Shen Qi suddenly realized that when the Flame Breed Tauros had entered the field, Intimidate had not activated. That meant the Ability was either Recycling, which let a Pokémon eat a Berry one more time, or Anger Point.
Using Spheal to attack his own Flame Breed Tauros all but confirmed that this was an Anger Point strategy.
With the Anger Point Ability, taking a critical hit instantly raised physical Attack to the maximum of +6.
Spheal did not have much combat power, but he could learn Frost Breath through a Technical Machine. It was an Ice-type move with 60 power that always landed a critical hit, which meant it was guaranteed to trigger Anger Point.
And Flame Breed Tauros naturally resisted Ice-type moves. Being hit by an Ice-type attack from a young Pokémon on his own team was little different from being tickled.
Moo!
The Type Energy fluctuations around Flame Breed Tauros grew powerful and turbulent.
A good strategy... but.
Hapu was not going to stand there and watch. Mudsdale used Iron Defense on the spot, raising physical Defense by two stages. Combined with the boosts from Stamina after taking earlier attacks, that nearly canceled out the gains from the Anger Point strategy.
Plop... plop...
Spheal shuffled his round body forward, actually making it to within five meters of Mudsdale before blowing out a bitterly cold current of air.
Icy Wind...
Having to get this close to use a special move effectively showed just how undeveloped Spheal still was.
This seemed to be Xiao Ming's only remaining strategy. Flame Breed Tauros would be blocked if he attacked now, so he sent Spheal up as bait to blow Icy Wind.
If Hapu dealt with Spheal, Tauros would attack. If she ignored him, Spheal would keep blowing icy air. The move even