At this moment, ice crystals fell patteringly like thousands of blades, slicing and shattering the air.
Under this hailstorm weather, non-Ice-type Pokémon present would suffer a certain loss of HP.
"Abomasnow, use Blizzard."
As the referee's colored flag fell, the twin-braided girl pointed her slender hand, striking first.
"Obama!"
Instantly, a roar shaking the sky resounded throughout the Gym.
The hail particles suspended around its body stagnated in mid-air instantly. In the next moment, all ice crystals shot out like bullets, wrapped in biting cold air, pouring down fiercely, engulfing everything around in a silvery-white vortex.
In the not-so-large Ice Field, [Blizzard] boosted by hail weather was a sure-hit move.
"Approach it, then use Wood Hammer with maximum power."
Clearly, the Snowpoint Gym Leader didn't want to miss this excellent opportunity. Accompanied by her suddenly heightened command, a tyrannical fluorescent green arm appeared under the ice and snow curtain, smashing toward the opponent hit head-on by [Blizzard].
[Wood Hammer: The user slams its rugged body into the target to attack. This also damages the user quite a lot.]
But in just an instant, synchronized with the Trainer's command, was the figure of that delicate, agile rabbit Pokémon.
"Lopunny, dodge."
The elongated afterimage shifted positions, completely dodging amidst the raised sky-filling ice dust.
The falling terrifying arm smashed a splashing ice waterfall on the ground, showing the power of this attack.
Surprised, Candice immediately commanded loudly.
"Abomasnow, continuous Wood Hammer!"
Unlike the rigid turn-based system in games, in the realistic Pokémon world, disgusting tactics praised in his previous life like "Substitute + Protect + Toxic," "Minimize Team," and "Endeavor + Quick Attack" were hard to work effectively.
The key to victory relied more on the Pokémon's own strength, the Trainer's on-the-spot command ability, certain tactical creativity, and finally, the indescribable power of bonds.
As a Gym Leader, the combination tactic Candice used on the spot just now was quite good.
First, having Abomasnow use the sure-hit [Blizzard], forcing the opponent to endure it abruptly, then taking advantage of the cover of the heavy snow to approach and continuously swing the powerful [Wood Hammer] move.
If an ordinary Trainer and Pokémon faced this situation, after being hit head-on by blizzard ice crystals and having their vision blurred, they would inevitably be exhausted dealing with the subsequent attacks.
As long as the first strike wasn't dodged, the wave-like [Wood Hammer] wouldn't stop there, causing considerable damage.
But unfortunately—
For Lopunny, the opponent's speed was obviously still too slow.
Although Abomasnow's giant mountain-like body brought it good strength, it also sacrificed corresponding agility. Even though its arm glowing with fluorescent green light swung desperately, it was completely avoided by Lopunny one by one.
"Lopunny, Power-Up Punch."
At this moment, the dodging Lopunny instantly lowered her body and kicked off the ground.
The arm wrapped in the frost storm brushed past the tip of her ear. Her eyes narrowed, and the gathered fist wind turned into streaks of afterimages, blasting the staggering opponent directly away.
[Power-Up Punch: Striking opponents over and over makes the user's fists harder. Hitting a target raises the Attack stat.]
"Obama!!!"
What Candice didn't expect was that her usually durable Abomasnow was no match at all in a single round.
The disparity in strength between the two sides was too great. Aside from using the last move with all its might under her command, the exhausted Abomasnow lost its combat capability.
[Aurora Veil: This move reduces damage from physical and special moves for five turns. This can only be used in a hailstorm.]
Bathed under the colorful ice curtain, the beautiful girl with twin braids took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing.
Although the previous tactic wasn't brilliant, it was easily countered by Hakuya without any effect, making her feel unprecedented pressure.
In that case, if the power-type Abomasnow didn't work, then send out a speed-type Pokémon to respond!
"Weavile, show Mr. Hakuya our spirit, use Brick Break!"
"Such fast speed~"
On the stands, Hilda, as a spectator, exclaimed subconsciously.
Gliding in the Ice Field, the Hook Claw Pokémon revealing a ferocious face split the ice mist in front of it. In a flash, it revealed sharp claws wrapped in Fighting-type energy, attacking the opponent.
[Brick Break: The user attacks with a swift chop. It can also break barriers, such as Light Screen and Reflect.]
Hakuya looked at Lopunny, who was momentarily exhausted dealing with the menacing [Brick Break] move, thoughtfully.
Like combination tactics, how to use the existing terrain was also a compulsory course for Trainers.
As Candice's ace Pokémon, the Ice-type Weavile was undoubtedly like a fish in water on the field full of ice and snow. Its significantly increased speed could already compete with his Lopunny.
In addition, with Weavile's unique [Pressure] ability, it could reduce the opponent's PP (stamina in reality) during battle.
Plus the remaining hail weather, although Lopunny could easily dodge the opponent's offensive, without a coping method, it was possible to capsize under the double stamina weakening.
However, just slightly dazzled by the light reflected from the ice surface, Hakuya directly ordered.
"Lopunny, after dodging continuously, use maximum power Power-Up Punch to smash the ground."
"Sneasel~"
Sliding back to dodge, Weavile stared fixedly at the opponent before it—accompanied by Lopunny's fist smashing down, raising bursts of gale, the smooth ice surface instantly screamed.
Spiderweb-like cracks crawled over the entire Ice Field, then collapsed like brittle porcelain. Broken and splashing ice shards and ice blocks wrapped in residual energy rushed into the mid-air at this moment.
"Agility plus Quick Attack, approach it!"
While Candice was completely confused by this move, Hakuya's command followed one after another.
"Weavile, dodge and intercept with Ice Punch."
No, w-wait a minute!
Looking at the artificially created ice crystal storm, with streaks of afterimages projected on these falling ice shards and blocks, Candice, who had just shouted loudly, sensed something wrong subconsciously, but it was too late.
The reflected ice light shone before Weavile's pupils. Hearing the Trainer's command and deceived by the afterimages, it instantly used its full strength.
Missed?!
Discovering that [Ice Punch] completely tore the opponent before it into nothingness, Weavile fell into a confused daze.
"Why..."
Hilda also widened her beautiful eyes.
From her perspective, she could vaguely see Weavile flip over to dodge a non-existent attack, then swing a fist covered in frost crystals at the air, as if being manipulated.
Hakuya looked at the scene before him as he expected, looking indifferent.
Candice's Weavile didn't miss intentionally but fell into his trap.
Affected by the venue environment, although the combination of [Aurora Veil] + [Hail] could provide an excellent combat environment for the Ice-type Weavile, it also caused significant drawbacks.
A large number of suspended ice crystals, under the illumination of the colorful light of [Aurora Veil], refracted light like countless micro-mirrors.
Without psychic or other assistance, relying solely on visual observation, unless one looked down from a high stand like Hilda, the high-speed moving figure would make it difficult for Trainers and Pokémon present to judge the specific location and landing point.
Moreover, after being smashed by [Power-Up Punch], the broken and splashing ice blocks of various sizes could also serve as projection media, confusing the opponent completely with the streaks of afterimages projected by ice crystals.
Like using an Ice Field? Then treat others in their own way.
Under everyone's gaze, using the cover of sky-filling ice crystals, the charging [Quick Attack] drew a brief white afterimage in the air, locking onto Weavile, who paused briefly due to the missed attack.
And this brief gap of confusion, even if only for an instant, would become a huge flaw.
"Chuu-lu-lu~"
At the moment [Quick Attack] hit, Lopunny leaped into the air using the recoil of the impact.
The accumulated move completely pierced through the pervasive ice crystal light curtain, crashing down fiercely from mid-air along with the falling ice blocks!
[High Jump Kick: The user jumps high, then strikes with a knee kick. If the jump kick misses, the user is hurt instead.]
Facing the Dark + Ice type Weavile, this four-times effective [High Jump Kick] move was undoubtedly fatal.
"Weavile is unable to battle. The winner of this battle between Gym Leader Candice and Challenger Hakuya is the Challenger!"
At this moment, the colored flag fell, declaring the ownership of victory.