Chapter 34: Lycanroc Versus Treecko

Xia Yu was quite surprised to see that Wu Yaozu’s Rockruff had evolved into a Lycanroc. It seemed that yesterday’s defeat had provided the little Pokémon with significant motivation.

Seeing the shock on Xia Yu’s face, Wu Yaozu was thoroughly satisfied. This was exactly the effect he had been aiming for, and he couldn't help but wear a smug expression. Feeling that victory in today’s match was already within his grasp, he declared, "I told you, today is the day I get my revenge. Just concede, Xia Yu."

Xia Yu, however, was indifferent to winning or losing. After all, this was merely a friendly sparring match between friends, not a life-or-death battle. The outcome was secondary; what mattered most was the training effect for his Pokémon.

"Noibat, our opponent has grown stronger. Are you feeling confident?" Xia Yu asked his Pokémon.

"Noi!" Noibat responded, though a look of timidity flickered across its face.

In their previous encounters with Rockruff, Noibat had been defeated every single time, which had left it feeling somewhat intimidated. Now that Rockruff had evolved into the Dusk Form Lycanroc, the gap in strength was even wider, and Noibat naturally felt anxious.

"Don't be afraid. It may be stronger than you right now, but in the future, you will surely be even stronger. If you lack the courage to even face the battle, you will never be able to grow," Xia Yu said, first comforting Noibat and then continuously cheering it on to foster a courageous spirit.

"Noi!" Upon hearing Xia Yu’s encouragement, Noibat responded again. This time its voice was louder, and there was a hint of determination in the way it looked at the Lycanroc.

"That’s it, that’s the spirit," Xia Yu said.

"Hey, hey!" Wu Yaozu shouted from the other side. "How come it feels like I’ve become the big villain here? How much longer are you two going to keep this up?"

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Fatty Wu. Let me show you the bond between Noibat and me," Xia Yu said loudly to encourage his Pokémon, though he knew deep down that Noibat would almost certainly be defeated in a single blow by the Lycanroc.

Fatty Wu’s face darkened with frustration. Unable to take it anymore, he issued the attack command: "Lycanroc, use Rock Tomb!"

"Noibat, use Supersonic!"

Fatty Wu wanted to use Rock Tomb to finish Noibat in one strike, but Xia Yu was hoping to take a gamble; if Noibat could land a successful Supersonic, there might be a chance for victory.

Lycanroc and Noibat acted almost simultaneously. Lycanroc manipulated the rocks on the ground to fly toward Noibat, while Noibat unleashed its Supersonic skill toward the wolf Pokémon.

"I’ve been guarding against that move for a long time. Lycanroc, dodge it!" Having fought many times, Fatty Wu had been driven to misery by that Supersonic move before and had naturally been on guard against it.

When Noibat released the Supersonic, Lycanroc immediately began to move rapidly, easily dodging the attack by leveraging its superior speed.

In the games, although Supersonic is a powerful move, it has a fatal flaw: its low accuracy, sitting at only 55 percent. In reality, Supersonic also has many drawbacks, such as being countered by sound-based defenses or simply being avoided through superior speed.

After dodging the Supersonic, Lycanroc commanded the rocks to fly toward Noibat, slamming into it and easily defeating the Pokémon.

"Return, Noibat."

The match ended with Noibat’s defeat. Xia Yu recalled the Pokémon and placed it at the edge of the arena, telling it to get some rest and to learn from Treecko, specifically focusing on Treecko’s grit and courage.

...

Even though he had only defeated a Noibat, Wu Yaozu was still beaming with joy. Looking at Xia Yu with an incredibly smug expression, he said, "Your talent as a trainer is the best I've ever seen, aside from my own, but compared to a genius trainer like me, you’re still a little bit behind. Come on then, send out your second Pokémon."

When it came to being smug, Fatty Wu really had a certain flair for it.

"Go, Treecko." Xia Yu’s second Pokémon was, naturally, Treecko.

When Treecko saw that its opponent was the evolved Lycanroc, a flash of surprise crossed its eyes, but it was quickly replaced by intense fighting spirit. That was Treecko’s nature; unlike Noibat, it felt all the more excited when facing a powerful opponent.

"Treecko, our opponent is even stronger than yesterday. Give it your all," Xia Yu said.

"Tree." Treecko let out a short, sharp cry, a simple response to Xia Yu, its gaze remaining fixed firmly on the Lycanroc.

"It’s time to start, Fatty Wu," Xia Yu said.

"Prepare to be defeated," Fatty Wu replied.

"Treecko, Grassy Terrain!" Given the difference in strength, tactical choices were crucial. It was obvious that Treecko could not possibly defeat Lycanroc in a short time. Prepared for a war of attrition, Xia Yu chose to have Treecko use the Grassy Terrain move.

[Grassy Terrain] is a Grass-type status move that turns the battlefield into a grassy field for five turns. Pokémon on the ground recover health each turn, and the power of Grass-type moves is increased.

This was the effect in the games; in reality, the move functioned similarly, with the only difference being that the duration of the terrain was influenced by the user and could be destroyed.

As fierce Grass-type energy erupted from Treecko’s body, the ground instantly became covered in lush grass, and the air hummed with energy.

"Lycanroc, Howl!" Wu Yaozu lacked the simple, honest look he usually had at this moment; instead, he appeared uncharacteristically cunning. Having fought Xia Yu so many times, he had long guessed that Treecko would use Grassy Terrain right away. Therefore, he chose to have Lycanroc use Howl to boost its attack power.

[Howl]: A Normal-type status move that boosts the user's fighting spirit, raising its Attack by one stage.

Accompanied by Lycanroc’s howl, its attack power increased, making the already formidable Lycanroc even more terrifying. Both sides had adopted strengthening tactics in the first turn, appearing exceptionally cautious. Although this was just a sparring match, both were taking it extremely seriously.

"Lycanroc, Accelerock!"

After boosting its stats, it was time to put them to use. Wu Yaozu chose to have Lycanroc use Accelerock.

[Accelerock]: A Rock-type physical move that strikes the opponent with great speed. It is a priority move.

The reason for this choice was threefold: first, like Quick Attack, it was a priority move with incredible speed; second, as a Rock-type move, it benefited from the same-type attack bonus (STAB) for the Rock-type Lycanroc; third, the Dusk Form Lycanroc possessed the excellent Tough Claws ability, which increases the power of contact moves. Combining these three factors, Accelerock was undoubtedly the best choice.

Lycanroc’s body was covered in Rock-type energy as it lunged toward Treecko. The speed was so great that Treecko could barely react.

"Treecko, use Leech Seed!" Xia Yu commanded calmly. Since it couldn't dodge, it shouldn't try; instead, he had Treecko counter-attack at the moment of impact.

*Bang!*

Lycanroc crashed into Treecko, sending it flying. With the STAB bonus, the attack boost from Howl, and the power increase from the Tough Claws ability, the power of the Accelerock move was raised to an extremely high level, heavily damaging Treecko in a single blow.

However, Treecko took advantage of the moment of contact to unleash the tricky Leech Seed move.

[Leech Seed]: A Grass-type status move. Once planted, the seed slowly drains the opponent's health each turn and restores an equal amount to the user.

In reality, Leech Seed functioned slightly differently than in the games. It could be deployed in two ways: the first was the standard game effect of throwing a small seed to drain health. The second was similar to how Ash’s Bulbasaur used it in the anime, forming a net of seeds to trap the opponent. The latter method could only trap Pokémon significantly weaker than the user; otherwise, the opponent could easily break free.

Treecko was currently using the first method, as the second one would never be enough to trap a Lycanroc.