Greninja leaped high into the air and landed right on top of the wave. The unique structure of its webbed feet let it tread the current without being swept under, carrying it backward with the wave instead.
When Surf finally subsided, Greninja landed steadily at the edge of the field.
Although it had safely avoided Surf, the force of the current had once again widened the distance between it and Empoleon.
Some spectators cheered.
But it was unclear whether they were cheering for Empoleon's well-executed Surf, which had resolved its crisis, or Greninja's superb display of skill as it rode the wave.
Either way, Xia You had now more or less seen through Empoleon's fighting style.
It could roughly be summed up as bombarding the opponent from afar, washing them away, then bombarding them again.
Quite a nice combination.
Still, to be fair, an ordinary Pokémon really would have struggled to deal with that approach.
In that case, it's time for me to get a little more involved!
"Greninja, let's charge again!"
Greninja had been wondering how to deal with its opponent's combination, but once it heard its Trainer's command, it knew Xia You was stepping in. It stopped dwelling on the matter and charged toward Empoleon with long strides.
By this point, Darach had actually tried every offensive option he had. Anything else would merely be supplementary moves built around the same strategy.
Unfortunately, none of them had managed to pose much of a threat to the Greninja before him.
Greninja had handled everything far too well!
By now, he completely believed what Xia You had said earlier. This Greninja really was strong!
Then...
Should I keep battling with Empoleon?
With all his methods countered, Darach had considered switching Pokémon. After all, once Greninja got close, Empoleon would be