Although Snivy had been through two battles without taking much damage, all the running, dodging, and attacking had drained its stamina considerably. It was already visibly adjusting the rhythm of its breathing.
It was clearly getting tired.
But Xia You still did not switch it out.
In truth, it made little difference to him whether he did.
Even if Snivy lost, it would not affect the overall battle much. He could simply send out another Pokémon.
And if it won, that would undoubtedly give its morale and confidence a tremendous boost.
Especially considering that it had already lost once in a battle a few days earlier.
There were benefits all around, with almost no drawbacks.
Across the field, seeing that Xia You had indeed kept the same Pokémon in, just as he had expected, Clay showed no noticeable change in expression.
After all, he could also tell that this man was training this Pokémon.
Still, he had to admit that such a performance from a Pokémon still in training was enough to attract attention.
After barely a dozen seconds to catch their breath, the battle resumed at the referee's third signal.
And things went exactly as Xia You had predicted.
The moment this battle began, Excadrill and Clay revealed their strategy.
Digging!
Almost the instant the referee gave the signal to begin, Excadrill turned its body, bored a hole into the hard earth beneath its feet, and slipped inside, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
The hard underground soil was as fragile as tofu to it, leaving only pitch-black openings on the surface that quickly filled with dust.
Once it was underground, there was no way to predict when or where Excadrill would launch its next attack.
Xia You had encountered this tactic many times and was even adept