Zhang Heng was currently squatting on the ground, fully focused, meticulously and skillfully arranging the bottles, jars, and various Antidotes used to treat Urshifu. He was deeply concentrated, a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead, but his hands never stopped moving.
Beside him, Shiny Mudkip lay quietly on Zhang Heng's shoulder, its lively eyes curiously fixed on the Antidote Zhang Heng was concocting, seemingly full of interest in this magical process.
Just then, a low rumble suddenly echoed from the previously calm Water Tower. Immediately after, the tightly shut red-lacquered wooden door slowly began to move. This sudden development instantly drew the gaze of all creatures present.
Urshifu's tightly closed eyes snapped open. He endured his physical discomfort, supporting himself with a nearby large tree, and slowly but with difficulty stood up. Kubfu also stopped his continuous punching, his eyes filled with eagerness and anticipation, fixated on the gradually opening wooden door.
At this moment, the wooden door had only opened a gap the size of a fist, but even so, the faint light emanating from within gave off a mysterious and powerful aura. Everyone knew that when this wooden door fully opened, it would be the moment the Water Tower trial officially began.
However, time was extremely pressing. If Urshifu could not be healed and entrusted with the crucial task of guarding the rear before the trial began, then once Zhang Heng, Walking Wake, and Kubfu entered the Water Tower for the trial, this independent space would be left defenseless, with unimaginable consequences.
Zhang Heng had prepared one potion and one injection: one for oral consumption and one for injection.
Urshifu watched Zhang Heng approach, still feeling a bit resistant, as they, being Legendary Pokémon and Fighting-type Legendary Pokémon, were extremely proud and unwilling to accept favors from others.
Even though Zhang Heng had saved his life just now, he had repaid that favor with a Legendary Pokémon's blessing, not wanting to owe any more favors.
Zhang Heng, during his internship in his original world, had sat in with his medical master and seen many stubborn patients. For such stubborn patients, Zhang Heng had his own unique insights, explaining the pros and cons to them and letting them consider it themselves.
Zhang Heng slowly placed the potion and injection on the ground and said to Urshifu, "There's no time to consider your feelings now. If you want to protect Kubfu, you must recover first so you can guard this space and allow us to enter the trial."
While Urshifu was pondering the pros and cons, the fierce toxins in his body began to act up again. The skin beneath Urshifu's fur had already turned a faint purple in one area. Urshifu's HP had returned to an unhealthy state.
In fact, Zhang Heng had great confidence in the syringes produced by his own company. The needle of this syringe was ground from the steel on Aggron's body, and it should be able to pierce a Legendary Pokémon's fur defense.
Zhang Heng said nothing more, simply skillfully following medical procedure: taking out the syringe, parting the fur on Urshifu's arm, disinfecting with alcohol, and then injecting the Antidote into his upper right arm.
He then picked up the potion, handed it to Urshifu, and said, "Drink this."
Urshifu looked at the bowl of medicine still bubbling green, then surprisingly looked up at Zhang Heng, but the Legendary Pokémon's telepathy told him that Zhang Heng had no ill intentions. However, the pain from being poisoned made him directly gulp down the medicine in one go.
It was not difficult to see from Urshifu's condition that his previous battle with the Aqua Blade Gang Leader must have been extremely fierce, as he had been subjected to not only gas and Poison Sting but also venom. Furthermore, he had fought with all his might, causing his blood circulation to spread the toxins throughout his body.
Currently, the best and fastest method would be dialysis, to draw all his blood, purify it with medicinal solutions and special toxin-clearing technology, and then reinfuse it into his body. However, Zhang Heng currently lacked such equipment, and the environment did not permit it.
Although the potion and injection had been used, the healing effect was very slow, requiring metabolism to gradually neutralize the toxins in the body. But time was pressing now, and there was not much time to wait.
Since the battle led to the spread of toxins in Urshifu, then a battle could also be used to stir up his blood and qi, allowing the medicine to circulate throughout his body to neutralize the toxins.
Zhang Heng spread his hands, then looked at Walking Wake: "No choice, this is the only way."
"Walking Wake, how about we have a battle with Urshifu?"
Upon hearing this, Walking Wake twisted his neck, looked back at Zhang Heng and nodded, then looked at Urshifu, his eyes full of fighting spirit.
Urshifu, like a grandmaster, fearlessly met Walking Wake's gaze. His eyes, too, were burning with the flames of battle.
Watching the tense situation, Zhang Heng was still thinking about whether there would be any sudden invading enemies.
He threw out Bastiodon's Poké Ball, and Bastiodon appeared in this independent space. Although he had rested for a while in the Poké Ball, he was still covered in scars and looked somewhat tired as he gazed at Zhang Heng.
He also observed the Shiny Mudkip on Zhang Heng's shoulder and the Walking Wake behind him, who was exuding Legendary Pokémon power.
Zhang Heng looked at Bastiodon with some guilt, then pointed to the pink Mudkip on his shoulder: "Bastiodon, these two are my partners. This is Mudkip, and the one behind me is Walking Wake."
Mudkip waved his pink little paws on Zhang Heng's shoulder, greeting them, while Walking Wake merely nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on Urshifu.
"Bastiodon, use Quicksand Abyss to create a trap at that entrance."
Bastiodon said nothing more, simply raising his front leg, and a thick Ground-type energy formed a flowing sand and rock trap at the entrance of that space.
After finishing, Bastiodon collapsed weakly onto the ground. It could only be said that Bastiodon had been relied upon to charge ahead throughout the journey. Zhang Heng had overworked the production team's donkey.
After all this was done, Zhang Heng also looked back at Urshifu.
"Flamethrower!"
Walking Wake opened his wide mouth, continuously gathering the extremely dense Fire-type energy from the surroundings. As the energy accumulated, he finally spewed out an incredibly scorching pillar of flame!
Flamethrower, a Fire-type special attack move, boasts 90 power and a formidable 10% chance to inflict a burn on the opponent.
However, facing such a fierce offensive, Urshifu stood firm like an indestructible mountain. He straightened his broad chest, directly meeting the Flamethrower, which had its power boosted under Sunny Day.
A deafening roar erupted as the orange-red pillar of flame, like a roaring fire dragon, violently struck Urshifu's chest.
In an instant, sparks flew, flames soared, and the immense impact of the explosion made the surrounding air feel as if it would ignite, instantly raising the temperature of the entire space significantly.
But even under such a fierce flame attack, Urshifu remained as steady as a mountain, unfazed. One could even see a scorching aura slowly spreading from his body, as if he had completely adapted to and mastered this level of damage.
Just then, with a soft "whoosh," the scorching aura quickly swept over Urshifu's entire body like a prairie fire.
"He's been burned!"
Pokémon in the burned status have the damage of their non-fixed damage physical moves halved, and they lose 1/16 of their maximum HP at the end of each turn.
But Urshifu paid no attention to the burning pain on his body. He stomped his foot onto the ground with a "whoosh" of air, and the ground beneath him immediately kicked up a hazy mist.
Using this recoil force, Urshifu's figure flickered, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared ghost-like in front of Walking Wake. Without hesitation, he used his head to strike Walking Wake's head with the force of lightning.
Caught off guard, Walking Wake's head took the full brunt of this incredibly heavy blow. He let out a sharp wail, and then his entire body involuntarily stumbled back several steps.