The long tongue quickly wrapped around Machoke's neck several times and instantly tightened.
Machoke gave a muffled grunt and hurriedly reached for Frogadier's tongue, but Frogadier was not about to let him have his way so easily. With a hard tug, he threw Machoke off balance, making him stumble forward.
That tug naturally was not enough to pull Machoke over, but it kept him from maintaining his balance and indirectly hindered his movements.
At that very moment, Frogadier leaped forward, swinging both webbed hands at Machoke.
If Machoke defended above, he could not defend below; if he defended below, he could not defend above. He simply could not cover both.
After all, one hand could not undo the restraint around his neck, while the other could not block two webbed hands at once.
Weighing his options in that hurried moment, he steadied himself and still chose to grab the tongue above.
I'll just have to take a few hits. My body can take a beating, anyway. It's better than being unable to breathe.
At that very instant, Frogadier's Pound landed on Machoke's chest with two sharp smacks. Meanwhile, his nimble tongue retracted before Machoke could touch it.
It took only a moment to raise a hand, but that tongue was simply too fast. In the blink of an eye, Machoke had grasped at empty air.
He had really lost out on that exchange.
Gritting his teeth, Machoke advanced rather than retreating. Knowing the situation was growing increasingly unfavorable, he wanted to close the distance to Frogadier no matter what and settle this troublesome opponent with his own two hands!
The disadvantage of Maylene's Machoke lay in his complete lack of medium- or long-range attacks.
Although this allowed him to devote all his attention to close-range fighting and perhaps become extremely