Pawniard

Pokémon: Pawniard

Gender: Male

Attributes: Dark type, Steel type

Ability: Defiant (when its Stats are lowered by an opponent, its Attack stat rises by two stages)

Aptitude: Purple

Basic Moves: Scratch, Leer, Fury Cutter, Metal Claw, Torment, Scary Face, Swords Dance, Brick Break

Egg Moves: Sucker Punch, Headbutt, Mean Look, Revenge

Lu Ze looked at the opposing Pawniard's Ability. With Defiant, the more its Stats were lowered, the higher Pawniard's Attack stat would rise. Unless its Attack stat was lowered by two stages at once, the increase and decrease would cancel each other out.

Swish.

The flag dropped, and the battle began.

Lu Ze decided to take a gamble. He bet that the opposing Pawniard would greedily try to boost itself when facing the slow Munchlax instead of attacking right away.

Munchlax had pitifully few long-range attacks in the early stages, and most of them had to be taught or learned through TMs. As for close-range moves, if they were Fighting type moves, Pawniard rushing in first would be asking to get smashed. Fighting type attacks dealing quadruple damage to Pawniard was no joke.

"Munchlax—Earthquake!"

"Pawniard—Swords Dance!"

Sure enough, Pawniard chose to boost first. In fact, rushing in would have led to the same result—the move would have been interrupted by Earthquake. The difference was that if it boosted, it would have to take Earthquake head-on, while if it charged forward, it might have been able to jump and avoid it.

"Munch!"

Munchlax stomped its foot, sending the shockwaves of Earthquake toward Pawniard, which was in the middle of using Swords Dance. Pawniard's Swords Dance was interrupted, while Munchlax slyly ran two steps forward, closing the distance between them.

After fighting several matches, Munchlax had realized that the reason he could not quickly finish his opponents was because they were too far away. So in this match, he tried closing some distance whenever he attacked. If he kept at it, he could eventually shove his fists right into the opponent's mouth.

"Pawniard—Sucker Punch!"

"Munchlax, close the distance—Fire Punch!"

Even after taking double damage from Earthquake, Pawniard quickly recovered. Wrapped in black Dark type energy, it charged forward and struck Munchlax.

Munchlax struggled to block it with his hands at first, then let go and allowed Pawniard to slam straight into his arms.

Flames ignited around Munchlax's fists as he punched Pawniard again and again with adorable ferocity. Pawniard desperately tried to block Munchlax's Fire Punch with its arms.

But after blocking twice, it was sent flying by another punch. Munchlax took the opportunity to shuffle two more steps toward Pawniard.

Pawniard had first taken a double-damage Earthquake, then a double-damage Fire Punch. Though it could still barely stand, it had almost no stamina left.

"Pawniard—Swords Dance!"

"Munchlax—give it one last Fire Punch!"

The boy with his hair combed into an adult style refused to give up. He wanted to use Swords Dance to strengthen Pawniard once more. He still had Brick Break, which could deal double damage to Munchlax, unused.

If Sucker Punch had not been neutralized by Munchlax just now, Pawniard's next move would have been Brick Break. Unfortunately, there were no ifs in Pokémon battles.

Munchlax forced himself to speed up as he charged at Pawniard. The instant Swords Dance ended, Fire Punch slammed fiercely into Pawniard.

Although Swords Dance had successfully strengthened it, Pawniard still fell. That was when Munchlax's sly little shuffles became important.

If he had not taken the chance to move forward a few steps while attacking, Munchlax might not have reached Pawniard before it finished boosting. Pawniard could then have widened the distance, dragging out the battle and introducing more variables. The winner would still have been uncertain.

"Pawniard is unable to battle. Munchlax wins."

The referee announced the result. Lu Ze recalled Munchlax and headed toward the waiting room. He had thought he was already the last one, but the commentator's passionate voice still rang in his ears.

When Lu Ze arrived in the waiting room, he curiously asked Sui Yan, who was standing by the door.

"What? Is someone's match still going?"

Sui Yan gestured toward the big screen with his chin.

"There. Lilligant against Ferroseed. The two are pretty much in sync—after dealing damage, they both use Giga Drain to recover. One takes a bite, then the other takes a bite. Neither can bring the other down."

"But Lilligant's Trainer is getting impatient now. She's stacking Quiver Dance, preparing to take the opponent out in one wave."

The commentator's hoarse voice reached Lu Ze's ears.

"Lilligant has already stacked Quiver Dance four times. Will she end the battle now?"

"Oh, no! She stacked Quiver Dance again!"

The commentator sounded a little despairing as well. The broadcast had put this match on the big screen from the very beginning. In the end, of the first group to take the field, only these two remained.

"That's the fifth Quiver Dance! She isn't going to stack all the way to six, is she? Ah!! She's attacking—Solar Beam!! It hit Ferroseed and ended the match!"

"With that, all of the morning matches have concluded. We'll take a break now, and the matches will resume promptly at 1:30 this afternoon!"

The commentator finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over. After delivering the closing remarks, he got off work and waited for the afternoon matches to begin.

Lu Ze took out his phone, intending to message Lu Ba and ask whether they should have lunch together. But as soon as he unlocked it, he saw the message Lu Ba had sent.

"Son, you did great. Go eat with them. Your mom, Grandpa Mo, and I will eat together. Good luck this afternoon!"

Lu Ze smiled knowingly and replied.

"Okay, Dad."

He put away his phone and asked everyone, "Where should we eat? Do any of you have dietary restrictions?"

The latter question was directed at Youyu You and Yin Hanling. After all, he had spent quite a long time with Su Tingxi and knew that he basically had no food restrictions.

Yin Hanling answered with a smile, "I don't have any restrictions, but Youyu can't really eat spicy food. As long as there are non-spicy options, it'll be fine."

Sui Yan suggested, "Then let's have hotpot. We can get a split pot."

"Agreed." ×4

Youyu You also quietly chimed in, "I... can."

Yin Hanling looked at Youyu You, somewhat unable to believe that he had actually spoken up on his own. When Lu Ze and the others saw Yin Hanling turn toward Youyu You, they all turned to look at him too.

They watched until Youyu You became a little embarrassed, then everyone burst into laughter and left the waiting room. Yin Hanling followed the group with a bright smile, holding Youyu You's hand.

Sometimes, Yin Hanling really seemed like Youyu You's older sister, protecting and taking care of the introverted, inarticulate Youyu You.

Yet even so, Yin Hanling saw herself as Youyu You's younger sister deep down. After all, she was younger than him.

As for Youyu You, he saw Yin Hanling as his wife~