Back at Mount Zangqing, Chen Mo had occasionally seen a Nidoran accompanying the lab-coated man.
This Nidorino was presumably that same Nidoran after evolving.
Thinking about it—
Professor Zhou's two disciples were actually pretty interesting.
The gentle Hu Chengliang had chosen the equally mild-tempered Nidoran♀.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yichuan—the slightly impatient and overly confident lab-coated man—had chosen the more aggressive and courageous Nidoran♂.
Both Pokémon belonged to the Nido family, and their personalities matched their trainers remarkably well.
Back to the battle.
Nidorino had two possible Abilities.
One was Rivalry, which had just been mentioned.
The other was Poison Point.
Poison Point worked similarly to Pikachu's Static Ability, giving Pokémon that made physical contact with Nidorino a chance of becoming poisoned.
And at this stage—
Since Gible's entire move pool consisted only of physical attacks, it was disadvantaged against either Ability.
If one had to choose—
Rivalry was still slightly better.
After all, Poison-type moves were resisted by Gible's Ground typing, meaning many of Nidorino's attacks would deal reduced damage.
Combined with Gible's Rough Skin Ability, it could afford to fight Nidorino head-on in close combat.
But if Nidorino's Ability had been Poison Point instead—
Then if Gible became poisoned during close-range combat, the situation would become entirely different.
"Xiao Mo, since you're not making the first move, then I won't hold back."
Seeing Chen Mo remain motionless for so long, Zhou Yichuan—who had long since grown impatient—finally called out first.
"Nidorino, use Venoshock!"
The moment it heard Zhou Yichuan's energetic command, Nidorino reacted immediately.
Like Gible, most of its learned moves were physical close-combat techniques.
Venoshock was the only special ranged move it currently knew.
As a trainer, Zhou Yichuan valued this sole ranged attack option very highly.
Thus—
Unlike Psyduck, which was mostly free-range, Nidorino had trained extensively under Zhou Yichuan's guidance.
Its mastery over Venoshock was extremely refined.
In barely the blink of an eye, the poisonous energy had already fully accumulated.
Seeing this, Chen Mo nodded slightly and calmly issued his command.
"Gible, use Dig to dodge the attack!"
On the battlefield—
"NIDOOO!!!"
With a loud roar, Nidorino spat out several waves of toxic sludge at tremendous speed toward its target.
However—
The distance was still too great.
Before the venom fully reached Gible, it had already burrowed underground using Dig under Chen Mo's command.
Honestly—
Chen Mo had been genuinely surprised that Gible could comprehend Dig despite being less than a day old.
But considering the nature of the Gible line—
Land sharks.
It suddenly made perfect sense.
Regardless—
Dig was an incredible move.
Whether for attacking or dodging enemy techniques, it was exceptionally versatile.
And that was one of the major reasons Chen Mo dared to send Gible out in battle.
"Nido…"
Although it had lost sight of its target, Nidorino didn't panic.
Its hearing was extraordinarily sharp—even among Pokémon, it ranked among the best.
As long as it concentrated carefully, it could still hear the disturbances Gible was causing underground.
Nidorino prepared itself to counterattack at any moment.
However—
Zhou Yichuan was not the type of trainer to passively wait around.
The instant he saw Gible use Dig, countermeasures had already formed in his mind.
"Take this opportunity! Nidorino, use Toxic Spikes!"
"Nido!"
Without hesitation—
Nidorino executed the command flawlessly.
The poisonous spikes on its back rose upright as toxins gathered continuously before firing outward as streaks of light, scattering across the battlefield.
Zhou Yichuan smiled confidently.
"Well? Is Gible still going to come out from underground now?"
Meanwhile—
Inside Chen Mo's livestream chat—
[What does Brother Xiaochuan mean by this?]
[No idea.]
[Teacher Mo and Brother Xiaochuan's Pokémon battle feels completely different from the battles I usually see.]
[Aren't Pokémon battles just both sides spamming their strongest moves directly at each other? That's what all the trainers on the streets do.]
[What exactly is Toxic Spikes? It feels kinda special.]
Hu Chengliang, who was temporarily handling the camera nearby, glanced at the comments on his phone and slowly explained:
"Toxic Spikes is a move recorded in the Pokédex. Everyone should really spend more time reading through it when you're free."
"Mm, some viewers already guessed correctly."
"Toxic Spikes is a very special move that remains on the battlefield continuously."
"Any Pokémon that touches the ground covered in Toxic Spikes will be affected by the poison and become poisoned."
"And that's exactly why Xiao Mo hasn't ordered Gible to come back up yet."
In reality, Toxic Spikes didn't work like in the games where it only activated when opposing Pokémon switched in.
From the moment it was deployed, it immediately took effect.
The instant Gible emerged from underground, it would inevitably be affected by the poisonous spikes.
And the moment those toxins entered Gible's body, based on previous testing, it would suffer a brief period of stiffness.
Even its attacks would become sluggish.
So—
The moment Gible surfaced would also become the perfect opportunity for Nidorino to counterattack.
Hu Chengliang watched Chen Mo with growing interest.
"Xiao Mo… what are you going to do now?"
"Despite how unserious Xiaochuan usually acts, when it comes to Pokémon battles, he's the strongest battler in the entire Bureau."
Zhou Yichuan's smile widened further and further.
Ever since Chen Mo had issued the single command "Continue using Dig", he hadn't given another order.
Out of tricks already, huh?
Just as Zhou Yichuan prepared to persuade the young man hailed by many as the current number one trainer to surrender—
Chen Mo suddenly parted his lips and quietly gave a new command.
"Good. Now!"
"Use Sand Tomb!"
"What!?"
Zhou Yichuan froze.
Then—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted from underground as the battlefield cracked apart.
"Dodge left!"
Zhou Yichuan shouted urgently.
Watching the rapidly splitting earth beneath its feet, Nidorino instinctively attempted to obey and leap leftward.
However—
The collapse spread far faster than expected.
The next second—
The ground beneath Nidorino completely gave way.
A violent storm of sand exploded upward as Nidorino and the surrounding dirt were uncontrollably dragged into a terrifying whirlpool below, like an entrance leading directly into hell itself.
"If the ground turns into quicksand, then the poisoned sand sinks underground too."
"And once that happens, the Toxic Spikes temporarily lose their effect, right?"
Chen Mo's voice slowly carried through the raging sandstorm into Zhou Yichuan's ears.
"Gible."
"Drag Nidorino into the sand."
Disbelief filled Zhou Yichuan's eyes.
But he understood—
Now was not the time to be shocked.
If this continued and Nidorino became fully trapped in the quicksand, the battle would be over.
"Double Kick!"
Facing the Gible trying to pull it deeper into the sandpit, Nidorino reacted decisively.
One powerful kick smashed directly into Gible's head.
But just as Nidorino prepared to unleash the second kick—
Gible had no intention of allowing Nidorino to rampage freely on its turf.
"GAAO!"
A fierce Headbutt slammed directly into the softest part of Nidorino's abdomen.
The powerful impact sent Nidorino flying backward instantly.
"Nido…"
Nidorino crashed heavily onto the ground.
The damage from that strike was obvious.
Combined with Sand Tomb's continuous damage and the recoil from Rough Skin, Nidorino's face twisted in extreme pain.
The sandstorm raged across the field.
Zhou Yichuan couldn't understand it at all.
Just moments ago, the situation had been completely in his favor.
So how had he suddenly become the disadvantaged side?
Still—
He hadn't lost yet!
"Hang in there! Nidorino, get up!"
"Now that you've escaped Sand Tomb, this is the perfect chance to counterattack!"
Hearing Zhou Yichuan's encouragement, Nidorino gritted its teeth and slowly climbed back to its feet.
But at that moment—
A voice sounded from ahead.
"When exactly did you start believing you'd escaped Sand Tomb?"
"…What!?"
The instant those words fell—
Under Zhou Yichuan's stunned gaze, the ground beneath Nidorino collapsed once more.
This time—
Though Nidorino struggled desperately, its severely weakened state left it without the strength to break free from Sand Tomb's grasp again.
"It's over."
Outside the field, Hu Chengliang sighed softly.
There was no need for Gible to attack again at all.
Nidorino had already lost the ability to battle from Sand Tomb's sustained damage alone.
"Nidorino!"
The moment the sandstorm ceased, Zhou Yichuan sprinted forward at full speed and dug Nidorino out from the pit with his bare hands.
"Nido…"
Cradled in Zhou Yichuan's arms, Nidorino slowly opened its eyes.
Its gaze was filled with guilt.
It knew—
It had lost this important battle.
But Zhou Yichuan simply took out a Potion and began treating Nidorino while speaking casually:
"We've won plenty before. Losing once is perfectly normal."
"Besides, our opponent is the publicly acknowledged number one trainer right now."
"Nidorino—you already did amazingly!"
Meanwhile—
The livestream chat was completely flooded with question marks.
[Gible just… won like that!? Holy crap, it only got hit once by Double Kick—and even then only half the damage landed!]
[I'm dead. Someone earlier said once Toxic Spikes were set up, Gible wouldn't dare come out easily, so I went to get hot water. By the time I came back, the battle was already over. I'm speechless.]
[Gible's so strong…]
[It's not just Gible. Teacher Mo's command strategy was insane. Who would've thought to combine Dig and Sand Tomb to destroy the Toxic Spikes field? Both Teacher Mo and Brother Xiaochuan feel way beyond the beginner trainers I usually see battling on the streets.]
[Gible itself is impressive too. I asked my own Sandshrew—it also knows Dig and Sand Tomb. But combining those moves to destroy Toxic Spikes like that isn't easy at all. Gible needed incredibly precise control over Ground-type energy. Otherwise the poison-infused sand alone could've backfired horribly.]
"Gible, you did great."
Chen Mo gently rubbed Gible's head.
"Pika pika~"
Pikachu, perched on Chen Mo's shoulder, waved its tiny paw as well, congratulating the younger Pokémon as a senior teammate.
"Gaao…"
Under the praise from Chen Mo and Pikachu, Gible looked a little shy.
But internally—
It was overwhelmingly excited.
They won!
It had helped its trainer win the battle!
Honestly—
Toxic Spikes had genuinely caused Chen Mo serious trouble.
But watching Gible underground had reminded him of a classic battle from the original anime.
The Sinnoh League battle between Ash and Paul.
Back then, Paul's Drapion had dominated the mid-game using Toxic Spikes, defeating several of Ash's strongest Pokémon in succession.
Only when Ash sent out Infernape—
Using Dig combined with the immense heat of Flare Blitz—
Did he manage to vaporize the Toxic Spikes and clear the field.
So—
Inspired by that scene, Chen Mo had Gible use Sand Tomb underground.
Of course—
He hadn't actually known whether it would work.
As the livestream viewers pointed out, this method of clearing Toxic Spikes required incredibly advanced control over Ground-type energy.
Fortunately—
Gible's talent was truly extraordinary.
It executed the technique perfectly and successfully defeated Nidorino using Sand Tomb.
"Next time, Digging underground for more than ten seconds should count as an automatic loss!"
Zhou Yichuan's voice suddenly rang out from ahead.
Chen Mo looked up and smiled slightly.
"So you figured it out."
"But that'll have to wait until next time."
"After all, I won this one."
"Hmph."
Zhou Yichuan understood very clearly.
During the period Gible stayed underground, it had practically hollowed out the battlefield beneath the surface, turning it into the perfect terrain for Sand Tomb.
That was why Nidorino fell into another sandpit immediately after escaping the first one.
"Xiao Mo, I never expected you to become such a shameless trainer."
"You dug underground and simply refused to come back up."
"Originally, I thought our battle would be a passionate, manly close-combat showdown."
"But instead…"
At this point, Zhou Yichuan sighed heavily.
"…I'm deeply disappointed."
"If you hadn't poisoned the battlefield, things might've gone the way you imagined."
"That was strategy!"
"This was strategy too."
"At worst, next time I just won't dig quite so many tunnels."
"… "
Zhou Yichuan looked utterly helpless.
The nation's publicly recognized number one trainer truly had no sense of sportsmanship.
Shaking his head, Zhou Yichuan tossed a Potion bottle toward Chen Mo.
"Thanks."
Chen Mo accepted it without hesitation.
Although Gible hadn't suffered severe injuries, it had still taken a Double Kick to the head.
Using a Potion for basic treatment was perfectly reasonable.
"As for that so-called stadium…"
Zhou Yichuan looked toward Chen Mo, who was now holding Gible in his arms, and slowly said:
"To be more precise…"
"It should be called an arena."
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