Agumon, one against three

"A challenge?"

Qingliu looked at Candice in surprise, then glanced at Snover and the other two Pokémon beside her. Unable to quite suppress his amusement, he raised an eyebrow.

He had been planning to discuss it with her, but now Candice had challenged him first?

That caught Qingliu off guard.

After all, Candice was no fool. She had seen Agumon's performance firsthand. There was no reason for her to let Snover get hurt for nothing when she knew how enormous the gap was.

So what made her so confident?

Qingliu couldn't help feeling curious.

"Stop giving me that fake smile. Just tell me whether you dare to accept!"

Seeing Qingliu trying not to laugh made Candice especially eager to give him a beating.

"Of course. I'd love to."

Qingliu certainly wouldn't turn down a generous bundle of experience, especially one that delivered itself to his door.

"Good. You haven't caught any other Pokémon yet, have you?"

"No. Just Agumon."

Once Candice confirmed that Qingliu still only had Agumon, she pointed at Sneasel, who stood beside her with arms folded, looking thoroughly aloof.

"The Pokémon I'll be using this time is Sneasel."

Qingliu wasn't surprised.

Snover's Grass and Ice typing left Snover hopelessly vulnerable to Agumon's Pepper Breath, which dealt quadruple damage. That was second only to Parasect with Dry Skin, whose weakness to fire was fivefold.

Snover was also slow, making little more than a target for Agumon.

As for Snorunt, if he remembered correctly, before evolving, every stat was absurdly average.

Qingliu promptly opened the panel.

[Species] Snorunt

[Category] Snow Hat Pokémon

[Type] Ice

[Ability] Ice Body

[Level] 11

[Exclusive moves] None

[Known moves] Headbutt, Powder Snow, Astonish, Double Team

[Base stats] 300 (HP 50, Attack 50, Defense 50, Special Attack 50, Special Defense 50, Speed 50)

[Friendship] 1

[Status] Normal

[Summary] Snorunt often live in snowy places and can remain lively even in regions of extreme cold.

They appear when snow first begins to fall. If one appears in the middle of the night, it means a sudden blizzard is coming.

Rumor has it that households where Snorunt have lived grow increasingly prosperous and have many descendants. This has led to the custom of freezing clean water into ice and leaving it at the door as an offering.

Aside from that mystical ability, which sounded like a lucky cat and a child-bestowing Guanyin casting a spell together, Snorunt really was unremarkable.

Qingliu turned to the last Pokémon, Sneasel.

[Species] Sneasel

[Category] Sharp Claw Pokémon

[Type] Dark, Ice

[Ability] Inner Focus

[Level] 13

[Exclusive moves] None

[Known moves] Scratch, Leer, Taunt, Quick Attack, Ice Shard, Metal Claw, Bite

[Base stats] 430 (HP 55, Attack 95, Defense 55, Special Attack 35, Special Defense 75, Speed 115)

[Friendship] 0

[Status] Normal (holding Quick Claw)

[Summary] Sneasel live in cold regions and have sinister, cunning dispositions. They often hide in dark surroundings and use their sharp claws. They hunt in groups and steal the eggs of bird Pokémon, earning the hatred of breeders.

A blazingly fast Pokémon, holding a Quick Claw, with Ice-type moves that counter Dragon types. No wonder she's so confident.

That was what Qingliu thought.

Sneasel might indeed have posed some threat to Agumon a few days ago, but the current Agumon was nothing like the Agumon of then.

If they actually fought, Qingliu feared it would be over in just a couple of exchanges, crushing Candice's confidence and enthusiasm.

So Qingliu came up with an excellent solution.

"Candice, how about this? I'll still use only Agumon, and you... send all three of yours at once."

Candice stared at him. "Huh...? What are you talking about?"

"I said, Agumon against all three."

Hearing him repeat it, Candice immediately looked at Qingliu as though he were an idiot.

As she understood it, Agumon might be stronger than Snover and Snorunt, and even Sneasel might not be able to beat Agumon, but that was in a one-on-one battle.

Now it would be one against three, with all three of her Pokémon at roughly the same level. How could Agumon possibly win?

Snover and Snorunt showed little reaction, but the silent Sneasel's expression darkened further. Sneasel glanced at Qingliu before fixing a gaze full of hostility on Agumon.

"Even if you're joking, you shouldn't say that. You have no chance of winning against three. Even if I win, anyone who hears about it will say I had an unfair advantage."

"Woo-kyee!"

Snover nodded in agreement beside her.

"If I said it, I meant it. Right, Agumon?"

Qingliu looked at Agumon.

"Of course!"

Agumon immediately stepped back to create enough space, revealing the claws at the tips of both hands, clearly ready for battle.

Seeing that Qingliu and Agumon were serious, Candice's smile vanished.

"In that case, I won't hold back."

Having been taught from childhood by her Gym Leader father, and aspiring to become the Gym Leader of the Snowpoint Gym herself, Candice had pride of her own.

Losing to Qingliu one-on-one was one thing, but now he was proposing one against three. She decided to teach him a lesson.

"Of course. I'd love that."

Qingliu slowly backed away as well, stopping behind Agumon.

"Snover, Snorunt, Sneasel, show those two just how wrong a decision they've made."

The three Pokémon nodded together, spreading out and preparing to fight.

"We'll attack first! Snover, use Powder Snow and Razor Leaf on the left! Snorunt, use Powder Snow on the right! Sneasel, charge straight in with Quick Attack!"

Snover and Snorunt raised their arms at the same time. Fine snow began drifting down from the sky, while leaves lifted from the ground and mingled with the falling snow.

A two-toned glow lit up behind Sneasel, who shot through the snow and leaves, charging straight at Agumon.

Snover and Snorunt provided cover while attacking, and Sneasel handled the charge. In just a few seconds, the three Pokémon had established impressive coordination.

Candice was quite pleased with it, too.

As a prospective successor to the Gym, her father had long since laid the foundations of a team-battle system for her future development. Once they fought as a team, its true strength would begin to show.

Just like now, the fighting power their teamwork produced could be described as 1 + 1 + 1 > 3.

Qingliu also noticed the extraordinary change in the three Pokémon under Candice's command. The difficulty had clearly increased considerably.

But what occupied Qingliu's thoughts more was whether the combined experience from defeating three Pokémon would also be 1 + 1 + 1 > 3.