"We're in big trouble..."
When Qingyu ordered Empoleon to scatter Stealth Rock, countless fine beads of sweat quietly formed on Blue's forehead, and the corners of his mouth immediately drooped.
Wasn't this supposed to be a weather war? Why had you suddenly scattered a handful of hazards?
As one of Teacher Yu's star students, Blue had discovered Qingyu relatively late, but he had gone back and watched his earlier tutorial videos, so he understood hazard use fairly well.
For a Sunny Day Team, practically any Pokémon with a Fire typing would lose a good chunk of HP to Stealth Rock the moment it entered the field.
That went double for his team's absolute core, Charizard. Its Fire/Flying typing remained unchanged after Mega Evolution, so taking Stealth Rock damage would cripple it. He couldn't possibly send it in lightly.
But that brought up another problem...
There weren't many Pokémon capable of removing hazards to begin with. His only way to clear Stealth Rock was the Flying-type move Defog, and Charizard itself was the only Pokémon on his team that could use it. He couldn't count on any of the others.
To clear the hazards, he needed to send out Charizard.
But once Charizard came out, Teacher Yu's hazards would have already served their purpose. After stepping onto Stealth Rock, Y Charizard's HP would fall into KO range for several opposing Pokémon. It would be in serious danger.
So what exactly was he supposed to do?
Clearly, Blue had already been caught in a dilemma.
But Qingyu wasn't about to give him time to figure out an answer.
"Empoleon, Hydro Pump."
While Blue agonized over his options, Qingyu had already issued his next command.
Ninetales's earlier Scorching Sands hadn't been particularly powerful and hadn't hurt Empoleon much, so Qingyu decisively chose to