The Pokémon with the "Sacrifice" trait will increase the power of moves that cause rebound damage to themselves, and "Brave Bird Fierce Attack" is such a move.
"Screech!!"
With a loud cry, the Staraptor dived straight down towards the Doublade.
"Chop!"
Greeting it was the Doublade's fully powered Holy Sword Slash.
This is the second sword.
The ethereal blue Holy Sword phantom collided mid-air with the Staraptor enveloped in a light blue energy mantle.
The fierce clash stirred up the arena, raising a thin layer of dust.
Both sides unexpectedly fell into a stalemate.
However, the situation quickly changed.
Another massive blue phantom burst out from the dust, crashing towards the stagnant Staraptor mid-air.
Seeing this scene, the Staraptor's feathers trembled slightly.
Staraptor: Referee, it's fouling, using both hands.
Bang!!
The strike from above slammed the Staraptor right onto the ground, leaving a considerable pit in the ground.
Referee: "Staraptor has lost its ability to fight, please let Leisi choose another Pokémon."
Instant defeat!
In essence, the Staraptor was defeated having only endured one sword from the Doublade.
The Doublade's decisive defeat of the Staraptor caused quite a stir in the audience.
"What a powerful strike."
"It was two swords."
"Is this a combined technique?"
"Holy Sword plus..."
"Continuous Slash."
"This Doublade is so strong, I thought it would send out Beedrill."
"But why does the Doublade look like... it's afraid? Afraid of the Staraptor?"
"Fool, afraid after winning? It's afraid... afraid it killed the Staraptor. Yes! Afraid it killed the Staraptor!"
"Oh~~~ I see, I get it, I get it now."
"..."
Then, this "top-tier interpretation" spread widely among the audience, becoming a consensus.
Afraid to kill the opponent's Doublade.
Even some online viewers of the match received this information.
Soon, a GIF of the Doublade spread across the internet.
The image showed the moment the Doublade's second sword struck down the Staraptor, along with the text, "Don't come over! I'm afraid I'll kill you!"
Instantly, the Doublade went viral.
Of course, none of this had anything to do with the ongoing match between Natsuhiko and Leisi.
Leisi sent out his third Pokémon with a somber expression, knowing that this time he was probably in trouble.
But still, he wanted to struggle a bit.
The last Pokémon he sent out was a Bibarel.
A General Type and Water Type Pokémon.
It's a relatively common Pokémon in the Sinnoh Region, similar in status to Raticate in the Kanto Region.
However, the Bibarel isn't as "weak" as people imagine.
To begin with, Bibarel's traits are quite good.
The regular traits are "Simple" and "Unpretentious".
Just looking at these two traits and pairing them with its round eyes, it's clear how "pure" this Pokémon is.
Ahem.
Back to the main point.
The "Simple" trait allows Bibarel to double its effect when using ability-modifying moves.
What does this mean?
It means that if it uses "Sword Dance" once, Bibarel gains the effect equivalent to using "Sword Dance" twice, which is quite impressive.
And among the general moves that Bibarel can acquire is this move "Sword Dance".
The "Unpretentious" trait allows it to ignore the opponent's ability changes.
For example, when the Doublade just used "Sword Dance", stacking its Physical Attack Ability, the increase brought by "Sword Dance" is negated when attacking Bibarel.
Similarly, if Bibarel attacks a Pokémon that used the move "Roundify", the defense boost brought by "Roundify" is negated.
Lastly, Bibarel has a hidden trait, "Unstable Mood".
The effect of this trait allows Bibarel to significantly boost one ability while slightly weakening another upon being attacked or during action.
If lucky, its Physical Attack Ability significantly increases, while its Special Attack Ability slightly decreases.
It's a trait quite reliant on luck.
Overall, considering these three traits, Bibarel is a very practical Pokémon, particularly suitable for civilian trainers, and if raised well, it can exhibit strong prowess.
Bibarel's General Type attribute nullifies the Ghost Type attribute of the Doublade once again.
But unlike Staraptor, Bibarel's combination of General Type and Water Type increases its vulnerability when facing the Fighting-type Technique "Holy Sword".
One reason Leisi eventually sent out Bibarel is its resistance to Steel-type Techniques from the Doublade. Another reason is...
He has only one other Pokémon left to send, a Swalot, but the Poison Type Swalot would be even more passive facing the Steel-type Doublade.
Thus, he had no choice but to gamble with Bibarel, hoping to create a miracle.
Leisi kept a serious face.
"Bibarel, Sword Dance!"
Bibarel has the "Simple" trait, and if Sword Dance can be successfully used, it would gain a double boost, giving it a slight chance against the Doublade.
So he's gambling, betting that the Doublade, as a steel-type Pokémon, isn't fast enough to stop Bibarel.
Judging only by the proficiency in "Sword Dance" move, Bibarel is far behind the Doublade.
"Shadow Assault."
Natsuhiko squinted.
Although he's curious about the characteristics of Leisi's Bibarel, he doesn't want to watch.
Doublade may be slow, but it can compensate for that weakness with "Shadow Assault".
"Chop!"
Doublade merged into the shadow, and a dark form swiftly closed in on Bibarel.
Seeing the speed of the shadow, Leisi's expression changed.
Too late!
He realized Natsuhiko's Doublade has high proficiency in all the moves, whether it was "Sword Dance" or "Holy Sword", "Continuous Slash", even now with "Shadow Assault".
"Bibarel, give up, use Stamping on your shadow!"
The Ground-type "Stamping", dealing double restraint against Doublade.
Leisi knew that the Doublade, using "Shadow Assault", would inevitably emerge from Bibarel's shadow, so he instructed Bibarel to use the move on its shadow.
This move.
Cannot dodge.
Then there's no need to dodge!
A move like "Stamping" alone can't pose a fatal threat to Doublade.
Natsuhiko quickly made his decision.
"Finish it."
With these words, Doublade understood Natsuhiko's meaning.
Grimly enduring the Ground Energy covering Bibarel's fallen foot, feeling the pain, Holy Sword Slash struck out.
Boom!!!
A massive crater, even larger than the one left by Staraptor.
One sword.
Only one sword, and Bibarel lay in the cracked pit, eyes spinning, losing its battle capability.
Doublade patted its chest with a slight sense of relief.
What a close call.
Fortunately, the previous coating made it harder.
Although injured, the battle was over, and it didn't matter.
Wow——
The audience erupted again.
Instant defeat.
Another instant defeat!
The referee was very professional, immediately declaring the result after Bibarel lost its ability to fight.
"Bibarel has lost its ability to fight, Leisi's three Pokémon have all lost their ability to fight, so the winner is... Natsuhiko!"
Togetic stood on Natsuhiko's shoulder, energetically waving its small hand at the cheering crowd.
Happy!
It loves this feeling of being in the spotlight.
Doublade stood bashfully by Natsuhiko's feet, the magenta ribbon tightly wrapped around Natsuhiko's ankle, experiencing such a situation for the first time, forming a stark contrast with the excited Togetic.
Though Natsuhiko had a smile on his face, he was not as excited as Togetic.
Just the top sixteen.
Looking at Leisi, who recalled Bibarel and was biting his teeth with a face full of reluctance, Natsuhiko pondered.
If Leisi would still undergo a drastic change in personality, becoming like how he was portrayed in the original work, then it wouldn't be impossible to communicate with him, discussing breeder knowledge while finding some work for him.
Obviously, this might require some time.
Amidst the cheers, Natsuhiko walked back to the contestant tunnel.
It was clear, with those decisive few strikes from Doublade, his supporter count would increase significantly again.
Meanwhile.
The "Afraid of KO'ing you" Doublade also experienced a brief period of popularity on the internet.
It's likely that this GIF would be frequently used in future conversations.