Charging forward while holding up a shield would inevitably slow movement. Blissey had also entered battles carrying a Protect barrier, and her mobility had been greatly reduced.
Sigilyph already had a Psychic-type attack ready!
Psychic was super effective against Fighting. Hariyama's base Special Defense was only 60. Although his base HP was extremely high, his burn had already depleted many of his barrier points. A slightly stronger Psychic-type attack would empty the rest and knock him out.
Sigilyph had prepared an attack first. After ending Detect, Hariyama was also tracing out skill pathways...
Special attacks had the advantage of being able to strike from a distance;
Physical attacks and contact moves had the advantage of faster execution.
But... could Hariyama catch up and pull ahead while chaining his moves?
Smack!
Hariyama struck first, interrupting Sigilyph's move.
Fake Out!
A Normal-type move with 40 power, it struck with priority and inflicted flinching.
This flinching effect had a cooldown. In other words, Fake Out could strike first every time, but a long interval was required before it could cause a second flinch. Alternatively, the Pokémon could be recalled and sent out again, allowing the Pokémon to concentrate fully on refreshing the cooldown portion of its skill pathways inside its ball.
Sigilyph's move had been interrupted!
Hariyama turned toward Feiyue, but she had already retreated far away. There was no chance to pursue her.
Then...
A dark red palm took shape and slammed toward Sigilyph.
At that instant, Sigilyph used Psybeam.
Neither side intended to cancel out the other's move with their own. Each struck the other.
Hariyama's barrier points were emptied.
Sigilyph... had 88% of its barrier points remaining, but also left the field.
"So it was Knock Off."
Shen Qi recognized Hariyama's move: a Dark-type physical attack with 60 power that