Why can't I get Sandstorm going? Huang Zequan wondered, left with no choice but to keep battling.
"Excadrill, use Dig, then Shadow Claw."
Unable to win a head-on clash, Huang Zequan chose to have Excadrill use Dig to hang on for now.
Excadrill plunged underground. A moment later, it emerged somewhere else before burrowing back down, then surfaced a long, long distance away and burrowed down again. This repeated over and over...
The heavy rain continued, and rainwater began pouring into the tunnels. Milotic used Scald on one of the holes, and something remarkable happened: a great quantity of hot water erupted from another opening far away, forming a small, steaming hot spring fountain!
Cheng Tian spotted something wrong at once and immediately stopped.
Digging was a field of study in its own right. Inexperienced diggers dug simple, monotonous tunnels that were extremely unstable, easily accumulating water or collapsing.
But Pokémon like Excadrill were practically born to dig. They were the finest engineers underground. They used their sharp claws to pack excess soil firmly against the surrounding earthen walls, forming incredibly sturdy underground structures. Excadrill were also highly proficient in the structural principles of Dig Studies. They did not merely dig a single tunnel, but several, for drainage or escape.
He Xisong narrowed his eyes slightly. "This boy is highly accomplished when it comes to Rock and Ground. He might be worth keeping an eye on."
Boom! Suddenly, a pit appeared behind Milotic. Excadrill burst out of it, a pair of Shadow Claws already slashing into Milotic's body.
Milotic cried out in pain and angrily raised its tail.
A metallic shine covered its tail as it lashed viciously toward Excadrill!
But this Iron Tail struck empty air. Excadrill quickly burrowed underground again to wait for an opening. Iron Tail struck