Chapter 4: Grassy Terrain
Watching Garchomp's attacks on the field change from reckless charges to a Sandstorm tactic made the onlookers' eyes light up.
It was both for Floette's brilliant performance and Cynthia's decisive judgment.
"Young Patriarch Chenxi's performance is truly splendid!"
Drasna said, "To be able to defend against Garchomp's unreasonable charges, in addition to Floette's extremely light weight, the most important thing is its sensitivity to airflow and its astonishing control ability.
This allows it to accurately judge Garchomp's attack trajectory and dodge calmly."
"This Floette has a strong grasp of airflow, even reaching Master-level!" Lorelei said.
"A twelve-year-old Master-level trainer?" Cyrus heard this and couldn't help but laugh, "That's impossible in this world!"
Hearing this, Gardenia wanted to say something but ultimately didn't, instead looking anxiously at the arena.
Just as the group was still discussing, the sandstorm summoned by Garchomp had already engulfed Floette.
When Cynthia realized Garchomp's offense couldn't achieve victory, she decisively chose Sandstorm for area-of-effect attacks.
Chenxi gave Cynthia an appreciative look.
His Floette indeed possessed the ability to sense airflow, but to control it, Floette naturally couldn't do it.
Facing this sandstorm mixed with fine sand, if it were to be accidentally caught in it, with Floette's physique, its HP would likely be depleted in no time.
"It's a pity the battlefield here is Grassy Terrain... Use Growth!" Chenxi commanded Floette.
"Floette~"
Floette heard the command and swayed the flower bud in its hand, green light particles drifting, and the grass on the field began to grow wildly.
Slender blades of grass broke through the soil and grew vigorously, and in the blink of an eye, the entire field was covered in lush grass.
Floette's skill system does not include the Growth skill.
This was something Chenxi had researched using the Grass-type inheritance possessed by the Sinnoh Gardenia family.
Even so, Floette could only be considered to have learned half of it, not fully mastered the skill.
Because Floette itself is not a Grass-type Pokémon, the Growth effect cannot apply to itself.
But the Gracidea flower in its hand can serve as a medium for casting the Growth skill.
After casting this skill, Floette itself didn't receive much enhancement, but it wasn't without other uses.
For example, this power could make the plants on the field grow wildly.
For example, Floette casting skills through the Gracidea flower in its hand could amplify the power of the skills.
However, Chenxi had Floette learn the Growth skill to better nurture the Gracidea flower that coexisted with Floette; it was a skill to aid the Pokémon's growth.
Honestly, using it in battle wasn't its primary purpose.
At this moment, facing the Sandstorm unleashed by Garchomp, Chenxi chose to have Floette use Growth to promote the growth of the surrounding plants.
A very important point is that while a sandstorm can be powerful and even penetrate everywhere, afforestation is truly its nemesis.
As the plants in the Grassy Terrain grew above Floette's head due to the influx of Floette's energy, even the damage from the sandstorm was blocked by the lush growth of flowers and grass.
"The sandstorm has been countered..."
Although Garchomp still maintained the sandstorm, everyone clearly understood that the sandstorm was helpless against Floette hidden in the grass.
More importantly, these grown grasses also looked extremely resilient.
Even if the sandstorm directly attacked, blowing them back and forth, it couldn't uproot them, nor did it leave a single mark.
Because as these grasses grew and spread, Floette's Flower Veil ability activated.
It can protect all Grass-type Pokémon, even plants, so it's common to pair it with Grass-type Pokémon in battle tactics.
As the Grassy Terrain spread and grew, these growing grasses provided cover for Floette.
At the same time, Floette's Flower Veil ability also protected this wildly growing grass, forming a symbiotic relationship of mutual protection.
Cynthia saw the grass growing denser and denser, while her sandstorm became sparser and sparser in this densely growing Grassy Terrain, completely failing to achieve its intended effect.
Cynthia had Garchomp stop actively controlling the sandstorm and sweeping Floette.
At this moment, Cynthia let the sandstorm fly freely across the field, but her Garchomp, using the sandstorm as cover, became elusive across the entire field.
Sand Veil ability activated.
"Not bad!"
Watching the constant shifts in attack and defense between the two sides, Lorelei nodded, a thoughtful look in her eyes.
When Cynthia realized that her Garchomp's active offense, whether physical or special, couldn't achieve the desired victory, she chose to temporarily retreat, using Garchomp's Sand Veil ability.
Hiding Garchomp in the sandstorm seemed like giving up the initiative, but in reality, it was always ready to strike.
"Hidden within the sandstorm..."
Chenxi watched the sandstorm still raging across the entire field, obscuring the trainers' vision.
And Garchomp was vaguely concealed within this sandstorm, making Chenxi feel a bit amazed by Cynthia's choice.
Whether this tactic would be effective was another matter.
But undeniably, when facing an opponent who seemed far weaker and whose attacks, if they landed, could crush them, yet couldn't be hit due to the opponent's agility.
Choosing to retreat rather than continue attacking, this alone showed Cynthia's battle awareness.
However, Chenxi didn't pay much attention to Garchomp's apparent retreat and use of the sandstorm for concealment.
Because Floette, on this self-grown Grassy Terrain, wasn't just observing its surroundings with its eyes.
At this moment, all the leaf-green grasses were Floette's eyes; as long as Garchomp's feet were still on the ground, Garchomp had nowhere to hide.
Of course, while Garchomp is a Ground/Dragon-type Pokémon, it possesses the ability to fly.
Its flying speed, especially its straight-line flying speed, is not slow.
So if Garchomp chose to fly high and not descend, Chenxi might have to wait until the sandstorm dissipated to find Garchomp's figure.
At this moment, countless petals were seen flying out from the Grassy Terrain.
These petals swayed in the raging sandstorm, and many, of course, were shattered by the sandstorm's blows.
Seeing the petals flying, Cynthia did not let Garchomp attack rashly.
Instead, she carefully observed the entire battlefield, covered by Grassy Terrain and the sandstorm, searching for the source of these petals.
Finally, she saw Floette, hiding in the grass, secretly using Petal Dance!
"It's there!"
Cynthia pointed at Floette's location, and with a regal aura, shouted to Garchomp, "Charge!"
"Garchomp!" Garchomp roared, its entire body transforming into a stream of light, rushing towards the spot Cynthia indicated!
Garchomp trusted Cynthia's judgment, just as Cynthia trusted Garchomp.
And with Garchomp's roar, the sandstorm in the sky, as Garchomp charged, seemed to transform into armor, adhering to Garchomp's body, and together they rushed towards Floette's direction!
Cyrus looked at the scene before him and nodded, "Oh... it further utilizes Garchomp's air shield, created during its charge, to the extreme.
This time, the sandstorm formed a layer of sand armor, which was also brought along with this charge.
Even if Floette dodges Garchomp's attack as before, avoiding this sandstorm might not be so easy!
It's hard to imagine that this is a match between two twelve-year-old children!"
Chenxi watched Garchomp, riding the sandstorm, charge directly towards his Floette, its momentum and power inspiring an irresistible force.
But at this moment, Chenxi remained as calm as ever, simply commanding,
"Fairy Wind!"
Floette swayed the flower bud in its hand at this moment, and in an instant, a pink Fairy Wind surged forth.
Fairy Wind collided with Garchomp's sandstorm, and the sandstorm before them began to disintegrate at a visible speed.
Even Garchomp, mid-charge, cried out in pain at this moment from the Fairy Wind's attack.
Garchomp's momentum, which had just picked up, was knocked down by this Fairy Wind, which wasn't even considered strong.
"Garchomp?!"
Watching Garchomp suddenly fall to the ground, Cynthia was startled, not understanding what had happened.
She didn't understand what was wrong with her Garchomp.
Even stronger and fiercer moves, Garchomp could forcibly withstand.
But now, facing this not-so-strong Fairy Wind, how did it knock Garchomp down, even making Garchomp cry out in pain!
"It's the petals!" Drasna said calmly, looking at the battlefield before her.
Lorelei next to her also nodded in agreement, saying, "Young Patriarch Yuan is indeed astute, thinking of using this method to break Garchomp's offensive and defensive gas shield."
Simply put, why was Cynthia's Garchomp exceptionally fierce when charging?
A very important reason was that this was not a simple charge, but an ultimate move suited for Garchomp.
When Cynthia's Garchomp charged, it would use its high speed to form a gas shield on its body surface.
This shield was both offensive and defensive, strengthening Garchomp's defense, but at the same time, this air layer also enhanced Garchomp's destructive power.
It was the presence of this air layer that made Garchomp exceptionally powerful when facing frontal attacks.
And the petals from Floette's Petal Dance, carried by the sandstorm, were also adsorbed onto Garchomp's body surface.
The purpose of Fairy Wind was not to attack Garchomp, but to use these petals, adsorbed on Garchomp's body, to interfere with Garchomp's surface air layer using the momentary Fairy Wind.
After successfully interfering with this air layer, Fairy Wind would then hit the unprepared Garchomp.
Although the damage from the Fairy Wind skill is not high, it is still a Fairy-type skill.
For Garchomp, taking a Fairy-type skill unprepared during a charge, the shock it brought might be even more severe than the skill itself.
Of course, the sandstorm on Garchomp's body surface was still quite useful.
Otherwise, Petal Dance and Fairy Wind would combine to deal heavy damage to Garchomp.
But now, because many of Petal Dance's petals were crushed by the sandstorm, the damage from Petal Dance naturally couldn't be relied upon!
Garchomp took the Fairy Wind and fell to the ground, but that didn't mean the attack was over.
At this moment, the sandstorm carried by Garchomp also seemed to lose control, crashing down like surging waves.
This was originally a tactic Garchomp designed to prevent Floette from escaping, but now this tactic became the key for Garchomp to turn the tide, or at least to buy time for Garchomp to recover.
Facing the sweeping sandstorm, a dazzling green radiance emerged around Floette and continuously spread, showing no weakness against the formidable sandstorm.
Grassy Terrain!
This was not the name of the arena environment, but a skill Floette possessed.
Grassy Terrain itself has no defense; it can only enhance the power of Grass-type Pokémon's moves and restore HP to Pokémon standing on the ground, but under the effect of Floette's Flower Veil ability, the entire skill became different.
Wherever grass covered, it was Floette's domain.
Within the domain, all would enjoy the protection of Flower Veil.
Grassy Terrain, combined with the Flower Veil ability, formed a protective barrier for Floette.
If this sandstorm were controlled by Garchomp, it might be different.
But now, this overwhelming sandstorm rolled endlessly, yet it had lost control.
At this moment, it slammed into the entire Grassy Terrain, but facing the protection of Floette's Flower Veil ability, it couldn't harm a single blade of grass or a single tree.
In a moment, the Grassy Terrain remained glorious and brilliant, but the sandstorm had faded out.
"Garchomp?" Garchomp stood in the Grassy Terrain, a bit astonished.
The raging sandstorm it had stirred up was so vulnerable against this green field, directly being broken down and dissipated by the vibrant greenery.
In just a short time, the entire sandstorm was swallowed by this Grassy Terrain, which remained freshly green.
Before Garchomp could recover, several vines extended from the Grassy Terrain, wrapping around Garchomp, tying it up completely!
Chenxi, at this moment, looked at Cynthia across the arena and said, "It seems I've won this confrontation."
"You... won?!"
Cynthia heard Chenxi's words and didn't respond, but her expression towards Garchomp became exceptionally focused, and a bright purple glow emanated from Garchomp's body.
Cynthia was not only a gifted trainer but also a direct descendant of one of the five divine families.
She wielded the power of dragons!