Seeing Paul agree to his request, Xiaoyun was overjoyed.
He had been wondering how to catch Chimchar before Ash did, only for Paul to walk right into his hands. He really had to thank Professor Rowan for handing him this golden opportunity ^ω^.
"Hey, are we doing this or not?" Paul looked at the black-haired boy before him, feeling that he was thinking about something bad, and asked.
"Yes, yes, let's start right now."
Xiaoyun put away his inward smile, thinking that his mental composure really needed work. He had nearly let this guy catch on. Then he answered in all seriousness without changing his expression.
"Go, Xiaoyun! Xiaoyun's the best!"
"Pip, Piplup!"
Dawn-chan pulled several cheerleading pom-poms out of nowhere and gave Piplup two. The girl and her Pokémon picked up the cheerleading dance all on their own.
And so a lovely sight unfolded. Some people had already lost before things even began.
Xiaoyun was happy to see Dawn cheering for him, too. He turned to give her a smile, and the two smiled at each other.
Watching Xiaoyun exchange looks with Dawn in front of him, Paul felt a flicker of anger. If they were going to battle, then battle. What was he trying to pull with this?
They were both guys, so why did this one get to show off like that? He was even starting to regret agreeing to Professor Rowan's request. Having their affection flaunted in his face before the battle even began-who could understand his pain?!
"Torterra, stand by for battle." Finally unable to stand the pair any longer, Paul threw his Poké Ball.
Red light flashed from the Poké Ball, and the ground shook as a heavyweight appeared on the field. An enormous turtle with rocks and a huge tree growing on its back stood on the battlefield.
"Tor~"
"What's that?" Ash also took out his newly acquired Pokédex to check.
Torterra, the Continent Pokémon.
The final evolved form of Turtwig. Its most distinctive feature is the large tree on its shell. Some smaller Pokémon build nests there and eat all the food Torterra leaves behind. Torterra does not mind them nesting on its back, making it possible to observe symbiosis between Pokémon!
"So that's Torterra." Ash looked at Torterra on the field with some surprise.
Seeing that Paul had already sent out his Pokémon, Xiaoyun somewhat reluctantly ended his exchange with Dawn. He took the Poké Ball from his waist and called out, "I'm counting on you, Sceptile!"
"Scep!"
Red light flashed from the Poké Ball, and Sceptile appeared on the battlefield with arms folded. After appearing, Sceptile looked at Torterra opposite and felt a little surprised.
The aura coming from Torterra told Sceptile that this opponent was no pushover. But like trainer, like Pokémon: although Sceptile took the opponent seriously inwardly, that face still showed disdain and even looked rather punchable.
Torterra ignored Sceptile's expression and simply stood quietly in place, waiting for Paul's commands.
With Torterra and Sceptile appearing one after another, the battle between the two Grass-type starter Pokémon from the Hoenn Region and the Sinnoh Region officially began.
The training approaches for these two Pokémon were also vastly different. One focused on defense, while the other focused on offense, and the contest between spear and shield gradually unfolded.
Since this match had no referee, Paul decided to seize the initiative after a brief stalemate and commanded Torterra.
"Torterra, use Rock Tomb to trap Sceptile."
Torterra's eyes sharpened upon hearing this, and a furious roar followed. Several enormous rocks instantly appeared in the sky and, under Torterra's control, fell toward Sceptile. It seemed Paul intended to use this to shut down Sceptile's speed.
"Sceptile, use Quick Attack to jump onto those rocks, then use Leaf Blade once you're close!"
Seeing the huge rocks falling toward Sceptile's head, Xiaoyun instantly understood Paul's intent and calmly addressed Sceptile.
Sceptile immediately turned into a streak of white light, leaping back and forth across the rocks. With Sceptile's tremendous speed, the rocks Torterra had used to attack instead became stepping stones beneath Sceptile's feet.
Once close enough, Sceptile's arm became a jade-green blade. With a flash of movement, Sceptile gathered strength and slashed down at Torterra from the air.
Seeing that Torterra's move had failed to achieve its intended effect and had instead been exploited by Xiaoyun, Paul's expression grew serious. As Sceptile drew closer to Torterra, he gave his command. "Use Crunch and clamp down hard on Sceptile's move!"
Torterra opened its mouth wide, its sharp fangs suffused with a dark brown glow-the energy of a Dark-type move.
Bang!
Torterra certainly lived up to being a turtle; that bite was truly powerful. The Leaf Blade on Sceptile's arm was immediately caught by Torterra's Crunch, and for a moment, even Sceptile could not break free.
"Don't stop. Use Mega Drain to drain its stamina dry."
Seeing that Torterra had successfully stopped Sceptile's Leaf Blade with Crunch, Paul issued another command.
"Torterra!"
Torterra kept Crunch going, while green vines extended from the tree on its back and lashed toward Sceptile.
"This is bad. Getting caught would mean trouble."
"Sceptile, use Energy Ball on Torterra's head!"
Xiaoyun, who was thinking of a way out, was greatly startled upon hearing Paul's command and hurriedly shouted to Sceptile.
"Scep!"
Hearing the command, Sceptile immediately formed a green ball of energy in its mouth and blasted it point-blank at Torterra's head.
"Torterra!"
Struck in the face by Energy Ball, Torterra cried out in pain and instinctively loosened its jaws, interrupting Crunch.
"Scep."
Sceptile quickly seized the opportunity as well, putting distance between them with a few swift movements.
"Torterra, use Earthquake."
At this sight, Paul's cold expression remained unchanged. Instead, he calmly gave Torterra another command.
"Torterra!"
Hearing this, Torterra also put away its pained expression and let out a furious roar at Sceptile.
As Torterra suddenly stamped its forefeet against the ground, earthy-yellow waves of energy gathered on the ground. In an instant, the battlefield began to shake violently, and Sceptile faced tremendous pressure from this powerful, wide-ranging attack.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Xiaoyun saw Paul use Earthquake to continue restricting Sceptile's speed. But Xiaoyun had no intention of letting him have his way and immediately began giving commands.
"Sceptile, strike the ground with your tail and jump up to dodge it. Then use Bullet Seed in midair to harass it!"
"Scep!" As Xiaoyun's words reached Sceptile, Sceptile immediately struck the ground with that tree-trunk-like tail, deftly countering the Earthquake attack.
Immediately afterward, Sceptile used Bullet Seed again in midair, the unending barrage of seeds instantly pinning Torterra down.
The recoil from Bullet Seed allowed Sceptile to remain airborne, rendering the powerful Ground-type move Earthquake completely ineffective.
"Those two are both so strong," Ash said, watching their battle with some shock.
"Yes. Not only do they use their moves very effectively, but neither is limited to the moves themselves. Both are skilled at exploiting their characteristics to attack. You could say these two already rank among the excellent when it comes to directing Pokémon."
Brock and Professor Rowan also provided commentary as the battle unfolded. After all, as a Gym Trainer and a Pokémon Professor respectively, they certainly had sufficient discerning ability.
"Go, Xiaoyun! Xiaoyun's the best!!" Seeing Xiaoyun leave that cold fellow opposite him unable to fight back, Dawn began another round of cheers.
"Damn it, this will never end at this rate." Paul saw his commands countered by Xiaoyun once again. Apart from the Crunch at the beginning, almost none of his remaining attacks had even grazed Sceptile.
At this moment, Paul could no longer remain calm. A hint of emotion appeared on his icy face, and he steeled himself before shouting to Torterra ahead:
"Torterra, use Curse."