"
Gao Mei quickly swapped her Pokémon.
It was apparent she did not intend to drag things out, giving Brother Dragapult more opportunities to enhance its abilities.
And when Baimu saw the second Pokémon was Starmie, his hand paused for a moment before he immediately issued a command.
"Dragon Dance!"
The third enhancement!
While Brother Dragapult was swirling in mid-air, scarlet dragon flames surrounded its body, and the noise from the audience persisted.
Some believed Baimu was too greedy, as two instances of Dragon Dance were already terrifying; elevating speed so much in a short period, could Brother Dragapult truly control it entirely?
Dual attacks and defenses aside.
Speed is not always about being faster; faster speed means more difficulty in stopping, like an athlete sprinting a hundred meters needing a lengthy distance to slow down.
However, others reckoned if Baimu dared to let Pokémon enhance, he surely could manage the boosted speed.
The debate did not last long.
Ultimately, whether Brother Dragapult can manage it will be seen moving forward.
Gao Mei belonged to the latter group among those people; her previous admiration of Baimu was no empty boast, as she repeatedly watched his magnificent battle and competition videos.
She was well aware, Baimu seldom would do something he wasn't confident of.
"Starmie! Boost your defense with Cosmic Power!"
Ordinary approaches mostly wouldn't affect Brother Dragapult, so she decided to challenge Starmie's limits!
Brilliant colored lights lit up from the gemstone core of Starmie, brewing an enigmatic aura, followed by a surge of orange-red waves from beneath it!
Its dual defense got enhanced!
Seeing this, Baimu immediately said, "Hidden Spirit Strike!"
In an instant.
The spinning and dancing Brother Dragapult vanished in mid-air.
Gao Mei, seeing this, shouted urgently, "Jump into the water and use Protective Color!"
"Sssda!"
Starmie plunged into the water without hesitation, seeming to melt away, leaving no trace.
[Protective Color], a general attribute transformation technique, yields an effect allowing Pokémon to produce a camouflaging color akin to invisibility, also possessing the ability to alter Pokémon's attributes based on the terrain.
The pool environment abruptly changed its combination from water plus superpower to a singular water attribute.
Brother Dragapult's Hidden Spirit Strike no longer exerted restraint on it.
Certainly.
The key was Brother Dragapult couldn't find the target.
"Waddles?"
It emerged from the air alongside two Dreepy, scanning the tranquil water surface, puzzled about where the target had gone.
Baimu frowned.
The tactic of information gap wasn't exclusive to anyone, he similarly saw Gao Mei's Starmie for the first time, and Porygon II's collected data did not include it.
And as the first opponent to use transformation techniques since the start of the match, Gao Mei indeed posed a bit of a challenge for him.
Yet aside from information gap and level difference advantages, encountering unexpected changes reveals Baimu's true value as a Trainer.
Otherwise, overpowering throughout would make him seem like an ornament.
"Shadow Clone!"
Baimu loudly commanded.
At the word, Brother Dragapult immediately transformed into countless clones, covering the sky with its shimmering figure, countless pairs of eyes looking toward the placid water surface.
As if three pairs of eyes weren't sufficient, hundreds of eyes were created for simultaneous observation.
Gao Mei initially was taken aback, then her complexion changed, shouting, "Starmie, calm down! It can't see you!"
Too late.
Shadow Clone merely generates afterimages, without real scouting abilities; yet Starmie, startled by so many eyes watching, involuntarily exposed a slight flaw.
Underwater part of a certain cylindrical column, a faint illusion appeared for just a moment but was precisely captured by the perceptive Baimu.
"Right behind you! On that column! Dragon Arrow!"
He abruptly spoke, pointing to the location he had detected.
The sky filled with Brother Dragapult, upon hearing, immediately shifted their gaze over, then blue dragon flames emerged from their backs with countless Dreepy screaming like missiles as they charged forward.
"Hissya—"
"Hissya!!"
A vast number of Dreepy, surrounded by blue flames, dragging long trailing glimmers, flocked forward to the pool.
Among them, Brother Dragapult's brothers looked particularly emboldened, faster than their sister, swimming agilely like swordfish in the water, heading towards Starmie's approximate location.
Though they hadn't precisely pinpointed where the enemy was, they were confident the Trainer would guide them.
Even without guidance, Starmie itself would eventually be unable to resist movement.
Indeed.
The opposing party was far from possessing Brother Dragapult's mastery in concealment or sufficient patience; upon seeing such a large group of Dreepy nearing, they couldn't help but start to move.