Chapter 29: Coiling Hypnosis Takes the Baton, Taste My Triple-Combo Beatdown!

With the Swift Swim ability under the rain, Barraskewda possessed astonishing speed. Even with the Tailwind effect, Dudunsparce had no hope of dodging the incoming Liquidation. Of course, Xia Chi never intended to dodge in the first place. The purpose of the Tailwind was simply to allow the slow-moving Dudunsparce to execute critical moves more quickly.

"Dudunsparce, use Coil!"

Coil increases a Pokémon’s Attack, Defense, and Accuracy. It was the "Plan B" for his Baton Pass team! Or rather, it was the activation of Dudunsparce, the power bank specifically prepared for Psyduck.

Liquidation landed first. With the 1.5x boost for Water-type moves in the rain, Barraskewda’s STAB bonus, and the 100% Attack increase from Swords Dance, a frailer Pokémon would have been knocked out instantly. Only Dudunsparce, whose only standout quality was its incredibly high HP, could take the hit and remain standing with ease.

Seeing Dudunsparce’s health drop to just over half, Xia Chi frowned again. "Tsk... this precarious health threshold—can it hold?" But there was no choice; neither Baton Pass nor Roost would win the match right now. He had to keep gambling.

"Dudunsparce, use Coil again!"

Before the second Coil, the expected Liquidation struck again. The powerful kick nearly tore the small wings on Dudunsparce’s body. Fortunately, thanks to the first Coil, its physical defense had increased, significantly reducing the damage taken. Its HP hovered at just under one-third. Xia Chi, who had been highly tense since Barraskewda entered the field, finally let out a sigh of relief. The most critical hurdle was cleared; the rest would be much simpler.

"Dudunsparce, use Roost!"

The third Liquidation arrived right on cue, but Dudunsparce seemed to be cheating death; even as its health bar bottomed out, it clung to life and recovered back to one-third HP. Because of the overall increase in health pools, Roost—which recovered half in the games of his past life—could only recover one-third here. Still, it was enough.

From here on, all Xia Chi had to do was follow the formula: Roost when low on health, Coil when back up. Dudunsparce was essentially doing sit-ups from inside its own coffin. Every time it seemed like Barraskewda only needed a sliver of damage to finish it off, it just wouldn't fall. And as Dudunsparce’s physical defense grew with each stack of Coil, the yellow "scoundrel snake’s" health actually seemed to increase as the battle dragged on.

This spectacular display of "program effect" sparked joyful discussion in the live chat.

"Max out the defense, take the deadliest hits!"
"Salute to the legendary tank, Dudunsparce!"
"Laughing to death, is Barraskewda just grinding damage stats here? Once the match ends, they’ll look and say, 'Oh, I dealt so much damage, I’m the MVP!'"
"The gold standard of 'giving up' theory is still rising."
"What’s the point of Dudunsparce not carrying an attacking move? Look, does Barraskewda even care about you? I’m waiting for the Taunt to end; what are you waiting for?"

***

In the Galar region, Hulbury Stadium, Hulbury Town.

Just as a viewer in the chat had noted, Nessa was perfectly calm. The situation before her was hardly a desperate one; she felt that from start to finish, the match had remained firmly under her control. As soon as the Taunt on Barraskewda ended, she ordered it to stop attacking and use Swords Dance to boost its stats. Her logic was simple: when both sides’ offensive and defensive capabilities reached their peak, she would definitely have the advantage.

Not only was Barraskewda faster and more agile, but Liquidation also had a chance to lower the opponent's defense. Once that effect triggered, Dudunsparce would no longer be an impenetrable target. Moreover, no matter who the opponent's final Pokémon was, it wouldn't be able to withstand a Barraskewda with an Attack stat of 16,000!

Dudunsparce needed six turns to max out its Attack and Defense, while Barraskewda only needed three Swords Dances—or just two, since one had already been used at the start. These two turns of Swords Dance were the darkness before the dawn. Nessa watched the screen with a serious expression; the rain would last for a while longer. She trusted that she had the reflexes to command the Swift Swim-boosted Barraskewda to dodge any attack from her opponent.

However, the imagined attack never came. Instead, a flash of red light appeared, and the Dudunsparce on the field vanished.

"Switched out?" Nessa was stunned. "Giving up all those stat boosts from the Coils just like that? No—Baton Pass!"

Although the move was so obscure that it rarely appeared in professional battles—after all, spending so much effort to raise a "big brother" Pokémon only for a single Defog to ruin everything—a veteran trainer like Nessa still remembered its existence.

Who would it pass four stacks of Coil to? Garchomp? Nessa wasn't panicked. In the rain, Barraskewda had an absolute speed advantage, and she was carrying Ice Fang. As everyone knew, aside from the Fairy type, Ice was the greatest natural enemy of Dragons, dealing quadruple damage to those with a secondary Ground or Flying typing! A Garchomp? If it dared to show up, she’d make sure it never left!

Having finished the second Swords Dance, Nessa thought this to herself. But the Pokémon that appeared after the Baton Pass was not the Garchomp she expected. It was... Psyduck!

Seeing that yellow, dim-witted duck holding its head with its short arms, Nessa was almost as dumbfounded as the Pokémon itself. Psyduck? What use was a Psyduck? "You should have evolved before coming here!"

Nessa had been worried about Garchomp tanking an Ice Fang and counter-attacking to sweep her team, but seeing Psyduck, her tense nerves immediately relaxed. With Psyduck’s attack and defense, let alone four stacks of Coil, even forty stacks... well, forty might actually save it. Ignoring such unrealistic scenarios, Nessa commanded: "Barraskewda, use Close Combat to finish it!"

But what she failed to notice was that at this very moment, a strange, psychic glow emanated from Psyduck’s dull, dead-fish eyes.

Hypnosis, hit!

Nessa froze instantly.

***

"Students, take note of this key point: in the rain, Barraskewda—also with the Swift Swim ability—is about twice as fast as Psyduck. But what if Psyduck is under the effect of [Tailwind]?"

After the successful Hypnosis, Xia Chi chuckled. "But what if I told you that my goal with Coil wasn't to boost Attack or Defense, but to raise the accuracy of Hypnosis—which usually has a success rate of about 50%—to one hundred percent?"

This was pure nonsense; without boosting Attack, did he expect to put the opponent to sleep until they died? But a person has no brain when they are busy acting cool, and if he didn't act cool now, when would he?

Xia Chi flashed a brilliant, heroic smile. "Close the net! Psyduck, use Zen Headbutt!"