“Infinite Nesting Doll Tactic?!” Qi Shu exclaimed.
Xia Yong felt confident again, and with a profound demeanor, he said, “As expected of a Gym Leader from Guangdong Province, you saw the essence of our tactical system in just one round.”
This is an infinite cycle tactic that can only be achieved by Pokémon with the Water Absorb ability.
First, we must introduce the Water Absorb ability: when attacked by a Water Attribute move, the Pokémon does not take damage; instead, it recovers 1/4 of its maximum HP.
The tactical principle and execution steps are as follows: first, because Quagsire and Jellicent are slow, they take the opponent's first wave of attacks. If it's a physical attack, Quagsire handles it; if it's a special attack, Jellicent handles it.
In the previous offensive, after Quagsire and Jellicent endured Vikavolt’s Bug Buzz, Quagsire first used the Water-type move, Muddy Water, which not only repelled Araquanid but also cleared the field, giving Jellicent time to charge up.
At the same time, the Water-type Muddy Water move also hit Jellicent, triggering its Water Absorb ability. After absorbing the Water-type energy from Muddy Water, it recovered 1/4 of its HP, bringing its HP back to full.
Immediately after, the full-HP Jellicent unleashed the ultimate Water-type move, Water Spout. The damage of Water Spout is not fixed; it varies based on HP percentage. If used at full HP, its power will reach the maximum of 150.
The Water-type move, Water Spout, not only successfully dealt some damage to Vikavolt and Araquanid but also hit Quagsire, triggering Quagsire’s Water Absorb ability. After absorbing the Water-type energy from Water Spout, it recovered 1/4 of its HP, bringing its HP back to full.
After this wave of attacks, not only were Jellicent and Quagsire’s HP full, but they also used the powerful Water-type move, Water Spout, to damage Qi Shu’s two Bug-type Pokémon.
Although Araquanid, which is Water + Bug-type, and Vikavolt, which is Electric + Bug-type, are not weak to Water-type moves; Araquanid even resists Water-type moves.
However, with one side gaining and the other losing, the opponent, at full status, chipped away at their Pokémon’s HP. It can be said that they caused damage to the opponent with zero damage to themselves. In a prolonged battle, Qi Shu would inevitably lose.
In fact, Zhang Heng had already seen the feasibility of this tactic from their attribute panels, and he didn't expect the opponent to execute it so smoothly.
Normally, when we engage in turn-based battles in games, we often choose to bring items like Choice Scarf to gain a first-strike advantage and quickly use Water Spout, attempting to create a significant HP difference for the opponent.
If luck is good enough, it's even possible to defeat the opponent's Pokémon in one fell swoop, achieving an overwhelming victory.
However, unexpectedly, in real-life outdoor battle scenarios, one can cleverly utilize a delayed strategy to achieve an effect that catches enemies off guard.
It must be admitted that the Water Blade Gang, this gang-type bandit organization composed of many members, indeed has extremely deep thought and planning in terms of team combat and coordinated defense.
Whether it's the degree of tacit cooperation among members or the Pokémon's aptitudes, they are all quite good. It is precisely because of this that they have been able to brazenly steal various precious and rare Pokémon internationally and remain at large for a long time.
This undoubtedly became an important cornerstone for them to go further and further down the path of crime.
Rumbling ~ A continuous explosion sound came from the core area of Lake Heart Island, and the entire Lake Heart Island began to shake wildly. The originally calm lake surface also churned with layers of surging waves due to this sudden tremor, crashing against the shore.
At the same time, people on the island could vaguely feel the ground of Lake Heart Island gradually tilting, and that sense of imbalance was terrifying. It was as if Lake Heart Island was about to face a catastrophic disaster, possibly being completely overturned and submerged in the lake at any moment.
Zhang Heng secretly thought, “Not good, the water scroll is about to appear. If nothing unexpected happens, the trial of the Legendary Pokémon is about to begin.”
Zhang Heng stood beside Qi Shu and said, “Can you handle this here?”
Qi Shu rolled her eyes, waved her small fist, and said, “Come on, am I that bad? I’m the youngest Gym Leader in Guangdong Province.”
In fact, what Zhang Heng had whispered to Qi Shu just now was about the opponent's tactical system and their Pokémon's move pool.
He had also explained this “Infinite Nesting Doll Tactic” to Qi Shu. Since Zhang Heng could articulate this tactic, he certainly had a way to break it. The first way was to change the opponent's ability, preventing them from rotating their Water Absorb ability. However, the opponent's move pool was very deep, and even if they didn't use the nesting doll tactic, there were other tactics that could substitute.
So the best method was to break it with force, using one move to directly bring both of the opponent's Pokémon to a near-fainting state.
But what move could simultaneously bring two Water-type tank Pokémon to a near-fainting state? The only types that counter Water-type are electric-type and Grass-type.
As the strongest electric-type Elite's closed-door disciple, Qi Shu had her own unique understanding of the electric-type, but no matter how profound her understanding, she couldn't break the Pokémon rules. After all, Quagsire is Ground-type, and electric-type moves cannot cause any damage to it.
Should she use Grass-type? Although Quagsire is 4x weak to Grass, Qi Shu’s Pokémon also don't have powerful Grass-type moves that can attack two Pokémon simultaneously. Once they start rotating their Water Absorb ability, they will recover HP again.
In fact, Zhang Heng, by checking Araquanid's move pool, found that one of its moves was the key to breaking this nesting doll tactic.
Pokémon Name: Araquanid
Type: Water + Bug
Level: 55 (Quasi-Champion strength)
Potential: Elite Four
Tera Type: Bug
Nature: Hasty (No bonus)
Ability: Water Bubble
Held Item: Kebia Berry
Special Ability Bonus: Washed by pure Water-type energy, Water-type power temporarily increased by 1.2 times.
Learned Moves: Wide Guard, Bubble Beam, Crunch, Soak, Aqua Ring
Egg Moves: Sticky Web
TM Moves: X-Scissor, Endure
Friends with strong analytical skills, upon seeing this, have likely already figured out the solution.
Qi Shu saw that Zhang Heng still had no intention of acting. She said to him, “Don’t worry, these two Water-type Pokémon won’t stop me. I won’t lose to weak-to-electric Water-type Pokémon, I stake my master’s reputation on it.”
Zhang Heng was startled when he heard this, and thought to himself, “I’m going to be a Water-type Trainer, aren’t I? Is this aimed at me?”
Zhang Heng shook his head, interrupting his thoughts.
He replied, “Alright, I’ll leave this to you.”
He scooped up the Mudkip’s Pokémon egg with one hand and rushed towards the exploding area of Lake Heart Island. He could sense that the little one was about to hatch, and only by obtaining the water scroll could the little one have higher potential.