Bu Xiang, the Victor

"Using Dark-type moves to attack his teammate and trigger Justified?"

As the second-ranked student at Peiyou No. 3 School, Lang Sha possessed no shortage of tactical awareness and quickly saw through Bu Xiang's intentions.

He just wasn't sure which move Bu Xiang had used. It didn't seem particularly powerful.

He hadn't recognized it as the relatively obscure [Beat Up] move. After all, this TM was rare and only circulated in one region. Moreover, the Pokémon capable of learning it were mostly Dark-types with poor reputations in the past, or group-oriented Pokémon unsuitable for training.

Using this method to rapidly strengthen the main attacker was indeed a clever and efficient tactical approach.

After all, using boosting moves like [Swords Dance] properly required finding a safe opportunity, and their activation was often slower than simply attacking directly—especially for non-STAB boosting moves.

However, Lucario had taken a rain-boosted [Hydro Pump] head-on. Although her Steel typing resisted Water-type attacks, that surging blast of Water-type energy had still affected her considerably.

Water streamed down her steel armor, and her breathing was slightly uneven.

It was their turn to act.

Bu Xiang had Lucario defend against Wingull while Garbodor kept Poliwrath in check.

Because Garbodor's Intimidate had lowered the opponents' physical attack at the start of the battle, they had shifted toward special attacks instead.

Wingull beat its wings wildly, and empowered by the rain, the range of its [Hurricane] reached an astonishing extent, making it extremely difficult to evade.

Stalling seemed to be Bu Xiang's best option for now.

He stared intently at the thinning rain clouds overhead. The rainfall was already weakening.

"[Protect]! [Detect]! Focus on evasion!" The commands were brief and rapid. In addition to the usual advantages displayed by moves like [Protect] and [Detect] at such times,

they could not only block