Riley's gaze shifted. "What powerful attacks."
The boost from two Swords Dances really was no joke.
Unfortunately, no matter how powerful an attack was, it had to land first.
Riley fought even more cautiously after that, giving Ritchie no openings to exploit.
Almost all of Bibarel's attacks missed, while Riolu's counterattacks hit every time.
Ritchie was starting to sweat.
"Bibarel, use Double-Edge!"
"Bii!!"
Bibarel's body blazed with dazzling white light as it shot toward Riolu like a meteor.
The corners of Riley's mouth lifted. "Riolu, crouch down and use Circle Throw!"
"Ri!"
Riolu crouched, lowering its center of gravity!
Then, the instant Bibarel charged into reach, it grabbed Bibarel's forelegs with a beautiful judo maneuver and used its momentum to fling it away!
"Seriously? That works too?" Ritchie hadn't expected his attack to be countered like that.
Using the opponent's own strength to throw it-was this Riolu actually a Hariyama in disguise?!
Riley explained, "Strength and weakness can turn into each other. When you attack at your strongest, corresponding openings appear!"
"This guy's such a show-off," Kurokawa couldn't help commenting from below the stage.
Kaixin rolled her eyes at him. "But he has a point."
Yushu wholeheartedly agreed. "When you've got long recovery frames, defensive counters are way too important. It's unplayable without them."
Unless you could pull off spiral footwork!
"Now, Force Palm."
Riley's voice broke the silence on the field.
"Ri!"
Riolu closed in, raised a paw, and landed a precise Force Palm on Bibarel's chest.
Bam! A shock wave erupted!
"Bii-"
Bibarel let out a mournful cry and finally collapsed, unable to hold on any longer.
"Bibarel is unable to battle! The winner is Riley!"
Ritchie recalled Bibarel and shook his head helplessly. "You're strong. I lost fair and square."
Riley smiled gently. "You're no slouch either. You've raised your Bibarel well. There's just still room to improve its reactions."
Ritchie gave a wry smile. "Thanks for the reminder."
There probably went his chance at the prize.
By the time the semifinals ended, it was nearly sunset.
Rather than thinning out, the crowd only grew.
Perhaps because work was over, almost everyone in town had come out to watch the excitement.
Uxie floated in midair, holding a fresh box of Pokéblocks, ready to enjoy the show.
"Begin!"
At Zongping's command, the final officially began.
"Go, Miltank!"
"Riolu."
The two Pokémon faced off on the field.
"Miltank, Defense Curl and Rollout!"
Yushu knew Riolu's aura sensing was powerful, so he had to seize the initiative.
"Mooo!!!"
Miltank curled into a ball and began spinning, picking up speed as it bore down on Riolu like a pink meteor.
"Riolu, left."
Riolu darted left, and Miltank's Rollout skimmed past its body.
"Change direction!"
Miltank forced a change of direction, tracing an arc across the ground as it rolled toward Riolu again.
It hadn't slowed in the slightest. Instead, it kept getting faster.
"Jump."
Riolu leaped over Miltank, flipped in midair, and landed steadily on the ground.
Sure enough, aura sensing allowed Riolu to predict the direction of Miltank's attacks. Ordinary Rollout attacks couldn't hit it at all.
"Miltank, use Rock Tomb!"
Yushu changed tactics.
Miltank sprang out of its roll, raised its forelegs, and stamped heavily on the ground. Several rocks appeared out of thin air and fell toward Riolu.
"Riolu, shatter them with Vacuum Wave."
Riolu swung its paws repeatedly, precisely shattering every rock with several Vacuum Waves.
"Now, Rollout!"
While Riolu was busy dealing with the rocks, Miltank used Rollout again and charged straight toward it.
Riley's pupils contracted slightly. "Use Vacuum Wave on the ground!"
Riolu thrust a palm toward the ground, using Vacuum Wave's recoil to launch itself high into the air and evade Rollout once again.
"I've been waiting for this!"
This was the very moment Yushu had been waiting for. Riolu had nothing to push off against in midair and couldn't change direction. This was its only opening!
"Miltank, use Rock Tomb to block off its landing spots!"
Miltank stamped the ground again, and several rocks rose up, cutting off every place Riolu could land.
Riley's gaze shifted slightly. "Riolu, use Vacuum Wave for recoil."
Riolu raised its paws in midair and fired Vacuum Waves toward the ground, using the recoil to change its landing direction and land just outside Rock Tomb's range.
"Hiss..."
Yushu sucked in a sharp breath. He hadn't expected Riley to come up with a maneuver like that, using Vacuum Wave's recoil to change direction in midair.
"Riolu, use Swords Dance."
While Miltank was still on cooldown, Riley ordered Riolu to boost itself.
Riolu's body glowed blue as Swords Dance activated, sharply raising its Attack.
"Miltank, Milk Drink!"
Yushu made his decision immediately.
You boost your Attack, I'll restore my stamina. Let's see who can outlast whom!
By the time Riolu finished boosting itself with Swords Dance, Miltank had recovered most of its stamina too.
"Riolu, consecutive Vacuum Waves."
Riley gave Miltank no chance to catch its breath. Riolu swung its paws repeatedly, firing a relentless stream of Vacuum Waves at Miltank.
"Miltank, Defense Curl and Rollout!"
Miltank curled into a ball, raising its Defense with Defense Curl. The Vacuum Waves struck its body but did negligible damage.
"This fighting style... is so cheap."
Riley frowned slightly. He clearly hadn't faced an opponent like this before either, drinking milk to recover while fighting. This was practically cheating.
"Riolu, close in and use Force Palm!"
Riolu stopped firing Vacuum Waves and rushed toward Miltank instead.
Yushu refused to back down. "Who's afraid of you?! Miltank, use Rollout! Get in close!!"
"Mooo!!"
Miltank rolled faster, bearing down on Riolu.
Just as the two Pokémon were about to collide, Riolu suddenly slid into a tackle.
It slid past Miltank's side, its body almost flush with the ground, then twisted around and struck Miltank's back with its palm.
Bam! Miltank's Rollout was interrupted, but it quickly steadied itself and kept rolling.
"Even a boosted Force Palm couldn't stop it?"
Riley hadn't expected Riolu to deal so little effective damage even after boosting its Attack with Swords Dance.
Just how high was this cow's Defense?
Riley could only plan to keep boosting.
"Once more, Swords Dance!"
"Keep rolling! Don't stop!"
Yushu wasn't about to stand by and watch his opponent boost itself.
Kick them while they're down-that was a basic rule of battling.
Miltank rolled faster and faster, like a pink dump truck, as though it would send every obstacle in its path packing.
Riley watched as Miltank's Rollout closed in. Riolu wouldn't have time to finish its second Swords Dance.