"Slowpoke, control the Water Gun with your psychic power. Murkrow, use Wing Attack!"
"Yadon!" Slowpoke's eyes shone with a blue glow as it controlled the trajectory of the Water Gun, making the jet take an unexpected turn.
Even though psychic moves can't harm Sneasel, that doesn't mean psychic power has no effect.
Sneasel, who didn't expect the attack to curve back, tried to dodge while running, but it was too late and was hit squarely by the Water Gun.
However, since the Water Gun was manipulated with psychic power, its force wasn't as strong, causing Sneasel only to stumble slightly.
Taking advantage of the Tailwind, Murkrow charged with its wings cloaked in Flying-type energy, aiming directly at the stumbling Sneasel.
Under normal circumstances, a Pokémon affected by a move wouldn't be able to dodge Murkrow's accelerating attack, but this opponent was different. Murkrow's attack, which never missed when speeding up, surprisingly failed.
Sneasel disappeared in an instant, turning into that dark shadow Cain had seen before, narrowly dodging Murkrow's Wing Attack.
It was using Quick Attack.
Sneasel didn't linger with Murkrow and set its sights on Slowpoke.
It could clearly sense an energy from Slowpoke that it didn't like, and based on its experience surviving and fighting in the wild, it knew that if it hit, that little pink Pokémon would take a lot of damage.
Cain's expression turned serious. Sneasel's speed was too high; Murkrow's specialty in speed didn't give it any advantage here. Remember, Murkrow was under the effect of Tailwind without anything slowing it down.
"Murkrow, use Hidden Power! Slowpoke, use Headbutt!"
Murkrow was taken aback by the command. If it used Hidden Power at that moment, wouldn't it hit Slowpoke too?
But trusting Cain completely, after a brief hesitation, Murkrow followed the command.
An orb of yellow energy, with sparks of blue electricity, began to form in front of Murkrow.
Meanwhile, Sneasel had already reached Slowpoke, opening its mouth to bite with teeth shrouded in black strands.
It was the Dark-type move, Bite.
This Dark-type move could cause significant damage to Slowpoke, who was Psychic-type.
However, Slowpoke made no attempt to dodge. Since Cain had ordered it to counterattack with Headbutt, Slowpoke decided to trust its trainer unconditionally.
Its pink, soft head began to glow with a thin layer of unfamiliar energy as it launched directly at Sneasel's attack.
"Bang!"
The impact made both Pokémon step back a few paces.
"Yadon!" Slowpoke let out a groan of pain.
Of the two, Slowpoke took more damage. After all, Dark-type moves are highly effective against Psychic-types.
Cain kept a serious and emotionless expression. The damage Slowpoke received was within his expectations.
He didn't order Slowpoke to use Protect because he had a bigger plan in mind.
At that moment, Sneasel, who had also taken damage, recovered. Although its strong teeth had withstood the impact, its head had taken a considerable hit.
Recovered, Sneasel lunged again. It knew it had suffered significant damage, but it also knew that Slowpoke had taken even more.
But then, Murkrow's Electric-type Hidden Power, which it had been charging in the air, was finally ready. The yellow orb illuminated the cave.
Sneasel, having experienced the success of its Bite, prepared to use it again on Slowpoke, confident that two or three more hits would be enough to incapacitate it.
"Slowpoke, use Protect. Murkrow, fire Hidden Power!" Cain ordered coldly.
The three Pokémon moved almost simultaneously: Sneasel's Bite, Slowpoke's Protect, and Murkrow's Hidden Power.
Sneasel's Bite struck the green shield of Slowpoke's Protect. Since Protect lasts a moment, Sneasel couldn't break through immediately.
At the same time, Murkrow's Electric-type Hidden Power orb struck both of them.
With a resounding explosion, Hidden Power went off, releasing a flood of yellow and blue electricity.
Thanks to Protect, Slowpoke managed to block both attacks without taking any damage.
Otherwise, the Electric-type Hidden Power might have dealt as much damage as Sneasel's Bite.
But Sneasel wasn't as fortunate. It was thrown three meters away, right in the explosion's center.
Plus, due to the previous Water Gun, Sneasel was still slightly damp. Since it hadn't dried off completely, the damage from the electric attack was amplified.
The small sparks that still ran through Sneasel's body clearly showed the high damage it had taken from Murkrow's Hidden Power.
After taking a short breath, Sneasel recovered from the blow.
Without wasting time, Sneasel gathered pale blue energy in its claws, forming small ice chunks the size of fists, then launched them at Slowpoke.
Ice-type moves are normally not very effective against Water-types but are very effective against Flying-types. However, Sneasel knew Murkrow could easily dodge with its speed, so it chose to attack Slowpoke.
Additionally, Sneasel had noticed Slowpoke had already taken a hit from it before. If it could eliminate one Pokémon, its situation would improve significantly; otherwise, it might actually lose.
But there was something Sneasel could never have anticipated.
"Slowpoke, use Hidden Power. Murkrow, use Feint Attack and engage in close combat."
That's right, Slowpoke's Hidden Power, despite being a Water-type, turned out to be Fire-type.
Before the ice chunks reached Slowpoke, they were melted by the Fire-type energy orb Slowpoke had formed, turning into pools of water.
Murkrow, taking advantage of its ability to strike first with Feint Attack, closed in on Sneasel. Before Sneasel could react, Murkrow had it trapped in close combat.
Both Pokémon abandoned specific moves and began to fight as if two men were throwing punches.
Although Sneasel had an advantage in attack power, Murkrow had gained the bonus from Sneasel's Hone Claws, which greatly increased the damage from its own claws.
Soon, though the fight had barely begun, Slowpoke had finished charging its Hidden Power.
Without hesitation, Slowpoke launched its fireball towards Murkrow and Sneasel.
"Snee!"
Seeing the fireball rushing at full speed, Sneasel could feel the scorching heat emanating from it, causing it to panic.
But Murkrow, beside it, didn't let it escape, ensuring it had no chance to dodge.
Would they both be hit? Would they both get hurt?
If Sneasel knew what Cain was thinking at that moment, it might not worry as much.
Cain had only one thought in mind: Protect is really useful!
(End of Chapter)