"Curse, huh? Looks like he doesn't intend to keep wearing me down." Xiaoyun watched Paul order Torterra to use Curse. Much like Shell Smash, it was a move that sacrificed speed in exchange for Attack and Defense, while Shell Smash sacrificed Defense in exchange for Attack and Speed.
Since Torterra was already very slow, using Curse would basically root it to the spot, leaving it unable to move like a sitting duck. Uh... though that didn't seem to make much difference. Torterra was a stationary Pokémon to begin with, so Curse was practically tailor-made for it.
"What's Curse?"
Ash, standing nearby, started asking questions. He generally didn't memorize moves, relying instead on improvisation during battle.
"Curse is a Ghost-type move. If a Ghost-type Pokémon uses it, the user loses half its maximum health and puts the target into a cursed state. While cursed, the target's health drops rapidly.
"If the user isn't a Ghost-type, the effect is different. The user's Speed drops sharply, while its Attack and Defense rise sharply in turn. Unless something unexpected happens, these two should settle the match soon." Our Professor Rowan began an in-person lesson, giving Ash, a student who didn't study properly, a refresher on theory.
"I see." Ash nodded to show that he understood. (Brock: You'd better actually understand!)
"Xiaoyun..." Having heard Professor Rowan's explanation too, Dawn looked worriedly at Xiaoyun on the battlefield.
"Tor!"
A white light flashed over Torterra's body on the battlefield. Then its aura surged as it stared straight at Sceptile.
"Torterra, use Frenzy Plant!!"
The instant Paul finished speaking, Torterra mustered all its strength and slammed its forefeet into the ground.
The next moment, the ground before it split apart, forming countless enormous cracks.
Rustle, rustle, rustle!!
Then brown, spiked brambles erupted wildly from beneath the ground, each one incredibly thick and several meters tall.
As though they had lives of their own, the towering thorny plants writhed through the air like a horde of dancing demons. It was a terrifying sight as they all lashed toward Sceptile.
"Ooh, scary."
Watching Paul order Torterra to unleash such a terrifying attack on Sceptile, Xiaoyun uttered a certain Navy admiral's signature line, then spoke calmly to Sceptile.
"Sceptile, use Blade Storm."
"Scep!"
The next instant, Sceptile's gaze grew even sharper. It leaped into the air and used Leaf Blade with both arms, holding them around its front. With Swords Dance layered on top, it began spinning at high speed. As it spun, Leaf Blade's glow gradually intensified, and the entire Pokémon charged toward the brambles like a twister.
Crack, crack, crack!
The brambles, as thick as tree trunks, seemed so fragile under Sceptile's attack. The twister generated by its rapid spinning sliced through them like rotten wood.
"What! Torterra, quick, direct all the brambles to one point and intercept it!"
Paul stared in shock at the twister Sceptile had become. He didn't know how Xiaoyun had done this, but he knew he had to stop Sceptile first. He ordered Torterra to gather the brambles together to intercept Sceptile's twister.
Boom!
After holding off Sceptile's blade dance for a moment, the gathered brambles were still torn apart by the twister. It passed through Frenzy Plant and struck Torterra squarely on the head.
"Tor!"
Even with its Defense raised by Curse, Torterra suffered badly from taking such a powerful attack directly to the head. The entire Pokémon immediately wilted, and after holding on for a few seconds, it lost the ability to battle.
"Scep!"
After attacking, Sceptile darted back in front of Xiaoyun and maintained its battle stance.
"What exactly was that attack?!" After seeing Torterra knocked out by such a terrifying attack, Paul finally lost control of his expression and asked Xiaoyun, somewhat shaken.
"Want to learn? I'll teach you." Xiaoyun raised an eyebrow, unable to resist delivering that classic line, then turned away with his hands behind his back.
He looked every bit the grandmaster.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Paul ignored Xiaoyun's teasing and simply gazed quietly at his Torterra.
He knew he had lost. Unlike his earlier carelessness, this time he had used his Starter Pokémon and been defeated head-on. Looking at the still-unruffled Sceptile, he could even call it a crushing defeat.
Everyone was somewhat shocked by the battle they had just witnessed. Faced with their questions and Paul's, Xiaoyun finally began explaining at a leisurely pace.
"This move is called Blade Storm. The inspiration came from Bugsy, the Gym Leader of the Bug-type Gym in the Johto region.
"Ordinary Swords Dance is a status move, and while using it, you're vulnerable to someone exploiting an opening and catching you off guard. But Gym Leader Bugsy's Scyther can use its natural characteristics to perform a spinning Swords Dance for defense, even blocking attacks from Fire-type Pokémon.
"I upgraded that technique. Though Sceptile doesn't have Scyther's natural blades, I can imitate them with Leaf Blade and strengthen the effect.
"With its own spinning and the added power of Leaf Blade, not only can Swords Dance no longer be interrupted, it also gains offensive capabilities. The twister formed as it spins grows stronger and stronger, eventually concentrating at a single point to break through the opponent in one strike." (For a reference, see the battle animation of WarGreymon's Battle Twister.)
After bombarding everyone with all that knowledge and seeing their bewildered expressions, Xiaoyun finally felt the joy of showing off.
One word: awesome!
"You're strong. You won this match."
After listening, Paul offered no reproach and simply recalled his Torterra. A faint change flickered in his gaze as he looked at Xiaoyun and spoke.
"But after this, I'll carefully review why I lost and devise a strategy. I hope I can battle you again."
Uh... that really was a rational response worthy of Paul. After losing a battle, he didn't get discouraged or fly into a furious rage on the spot. Instead, he calmed down and reviewed the reasons for his defeat, refining his tactical plans and considering how to beat me in our next battle.
What could I say? He really deserved his reputation as the strongest rival across all generations!
Only after a long while did Professor Rowan slowly speak. "Xiaoyun, you truly have remarkable talent as a Trainer. I'd regretted that you didn't join me in research, but now it seems I was taking too much for granted."
"You flatter me, Professor. This is the result of Sceptile's and my combined efforts. That move sounds easy to describe, but it actually took a tremendous amount of hard training from Sceptile before we could use it in battle."
Xiaoyun described his and Sceptile's training process to Professor Rowan.
It really had been quite difficult. When they first started practicing, Sceptile often couldn't control its direction and ended up crashing all over the place. After Lina warned them, they could only head to the back mountain and keep practicing until they succeeded.