Quagsire returned to the field.
Things were hardly any better than when he had left.
Cinccino had taken the Head Smash, but his thick, silky fur had absorbed much of the impact. The damage was pitiful.
"Cino!"
He shook the tiny grains of sand from his snow-white fur in disgust.
Faced with this crisis, Ayana, who had been growing impatient, suddenly took a deep breath. Her tense body relaxed, and she studied her opponent's Pokémon. Baimu smiled at the sight.
It would be tough.
But if she kept her cool, she could win!
"Bullet Seed!"
"Mud Bomb!"
The orders came one after the other.
Cinccino puffed out his cheeks and spat a barrage of green energy bullets like a machine gun. Quagsire fired back with a flurry of dark brown clumps of mud.
But the two attacks differed greatly in volume. Quagsire's mud clumps scattered wildly, while Cinccino's Bullet Seed flew straight ahead in an unbroken stream, almost like a green beam—
Cinccino had clearly put a great deal of work into it.
Ayana, however, had no intention of making Quagsire trade attacks head-on with Cinccino.
Bang, bang, bang!
The clumps of mud burst against the green bullets, spraying mud in every direction. Some of the bullets behind them were knocked off course by the collisions.
The explosions also produced small clouds of smoke.
At the same time, a mud clump burst not far from Cinccino. Flecks of mud landed on his fur, drawing the clean-loving Pokémon's gaze away for an instant.
"Go around from the left!"
Ayana spoke softly, but Quagsire knew her well enough to hear.
Cinccino's brief distraction meant his next volley failed to pierce the smoke in time. The belated bullets struck empty ground. Quagsire had already vanished.
"He's gone!?"
Marlin and Cinccino tensed. Fortunately, Quagsire