Narrow Victory

In Pokémon battles, the most important thing was gathering information.

Yingnan's Pokémon was a Mudkip. Its level was about the same as his Torchic's, and it probably did not know many moves either.

Xinhai knew that Mudkip definitely knew the three moves Tackle, Growl, and Water Gun.

The real question was, which two Egg Moves had this Mudkip inherited?

That was the most troublesome part. Unlike in the games, there were not just a few fixed Egg Moves.

After evolving into Swampert, Mudkip had an absurdly diverse move pool. It had eight or nine powerful moves with base power over 100 alone. This move set truly lived up to Swampert's status as a mainstay of Rain teams. Terrifying.

This Mudkip's Ability was most likely Torrent. However, Pokémon at this level generally could not skillfully control their Abilities yet, so that factor could be ignored.

Still, Mudkip's Type countered Torchic's. This battle probably would not be easy.

Unfortunately, Torchic's level was still too low to use Flame Charge proficiently, while Bulk Up took too long to activate and could easily be interrupted. Otherwise, this battle would have been much easier.

Xinhai pondered the matter with a slight headache.

Just then, a battle on one of the fields ended.

Seeing the field open up, Xinhai and Yingnan immediately hurried into the battle area.

A classmate watching from the sidelines stepped forward and said, "I'll be your referee."

Xinhai and Yingnan exchanged a glance, then each nodded in agreement.

Xinhai took a deep breath and stared steadily at Yingnan across from him. "Then let's begin!"

Yingnan's eyes were full of anticipation as well. "Come on. I've been waiting for this!"

As if sensing their Trainers' mood, Torchic and Mudkip also perked up. Brimming with fighting spirit, they stared each other down as tension seemed to fill the air.

Seeing that both sides were ready, the student acting as referee loudly announced, "Both sides, prepare! Begin!"

Xinhai and Yingnan shouted almost simultaneously, "Torchic, Mudkip, use Growl!"

Torchic and Mudkip's adorable cries immediately rang out. "Chamo~!" "Karo~!" As their cries echoed, both sides' Attack fell.

Both were startled to hear the other give the same command, but Xinhai reacted first.

"Torchic, circle around it while using Ember. Watch out for its moves!"

After giving the command, Xinhai continued to observe the condition of the battlefield while watching the fight.

Torchic immediately started running. Seeing Torchic charge toward it, Mudkip hurriedly used Water Gun.

Streams of water shot out one after another, but whether from nervousness or Torchic's speed, every Water Gun missed. Instead, Mudkip was struck by a spark Torchic spat out.

"Karo~!"

Mudkip cried out in pain after being hit by Ember.

Seeing this, Yingnan decisively ordered, "Mudkip, use a scattered Rock Slide for an area attack!"

The moment Xinhai heard that, his expression soured.

It inherited Rock Slide? What a pain! No wonder Yingnan was so confident. But Mudkip's level is still low, so it definitely can't use Rock Slide repeatedly.

"Torchic, use Growl first. Then use Bulk Up when it throws out its move."

Xinhai quickly came up with a response. He knew that when Bulk Up was used, a layer of Fighting-type energy formed over the user's body, reducing some incoming damage, especially attacks that did not counter the Fighting type.

"Chamo~!"

Torchic let out a clear cry. Mudkip, which was gathering Rock-type energy, was distracted by the sound and instinctively looked over. Its damage output dropped again.

Yingnan frowned and hurriedly reminded it, "Mudkip, don't let it distract you!"

Hearing its Trainer's words, Mudkip clutched the pile of small rocks condensed from Rock-type energy, let out a shout, and hurled them with all its strength.

The rocks that had been tightly clumped together scattered apart after being thrown, flying chaotically toward Torchic.

"Karo~!"

Seeing the large number of rocks flying toward it, Torchic's little face showed a trace of panic.

"Cha... Chamo~!"

Xinhai had been staring intently at the battle. Seeing this, he immediately shouted, "Use Bulk Up, now!"

Torchic shuddered and instinctively used Bulk Up.

Just as the rocks were about to strike it, a faint red glow rose over its body.

Only after seeing Bulk Up activate successfully did Xinhai breathe a sigh of relief, though he continued watching the battle closely.

Even with Bulk Up's protection, Torchic was still struck by several rocks and knocked to the ground. The red glow gradually faded away.

Torchic sat up and shook its head before struggling to its feet.

Seeing this, Xinhai grew anxious. Even after using Growl twice to greatly lower Mudkip's Attack, and using Bulk Up to reduce the effect of the Type disadvantage, Torchic had still suffered considerable injuries.

They could not keep dragging this out. He had to end the battle as soon as possible.

Seeing Torchic's condition, Yingnan immediately grew excited and hurriedly ordered, "Rush in! Mudkip, use Water Gun!"

Mudkip caught its breath and immediately rushed forward. As it approached Torchic, it fired three Water Guns.

Watching the situation, Xinhai calmly ordered, "Run, Torchic! Keep your distance and run toward its side of the field!"

Upon receiving the command, Torchic quickly started running, nimbly dodging the Water Gun attacks before turning and sprinting toward the other side of the field.

Seeing this, Yingnan could not help thinking, Damn it, Mudkip hasn't undergone systematic training yet. Its accuracy against moving targets is too low. But what is Xinhai trying to do?

"Mudkip, chase after it. Use Water Gun once you get closer!"

Mudkip quickly gave chase. Seeing this, Xinhai's lips curled slightly as he shouted, "Torchic, slow down and keep running forward!"

Yingnan was puzzled when he heard Xinhai's command.

However, he thought that after another stretch, Mudkip's chances of hitting Torchic would increase greatly. At that point, he would not be afraid even if they exchanged moves head-on. So, rather than stopping Mudkip, he ordered it to accelerate its pursuit.

"Mudkip, speed up and catch it! Use Water Gun!"

At that moment, Xinhai decisively ordered, "Torchic, now! Use Sand Attack backward!"

Torchic froze for a moment upon hearing the order, but having seen Xinhai's previous commands work, it trusted him and kicked backward to use Sand Attack.

Unexpectedly, a spray of sand really was kicked up behind Torchic.

At that moment, Yingnan's Mudkip happened to be charging forward at high speed. The sand struck true, directly blinding Mudkip's eyes.

"Karo~!" Blinded, Mudkip hurriedly stopped and rubbed its eyes with its little claws.

Only then did Yingnan realize what had happened. He anxiously shouted, "Damn, you snuck an attack in! Mudkip, hurry and fire Water Gun straight ahead!"

But he was still a step too late. Before he could react, Xinhai had already followed up with another command. "Torchic, fire a continuous stream of Ember!"

Torchic had already turned around and begun firing bursts of Ember just as Mudkip was about to use Water Gun.

With its eyes blinded, Mudkip could not dodge, and every Ember attack hit it.

As Torchic's Ember struck, Xinhai gave another order. "Torchic, rush in with Tackle!"

Torchic shot toward Mudkip like an arrow loosed from a bow and slammed into it fiercely.

Mudkip was sent flying and crashed heavily to the ground, losing its ability to battle.

The student acting as referee immediately announced, "Xinhai's Torchic wins!"

Xinhai breathed a sigh of relief and smiled proudly. Torchic also jumped up in excitement, winning its very first Pokémon battle.

Xinhai hurried over to Torchic and scooped it into his arms, his face full of pride and joy. "Well done, Torchic! You were amazing!"

Torchic cried out excitedly, "Chamo, Chamo!" as it rubbed its little head against Xinhai's chest, celebrating this hard-won victory.

Yingnan, on the other hand, walked dejectedly to Mudkip's side and gently picked it up, his eyes full of concern. "Mudkip, it's okay. We'll definitely win next time."

Mudkip weakly let out a "Karo," as though responding to its Trainer's comfort.

The surrounding students who had been watching gathered around, offering praise after praise. "Xinhai, your commands just now were incredible!"

"Yeah, especially that final Sand Attack! No one saw that coming!" As the students chimed in one after another, Xinhai scratched his head a little embarrassedly.

Holding Mudkip, Yingnan walked over to Xinhai and smiled. "Xinhai, Mudkip and I lost this time, but we'll definitely win it back next time."

Xinhai looked at Yingnan. "We won't lose."

Torchic puffed out its chest and cried loudly, "Chamo!"

The two looked at each other and smiled at the same time.

Afterward, they waved goodbye to their classmates and prepared to find Nurse Joy to treat their Pokémon's injuries.