A-Cheng's Beedrill was forced to slow down, darting left and right through the energy web woven by Pin Missile. The frequency of its wingbeats grew increasingly frantic.
It barely evaded the first three waves of Pin Missile, only for two energy needles from the fourth wave to graze the edges of its wings. Its body swayed slightly in midair, losing part of its balance.
"Now!" A-Cheng's voice was resolute. "Beedrill, Poison Jab!"
"Bee!"
A-Cheng's Beedrill forcibly twisted its body around in the instant it lost balance. A layer of purple-black Poison type energy spread across its left stinger as it used the momentum of its fall to thrust at Xinhai's Beedrill—this strike carried a desperate, all-or-nothing Presence, its speed and angle fiercer than any of its previous attacks.
A flicker of approval crossed Xinhai's eyes. "Good. Beedrill, Protect."
"Bee!"
Xinhai's Beedrill crossed its twin stingers before itself, and a pale green, translucent energy Barrier swiftly unfolded where their tips met.
Poison Jab crashed into the Protect Barrier. Purple-black energy burst apart, leaving dense corrosive marks across the Barrier's surface, but it ultimately failed to break through that defense.
Having missed its strike, A-Cheng's Beedrill used the recoil to spring several meters backward and steady itself again.
"Bee! Bee!"
Its breathing was somewhat more hurried than before, and subtle irregularities had begun to appear in the rhythm of its wingbeats. The consecutive maneuvers just now had clearly consumed quite a bit of stamina.
Xinhai looked at A-Cheng and his Beedrill, his tone calm and fair. "Your Beedrill has good speed and reactions, and the timing of that Poison Jab was excellent. But its problem is that every attack uses too much force."
He raised a hand slightly, gesturing toward his own Beedrill. "Look at those exchanges just now. Every strike used