"Roar!" Garchomp let out a furious roar, unleashing Thunder Fang at point-blank range. Cheng Tian inwardly cursed. "Protect!"
Protect blocked Thunder Fang, but just then, an unexpected Iron Tail sent both Pokémon flying. Bai Momo's mouth twitched as he looked at the slightly embarrassed young man beside him. "You freaking did that on purpose, didn't you!"
"Uh... I'm innocent, Team Captain! I really only meant to knock Greninja away for you..."
Thanks to that Iron Tail, Greninja managed to put some distance between itself and Garchomp. Meanwhile, Hippopotas was exchanging blows with Palossand. Under Trick Room's effects, the two Pokémon, both originally incredibly slow, had become astonishingly fast instead. Their back-and-forth exchanges were enough to make anyone's heart pound with fear.
Greninja quickly recovered in midair, grabbed the Iron Tail before it could drop, and leaped onto Steelix's back. Before it could use a move, however, Garchomp actually jumped onto Steelix's back as well.
Although Garchomp could fly, taking off from flat ground and gliding was a little slower. Seeing Garchomp coming after it, Greninja turned and fired an Ice Beam straight from its mouth. Unable to dodge in time, Garchomp could only frantically raise her fins to block it. With her quadruple weakness to Ice, she instantly took considerable damage, and her eyes turned blood-red.
"Roar!" Enraged, Garchomp swung her Dragon Claw recklessly at Greninja. Seeing trouble coming, Greninja jumped straight off Steelix's back. Garchomp's Dragon Claw struck Steelix's back instead, producing a sharp metallic screech that set everyone's teeth on edge.
"Hey, hey, Mo! Why are you hitting our own side!"
"Wrong target, wrong target. I'll definitely get it next time."
Greninja fell through the air while Palossand waited below like a tiger eyeing its prey, Sand Tomb already prepared, waiting for Greninja to throw itself into the