As long as it remembers, it can master almost all techniques with effects that are incredibly magical.
The technique pool is frighteningly deep.
Baimu doesn't care about this guy's output, but worries about those eerily effective transformation techniques, such as the Invisible Rock, Mushroom Spores, Butterfly Dance, and so on.
Madly piercing his nerves, forcing him to adopt various responses.
"Gah!"
Gengar flew forward, its trait, though not floating, still allowed it to leave the ground and fly, thanks to its Ghost attribute.
Its eyes flashed brightly, countless twisted ripples radiating, intending to envelop Smeargle.
Elma responded calmly: "Magic Reflection!"
"Doo-woo~"
Smeargle raised its brush, a dark brown barrier appeared immediately in front, completely rebounding the spreading ripples.
Gengar's face showed surprise, hurriedly dodging to the side.
Thankfully, it avoided it, letting out a sigh of relief, avoiding the embarrassment of being sent off just as it came on.
It looked at Smeargle's two chubby little paws clenched, having not managed any advantageous offense since its entrance.
Too embarrassing!
Gengar was getting restless.
And Baimu felt it was too much seeing Smeargle even use Magic Reflection.
Since earlier, all techniques Smeargle used hadn't been used in the previous Gym Battle. In other words, Elma likely arranged a batch of "new" techniques specifically for him.
Can't let this continue…
Gengar might not withstand the pressure!
The scenes of Dragapult's first official match were vivid in his mind; he didn't want to reenact that awkward scenario and had to learn from the experience.
Active attack to break through cunning!
He shouted loudly: "Black Mist!"
"Gah!"
Gengar angrily opened its mouth wide, spewing a large amount of black smoke, quickly covering Smeargle's side of the battle arena.
It also disappeared into the air.
Clearly employing the elusive trait of Ghost-type Pokémon.
The audience seats erupted with complaints; obscured battles were the most annoying.
And Smeargle couldn't evade the Black Mist, only watching helplessly as the state enhanced by Butterfly Dance reverted, while the surroundings turned pitch black.
However, the trainer's instructions weren't hindered.
"Use Recognize!"
"Woo!"
Smeargle wiped its brush over its eyes, its eyes immediately scanning like searchlights, revealing the hiding Gengar hidden in the Black Mist.
Wasn't this supposed to stump you?
"Gah-gah~!"
Gengar was close to madness, feeling totally powerless against Smeargle.
Fortunately, Baimu's shouting timely reached its ears, not loud but heard clearly, "Don't panic! Don't battle it with transformation techniques! Directly hit it with the True Qi Bullet! Give it your all!"
"Gah!"
Gengar responded loudly, its chubby little paws in front of it kneading like dough.
Irritated, countless energies were summoned between its paws from the void, a terrifying azure-blue lightwave gradually forming and pulsating, causing the air to tremble.
Smeargle sensed something wrong, without trainer instruction, it realized its trainer didn't know its current condition under the Black Mist.
Then it'll act on its own!
Smeargle twirled its brush in front, quickly erecting a honeycomb-shaped spherical light shield.
Whoosh!
A booming gust echoed, a massive azure-blue lightwave shredded through the thick Black Mist, striking fiercely against the light shield!
Boom! Bang!
Two sounds echoed successively!
The Black Mist before Elma abruptly dispersed, immediately followed by the sight of a pained Smeargle flying backward, crashing through the ice rock in front of him.
"Smeargle! Quick, use Self-Rebirth!"
He hurriedly commanded, somewhat incredulous watching the Gengar in mid-air as though vented a breath of anger.
This guy's offensive ability is surprisingly impressive!
The commentator chimed in: "What a fierce True Qi Bullet! Smeargle's Defend couldn't withstand, crushed together with the True Qi Bullet! This move is highly effective!"
The green light wave shone on Smeargle.
The Gengar, having vented its anger, was unwilling to let it go.
"Mud Bomb!"
Baimu also wasn't planning to continue the roundabout battle of transformation techniques with the Smeargle and decisively used an attack move to send that guy off the field.
Smeargle itself is a fragile Pokémon, its reliance is merely the "Sketching" bug move, without the Focus Sash in the game, it's even less likely to withstand the output.
Previously in the Gym Battle, this point was well proven. So what if Double Payback was executed? It was still knocked down by Steelix.
"Gengaa!"
Gengar shouted, with each of its claws producing a mass of dark, muddy energy, with violet currents crackling on the surface, appearing quite terrifying.
Seeing the situation turning unfavorable, Elma shouted, "Passing the Baton!"
The Smeargle, enveloped in green light, ceased its recovering actions upon hearing the command, pointing its brush to the sky, immediately lighting up with a white light.
The next moment.
It transformed into red light and returned to Elma's Pokeball, and in its stead, Komala from another Pokeball fell into the arena.
Gengar's Mud Bomb followed closely behind!
Swish, swish, swish!
Several mud-like projectiles hit the unprepared Komala, which attempted to dodge by rolling, but alas, the Mud Bomb exploded mid-air, turning into a skyful of mud splashing onto Komala's body.
Sizzle——
Green smoke floated along with the sizzling sound of corrosion, and Komala painfully released the log it was holding, then weakly stretched out its limbs, its eyes turning into spirals.
Elma looked on in disbelief.
The commentator shouted excitedly, "One hit! Only one hit took down Komala! Elma used Passing the Baton to switch out Smeargle, but unfortunately, Gengar's enraged attack couldn't be withstood by Komala! Elma only has four Pokémon left!"
The referee quickly raised the flag.
"Komala has lost its ability to battle! Gengar wins!"
Was this... a critical hit?
Baimu was also stunned. To think that even though Komala knows Grass-type moves, it only has a General Attribute, which shouldn't be held back by Mud Bomb.
To achieve a one-shot, either the level difference was too great, or Gengar had a little burst of energy and hit a critical point.
He looked towards the panting Gengar in mid-air, silently waiting.
"Jie."
"Jieheeheehee——"
Hearing the familiar eerie laugh, Baimu knew Gengar's confidence had returned, and it hadn't fallen into the same awkward situation as Dragapult.
After all, the opponents faced by the two had a significant disparity in strength.
He looked at Elma, knowing that although two of Elma's Pokémon were already down, many of Elma's trump cards remained.
The match had, in fact, just begun.
On the other side.
Elma guiltily recalled Komala back to its Pokeball, whispering, "Sorry Komala, it was my misjudgment. Rest assured, we'll win it back for you!"
Earlier, Gengar's aggressive aura was so overwhelming, it reminded him of Steelix's Heavyweight Charge, causing a subconscious reaction to switch out Komala to block the attack.
He thought it would be able to block it, but the result...
It was a miscalculation.
He sighed, looking at the smugly laughing Gengar in the air, determined to take this little guy down and repay Komala for its sacrifice.
"Next, I'll rely on you! Ditto!"
Bam!
A flash of white light.
A pink, mud-like creature fell onto the ice, and as soon as it locked eyes with Gengar, its body began to glow with a brilliant white light.
"Elma sent out Ditto! It's the Transformer Trait!"
The commentator exclaimed.
The Transformer Trait automatically triggers transformation as soon as it sees the opponent, without needing to use the transformation move again.
Don't underestimate the difference between the two, as the order of events, similar to the game, is crucial in the actual situation.
It can prevent sneak attacks to some extent, and provides an opportunity to avoid some field moves that become active after appearing.
In Gengar's curious gaze, an identical gray Gengar appeared, cackling as it floated in the air, staring back at it from a distance.
[Transformation] can almost perfectly copy the opponent's various ability values and moves as long as it's successfully released, though some things can't be copied, like energy level and stamina.
But to be honest, without training, Gengar's stamina isn't actually much better than Ditto's.
For Ditto to make better use of Transformation, it definitely needs to train its stamina, leading to a situation where the actual difference between the two is very small.