It worked!
Beneath Red's calm expression lay barely suppressed excitement.
Only heaven knew how much pressure he felt battling Xia Chi.
But Red was born to battle. The greater the pressure, the more it brought out his fighting spirit and potential.
Just after Floragato's second [Shift Gear] boost, he had nearly blurted out the command for [Psych Up].
Fortunately, he had held back.
Otherwise, [Taunt] would have locked Poliwrath down until it fainted or returned to its Poké Ball.
Luckily, his instincts had helped Red dodge that bullet.
But now he faced a new problem-what could he do when Poliwrath had barely a quarter of its stamina left?
Two choices flashed through Red's mind.
First, use [Drain Punch] to recover health and stamina!
Second, use [Baton Pass] to pass on the stat boosts!
Both choices had their pros and cons. The first risked Floragato committing to [Shadow Claw]-
If [Protean] turned Floragato into a Ghost-type, how the hell was Poliwrath supposed to drain any health?
The second risked [Taunt].
Which should he choose?
The rapidly shifting battlefield gave Red little time to think.
He made up his mind and, almost instinctively, shouted the riskiest command!
"Poli, Baton Pass!"
"Taunt!"
Xia Chi's command rang across the battlefield.
Floragato, who was pursuing Poliwrath with [Play Rough], briefly paused.
Then Floragato immediately stopped attacking and instead gathered a wave of [Taunt] energy, firing it out!
Almost simultaneously-
"Poli, Baton Pass!"
Hearing Red's command, Xia Chi breathed a sigh of relief on the other side of the field.
Thankfully, he had predicted [Baton Pass].
Logically, after going to so much trouble to steal Floragato's stat boosts, Red would surely put them to use.
He had only two choices: recover health with [Drain Punch], or employ a Baton Pass strategy.
Between the two, Xia