Chapter 594: The Second Card
Facing Lina's Flare Blitz, Yudan didn't realize the severity of the problem at first.
"Azumarill, Defense Curl!"
She was confident enough in her ace.
Water beats Fire; the advantage was hers.
So even facing an ultimate move, she didn't use Protect, choosing instead to rely on the already-used Defense Curl to tank it.
Even with the T1-level league expanding the move limit to eight, saving a move slot was still preferred, especially since this was only the first round.
At this moment, Yudan even felt her Azumarill could fight several consecutive battles. Running out of move slots would make things difficult later.
However, this decision soon cost her dearly—
BOOM!
Lina's charge slammed into Azumarill on the ice, creating an astonishing explosion of fire!
This power shocked commentators from all alliances.
"Isn't the scale of this explosion a bit exaggerated?"
The local commentator frantically flipped through the notes he made before going on stage, reconfirming the information.
It clearly stated: Player Arthur's ace Charizard is older, more adept at Dragon-type moves and close-quarters combat; the other young female Charizard is relatively inexperienced and not yet captain-level.
What the hell!
None of these points match the scene right now!
Are you guys collecting data with 3G networks from ten years ago?
This delay is way too high!
And this was just the beginning of Lina's grand debut. There was more they wouldn't understand coming up!
Before the explosion's fire had even dissipated, Yudan's face changed, and she hurriedly ordered, "Azumarill, fall back!"
Everyone was confused at first.
Why would an Azumarill with the Huge Power ability give up such a golden opportunity for close combat?
Until Yudan anxiously shouted the next command, "Fall back! Set up Misty Terrain immediately!"
Fairy-type terrain move: Misty Terrain. Its effects are mainly two-fold: one is to weaken the power of Dragon-type moves within the area, and the other is to make grounded Pokémon immune to status conditions!
Reminded by this command, people realized: Azumarill had been afflicted with a status condition!
And it was the status condition physical attackers hated the most: Burn!
A negative state causing continuous damage and physical weakness.
"Is it luck? One Flare Blitz caused a burn?"
Some suspected.
But Arthur smiled without speaking.
"ROAR!"
Lina roared, pursuing with full force, clearly not intending to let Azumarill set up the terrain easily.
As the dragon involved, she naturally knew: this was luck, but not just luck!
It was a gift from the Legendary Ho-Oh!
It was one of the effects of the second card she held!
One of the main characteristics of Ho-Oh's signature move, Sacred Fire, is its extremely high burn chance.
When used by Ho-Oh personally, it can almost guarantee a burn against Pokémon below the Champion level!
Even for Champion-level Pokémon facing this move, the probability of being burned is over 60%.
And Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire is an AOE move with a terrifying range!
Therefore, facing Ho-Oh has always been a huge test for burn heal and full restore stocks throughout history...
Before modern times, any major Legendary was an existence standing at the apex of the mortal world.
Although Lina regretted not learning Sacred Fire after receiving Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire Seed, after her rebirth, the power of all her Fire-type moves had reached a new level, and the probability of triggering burns had greatly increased!
Flare Blitz causing a burn was luck;
But Flare Blitz causing a burn so easily was more than just luck!
The weakness from the burn almost negated the power boost from the Huge Power ability, causing Azumarill to not dare engage in close combat with the Mega Evolved Lina for a moment.
Forced to retreat step by step, several attempts to activate Misty Terrain were interrupted, making Yudan's face darker and darker.
Water versus Fire turning out like this was a humiliation!
Fortunately, the cooldown for the ultimate move Flare Blitz was relatively long. After a few seconds, Azumarill finally seized an opportunity to set up Misty Terrain.
Pink light spread along the ice surface. Azumarill stood in the pink terrain, took a deep breath, and inhaled a large amount of powdery fluorescence.
The burn was finally cured.
But at the same time—
"Lina, Fire Punch!"
Lina's cooldown was over too!
Some spectators were confused. "With Misty Terrain active, why stubbornly use Fire Punch? Wouldn't Thunder Punch be better?"
Indeed, the Electric-type Thunder Punch would be more effective against the Water-type Azumarill.
The data showed that Arthur's Charizard definitely knew Thunder Punch!
Until—
A loud bang on the field!
Azumarill was sent flying...
They finally saw the ferocity of Lina's combat power at this moment!
"Is that really a Fire Punch?!"
"Did she secretly use the Fighting-type ultimate move Focus Punch and breathe fire on it?"
However, just as that spectator asked this question, Azumarill, flying mid-air, suddenly exploded with a bang, instantly engulfed by a large burst of fire!
Lina had just played a little trick: at the moment of impact, she didn't detonate the Fire-type energy directly, but attached the flames to Azumarill first, delaying the explosion by a second!
A deliberate punch, delayed internal explosion!
Visually, the effect was superb!
Azumarill was shot down mid-air by the explosion, crashing onto the ground, instantly melting a large patch of ice beneath it.
This showed how astonishing the temperature of the flames Lina detonated on it was!
One punch!
Just one punch!
The Azumarill that had just been cured of its burn was heavily injured again!
And this happened despite Azumarill being a Water-type with resistance to Fire-type moves!
"What is going on?! Player Arthur's Charizard seems ridiculously strong!! Is Charizard this overpowered?"
Even the local Regal commentator couldn't help but question the balance...
And the professional players watching this match were mostly thoughtful at this moment.
Someone had already figured out some clues.
"First is the Tough Claws ability! When punching just now, that Charizard's claws clearly hardened for a moment. The ability enhanced the damage of the first impact of this strike."
Tough Claws is a common ability for Mega Charizard X, so everyone wasn't surprised.
"But how do you explain the subsequent internal flame explosion? Fire Punch isn't classified as an energy move officially. The energy explosion of this move shouldn't be that powerful?"
Initially, everyone was confused too.
Until someone faintly saw the flame ripples constantly burning on Lina's body.
"Wait! Did that Charizard have those flame ripples from the start?"
"Seems not... F*ck! I remember! They appeared after her first Flare Blitz!"
Finally, someone realized!
"I know what's going on with this power!! It's the Blaze ability!
"That Charizard retained her original Blaze ability after evolving! And she triggered it early using the recoil damage from Flare Blitz just now!"
The professional players off the field were all shocked hearing this.
Sunny Day light source boost!
Tough Claws enhancement!
Blaze trigger!
The proficiency advantage brought by the Fire typing itself, stacked with the comprehensive enhancement of the Sacred Fire Seed!
They dared not imagine what level of firepower Lina's Fire-type moves had reached at this moment!
No wonder Arthur was stubborn enough not to use Thunder Punch and insisted on using Fire Punch against the Water-type Azumarill!
What kind of firepower is this?!
Just thinking about it off the field made them feel terrified!
And this was the full effect of the second card on Lina!
High probability of burn and berserk peerless firepower—she was now the Queen of Flames!
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