Cottonee spread the two leaves on either side of its body, and a gentle pink breeze began to swirl behind it, flowing toward Tangela.
Although Fairy Wind appeared to be a relatively weak gust, the power of pure wind was far from its only effect. Within the current, tiny shimmering particles sparkled, creating a dazzling, almost mesmerizing sight.
The moment it collided with an opponent's move or a target, it would release a sudden burst of intense Fairy-type energy.
As the Fairy Wind clashed with Tangela's extending vines, the tendrils resisted for a moment before they were pushed back entirely.
Cottonee let out a small sigh of relief—it had no interest in getting entangled by those tentacle-like vines.
"Nature Power—Tri Attack!"
If there was one move that Cottonee excelled at, it was undoubtedly Nature Power.
Even in standard circumstances, Tri Attack—the form it took in this battle—boasted a solid base power of 80 and had a chance to inflict Paralysis, Burn, or Freeze. Though the probability was low, there was always a chance to land a lucky hit.
But why did Maki specifically call it Nature Power—Tri Attack instead of just Nature Power? That had everything to do with how the move functioned.
In the games, the move Nature Power always transformed into a predetermined attack based on the terrain—Energy Ball in grassy areas and Tri Attack in standard indoor battles.
However, reality didn't work quite that way.
For example, what if Cottonee were floating in midair above a grassy field? What move would Nature Power become then?
The answer: Either one.
Unlike in the games, this move was actually controllable—Cottonee could decide which attack to unleash.
The key factor was the energy concentration of the surrounding environment. In a grass-covered battlefield, Energy Ball was the most common result simply because of the overwhelming presence of Grass-type energy. The same logic applied to other terrains.
By deliberately controlling the energy being drawn in, it was theoretically possible to switch freely between different move variations at will.
Of course, Cottonee's current abilities weren't quite refined enough to do this flawlessly—it still required extensive training.
The battlefield at the Celadon Gym was covered in grass, which, in a sense, made it a weaker version of Grassy Terrain. Under these conditions, Nature Power was highly likely to become Energy Ball.
That was precisely why Maki had instructed Cottonee to fly higher. Since its energy control was still a work in progress, staying too close to the grass might influence the move's outcome.
"Vine Whip!"
Leah hadn't expected Cottonee to know Nature Power—let alone understand how to manipulate its terrain effect. By keeping its distance from the grass, Cottonee had ensured that Nature Power would turn into Tri Attack instead of Energy Ball.
Many Grass-type Pokémon could learn Nature Power, so Leah was certainly familiar with the move.
But just like with Cottonee's earlier attacks, her biggest takeaway was: It was way too fast!
Cottonee's execution was so flawless, it was as if there wasn't even a casting delay.
Because of this ridiculous speed, Tangela had barely begun swinging its vines when Cottonee's attack was already upon it, leaving no time to react.
The Tri Attack formed a triangular shape with red, blue, and yellow energy orbs, striking forward and colliding with Tangela's hastily raised Vine Whip.
Tangela had excellent base stats, but that didn't change the fact that Cottonee had already powered up twice using Growth!
The moment Tri Attack connected, Tangela's vines were instantly shredded. The triple-elemental energy of the attack hit Tangela directly, leaving it no room to recover.
"Keep going! Tri Attack—two more times!"
Following Maki's command, Cottonee fired off another two Tri Attack strikes in rapid succession.
Tangela, still reeling from the first hit, had no chance to react before it was overwhelmed.
Cottonee's base Special Attack might not have been particularly high, but did that really matter?
With this kind of insane casting speed, it was essentially a machine gun—firing off multiple attacks in the time it took an opponent to launch just one.
If there was any drawback to this strategy, it was the high stamina consumption. While the move cooldowns were practically nonexistent, the energy expenditure remained unchanged.
Leah stood frozen in place.
In just that short span of time… her Tangela had been defeated?!
What kind of cheat code was this? How was this even fair?!
Her opponent moved twice—sometimes even three times for every single action she took. Even if she used Quick Claw, she still wouldn't be able to keep up!
"…Return, Tangela."
She recalled her fainted Pokémon, momentarily at a loss for what to do next.
If she sent out something too strong, it would feel like bullying.
If she sent out something too weak, it would feel like she was handing Maki the badge for free.
"This… this is a Cottonee?"
In the stands, Jasmine stared in disbelief at Maki's Cottonee.
In her mind, Cottonee had never been particularly strong in battle. Even after evolving into Whimsicott, it wasn't the kind of Pokémon that excelled in sheer combat power.
But Maki's Cottonee had completely shattered that belief.
She never imagined that a Cottonee could be this brutally aggressive.
Jasmine turned to Erika for confirmation—only to find that Erika, too, was wide-eyed in shock, staring at Cottonee in stunned silence.
Jasmine suddenly had the urge to take a photo—after all, it had been a long time since she had seen Erika this surprised.
"Hey, Erika? Erika~"
She poked Erika's cheek, finally snapping her out of her trance.
"Ah… what is it?"
"Is… is this really something a Cottonee can do?"
From their perspective, Cottonee's battle strength had seemed relatively average.
As future Gym Leaders, both of them had already received their own starter Pokémon—probably even before Maki had gotten his Charmander.
In their eyes, this level of strength wasn't too out of the ordinary.
But the way Cottonee was fighting—like a machine-gun barrage of attacks— was downright terrifying.
And considering it was still young and had so much room to grow…
Just imagining their own Pokémon getting bombarded by a relentless stream of attacks before even reacting made both Jasmine and Erika's scalps tingle.
"I… I have no idea."
Even with her deep understanding of Grass-type Pokémon, Erika couldn't begin to explain how Maki's Cottonee was pulling this off.
"But one thing is certain—Maki must have an incredibly unique approach to training Cottonee. Once this Gym battle is over, I have to ask him about it."
After all, Cottonee was still a Grass-type Pokémon.
Seeing it achieve such an extraordinary level of power made Erika genuinely curious about Maki's methods.
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