The matching moves had their damage halved. However, since the only attack Milotic knew was one whose damage would be halved, this was difficult even with Milotic's endurance taken into account.
On the other hand, Tentacruel used the moves it had learned as secondary weapons on par with Milotic's. This would be a slightly favorable encounter.
"Nate!"
"Focus Blast!"
Their moves collided and unleashed their power. Boosted by the rain and its matching type, Scald slightly overpowered Giga Drain, and a faint shock wave reached Tentacruel. Still, the Water-type Blastoise took almost no damage, and it was not enough to inflict Scald's additional burn effect.
Red thought for a moment. Blastoise knew Blizzard as a secondary weapon, and it would be highly effective against Garchomp, but he was considering switching to other moves depending on the matchup. If I can defeat Milotic here, I'll have Tentacruel use Blizzard. But this was not an easy opponent.
If he wanted to play it safe, there would be little problem with using Blizzard here. With Giga Drain and Hydro Cannon boosted by the rainy weather, defeating Milotic was not impossible. Blizzard could also be used for its stunning and lingering effects.
But Red, who had fought his way this far, dismissed that thought. Like the Champions he had faced before, Cynthia was someone he could not defeat unless he kept making the best possible move against the opponent before him.
And so, his approach was decided. At the end of that brief deliberation, Red gave the command he considered best.
"Dragon Pulse!"
"That's right! Ice Beam!"
Tentacruel fired a Dragon Pulse at Milotic, a move it had never shown before. Since it dealt neutral damage, it hit slightly harder than an ordinary Water-type attack.
However, Shirona calmly responded with Spiritual Light Beam. Though