Quarterfinals, First Contest Battle: Finch vs. Terrance
After the conclusion of the Top 16 matches, the audience, having waited for a while, immediately adjusted their seating postures. May and Max stopped goofing around and calmed down, waiting for the battle to begin. Terrance's supporters also began to pay attention to match updates.
Chisana, watching outside, as well as everyone watching at the Old Green House in Fallarbor Town, all stopped what they were doing, their hearts pounding with anticipation. As the competition progressed, the pressure on both Terrance and them only grew.
"The next battle: Finch vs. Terrance!"
Terrance and his opponent stepped onto the stage. As their eyes met, Finch suddenly smiled and said, "To be honest, I didn't expect so many strong competitors at this Grand Festival. I came here aiming for the Top Coordinator's title, but it's clearly not going to be easy. You're one of the opponents I'm looking forward to facing. I hope you don't disappoint me."
Finch's words rang in Terrance's ears. He nodded and replied, "I will win."
The moment they took the stage, a fierce rivalry ignited, neither willing to back down.
Reaching the Quarterfinals and now facing an opponent like Finch made the situation increasingly intense. Terrance glanced at the Poké Balls at his waist and began to mentally review Finch's previous battle strategies.
"Raichu is fast at using both long-range and close-range moves. If Raichu utilizes Electric Terrain properly, its attack frequency will surpass any previous opponents. Plus, the changes within the Electric Terrain could make it difficult for Beautifly to enhance itself…" Terrance thought to himself.
"In that case, I need to change my approach. The previous two battles probably made Finch think he's figured out Beautifly's fighting style, but Beautifly has many more combo moves that it can use."
Moreover, Terrance still had a secret weapon up his sleeve.
Vivian glanced at the countdown and suddenly announced:
"Begin!"
Prince of Lightning Finch and the Supernova Terrance tossed their Poké Balls simultaneously. A Pokémon with electric sacs on its cheeks and dark orange fur stood proudly opposite, taunting the flying Beautifly.
Ding—
The battle began, and both sides probed each other.
A current of electricity and a wind blade "brushed past each other", both heading toward their targets. Raichu's round, brown paw emitted a bolt of lightning, swatting down Beautifly's Air Cutter. Beautifly, on the other hand, seemed motionless as the Thunderbolt approached, but with a slight tilt of its body, it dodged the attack, leaving both Pokémon completely unharmed.
"Rai~~chu"
Raichu, intrigued, stared at its opponent, electric sparks dancing around its cheeks. Its lightning-shaped tail suddenly straightened as waves of electricity began to surge outward.
"Beautifly, Stun Spore."
Seeing that Raichu was about to make an astonishing move, Terrance frowned and tried to disrupt it. Beautifly flapped its wings forcefully, releasing a cloud of yellow dust that swiftly swept above Raichu and exploded with a bang. Countless Stun Spore's particles rained down and scattered in all directions.
But instead of retreating, Raichu advanced. With a light flick of its tail, the electric currents made contact with the spores. To the astonishment of the audience, the paralyzing powder seemed to be drawn away, scattering in a different direction.
Boom!
At the same time, before Terrance could react, Raichu had already completed its Electric Terrain. Beautifly fired more than a dozen silk threads, trying to injure Raichu, but with a slight flick of its tail, Raichu transformed the floating electrical currents into weak electromagnetic waves, creating a defensive net that intercepted the String Shot.
"Abandon them," Terrance commanded firmly. Without Beautifly's control, the threads collided with the Thunder Wave. However, under the gentle breeze created by Beautifly, the threads had already formed a large web. Although hindered by the Thunder Wave, it still descended according to its momentum.
Beautifly's silk threads are highly conductive!
Noticing that the web's structure remained intact, Finch reacted quickly. As the massive web closed in, Raichu assumed the Brick Break stance, forcefully slashing through the "Electroweb." Then, it turned its gaze toward Beautifly, who was stirring up the air currents.
"It's useless, are you still trying to use Silver Wind?"
Finch smiled inwardly. From the earlier Stun Spore, didn't Terrance notice anything?
Whether it was the powdery scales of Silver Wind or the spores from Stun Spore, in Raichu's self-created "electrostatic field," both the powdery scales and spores would become uncontrollable.
As long as Raichu maintained control of the "electrostatic field," within the Electric Terrain, many of Beautifly's moves would be restricted.
Even if Beautifly could harness the power of "wind," it wouldn't help. Compared to the external air currents, the lightning was something Raichu could fully control.
Finch was confident.
"Thunderbolt—"
As Terrance and Finch clashed, the appeal points of both contestants were steadily decreasing. However, the appeal points showed no clear advantage for either side. From the judges' perspective, though, it seemed that Terrance hadn't found a good way to counter Raichu yet. If things continued this way, the gap would only widen.
"With the powdery scales and Stun Spore restricted, and Quiver Dance interrupted, is there no other way?" Raoul Contesta pondered.
Without the powdery scales of Silver Wind, although Beautifly could make the air currents even more violent, but Terrance didn't give that command. Instead, he deliberately allowed Raichu to interrupt Beautifly's Quiver Dance.
"It's becoming clearer now. At the speed of the opponent's Thunderbolt, as long as Beautifly can utilize at least 70% of its Quiver Dance speed, Raichu's Thunderbolt alone won't be enough to catch up. However..."
But there was no way to tell if Raichu had held back its full power or whether it could suddenly erupt out with a burst of power. If he recklessly commanded Beautifly to fully engage in Quiver Dance, the consequence would be that in the midst of the violent air currents, Beautifly would be forced to use all its energy just to maintain Quiver Dance and dodge attacks. If it couldn't evade properly, there would be no way to stop Quiver Dance or change its flight path. Being able to cancel Quiver Dance at will and nimbly dodge attacks to escape the air currents, like it's doing now, would be utterly impossible. The wind's force is simply too strong, and Beautifly would need to use all its energy just to maintain balance. At that time, if it were to face a move that exceeded what Beautifly could withstand, it would almost certainly be in danger of getting hit.
So far, in both this and previous battles, Terrance and Beautifly had been using an imperfect version of Quiver Dance combined with air currents. The intensity of these currents is nowhere near as violent as the sandstorms from their special training!
There might come a time during the Grand Festival when Terrance could go all out, but this wasn't the right moment.
"The fact that Electric Terrain can be transformed into an electrostatic field is impressive. Raichu's mastery over Electric Terrain is just as skillful as Hani's Tangrowth over Grassy Terrain. But do you really think that's an advantage?"
Hey guys, I am going to release 1 extra chapter for 350 power stones during this week.