243. Duel

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Greninja darted sideways, pulling a top hat seemingly out of thin air and placing it on his head.

In the next second, the ground at the landing point exploded, and water surged through the air, striking Greninja's body.

But then, something unusual happened—the water simply sank into Greninja's body as if absorbed.

Seeing this, Chris finally let out a sigh of relief.

As he suspected, Master Keaton's Poliwrath possessed the ability Water Absorb.

Water Absorb: A Pokémon with this ability is unaffected by Water-type moves. When hit by one, it restores 25% of its maximum HP.

This is how Water Absorb works in the games.

In real battles, the recovery effect from Water-type damage is continuous.

Even if Poliwrath's Water Pledge couldn't fully restore Greninja's stamina, it would at least be enough to bring him back to full strength.

It was precisely this Water Absorb ability that allowed Poliwrath to withstand Greninja's powerful Surf (with a base power of 140) and continue attacking despite the disruption of Whirlpool.

At first, Chris only had suspicions. To confirm them, he had Greninja test Poliwrath with Water Shuriken.

Unexpectedly, Master Keaton was quite cunning. He didn't want his Pokémon's ability to be exposed, so he had Poliwrath use Double Slap to deflect the Water Shuriken instead of directly attacking.

If Poliwrath had attacked immediately, Chris would have been able to confirm its ability right away.

Faced with this uncertainty, even knowing Poliwrath likely had Water Absorb, any trainer would still have lingering doubts.

That's why Chris hesitated—until the very end, when he finally decided to take a gamble.

Fortunately, it paid off!

"Role Play? That's a rare move!" Master Keaton laughed, clearly impressed by Chris's response. If Chris had been taken out instantly, Master Keaton would have been greatly disappointed.

Accepting Vladimir's recommendation was indeed the right decision.

"Poliwrath, Mach Punch!" Master Keaton suddenly commanded, his voice like rolling thunder.[T/N: In this world, pokemon can learn moves that normally can't be learnt with enough training.]

Chris reacted instantly. "Sucker Punch!"

Both trainers issued their commands at the same time, but Chris carefully watched Master Keaton's lips to anticipate his move.

His gamble paid off! He had correctly predicted Master Keaton's command.

Poliwrath sprinted forward, dashing across the wet battlefield left by the crashing waves.

Mach Punch is all about speed!

Greninja landed, pushed off with both feet, and launched himself like a cannonball.

The two Pokémon collided at the center of the battlefield mere seconds after their trainers gave their orders.

At the moment of impact, a dark aura enveloped Greninja, and he suddenly accelerated. In his hand appeared a long, black blade—slashing toward Poliwrath's chest at close range.

Poliwrath sensed the attack but couldn't retract its punch in time. It had no choice but to take the hit head-on.

"Boom!"

Poliwrath was sent flying backward.

Sucker Punch hit! Mach Punch failed!

This was thanks to Sucker Punch's priority.

Unlike in the games, where both moves might land at the same time, in reality, Greninja's Sucker Punch landed first—preventing Poliwrath's Mach Punch from connecting.

However, Dark-type moves only deal half damage to Fighting-type Pokémon. On top of that, Sucker Punch is a physical attack, and Greninja's physical strength had already been weakened by Arcanine's Intimidate earlier in the battle.

So, this Sucker Punch only dealt a quarter of the normal damage Greninja would have inflicted on a Pokémon without resistance.

Poliwrath tumbled through the air but landed three meters away, quickly stabilizing itself by planting both feet firmly on the ground. Its impressive defenses ensured that it barely took any damage.

"Come back!" Before Master Keaton could launch another attack, Chris swiftly recalled Greninja and sent out his next Pokémon—his red Gyarados!

"Roar!" The red Gyarados let out a thunderous cry.

As soon as its massive figure appeared on the battlefield, it soared into the sky. Its mighty, crimson-scaled body immediately drew the attention of everyone present.

"It's a Shiny Gyarados!" a reporter exclaimed.

In an instant, all the reporters turned their cameras toward the red Gyarados. Not only were video cameras rolling, but some even pulled out high-resolution equipment to capture every detail of the rare Pokémon.

"Red Gyarados? That's incredible!" Master Keaton couldn't help but admire it, but he made no move to switch Pokémon. Instead, his attention was drawn to the raindrops now falling from the sky.

Dark clouds had gathered above, and soon, a light drizzle began.

"Rain Dance?" Master Keaton frowned slightly.

"Thunder!" Chris commanded.

"Roar!"

"Boom!" Gyarados's roar blended with the rumble of thunder.

A massive lightning bolt, as thick as a tree trunk, crashed down from the stormy sky, striking directly at Poliwrath.

"Boom!!!"

The ground exploded upon impact, and Poliwrath was engulfed in a surge of electricity.

It sensed the impending strike just moments before impact, but there was no time to dodge—no time to defend.

"So, it's Thunder!?" Master Keaton was momentarily stunned. A Water/Flying-type Pokémon like Gyarados, which was quadruple weak to Electric-type moves, using Thunder, a powerful Electric attack?

That seemed… illogical.

But the reasoning behind it made perfect sense.

He had started suspecting it the moment he saw the raindrops.

Given that Chris had previously used Role Play with Greninja, it was clear he already knew Poliwrath's ability was Water Absorb.

So, why would he have Gyarados use Rain Dance?

Now, he understood. It was to guarantee Thunder's accuracy.

In rainy weather, Thunder's accuracy increase dramatically—making it nearly impossible to miss against an opponent of the same level.

When the lightning finally faded, Poliwrath remained standing in the saffron-colored battlefield, its body scorched black, a faint smell of burnt ozone lingering in the air.

Then—

Thud!

Poliwrath collapsed.

A Thunder attack with quadruple effectiveness—despite Gyarados not being a top-tier special attacker—was still more than enough for a one-hit knockout.

"Poliwrath is unable to battle! Gyarados wins!" the referee declared.

The sound of shutters clicking filled the air as the reporters frantically captured the moment.

What was expected to be a simple coaching battle between Master Keaton and his student had turned into something far more exciting.

Even though Chris had been at a disadvantage earlier when using Greninja, he had still managed to turn the battle around and claim the first victory.