The triple combination of Curse, Whirlpool, and Will-O-Wisp...
None of those moves dealt staggering damage in a single hit, but together, they could still drain at least half of Sceptile's stamina.
"Shame Corsola didn't get another chance to use Hex."
Baimu couldn't help feeling disappointed.
Even with Corsola's modest offensive power, one successful Hex would likely have pushed Sceptile to the brink of collapse.
After all, Sceptile was burned, and Hex doubled in power against a Pokémon with a Status Condition.
Unfortunately, Tetsuya had reacted quickly—or had finally found his opening. The moment the burn took hold, he recalled Sceptile into its Poké Ball.
No matter how fast Corsola was, it couldn't follow up with another move that quickly.
"You did well. Come back and rest."
Baimu recalled Corsola, drawing surprised murmurs from the onlookers.
"Why'd he recall it?"
"Yeah, things were going so well, and Corsola looked fine! What a waste!"
"I agree with you, but... with that face like it's suffered eight lifetimes of bad luck, how could you tell?"
"I-it just looked fine, okay!"
Arguments broke out in the crowd.
But Baimu knew that despite how thoroughly Corsola had pressed Sceptile, it had used move after move and sacrificed nearly half its stamina to Curse. Its condition was actually getting dangerous.
Most Ghost-type Pokémon didn't have much stamina. Their base HP generally hovered around fifty or sixty, so they relied on both defenses to endure attacks. That made them durable, but poorly suited to drawn-out battles unless they could recover with healing moves.
With no chance to recover right now except through Rest, it was time to let Corsola take a break and give another Pokémon a turn.
Corsola was perfectly happy with that.
Across the arena,
after a brief hesitation, Tetsuya sent out his second Pokémon—