Pokémon: Sandstorm Sovereign

Chapter 33: VS Swinub

"Young Master Lucas, what's going on? Are you bullying a high school student?"

Someone in the club clearly recognized Lucas and also knew that Basalt was a third-year high school novice trainer. Seeing that they were about to spar, they teased him jokingly.

"Don't talk nonsense. The Pokémon I'm using has also only been raised for a month. I'm not taking advantage of him," Lucas said with a smile, leading Basalt into a private, enclosed stadium where they each took their positions.

As a high-level VIP of the Meteor Club, Lucas didn't need to compete with the ordinary members outside for a battle field. He had access to more high-end facilities, and he didn't have to worry about being disturbed.

"My Pokémon is this one!"

Lucas smiled slightly and casually threw a Poké Ball.

Pop!

The Poké Ball opened in mid-air, and a red light burst forth, eventually transforming into a Pokémon covered in thick, brown, striped fur. Its fur was so fluffy that it covered its small, stub-like legs, making it look like a solid lump with no legs at all. It had a pink, pig-like nose that twitched, and its eyes seemed to be closed.

"It's a Swinub!"

Basalt's eyebrows shot up. Swinub was a Ground/Ice dual-type Pokémon with a very keen sense of smell. Its final evolved form was Mamoswine. Since Swinub had the Ground type, it could also be integrated into a sandstorm team, so Basalt was quite familiar with it.

"Let's go, Drilbur!"

Basalt also threw out his Pokémon.

"Wow, I didn't expect your Pokémon to be a Drilbur. This kind of Pokémon is very rare in our country," Lucas said with some surprise, then smiled. "But in terms of typing, it seems my Swinub has the advantage."

The Ground-type Drilbur was weak to the Ice type.

"A Pokémon battle isn't decided by type matchups. You never know who will win until you've fought," Basalt said loudly.

"You're right about that," Lucas laughed, not taking it to heart.

"Both contestants, take your positions. Let the battle begin!"

With the referee's command, the battle officially started.

"You can go first!" Lucas gestured with a gentlemanly wave of his hand.

"Drilbur, use Sand Tomb!"

Basalt certainly wasn't going to be polite. He started directly with Sand Tomb, a control move.

Voom!

Beneath Swinub's feet, in an area less than 2 meters in radius, the ground instantly collapsed, turning into rolling quicksand, like a vortex, pulling Swinub towards its center.

"The power of this Sand Tomb is quite impressive," Lucas said with mild surprise, but there was no panic on his face. Instead, he said confidently, "Unfortunately, my Swinub is also a Ground-type Pokémon. Your Sand Tomb can't trap it—"

"Run, Swinub!"

With a wave of Lucas's hand, the Ground-type energy from Swinub's body also began to emanate, countering the pull of the Sand Tomb. Swinub began to run quickly. Wherever it passed, the quicksand not only stopped flowing but also turned into solid stepping stones, allowing Swinub to run out of the Sand Tomb's range.

"This Swinub has such strong control over Ground-type energy!"

Basalt was astonished. Sand Tomb was completely ineffective against Swinub!

But before he had time to think too deeply, Lucas gave the command to counter-attack, forcing Basalt to tense up and prepare himself.

"Swinub, use Powder Snow!" Lucas waved his hand.

"Swiiinub~ Swiiinub~"

Receiving the command, Swinub took a deep breath and immediately exhaled a cold stream of air mixed with snowflakes, which swept towards Drilbur.

Although they were still quite far apart, Basalt could clearly feel that Swinub's Powder Snow had caused the surrounding temperature to drop by at least 3 degrees.

So this is what a university student is like? He's definitely got some skills.

For the first time in a long while, Basalt felt a sense of pressure from Lucas. Ever since he had become the champion of his class, he felt that his classmates could no longer keep up with his pace. Seriously, there was no one in his class who could put up a fight. Except for Frank's Munchlax, even if Drilbur held back half its strength, no one was a match for it. As for Frank, who knows what he had gone through, but he was now incredibly polite and friendly towards him. He couldn't beat Basalt, and he didn't want to fight him with all his strength, which made things very boring.

"Rapid Spin!"

Feeling the cold air, the hair on Drilbur's body stood on end. As expected, a Ground-type Pokémon had little resistance to Ice-type energy.

Voom!

Drilbur's body began to spin violently. Normal-type energy emanated from it, instantly forming a white spiral of energy that deflected all of the bone-chilling Powder Snow. It was a good thing Swinub had used Powder Snow. If it had been the physical move "Ice Shard," Basalt wasn't confident that the type-disadvantaged Drilbur could have defended against it.

"It actually blocked it!" Lucas's eyebrows shot up. As a third-year high school student, it had been less than two months since Basalt had received his starter, right? Yet he already had this level of strength? He was probably not far from the Junior rank.

Although his attack was ineffective, Lucas wasn't panicked. Swinub hadn't shown its full strength yet. He was just itching for a fight and wanted to find a suitable trainer to spar with. He didn't want to defeat his opponent too miserably or too quickly. Not only would he be teased by the others in the club, but it was also an easy way to lose friends.

Swish!

Just as Lucas was marveling at Drilbur's talent, a clump of black mud suddenly flew out from the spiral of energy, tracing an arc through the air.

Splat!

The mud ball flashed through the air and landed precisely on Swinub's face, smearing it completely.

"A combination move!" Lucas exclaimed in shock.

Coach Miles had also been his coach, so Lucas was no stranger to combination moves. But he knew very well how difficult they were. His own starter Pokémon had taken half a year to barely master one. His ability to get into Jiangnan University was largely thanks to that combination move.

But the opponent, Basalt, how long had he been a trainer? Less than two months!

What Lucas didn't know was that Drilbur hadn't actually mastered the "Spinning Mud Bomb" at all. Its aim was completely unreliable. This time, Lady Luck had been on their side, and it had hit the target perfectly on the first try. In the eyes of an outsider, it was an incredibly impressive feat.

"Swiiinub~ Swiiinub~"

Swinub frantically shook its small head, trying to fling off the mud. But regardless, after being hit by Mud-Slap, its accuracy had inevitably dropped.

"Mist!"

With a wave of Lucas's hand, Swinub's pink nose suddenly exhaled a white gas, which instantly enveloped the entire battlefield and lingered.

Mist, an Ice-type move, envelops the opponent in a white mist, preventing them from lowering your stats. However, in the real world, besides this function, Mist could also be used to obstruct the opponent's vision. Lucas was clearly trying to block Drilbur's sight and then counter-attack.

But unfortunately for him, as a Ground-type Pokémon, Drilbur's perception of ground vibrations was far superior to that of other Pokémon of the same level. So even if it couldn't see anything, Swinub couldn't fly. No matter how it moved, the subtle ground vibrations from its movements would eventually be transmitted to Drilbur's feet.

"Rock Tomb!"

Basalt waved his hand, turning the tables on Lucas and catching him completely off guard. The opponent thought you had no vision, but in reality, you did. So when the opponent tried to sneak up on you, they were more likely to expose a weakness.

BOOM!

Rock Tomb hit its mark. The unsuspecting Swinub was battered and bruised. It began to pant heavily, clearly having taken significant damage.

"Swinub, use Bulldoze!"

With no other choice, Lucas decided to go all out and stop holding back. At this rate, if he continued to hold back, he was going to lose this battle. And losing was something Lucas could not accept. He was a university student! How could he be defeated by a high school student? He couldn't afford to lose face like that!

Bulldoze, a Ground-type move, attacks all surrounding opponents by stomping on the ground, also lowering their speed.

"Chari~"

A pained cry from Drilbur came from within the mist. As an area-of-effect move, it was impossible for Drilbur to dodge Bulldoze; it could only take it head-on. Although Rapid Spin was a semi-defensive move, it could only block moves like Water Gun or Ember. It couldn't defend against moves like Bulldoze or Earthquake.

"Damn it! If this goes on, I'm definitely going to lose!" Basalt's expression changed, and he gritted his teeth. This Swinub's control over the Ground type was terrifyingly strong, which meant its Ground-type moves were also very powerful. One more Bulldoze, and Drilbur would definitely lose the ability to battle.

In contrast, Swinub's thick fur and fat provided it with ample stamina. Although it had taken one Mud-Slap and one Rock Tomb, Swinub's condition was clearly better than Drilbur's.

"Swinub, use Bulldoze again!"

Lucas's voice rang out. As expected, he used Bulldoze again.

"Looks like I have to use that move!"

Basalt's gaze sharpened, his mind seemingly made up. He shouted loudly, "Drilbur, charge forward and use… Metal Claw!"

Basalt was going for a decisive blow. As a Steel-type move, Metal Claw was super-effective against the Ice-type Swinub. If this move hit, it could definitely take out the opponent in one go. The problem was, Drilbur hadn't fully mastered Metal Claw and couldn't guarantee a successful execution.

But Basalt had no other choice at this point. With Swinub's defense and stamina, Rock Tomb couldn't take it out in one hit. Since that was the case, he had to gamble. Gamble that Metal Claw would be successful. A 50-50 chance.

"Chari~"

Drilbur let out a sharp cry and began to run frantically, its stout right claw flickering with a faint metallic luster.

The mist had slowly begun to dissipate, and both Basalt and Lucas had regained their vision. They saw that as Swinub leaped high into the air and came crashing down, Drilbur, which had raised its right claw, also jumped up from its charge. Its flickering metallic claw swung out powerfully, striking directly at Swinub.

BAM!

Drilbur's claw slammed onto Swinub's forehead. Basalt, with his sharp eyes, noticed that at that moment, a dazzling metallic luster flashed on his little mole's claw.

Metal Claw was successfully executed!

The power of Metal Claw instantly erupted, sending Swinub flying. By the time it landed, its eyes were already swirling, and it had lost the ability to battle.

"It was even hiding Metal Claw, which is super-effective against Swinub?" Lucas's face was grim. Then he lamented, "Are all high school students this strong nowadays?"

On the other side of the field, Basalt had recalled Drilbur and jogged over with a smile. "You're really strong. If your Swinub had used Bulldoze from the start, I probably would have lost a long time ago."

"Huh?"

Lucas had a face full of question marks.

Are you showing off and slapping me in the face? If I had used Bulldoze from the start, wouldn't you have just used Metal Claw to counter-attack from the start? In that case, the result wouldn't have changed at all.

He didn't know that Drilbur hadn't fully mastered Metal Claw, and that last move had been a complete gamble. Fortunately for Basalt, the gamble had paid off.

This is how it is for the winner. No matter what you say, in the eyes of the loser, it all sounds like showing off. Even if you're telling the truth.

"Let's exchange contact info. We can spar more when we have time. If you ever have a chance to come to Hangzhou City, I'll take you on a tour of Jiangnan University."

"Sure!" Basalt nodded. Getting to know a top student from Jiangnan University was all benefits and no drawbacks for him. He couldn't possibly refuse.

Ring-ring-ring!

Just as he finished adding Lucas's contact info, Basalt's Pokédex rang. The caller ID showed: Ms. Anya.

"Ms. Anya? Why is she calling me so late?"

Although Basalt was puzzled, he still answered the phone.