And the appearance of Oranguru made the Linoones surrounding them reveal their timidity one after another.
"Roar——!!"
But soon they suppressed their fear under Obstagoon's angry voice.
Obstagoon was not afraid of battle, even though Oranguru exerted a lot of pressure on it, as Dark-type Pokémon, they have an innate repulsion towards Psychic Types.
However, after Oranguru appeared, both Linoone and Obstagoon put away their disdainful thoughts.
Obstagoon's eyes shifted as it crossed its arms in front of its chest, opening its mouth, ready to roar again.
This was its very skilled "Taunt."
Yet before it could use its technique, Oranguru gently waved its fan.
Preemptively using "Taunt" against Obstagoon.
This visibly halted Obstagoon's actions and expression, its voice stuck in its throat.
The next second.
Infuriated by the "Taunt," Obstagoon's eyes turned red, striding forward.
Its action was a signal to the Linoones.
The battle was imminent.
The three little ones were long prepared for combat.
Monferno was the first to engage.
As a Fighting Type, it has a fourfold attribute suppression against Linoones, so at this moment, it took the role of the main attacker.
With one step, it crossed several meters, the concentrated power of its fist boosting its whole momentum.
A fist wrapped in fierce impact directly smashed a Linoone's head into the ground.
The Linoone's movements came to an abrupt halt.
With just one punch, it was knocked down by Monferno.
Having undergone several rounds of "Enhanced Fist" enhancement, Monferno's attack power had already significantly increased, and under fourfold suppression, the Linoone rolled its eyes and lost its fighting ability.
And this.
Was the beginning of the battle between both sides.
"Oss!"
Latios stirred its body, sending fine dragon scales from its body, with a dense number of Linoones, Latios didn't even need to control the direction of the dragon scales, a single sweep already caused considerable damage.
On the other side.
After taunting Obstagoon, Oranguru appeared calm, not attacking, just throwing another "Postpone" at Obstagoon.
It understood Natsuhiko's intention.
It was there to support the three little ones.
This Obstagoon was the final test Natsuhiko had left for the three little ones, the target to assess their month's accumulation of progress.
Although the three little ones were at a disadvantage compared to Obstagoon, if they worked well together and handled it properly, plus Oranguru's assistance, there was hope for victory.
So its task was simple, just hold off Obstagoon.
Without Obstagoon's threat, the pressure on the three little ones greatly lessened.
Monferno charged into the swarm of Linoones, maneuvering back and forth with agile movements and initially developed Fighting techniques.
Latios was even more composed than Monferno, flying in the air without much threat, completely becoming a high-altitude cannon platform, quickly reaping.
Yet little Eevee, although the weakest of the three little ones in terms of strength.
It had the most schemes.
At times using "Coquettish" to confuse opponents, lowering their attack power and their attacking desire.
At times using "Tail Whip" to exploit its cuteness to lower the Linoones' defense power.
At times using "Sandslash" to lower their hit rate.
If the Linoones got too annoyed, Eevee would use "Electric Flash" to swiftly escape the encirclement.
Coming to Monferno or Latios' side for protection.
In this little fellow, Natsuhiko even vaguely saw the shadow of that mischievous Togepi from the past.
The same frequent tricks, the same making opponents want to teach it a lesson but reluctant to, ultimately doing nothing to it.
Falling into a dilemma of internal conflict.
But don't think that little Eevee only had these, without any offensive moves.
Once, Eevee didn't dodge in time, and got its tail bitten by a Linoone.
Though it eventually broke free, when Eevee saw a clear bite mark in its beautiful tail fur...
Eevee's eyes reddened, nose twitching.
It was angry.
It directly pounced on that Linoone, landing a series of combo punches, pounding that Linoone into a near-unconscious state.
And the technique it used was none other than "Close Combat" just employed by nearby Monferno.
More accurately, Eevee used the "Imitate" technique, mimicking Monferno's moves to execute "Close Combat."
After attacking, it didn't forget to let out a few roars, with a cute fierce look that amused Natsuhiko.
But I must say.
Eevee does have some momentum when it's angry.
Didn't you see that after walloping that Linoone, the other Linoones were a bit intimidated for a while?
Getting hit by Monferno was a one-punch affair.
Everything ended with one punch, not much pain was felt.
But getting hit by Eevee was a different matter, punch after punch couldn't finish it off, taking a serious beating was unavoidable, and only after much suffering did it end.
Just like this.
Monferno served as the main attacker, Latios as a supportive cannon platform, while Eevee... this little fellow just stirred things up, making things hectic for the Linoones, with frustration inside them even greater than the pain on their bodies.
It wasn't long before dozens of Linoones were all lying on the ground.
Monferno was panting heavily, but its eyes glistened.
It clearly felt its own progress, very obvious progress.