At this point, Wallace had no intention of keeping Politoed clinging to life and ordered another Hydro Pump.
Since its remaining health would barely let it survive long enough for a third Hydro Pump, Qingyu did not get greedy. He gave his command without hesitation:
"Garganacl, Protect!"
The barrier formed by Protect went up first despite the later command, blocking Politoed's attack.
Meanwhile, Garganacl chewed a mouthful of Leftovers behind the barrier, recovering a little more health.
As time ticked by, Politoed's health soon hit zero.
And against Wallace's next Pokémon, Milotic, Qingyu's choice was...
"Salt Cure!"
"Protect!"
"Recover!"
With the terrifying staying power of Protect, Recover, and Leftovers, plus the extra protection from Light Screen, Garganacl stood firm as a mountain.
Even in the rain, a Hydro Pump from Milotic was not enough to finish the job. In the end, the Salt King wore it down too.
Under the dual torment of Toxic and Salt Cure, Wallace's side had completely fallen apart.
In the end, it took both Seaking and Ludicolo to barely bring down the scalp-tingling menace that was Garganacl with a critical-hit Hydro Pump.
After all that, the score stood at 4-1.
Gliscor, which had yet to take the field, finally made its belated appearance. Its weaknesses should have been easy pickings for Wallace's team.
But by now, his battered remnants no longer had the means to deal with it.
One Dual Wingbeat. One Thunder Fang.
Gliscor easily secured Qingyu's victory.
[Holy crap, is this still a Pokémon battle? Where the hell have I ended up?]
[Stop! This isn't a battle at all, aaaaaah!]
[One second of silence for Wallace. Such a nice guy, and he gets matched against the demon king himself, Teacher Yu...]
[That was terrifying. What if watching this in the middle of the