The smoke cleared.
Sableye lay flat on its back, dark swirls appearing in its gemlike eyes.
"Sableye..."
"Sableye is unable to battle! Regirock wins!"
Acerola raised her right hand to announce the result, then pursed her lips and couldn't help exclaiming, "That was amazing, Regirock!"
"Bzzzz—Re! Gi! Rock!"
As if it understood Acerola's praise, Regirock thrust its stone arms high into the air, its buzzing voice rumbling with excitement.
Nanu sighed helplessly.
"Well, well. Getting even a little advantage sure is hard."
He had meant to put pressure on Baimu with a succession of opponents. Instead, the kid had turned it around, and Nanu was the one feeling the pressure.
At this rate, what difference was there between five-on-one and one-on-one?
His Pokémon couldn't last more than a few rounds!
He needed to think of something.
After a brief moment of thought, he recalled Sableye and sent out his next Pokémon.
"Kra! Kra!"
Shrill cries echoed above the field.
A large, black-feathered, white-chested crow with a crest like an elegant gentleman's hat circled against the blue sky. Its sharp eyes stayed fixed on the mountainlike Regirock below.
Honchkrow?
The sight of the Pokémon gave Baimu an inkling of what was coming.
Nanu called, "Haze!"
"Kra!"
Honchkrow beat its broad wings furiously. Thick black mist rolled toward the field like waves, as though night itself were falling.
"Surround yourself with Stone Edge."
Baimu wore an expression that said he had expected exactly this.
Boom!
Regirock raised both arms and slammed them into the ground. Huge, glowing blue stone pillars erupted around it!
The pillars kept rising, then fitted tightly together to form a small mountain, shutting the black mist out completely.
Nanu had known something was wrong the moment he vaguely heard Baimu's command, but the lingering Haze kept him from