Baimu walked to the spot where Mikoli had originally been standing and lowered his head, thinking through his next strategy.

That Gyarados...

So strong!

At the very least its Energy Level definitely isn’t low; otherwise, even with the rain boost, Water Flow Tail wouldn’t be able to one-shot a Porygon II that easily.

The Evolutionary Wondrous Stone had been hanging on Porygon II the whole time.

"There might be more than ten levels between them... or its Physical Attack has been trained to an extreme."

"In the end I still have to leave it to you."

Baimu took a Pokeball out of his pocket, the corner of his eye sweeping over the state of the field.

With the second round about to begin, both Light Wall and Magic Space had ended, the rain was also showing signs of stopping, and everything had returned to how it was at the very start.

That was good news for him.

Suddenly.

Mikoli’s laughter drifted over from afar.

"Ah~~ that was a brilliant move. I had all my attention on Porygon II and never imagined Discharging was just to block my vision."

The intense Flash produced by the Electric Techniques had dazzled Mikoli’s eyes, which kept him from immediately perceiving the falling Corsola; by the time he saw it, it was already too late.

With Magic Space up and Ludicolo’s remaining HP, there was no way it could withstand Corsola’s Night Shadow Demon.

Also, just as Adam had said, for most of the first round the tempo of the battle had been firmly in Baimu’s hands.

Even though Mikoli had tried multiple times to use status conditions or some method of separating Porygon II and Corsola to regain the initiative, the other side always managed to neutralize it and then seize the chance to counterattack.

Porygon II and Corsola’s raw damage output was indeed not that impressive, but under the strategy Baimu laid out—from Light Wall and Magic Space to Substitute, Curse and other moves—those steps became the decisive chips that won them the game.

This kind of victory built up step by step through close cooperation between Pokémon and Trainer moved Mikoli deeply.

If this were just an ordinary Gym challenge, their performance in the first round alone would be enough for him to willingly present Baimu with the Glazed Badge.

But...

"So let me see what other surprising things you all have in store next."

Mikoli threw out a Pokeball.

Bang!

White light shot into the pool and took on a massive form.

"Rooaaar!!"

Gyarados appeared once more, its terrifying bellow making scalps tingle and bodies tremble.

It stared at the strange Pokémon opposite it whose eyes were a little unfocused, surprised that its Intimidating Trait hadn’t worked—this thing looked pretty scared.

And when its gaze landed on the other’s head, it froze for a second.

This was a three-in-one Pokémon, right? Why did it only work on the tiny one?

"Rooar?"

In Gyarados’s tiny pupils, there was only massive confusion.

"Oh? A Dragapult with Ever-Pure Body? But something looks a little off."

Mikoli could recognize a Dragapult easily enough—he even knew Porygon II, after all.

What puzzled him was the small, cowering figure inside one of Dragapult’s launch ports, its body lit up with the blue glow of a stat drop.

[Ever-Pure Body].

A Trait that prevents its Ability Value from being lowered by the moves or Traits of opponents or allies. In other words, Intimidation should have been invalid.

"..."

Baimu’s expression didn’t change; he knew exactly why this was happening.

Theoretically, when Dreepy are nesting inside the launch ports on Dragapult’s head, they are treated as one whole, like Exeggcute or Dodrio.

So when Ability Values are affected by the enemy, their rises or drops should be synchronized.

However, when Dreepy and Dragapult’s Ability Value changes are out of sync, according to the data he’d looked up, the reason is that either the Dreepy or the Dragapult has temporarily not accepted the other.

Pokémon are a very mysterious, idealistic kind of species.

For example, the flames on Rapidash’s body won’t burn the people it likes, and Sharpedo’s rough shark skin won’t hurt its own Trainer.

Still, it wasn’t a big problem.

In official battles, Dreepy are only allowed to be used by Dragapult as ammunition for Dragon Arrow, and the power of Dragon Arrow is determined by Dragapult; it has nothing to do with Dreepy’s own Attack or stat changes.

"Shadow Clone."

Baimu waved his hand and gave the order.

"Waddle."

Dragapult let out a heavy sigh of relief.

It had long since had enough of Gyarados’s "aggressive" stare; every extra second it was being looked at made it feel like ants were crawling all over its body.

It just couldn’t understand what was so interesting to look at!

Its body lit up with a white glow.

In an instant.

Countless similar figures flickered into existence, filling the air over the field.

They moved rapidly around Gyarados at the center, making it widen its eyes and glance around left and right.

"Don’t be fooled! Wipe them out in one go! Gale!"

Mikoli knew very well that while Shadow Clone had potent misdirection, the illusions it created were extremely fragile—any random move could blow them away.

"Rooaaar—"

Gyarados threw back its head and took a deep breath, then suddenly exhaled!

Whoosh!

Raging air currents howled as they tore through the sky above the field, and Dragapult’s afterimages were snuffed out like candle flames in an instant, not a single one left!

"Hm?"

Mikoli raised his eyebrows and shouted, "Widen the attack range! It’s invisible!"

Ever since Dragapult used Shadow Clone he had been staring at those afterimages, even counting their number, but despite that, the opponent had still managed to hide its body.