"Now, please send out your Pokémon."
The lively scene quieted down.
On the opposite side, Leisi glanced at Natsuhiko and the friendly Togetic on his shoulder, his gaze becoming serious, and threw the Pokeball in his hand.
"Alright then, go, Togetic."
Natsuhiko said softly.
Having told Togetic to go and adapt, he let it go.
"Toge!"
Togetic, full of excitement, immediately flew from Natsuhiko's shoulder to the arena.
On the other side, Leisi's Pokeball opened, appearing in the red light was a Drapion with a deep purple body.
An elite level Drapion.
Judging from its appearance, it has been well trained.
The fierce Drapion and the cute Togetic formed a stark contrast.
And in terms of attributes, Drapion also has a great advantage.
"Battle start!"
As the referee's flag fell, this elimination round's second match first round officially began.
Leisi took the initiative, seizing the opportunity.
"Drapion, Taunt!"
"Toge!"
Drapion disdainfully beckoned at Togetic with its finger, causing a faint Dark Type ripple to enter Togetic's body, making it unable to use alteration techniques for a short time.
Clearly.
Although Leisi showed deep disdain for Natsuhiko, he had done some research on Natsuhiko and Togetic.
Compared to Denji using Electric Arena to limit Togetic's "Yawn," Leisi's Drapion using Taunt was more thorough, rendering other techniques like "Mysterious Guardian" and "Lucky Spell" unusable.
Regarding Drapion's Taunt, Natsuhiko remained calm, promptly changing strategy.
Actually, there wasn't much strategy.
Togetic's existence itself is a BUG.
"Water Fluctuation."
"Toge!"
Togetic's eyes appeared with a faint halo, and a sparkling azure water ball formed in front of Togetic.
Togetic, already wanting to "teach" the arrogant Leisi, became even angrier after Drapion's taunt.
So angry!
Someone actually wants to limit it?
"Useless." On the opposite side, Leisi said coldly, then quickly commanded, "Drapion, Cross Poison Blade!"
Leisi carefully studied Natsuhiko Togetic's battle footage.
He noticed a clue from Togetic battling Denji's Luxray.
After analysis, he concluded that it was a discrepancy in willpower between both sides, causing Togetic's suppression of Luxray to be insufficient and unable to completely put it into "Wither" status.
Drapion was precisely the Pokémon Leisi prepared to deal with Togetic.
He had absolute confidence in Drapion's willpower and strength.
Moreover, the most troublesome for Togetic was the invisible "Divine Power" technique, but the Dark Type Drapion could immune to Psychic Type attacks.
And he also knew that Togetic's attacking techniques were relatively limited, using "Magic Leaf," "Divine Power," and "Water Fluctuation" previously.
"Divine Power" can be ignored, "Magic Leaf" can't cause much damage to Poison Type Drapion, only "Water Fluctuation," but it's not on his concern list.
Drapion's Poison Type coupled with Dark Type attributes collaborates excellently, only Ground Type techniques can restrain it.
He also studied Natsuhiko.
Knew that among Natsuhiko's Pokémon, none had Ground Type attributes.
Thus, Leisi exhibited such disdain for Natsuhiko.
Because in tactical preparation, he believed he had done his best.
"Toge!"
Drapion didn't disobey Leisi's orders, directly rushing towards Togetic, the enormous and powerful pincers emitting deep purple glow.
Meeting it was Togetic's already unavoidable "Water Fluctuation."
Bang!
One of Drapion's pincers mercilessly swung at the incoming concentrated Water Energy.
Crash——
The water ball instantly shattered.
Yet, Leisi's calm face soon revealed a trace of shock.
Because.
Drapion fell into "Wither" status.
Natsuhiko's expression remained unchanged, but internally he gave a thumbs-up to Leisi's capability.
This person indeed possessed some ability and talent, this Drapion along with its moves highly restricted Togetic, but unexpectedly, due to a chance occurrence yesterday, Togetic patched its own weakness.
Changes in mindset bring changes in willpower, Togetic's willpower, not claiming to be strong, but at the same level, it's no longer considered a weakness.
As for triggering additional effects by luck?
Luck is the usual operation for Togetic, isn't it?
"Gratitude."
Natsuhiko said slowly.
This was discovered during last night's adaptation to power progression and changes, the move Togetic had Acquired.
Possibly due to Natsuhiko and Togetic's affinity reaching a threshold yesterday, Togetic naturally Acquired it.
After all, this move is closely linked with affinity.
"Gratitude" for Togetic falls under those moves that need external forces to be learned, namely using the "Technique Secret Manual."
But aren't "Technique Secret Manual" methods that leverage special external forces and methods to impart usage of Pokémon Techniques?
This is inherently inscribed in the genetic operations of Pokémon, simply not Acquired naturally like other techniques through the progression of strength.