The Powerful Shiny Poliwhirl

It really was a peculiar Ability. After observing closely, Liu Xin discovered that nothing else had changed, apart from their moves being unusable.

That meant that whenever Shiny Poliwhirl activated its Flash Ability, neither side could use moves. They could only fight with their bodies.

That was extremely unfair to Mutant Phanpy. After all, it was a Pokémon that relied on Special Attack.

Now that its greatest strength was gone, how was it supposed to fight?

At the very least, it had lost its biggest advantage and could only struggle through a physical battle.

Still, Mutant Phanpy hadn't lost its fighting spirit. It stared at Shiny Poliwhirl, its face brimming with determination.

Having fists certainly came in handy. Shiny Poliwhirl made a taunting gesture.

Well, damn.

That instantly ignited the hot-tempered Mutant Phanpy's rage. How could it worry about anything else now?

It immediately charged straight at Shiny Poliwhirl, its head buzzing with anger.

Liu Xin covered his forehead and sighed helplessly. "I can't even direct you like this."

"Just fight however you want."

Misty chuckled. "What a hot-tempered, amusing Phanpy."

"But under the Flash Ability, my Shiny Poliwhirl has a huge advantage."

"So I'll be taking this victory."

There was no suspense. Shiny Poliwhirl immediately stepped forward, its strength and fighting technique both superior to Mutant Phanpy's.

"Phanpy!"

The slime on its body provided excellent protection, letting Mutant Phanpy's attack slide right off. Then it grabbed its opponent and delivered an over-the-shoulder throw.

Mutant Phanpy didn't even have a chance to resist. With such overwhelming fighting power, Shiny Poliwhirl knocked it out in one blow!

When the dust cleared, Mutant Phanpy was already unconscious on the ground. It was no match.

Both sides had already foreseen this result.

In a close-range battle using only basic attacks, Mutant Phanpy was absolutely no match for Shiny Poliwhirl.

Its defeat wasn't surprising at all.

That left Liu Xin with two Pokémon: Giant Onix and Shiny Cubone.

Sending out Giant Onix wasn't a realistic or sensible choice.

After all, without its moves, Giant Onix could only go out there and take a beating.

"I choose you, Shiny Cubone."

Shiny Cubone was undoubtedly the best choice. Although its offensive power couldn't match its opponent's, Liu Xin had complete confidence in it in a straight duel.

"Cubone, Cubone."

They were both Shiny Pokémon, but they didn't share the hostility of the Super series. They merely called out to each other.

Liu Xin was a little surprised. This little fellow was being so well-behaved that he wasn't used to it.

"I didn't expect you to have a Shiny Pokémon too. Your Pokémon really are something."

"But can you really beat me?"

"Shiny Poliwhirl, show him what you've got."

The Flash Ability activated, and Shiny Cubone was indeed affected. Its whole body felt uncomfortable under the silencing effect.

Now neither side could use moves. They had to rely entirely on their own strength and fighting techniques.

Liu Xin encouraged it. "Just remember when you fought Rhyhorn."

"Use that same feeling to fight this one."

"Poliwhirl."

Its opponent attacked immediately, closing in swiftly to attempt an over-the-shoulder throw.

But Shiny Cubone wasn't about to fall for that so easily. It immediately swung the bone club in its hand.

Although things were still a little slippery, it managed to put some distance between itself and its opponent.

That's it!

Liu Xin couldn't help clenching his fists. He had to win this battle.

This was the heated deciding round. Whoever won this would win it all.

Shiny Cubone's gaze grew serious as it wiped the slime off its bone club with its hand.

An Ability that constantly produced slime during battle really was a headache.

Shiny Poliwhirl's attack pattern was too predictable. Apart from closing in for hand-to-hand combat, it didn't seem to have any other options.

Shiny Cubone and Liu Xin quickly spotted this weakness. Liu Xin shouted, "Keep your distance! Remember, your Ability can still activate right now!"

Although moves were silenced here, Abilities weren't suppressed.

Battle Armor activated.

Tiny stones gathered over Shiny Cubone's body, shimmering pale yellow as its defense increased.

The more it dodged, the more its defense rose. Its Battle Armor Ability remained unaffected.

Misty shook her head slightly. She hadn't expected its Ability to come in handy at a time like this.

Still, that was fine. She believed her Shiny Poliwhirl would give her a satisfactory result.

Defeating the Shiny Cubone before it would be no problem at all.

Shiny Cubone narrowly avoided a hit. It couldn't afford to get struck before Battle Armor had fully stacked.

It let out a long breath. The stacks were almost maxed out, and armor could already be seen covering its body.

Battle Armor was undoubtedly the key to this fight. Victory depended entirely on it.

Liu Xin gritted his teeth. "Hang in there. You've got to hang in there."

Shiny Poliwhirl's attacks might have been predictable, but they hit hard. Combined with its tricky attack angles, dodging them consumed a great deal of stamina.

As a result, Shiny Cubone had to expend twice as much stamina to evade them.

That was why merely dodging had already left Shiny Cubone panting.

"Well, it's time to end this."

"Finish it, Shiny Poliwhirl."

"Poliwhirl!"

It drove its fist forward viciously, with a gust of wind surging along with the punch.

This time, however, Shiny Cubone didn't dodge. The corners of Liu Xin's mouth lifted. "Battle Armor is fully stacked."

"Now it's our turn to take control!"

The bone club in its hand slammed toward its opponent's fist, combining the club's own attack power with Battle Armor's boost.

Thud!

A crisp impact rang out, knocking Shiny Poliwhirl back cleanly, while Shiny Cubone retreated only a single small step.

It was clear that Shiny Cubone had gained the upper hand in this exchange.

"Cubone, Cubone!"

The little fellow started cockily taunting its opponent again. It really couldn't behave for even a moment.

Shiny Poliwhirl remained as composed as ever, as though nothing could shake it.

It adjusted its fists and resumed its attack.

Too predictable.

For Shiny Cubone, this posed no challenge at all. Its bone club began hammering away furiously.

It shifted from passive defense to an active offensive, every strike ferocious beyond compare.

Crisp blows rang out, and in the blink of an eye, the battle turned around.

Shiny Cubone drove Shiny Poliwhirl back again and again, leaving it unable to defend itself.

The bone club in its hand seemed divinely guided, perfectly knocking aside Shiny Poliwhirl's attacks every time.

Bang, bang, bang.

More blows landed on Shiny Poliwhirl's belly. If not for the protection of its slime and fat, it would already have been flat on the ground.