Thunderous applause erupted from the stands.
The blotches of poison had yet to fade, but Misdreavus was in remarkably high spirits, circling excitedly above Venusaur's body with its head held high.
It was utterly immersed in a world where all the excitement belonged to it alone.
Xia Chi really did not want to spoil Misdreavus's fun.
But it was still suffering from [Toxic].
After six or seven minutes, [Toxic] had become terrifyingly potent. Left unchecked, it could drain the rest of Misdreavus's stamina in half a minute.
Once its excitement subsided, Misdreavus realized this too and hurriedly called out to the referee, who seemed to still be savoring what had happened.
"Myao!"
I'm going to die if I don't get more blood to suck!
The referee snapped out of it and blew his whistle.
"Blue, please switch your Pokémon immediately, or you will be deemed to have forfeited!"
The whistle jolted Blue awake, though he still looked utterly broken.
He pressed his lips together slightly and recalled Venusaur.
"Come back, Venusaur. You did more than enough!"
This defeat really had been a failure of his own tactics.
Of course, Blue had not intended to beat Misdreavus through something as underhanded as stalling outside the battle.
The blow had simply been so devastating that he had failed to recover for a moment.
The battle was not over yet. With Misdreavus suffering from [Toxic], he still had a chance.
He thought briefly, then threw his second Poké Ball.
"I'm counting on you next!"
White light flashed, and an agile, dark-brown figure shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow!
"Graaah-"
A piercing roar, steeped in the savage aura of ancient times, resounded throughout the arena!
Blue's second Pokémon was none other than the ferocious ruler of the ancient skies, the Fossil