In the rain, Barraskewda's Swift Swim Ability made it astonishingly fast.
Even with Tailwind, Dudunsparce had no chance of dodging that Liquidation.
Of course, Xia Chi had never intended to dodge in the first place.
The sole purpose of that Tailwind was to let the slow-moving Dudunsparce use its crucial moves faster.
"Dudunsparce, use Coil!"
Coil raised a Pokémon's Attack, Defense, and accuracy.
Plan B for the stat-boosting Baton Pass team!
No, more precisely: activate Dudunsparce, the power bank specially prepared for Psyduck!
Liquidation landed first.
Water-type moves received a 1.5-times boost in rain, Barraskewda received another 1.5-times same-type attack bonus, and Swords Dance added a 100% Attack boost.
Even without a type advantage, a frailer Pokémon might well have been sent packing by that one hit.
Only Dudunsparce, which stood out in nothing except its astonishing bulk and HP, could withstand it-and with plenty to spare.
Seeing Dudunsparce's HP sitting just above half, Xia Chi frowned again.
Yikes. With its HP in this awkward spot, could it hold on?
But he had no choice. Neither an immediate Baton Pass nor Roost would win him the battle now. He could only keep gambling.
"Dudunsparce, keep using Coil!"
Before the second Coil, another Liquidation came hurtling in as expected. That mighty kick nearly tore Dudunsparce's little wings off at the seams.
Fortunately, after one Coil, Dudunsparce's physical Defense had increased. It took significantly less damage, leaving its HP hanging just below a third.
Xia Chi, who had been on edge ever since Barraskewda appeared, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It had survived the most crucial exchange. Things would be much simpler from here.
"Dudunsparce, Roost!"
The third Liquidation arrived right on schedule, but Dudunsparce seemed to have activated an infinite-health cheat. It somehow clung to life even with its entire HP bar blacked out, then recovered to a third of its HP-
Because HP had increased across the board, Roost, which restored half a Pokémon's HP in the games from his previous life, only restored a third in this game.
Still, that was more than enough.
All Xia Chi had to do now was follow the formula.
Use Roost when HP ran low, then Coil once it recovered. Dudunsparce was practically doing sit-ups in its coffin.
Every time, Barraskewda seemed just a tiny bit short of the damage needed to finish it off, yet it simply refused to fall.
And as successive Coils made Dudunsparce's physical Defense tougher and tougher, this shameless yellow snake's HP actually seemed to rise the longer the battle went on.
This gloriously entertaining spectacle naturally sparked a lively discussion in the chat.
"Stack the thickest armor, take the nastiest beating!"
"A salute to the legendary damage sponge, Dudunsparce!"
"LMAO, is Barraskewda farming damage stats? When the match ends, it'll check the results and go, 'Wow, look at all that damage! I'm the MVP!'"
"The value of effort alienation theory just keeps rising."
"What good is Dudunsparce without a single attacking move? Does Barraskewda even care about you? I'm waiting for Taunt to wear off. What are you waiting for?"
"..."
Inside Hulbury Stadium in Hulbury, in the Galar Region.
Just as one chat message had said, Nessa was perfectly calm.
The situation before her was nowhere near hopeless. In fact, she felt she had held firm control of the battle from the very start.
The moment Barraskewda's Taunt wore off, Nessa had it stop attacking and use Swords Dance to boost its stats instead.
Her reasoning was simple: once both sides had maximized their respective Attack and Defense, she would definitely have the advantage.
Not only was Barraskewda faster and more agile, but Liquidation also had a chance to inflict a Defense drop.
As long as that effect triggered once, Dudunsparce would no longer be an insurmountable obstacle.
And no matter which Pokémon her opponent sent out last, it would never withstand Barraskewda with its Attack at sixteen thousand!
Dudunsparce needed six Coils to maximize its physical Attack and Defense, while Barraskewda needed only three Swords Dances to maximize its Attack. Subtracting the one it had used upon entering the field, it only needed two more.
Those two Swords Dances would be the last darkness before dawn.
Nessa watched the battle on the television screen intently. The rain still had some time left.
She believed she could react quickly enough to direct Barraskewda, with Swift Swim active, to dodge any attack her opponent launched.
Yet the attack she anticipated never came.
Instead, a flash of red light appeared, and Dudunsparce vanished from the battlefield.
He recalled it?
Nessa was a little stunned.
Was he just abandoning all those stat boosts from so many Coils?
No, it was Baton Pass!
Although this move was so obscure that it almost never appeared in real-life battles-painstakingly build up a powerhouse, only for one Defog to end it all-
An experienced Trainer like Nessa still remembered that it existed.
Who was he passing those four Coils to? Garchomp?
Nessa remained composed.
In the rain, Barraskewda had an absolute speed advantage, and she had brought Ice Fang.
Everyone knew that aside from the Fairy type, Ice was the greatest natural enemy of dragons, especially Dragon-type Pokémon with a secondary Ground or Flying type, which took quadruple damage!
The land shark?
Let it try. It wouldn't be leaving alive!
That was what Nessa thought as she had Barraskewda complete its second Swords Dance.
Yet the Pokémon that received Dudunsparce's Baton Pass was not the Garchomp she had imagined. It was Psyduck!
Looking at the vacant expression of that yellow duck, its stubby little hands clutching its head, Nessa nearly went vacant herself.
Psyduck? What good was Psyduck?
Come back after you've evolved another stage!
Nessa had been a little worried that Garchomp might survive Ice Fang, then counterattack to defeat Barraskewda and sweep all three of her Pokémon. But the sight of Psyduck immediately eased her nerves.
With Psyduck's Attack and Defense, forget four Coils. Even forty-
All right, forty could still save it.
Setting aside those unrealistic possibilities, Nessa commanded, "Barraskewda, finish it with Close Combat!"
But what she failed to notice was this.
At that very moment, an eerie Psychic-type glow shone in Psyduck's dull, dead-fish eyes.
Hypnosis landed!
Nessa instantly froze.
"Class, here's something worth remembering. In the rain, Barraskewda is about twice as fast as Psyduck when both have Swift Swim. But what if Psyduck has Tailwind active?"
After Hypnosis succeeded, Xia Chi chuckled. "But what if I told you I wasn't using Coil to raise physical Attack and Defense, but to turn Hypnosis's roughly fifty-percent success rate into a hundred-percent hit rate?"
That was pure nonsense. Without boosting physical Attack, was he supposed to rely on Hypnosis alone and sleep his opponent to death?
But people stopped using their brains when they were showing off. If he didn't flex now, when would he?
Xia Chi flashed a bright smile brimming with wisdom and valor. "Time to reel it in! Psyduck, Zen Headbutt!"
Before you continue