Pokémon: Reborn as Lucario

Chapter 163: The Sure-Hit That Decides Victory, Part 1

Even Míng Rìzhào secretly clenched her fists.

"This move is a sure hit, and as long as it lands, it can probably take the match directly," the girl was full of confidence. "After all, this is the psychic wave from Ruru after she's charged up. Its power is definitely not weak."

The psychic wave, with its extremely wide range, pressed down, covering the sky and the earth.

But to everyone's surprise, Magmar nimbly retreated, then with both hands, lifted Torkoal up, hiding itself in the shadow behind Torkoal.

The psychic wave crashed down with a roar!

"Guh..."

Torkoal directly took the full force of the psychic power head-on.

Taking such a blow without any cover only made Torkoal's whole body tremble. A look of pain appeared on its face, and more white smoke puffed from its nose, but there was no other damage.

"What?!"

Seeing her sure-fire attack fail to work, Míng Rìzhào couldn't remain calm.

"Don't forget, my Torkoal has enhanced its Special Defense with [Amnesia]. Although its special defense base stat isn't particularly strong, your Kirlia, in fact, isn't that great either."

Micun laughed arrogantly.

Ruru panted heavily, a little dejected.

Indeed, before evolving into Gardevoir, whether it was Ralts or its evolved form, Kirlia, their species' base stats were not considered high, and could even be said to be in the weaker tier. So even if Ruru was already more outstanding than many of her kind, and her psychic power was trained to be very strong, she still couldn't escape the limitations of her own species.

A lv28 Torkoal has a base stat total of 470; a lv21 Kirlia has a base stat total of 278. The level is much higher, and the base stats are even more crushing.

Therefore, the Torkoal, after enhancing its Special Defense, could take Ruru's powerful [Confusion].

"It's our turn to counterattack! Magmar, [Flame Wheel]!"

Magmar, unharmed under Torkoal's protection, stood at the front again. Intense flames erupted from its body, and it charged forward ferociously.

Rio's gaze focused.

With his speed, he could dodge Magmar's charge, but Ruru, who was somewhat weakened after unleashing her full power just now, would...

Mourning his fur for a second, Rio resolutely stepped forward to block.

"[Brick Break]!"

He wasn't stupid. How could he possibly clash head-on with this guy who looked like he was on fire with his bare hands? When the most suitable move for a head-on clash, the Steel-type move [Metal Claw], was not effective (Steel-type moves are very weak against Fire-type Pokémon), Rio chose the second move he was familiar with.

The palm-blade, wrapped in Fighting-type energy, chopped down towards Magmar's head.

"Gagaga! (Pokémon Language) Watch me burn you to a crisp!"

Magmar cackled, meeting Rio's palm-blade with its flame-wreathed head.

"Poof!" The flame suddenly flared up under the enhancement of the sunny weather.

The brownish-red Fighting energy was gradually devoured by the increasingly fierce flames and slowly dissipated.

"I can't compete in a prolonged power struggle."

Rio immediately clenched his free hand into a fist and threw a quick punch from bottom to top.

"[Rock Smash]."

Magmar did the same.

"[Fire Punch]."

The fists of the two Pokémon clashed again.

"Torkoal, [Smokescreen]."

From afar, the opponent's command was heard.

"Is this a double attack?"

Rio thought to himself, but the expected thick smoke did not spray towards him.

"Not good! Ruru!"

His heart jumped, and he instantly understood.

"Get lost!"

Rio endured the pain of the flames burning his body, ducked, and with a quick kick from his right leg from bottom to top, sent the entangled Magmar flying. Then, transforming into a streak of lightning, just as the billowing heat wave of thick smoke was about to envelop Ruru, he grabbed Kirlia and retreated at high speed, returning to Míng Rìzhào's side.

Riolu, having completed the above actions that happened in a mere instant, couldn't help but gasp for air.

"Rio, are you okay?"

Míng Rìzhào saw the obvious burn marks on her Pokémon's hands and body. The reddened skin and scorched, curled fur made her heart ache.

"I'm fine... It's impossible to be fine! Xiao Zhao, think of a way, quickly!"

Rio panted, his eyes firmly fixed on the opponents who had already repositioned themselves.

"Ruru, how are you now?"

Kirlia Ruru also looked at Rio's burns with guilt, but in a flash, her eyes also became firm as she looked at the opponents.

"Ilulu! (Pokémon Language) My energy has recovered! Let's go again!"

Míng Rìzhào quickly replayed the battle process in her mind.

"It's very obvious that the opponent's two Pokémon are specially meant for double battles. Torkoal, with its full set of interference skills and its own powerful abilities, has completely abandoned the powerful offensive power of a Fire-type Pokémon, instead positioning itself as a support and a tank. It uses its 'Drought' ability to enhance the power of the other Pokémon's fire moves, and at the same time uses various support skills to allow itself to absorb damage for its companion. In addition, those interference skills shift the battlefield in their favor."

"And its partner, Magmar, has abandoned all non-offensive moves, pouring everything into powerful Fire-type moves, covering both long-range and close-range combat."

"So the key to the battle is whether we can bypass Torkoal and directly attack Magmar."

Míng Rìzhào, Rio, and Ruru all turned their gazes towards the Magmar hiding behind Torkoal.

"Ilulu? (Pokémon Language) Then should we still use that move from before?"

Ruru was a little hesitant.

"No. Since the envisioned wide-area attack tactic to subdue both Pokémon at once is no longer effective, then next will be a concentrated, single-target attack."

While Míng Rìzhào and her team were quickly exchanging opinions, Micun grew impatient.

"What's the use of thinking so much? You might as well just be beaten by me quickly, and then pack up your pathetic sense of justice and go home, you brats!"

Magmar let out a ferocious cry to cheer.

"Torkoal, lead with [Smog]."

A dirty mist containing a lot of turbid matter was blown over.

The Poison-type move [Smog] will cause any Pokémon that accidentally touches it to fall into a poisoned state!

"Rio, use [Dig]."

Handfuls of earth were thrown out. Rio pulled Ruru and quickly dived underground.

"Oh, [Dig], is it? Let me think, this is a physical attack move, right? Torkoal, use [Withdraw]."

Just like the most common action of an ordinary turtle, Torkoal retracted its limbs and head into its shell, leaving only its incomparably hard shell outside.

Magmar even leaped up and stood on top of the shell, warily watching in all directions.

"No matter what, your [Dig] has to come out from underground to attack, right?" Micun wore a look of certain victory. "Here, be my guest. Feel free to attack my Torkoal. Let me see how strong you are."

It was no wonder Micun was so confident. Compared to its Special Defense, Torkoal's Defense was its most outstanding feature. Its shell was so hard it was difficult to break. And with Magmar standing on top of the shell, the attack from a leaping [Dig] really seemed to be ineffective.

☆☆☆

-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE

-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER

☆☆☆

-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!

-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper

(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)

If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you