Too troublesome.
Wallace, this guy, has converted his own "pain of losing freedom" into pressure on the battlefield, applying it bit by bit.
His tactics were like a giant web, tough and airtight, constantly tightening, compressing movement space, and wearing down physical strength and patience.
If this continued, Greninja and Weavile would eventually be worn down to death.
A way had to be found to break this deadlock.
Ariel's gaze swept across the field rapidly.
Milotic was in the water, Swampert was on the stone platform.
One distant and one near, one focusing on Special Attack and one on Physical Defense, they covered each other flawlessly.
Where was the breakthrough?
Water... stone platform... Swampert's Ground-type... Milotic...
Keywords flashed through Ariel's mind one by one.
Got it!
Ariel's eyes suddenly became sharp; he looked at Wallace and sneered in his heart.
Trying to wear me down with steady tactics?
Then let me show you what it means to not play by the book!
"Greninja, use Hydro Pump on the pool beneath your feet!"
Ariel suddenly gave an instruction that left everyone, including Wallace, bewildered.
Attack the pool beneath its own feet?
What kind of move was this? Giving up resistance?
The spectating apprentices looked at each other, their heads full of questions.
Wallace was also stunned, but he instinctively felt something was wrong.
"Swampert, Earthquake! Milotic, Hydro Pump, attack that Greninja!" he immediately ordered, trying to interrupt Ariel's strange move.
But it was too late.
Without the slightest hesitation, Greninja brought its hands together and fired a powerful Hydro Pump—not towards the sky or the opponent, but slamming it fiercely into the pool water at the edge of the stone platform where it stood!
"Boom—!"
The calm pool water exploded as if a depth charge had been dropped into it!
A massive wave several meters high surged into the sky, carrying immense force, and crashed fiercely towards the other end of the field, towards the stone platform where Swampert was!
Swampert, having just raised its foot to initiate Earthquake, was instantly swallowed by the sudden, towering wave!
"Roar!"
Despite Swampert's heavy weight, it was sent stumbling by the massive impact; it retreated repeatedly on the stone platform, barely managing to steady itself, soaked and in a pathetic state.
More importantly, Earthquake had been interrupted!
"What?!" Wallace's expression changed.
Using Hydro Pump to create a massive wave in the pool to strike Swampert on the stone platform, thereby interrupting its skill?
What an imaginative idea!
The spectating apprentices were even more dumbfounded, their mouths agape.
It can... be fought like this?
However, this was only the beginning.
"Weavile, now's the time, Icy Wind!"
Ariel's second command followed seamlessly.
Weavile took a deep breath and suddenly blew out a bone-chilling wind mixed with countless ice crystals.
The target of this wind was not Milotic or Swampert, but the surface of the stone platform that had just been hit by the giant wave and was covered in water!
"Crack! Crack crack crack!"
A harsh freezing sound rang out, and in an instant, the slippery stone platform beneath Swampert's feet was covered by a thick layer of solid ice!
"Not good!" Alarm bells rang in Wallace's heart.
Although Swampert wasn't afraid of damage from Ice-type skills, its heavy body couldn't stand steadily on such a smooth ice surface!
Sure enough, as Swampert tried to move, its feet slipped, and its massive body immediately lost balance, wobbling, its movements becoming incredibly slow and comical.
That indestructible Physical Defense fortress had, at this moment, become a struggling target on the ice!
"Beautifully done!" Ariel shouted in his heart.
This was exactly the effect he wanted!
He had disrupted Wallace's rhythm and forcibly divided the battlefield!
"Greninja, Water Shuriken!"
"Weavile, Assurance!"
Ariel's gaze became incredibly sharp as he sounded the horn for the counterattack!
The giant Water Shuriken on Greninja's back spun at high speed, detaching from its back with a piercing sound of breaking air, like a high-speed rotating cutting disc, heading straight for the trapped Swampert on the ice!
Simultaneously, Weavile's figure vanished from its spot, and in the next second, it appeared beside Swampert, claws joined, condensing dense Dark-type energy into a pitch-black spear, thrusting fiercely into Swampert's flank!
"Milotic, quickly use Protect to safeguard Swampert!"
Wallace shouted urgently, his composure broken for the first time.
Milotic acted immediately, a Light Screen attempting to unfold in front of Swampert.
But it was in the water while Swampert was on the stone platform, with a distance between them.
And the speed of Greninja and Weavile was too fast!
Before Milotic's Protect barrier could fully form, Water Shuriken and Assurance had already slammed solidly into Swampert from left and right!
"Bang!"
"Puchi!"
Water Shuriken left a deep wound on Swampert's thick skin, and Assurance stabbed directly into its flesh!
"Roar...!"
Swampert let out a roar of extreme pain; its massive body could no longer maintain balance on the ice and fell heavily backward, crashing onto the cold stone platform with a loud bang.
One strike, heavily damaged!
The entire viewing area was deathly silent.
All the apprentices' eyes widened, as if they were seeing something unbelievable.
Gym Leader Wallace, who was as steady as a mountain just a moment ago and was suppressing the challenger, had the situation... reversed in just a dozen seconds?
That challenger had used only three inconceivable commands to tear a ghastly opening in the iron wall Gym Leader Wallace was so proud of!
"It's not over yet!"
Ariel's voice was cold, without a trace of emotion,
"Greninja, Weavile, finish it!"
Strike while the iron is hot!
Greninja's figure flashed, appearing above Swampert with water condensing on its legs, diving down with an Aerial Ace!
Weavile closed in again, its sharp claws glinting with a cold light, scratching down relentlessly!
Facing this storm-like attack while lying on the ice with restricted movement, Swampert couldn't effectively defend itself at all.
Wallace's face looked grim; he knew Swampert was finished.
"Milotic, Dragon Pulse!"
He could only turn his target to Weavile, attempting to save the ally by attacking the enemy.
Milotic condensed a colorful Energy Ball in its mouth, which turned into a phantom of a divine dragon, roaring as it charged towards Weavile.
"In your dreams!" Ariel snorted coldly.
Mid-attack, Greninja forcefully freed one hand and threw a small Water Shuriken, accurately hitting the path of the Dragon Pulse.
"Boom!"
The airwave from the explosion slightly threw off Weavile's attack trajectory, but Greninja's Aerial Ace kicked Swampert squarely in the chest.
Under the double strike, Swampert finally couldn't hold on; its eyes rolled back, and it completely lost its ability to battle.
On the field, only the solitary Milotic remained.
Two against one.
The outcome had already been decided.
Wallace looked at the fallen Swampert, then at the Greninja and Weavile opposite him, which were only slightly injured and in high spirits; his lips moved, eventually turning into a bitter smile.
The "Web of Pain" he had meticulously constructed had been torn apart from the middle in the crudest and most unreasonable way.
And those spectating apprentices had now turned from shock to horror.
"Swampert... lost?"
"In an instant... just like that, the situation became like this?"
"Using Hydro Pump on the pool, and Icy Wind to freeze the ground... what kind of tactic is this? I've never seen it before!"
"He's not battling Pokémon; he's battling the entire field! He utilized environmental factors to the extreme!"
An older apprentice's voice trembled as he looked at Ariel with eyes full of awe.
Wallace withdrew Milotic; he knew there was no point in letting Milotic hold on any longer.
"Come back, Milotic. Ariel, you are indeed very strong. I just don't know if you can handle the next two Pokémon."
Wallace placed his hand on the two Poké Balls at his waist, and those two Poké Balls were from his master, Juan!
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