Milotic fell, and Ruby sent out Gardevoir.
It was hardly a surprising choice.
His last Pokémon, the Water- and Ground-type Swampert, had a quadruple weakness to Grass and no way to counter Floragato.
Though Gardevoir had very little physical bulk, at least it had moves like [Teleport] to create some distance.
With its considerable Special Attack, perhaps it could put an end to Floragato's unstoppable momentum?
After all, Floragato had torn through Milotic's defenses by weathering some seriously powerful moves head-on.
With its meager bulk, surely Floragato couldn't withstand Gardevoir's attacks?
"Charge in! Shadow Claw!"
Before Ruby could give his first command, Floragato sprang into action at Xia Chi's order.
A chilling purple mist, seemingly drawn from the abyss, swirled around its claws as it slashed at the newly arrived Gardevoir!
"Gardevoir, Hyper Voice!"
Ruby's command gave Xia Chi a moment's pause.
Hyper Voice?
But Floragato had become a Ghost type through [Protean]. It should be immune to Normal-type moves.
Could it be...?
Shadow Claw wasn't a priority move like Bullet Punch or Quick Attack, after all.
Given the distance between Floragato and Gardevoir, Gardevoir had enough time to unleash Hyper Voice before Floragato reached it.
Knowing how fast Floragato was, it had prepared this Hyper Voice in a rush.
It didn't look particularly powerful.
But that didn't matter.
Even the most powerful Normal-type move couldn't inflict any damage on the now Ghost-type Floragato.
And Ruby's objective was the same as Xia Chi's.
Whoosh-
The sound of Shadow Claw tearing through the air rang out with startling clarity.
The attack clearly struck Gardevoir, yet its abundant Ghost-type energy vanished without a sound, like a stone sinking into the sea.
As he watched Shadow Claw fail to harm Gardevoir at all, Xia Chi's tightly furrowed brow suddenly relaxed.
*So Gardevoir