Master Craftsman of the Pokemon World

Chapter 21: Sitrus Berry, Priority +0.5!

『Pokémon Tamer Wang Luo has come to challenge!』

Having lived for over a hundred years, the Poké Balls Wang Luo held were no longer the Hisuian Poké Balls, but had been replaced with modern ones. It was obvious that this one must be a newly caught Pokémon.

“Take this with you.”

Seeing Gible, Guang Tai already had some ideas. So, he took out a small berry from his bag. It had a mottled appearance, was overall red, a bit hard, and somewhat resembled magma.

“Yo~”

Honedge was eager to show the opponent what it was made of. After a millennium, it had to win the first battle against a magical beast!

So, when the red berry was handed to it, Honedge was a little puzzled.

What is this berry? Never seen it before.

And how am I supposed to carry it?

“Um, stuff it in the sheath. Anyway, you’ll have to draw your sword when you fight. You can’t fight with the sheath, can you? This berry will automatically provide you with energy once in a critical situation, or something like that? Just listen to my commands.”

Wang Luo smiled:

“Oh, very spirited. Then… go, Gible!”

Gible looks like a young shark, with a huge fin on its head and two protrusions on either side of its head. Its body is mostly dark blue, with red from the jaw to the abdomen. It has a huge mouth with sharp teeth, and short, thick limbs with three toes.

Wang Luo’s Gible was male, with a notch in its dorsal fin.

Guang Tai noticed that the Gible seemed to be wearing a spiral-shaped claw on its hand?

“That’s…” Guang Tai was wary. Was that a Razor Claw? No, it wasn’t quite the same as the product he had seen before!

“Yo~”

Honedge’s body glowed with ghost energy.

I am a sword, and the opponent is a dragon.

If I win, wouldn’t I be the holy sword that slays dragons!

“Gible, use Dragon Twister!”

Wang Luo gave the order first. Gible was already faster than Honedge. The little shark’s eyes flared with fighting spirit, its body quickly spinning as it spat out dragon-type energy from its mouth, instantly creating a deep blue storm!

Dragon Twister’s power isn’t high, and it’s a special attack. Gible’s use of it is almost no threat, but it has a 20% chance to cause the opponent to flinch!

And even if you want to avoid it, it’s impossible—Honedge’s ability is No Guard! Both sides’ attacks are guaranteed to hit!

“Shadow Sneak!” Guang Tai commanded!

And Honedge had been waiting for this moment!

Yo!

A shadow blade flew out directly from under Honedge, faster than the Dragon Twister, forming a shadow sword with red eyes, attacking Gible from behind, following the shadow of the wind!

Going after the opponent moves, that’s a priority move!

“Gible, dodge!” Wang Luo smiled. His Gible was very fast!

“Fuuka!”

Gible confidently responded to its trainer’s expectations, but in the next moment, the shadow suddenly made a turn, as if it would automatically track its target and directly hit Gible!

“Oh?!” Wang Luo’s expression became surprised, and only then did he see that although Honedge also had a dodging action, it was more like delaying the time for Dragon Twister to hit, and trying to move?

“I see, pulling away to prevent flinching when attacked? Not a bad idea.” Wang Luo’s smile didn’t diminish, but he became curious about Honedge:

“That attack just now was Shadow Sneak, right? Although I know it’s a priority move, why was it able to hit?”

In real battles, other than moves like Lock-On, other attacks can be avoided by various means. As long as you’re fast enough, nothing is impossible. And in the game, there’s also the situation where “XX dodged the attack in response to your call.”

“It’s the ability ‘No Guard’.” Guang Tai didn’t look at Wang Luo, but looked at the situation on the field.

Dragon Twister hit, but didn’t cause flinching!

“Pokémon with the No Guard ability always hit and are always hit by attacks.”

Guang Tai narrowed his eyes, and Wang Luo let out a “subarashi” exclamation, but then his mouth curved upward. At this time, Honedge suddenly trembled and shook violently!

“What a rare ability! You’ve piqued my curiosity! But my Gible’s ability is Rough Skin. Shadow Sneak will also hurt you!”

Wang Luo responded with a smile.

Guang Tai thought to himself that Rough Skin, as a hidden ability, cannot appear on wild Pokémon in the game. Only Pokémon from the dream world have it.

To get a hidden ability, you must use an Ability Patch… But, in reality, the hidden ability is probably just rarer among its kind. After all, hidden abilities can also be inherited through eggs.

A little troublesome… Guang Tai thought.

Wang Luo laughed: “Then the battle continues! Now that I know your ability is guaranteed to hit, I can rest assured!”

“Use Stomping Tantrum!”

Gible jumped up and slammed its feet hard on the ground!

“Fuuka!”

Rocks suddenly rose from the ground, accompanied by a huge shockwave that bombarded all the surrounding space!

“Yo!”

Only now did Honedge understand what Guang Tai meant when he asked it if it knew Protect!

Damn it! I should have learned a defensive move!

“Don’t panic, use Substitute!”

Guang Tai commanded, and Honedge immediately calmed down!

It decisively reduced its own health to create an image, and Stomping Tantrum directly hit the Substitute!

Ground-type moves are super effective against Steel-types, so this attack directly destroyed the Substitute!

“Metal Sound!”

Honedge rubbed its blade, making a piercing sound. Gible immediately covered its ears in pain, and a blue stat-lowering effect appeared on its body!

Its physical defense was greatly reduced!

“Gible, Sand Tomb!”

Wang Luo still had a smiling expression, and this time, he used a move that he hadn’t used in the game—after all, this wasn’t the same Gible!

Gible opened its mouth wide and spat out a sky full of sand! The sand rose up, forming a tornado-like shape, wrapping Honedge in it, blocking Honedge’s view, and putting Honedge in a binding state!

“Although both sides’ moves are guaranteed to hit due to their abilities, once the line of sight is blocked and bound by sand, even attacks that can hit will miss? Even if they don’t miss, not hitting is the same as not hitting, and guaranteed hits are meaningless.”

Wang Luo smiled: “Sand Tomb will put the Pokémon in a binding state, which will constantly drain the Pokémon’s health! What, afraid to attack because of Rough Skin, and unable to see the enemy in the sandstorm? You’re helpless in this state.”

“And…”

Along with Wang Luo’s laughter, Guang Tai saw pain in Honedge’s eyes!

The Ground-type Sand Tomb is super effective against the Steel-type Honedge, and the Gible waved the hook claw in its hand, making the sandstorm created by Sand Tomb even bigger!

“Grip Claw.” Wang Luo held up a finger and explained with a smile: “Carrying it will extend the duration of moves like Bind and Wrap.”

“Your Pokémon is a Steel-type, right? This is not good for you! You’re not the only one who prepares before battle!”

However, Guang Tai finished thinking in an instant and commanded calmly:

“That’s not necessarily true! Honedge, Metal Sound!”

Guang Tai continued to command Honedge to use Metal Sound. Honedge immediately perked up and trembled violently in the sand!

Even outside the sand, Gible immediately covered its ears and showed a painful expression!

The violent, piercing sound waves reduced its defense by another two stages!

“The defense has been lowered, but it’s meaningless. Can you hit Gible while wrapped in Sand Tomb? The winner will be decided in the next round.” Wang Luo didn’t care about the lowered defense, because Honedge was also being attacked by the sand. He then gave the order.

“Gible, Dragon Breath!”

Although it was also a special attack, Dragon Breath could paralyze the opponent it hit! Obviously, Wang Luo’s tactic was to use Dragon Twister to trigger flinching, use Stomping Tantrum to lower the opponent’s speed, and then combine it with Sand Tomb’s binding and Dragon Breath’s paralysis to slowly kill the opponent with Sand Tomb!

This repetitive tormenting attack method is indeed more in line with Wang Luo’s somewhat scheming personality, Guang Tai thought!

But!

“Just like I said, that’s not necessarily true!”

At this time, purple storm energy gathered in Gible’s mouth and sprayed into the sandstorm formed by Sand Tomb. Dragon Breath and Sand Tomb perfectly merged, sweeping towards Honedge!

“Honedge, use Substitute! Then charge towards it!”

“What?” Wang Luo was a little stunned, but then he saw an incredible scene!

Honedge used Substitute in the Sand Tomb, and its health was reduced again!

However, the Substitute was thrown into the Sand Tomb and hit by Dragon Breath, gradually disappearing, while Honedge itself flew out of it!

It wasn’t hit, because the Substitute took the attack for Honedge and got rid of the binding state!

And Honedge was approaching Gible at an alarming speed!

Guang Tai immediately gave the order:

“Now, use Sitrus Berry!”

“Then, Psycho Cut!”

And Wang Luo also immediately commanded: “Use Dragon Breath!”

Guang Tai knew that after Honedge used Substitute again, its health had dropped below a quarter!

Now was the critical moment!

A faint light was released from Honedge’s sheath, and a stream of energy was urging Honedge!

That was the Sitrus Berry!

Sitrus Berry, known as the priority +0.5 berry. When the carrying Pokémon’s HP is below 1/4 of its maximum HP, it is activated, and the next move will be used first in the same priority!

Sometimes, if you don’t have a mouth, using berries can be more convenient!

As for closing the distance, it was just to interrupt the opponent’s attack in advance! When releasing a move, even if both sides are guaranteed to hit due to their abilities, if the move can’t be released, it’s the same as not having a move!

Guang Tai’s order had already been conveyed. In Honedge’s single eye, it saw a trajectory!

Gible’s movements seemed to have slowed down, the soul acted before the body, and some places seemed to have a faint red color…

That’s it!

A faint red psychic halo appeared on the blade, and the invisible light of the mind condensed into sword energy and was waved out!

Psycho Cut hit Gible directly at an unimaginable speed, and hit the red part under Honedge’s gaze!

Critical hit!

Metal Sound lowered its defense by four stages, and this Psycho Cut cleanly knocked it away, and the Dragon Breath in its mouth wasn’t sprayed out!

Psycho Cut is a non-contact move, so Rough Skin’s recoil damage has no effect!

“Yo! ∑(⊙)!!!”

Honedge stared at Gible until the latter fell to the ground, then excitedly let out a sword cry!

I will be a dragon-slaying sword in the future!

『Congratulations, Honedge has learned a new move!』

『Learned the move: Assurance!』