"The damage was less than I expected. Could it be Marvel Scale?"
Steven had intended to finish the battle with a quick attack, but the damage was unexpectedly light. Milotic had high Special Defense, but its physical defense was not nearly as strong. He had therefore thought that wearing it down with Stone Edge and X-Scissor would let him defeat it decisively.
It had indeed taken considerable damage, but he had not expected it to have so much strength to spare. Steven suspected some trick was at work, then remembered Milotic's Ability.
Marvel Scale. An Ability that raised defense when the Pokémon had a status condition.
In other words, in addition to its naturally high Special Defense, its Ability was bolstering its physical defense as well. Milotic was as sturdy as a fortress.
The price, however, was a burn. After taking that much damage, it should have fallen to the lingering damage from its burn and the Sandstorm.
But that was not how things went.
Shirona was not someone who would leave such a weakness unaddressed. As a fellow Champion, Steven understood that perfectly well.
"Recover!"
Milotic's body glowed, its wounds knitting shut. In just a few seconds, it visibly recovered from a considerable amount of damage.
However, taking lingering damage from both the Sandstorm and its burn forced it to use Recover more frequently. Recover was a powerful healing move, but it could not be used endlessly. Furthermore, healing left a greater opening than attacking. Steven believed that if he could exploit that opening precisely, he could find a way to defeat Milotic.
Meanwhile, Cynthia considered how to overcome the situation. Burning Milotic with a Flame Orb secured its defense, but the increased lingering damage also halved its effectiveness. A stamina-focused Pokémon like Milotic lost strength as that damage