Daisy furrowed her brows slightly. Now that Charmeleon had used Dragon Dance, it would be harder to deal with.
A simple increase in strength wasn't too concerning, but if Charmeleon dared to get up close, that would be an opportunity. After all, whether it was Lombre or Poliwhirl, a single Water-type move landing on Charmeleon would deal massive damage.
Although Leech Seed's effect was short-lived, it still managed to sap a small amount of Poliwhirl's stamina. The recovery was minimal, but it was better than nothing, helping Cottonee regain a bit of energy.
After all, when it came to endurance, Poliwhirl already had the advantage over Cottonee, so the absorption benefited it greatly.
"Refresh."
As the battle progressed, the effects of Stun Spore had started to manifest. Though Poliwhirl had been quick to dodge and avoided too much exposure, Daisy, being cautious, didn't want any lingering effects impacting the fight. So, she commanded Poliwhirl to use Refresh.
As soon as Poliwhirl activated the move, a faint white glow spread across its body, instantly clearing away the discomfort caused by Stun Spore.
Even that move too?
Maki raised an eyebrow. Poliwhirl wouldn't normally be able to learn Refresh on its own. Combined with the Bubble Beam it had used earlier, that made two inherited moves.
Was this the strength of a Gym Leader's experience? Even an ordinary Pokémon in their team had mastered two egg moves.
"Captivate."
Maki gave another command to Cottonee. Compared to Fake Tears or Tickle, Captivate was a rarer move. Its effect was the same as Eerie Impulse, greatly lowering the opponent's Special Attack, but it came with a major limitation.
Eerie Impulse only failed against Ground-types, but Captivate had a much bigger restriction—it only worked on Pokémon of the opposite gender. If the target was the same gender, the move was completely useless.
However, Poliwhirl was most likely male. There was no distinct gender difference in its species, so Maki had to rely purely on experience.
If Captivate landed, the advantage gained would be well worth the gamble.
A pink, heart-shaped aura radiated from Cottonee and floated toward Poliwhirl, hitting it directly.
Visibly, Poliwhirl's stance faltered.
Clearly, Maki's guess was correct—this Poliwhirl was male.
"Flamethrower."
Charmeleon unleashed another Flamethrower, but this time, its target was Lombre. Despite having a Water typing, Lombre's additional Grass typing meant its resistance to Fire wasn't as strong as Poliwhirl's.
"Dodge it!"
Daisy quickly called out. She had already seen how powerful Charmeleon's Flamethrower was earlier and knew better than to let her Pokémon take a direct hit.
Meanwhile, Cottonee had drifted onto Charmeleon's head. Since Charmeleon's speed now far surpassed hers, she wouldn't slow it down by perching there due to her light weight. In fact, being on Charmeleon offered her some protection.
More importantly, Cottonee had a natural affinity for controlling wind. Even though she hadn't yet mastered the crucial move Tailwind, her innate ability to manipulate air currents could still slightly boost Charmeleon's speed.
Continuing this kind of training would refine her wind-controlling abilities, making it easier to learn Tailwind in the near future. After all, her species had a natural talent for it.
But the most important benefit of this maneuver…
"Lava Plume!"
This command wasn't directed at Charmeleon—but at Cottonee.
Charmeleon carried a Flame Plate fragment. Even though it was only a single shard, its Fire-type energy far exceeded that of any volcano in the Pokémon world.
Although most of that power remained within Charmeleon, its presence still had an effect, making the Fire-type energy around its body denser than usual.
Especially now, with Charmeleon actively using Flamethrower, the surrounding Fire energy was even more intense.
Cottonee adjusted her position slightly, aiming the cotton on her head toward her opponent—then, boom!
A thick cloud of burning smog erupted from Cottonee's direction, engulfing the battlefield.
"Cotton! Cotton!"
After releasing the attack, Cottonee fanned her cotton with her leaves, shaking her head. While using Lava Plume, she had felt as if her head was about to catch fire.
And in reality, it almost did. The move wasn't a perfect fit for her species, making it difficult to control. If she wasn't careful, she could have burned herself in the process.
However, since Cottonee's eyes weren't positioned outside its body, it naturally couldn't see that some of its once pristine white cotton had been singed black. Otherwise, it would have immediately flown over and furiously scolded Maki for coming up with such a battle strategy.
Although the move "Lava Plume" sounds similar to "Water Spout" or "Eruption" in name, in reality, it was vastly different.
[Note: These moves have the same first character in chinese which made it sounds similar.]
Both Eruption and Water Spout could reach a maximum power of 150, though their power decreased as the user's stamina diminished. On the other hand, Smog had a fixed power of 80. While each move had its pros and cons, if one had the option to learn Flamethrower, who would even bother with Smog?
Daisy's two Pokémon were momentarily stunned by Cottonee's unexpected use of Smog. Although the attack didn't inflict much actual damage—since it wasn't a Same-Type Attack Bonus (STAB) move, had no type advantage, and was an AOE move, causing its damage to be further distributed—it still left them briefly frozen in place.
At the same time, the Lava Plume engulfed the entire battlefield in thick smoke.
Charmeleon immediately intensified its Flamethrower, slightly rotating its body as it unleashed a thick column of fire in a sweeping arc across the field.
Without visibility, Lombre and Poliwhirl had no way to evade the attack.
Even Daisy, watching from the sidelines, was briefly caught off guard—after all, she had never seen a battle unfold like this before. But she quickly regained her composure.
Though the Pokémon couldn't see through the smoke, she had a clear view from outside the battlefield.
However, perhaps because she hadn't taken the match too seriously from the start, in the brief moment she hesitated, both of her Pokémon were struck by the Flamethrower.
Considering Daisy's skill level, this shouldn't have happened, but when taking into account the situation with her and her sisters, it actually made perfect sense.
Their years of dedication to performances had led to a neglect of battle training. The challengers they typically faced were mostly ordinary trainers, and with the three sisters sharing responsibilities, none of them had that many actual battle opportunities.
Moreover, the strength of those challengers varied greatly.
Once battle instincts became rusty, even command execution would naturally suffer.
Even someone like Professor Oak wouldn't be an exception to this. If the current Professor Oak were to battle his younger self, assuming Pokémon strength remained unchanged, he would most likely be completely outmatched.
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