Chapter 28: I, the Duck God, Only Play High-Stakes Games!

"66666, Chicken-bro is mighty!"

"Wasn't it me, the Shark God, carrying the team? Blaziken and Grimmsnarl with zero damage output just need to lie down and get carried, stop barking!"

"No, why are you so obsessed with that pathetic output? It just alienates the efforts of the Pokémon!"

"Following the formula to solve the problem is indeed fast."

"Damn, this tactic is so strong. Light Screen and Reflect cover Blaziken for setup, then pass to Garchomp to sweep the team—simply invincible!"

"You can tell you don't watch 'Old Water's' streams enough. If you encounter a high-level player like him with this kind of team, and he hits you with a Taunt, how would you respond, Your Excellency?"

"..."

The battle intensity today was relatively low, and Xia Chi had the time to participate in the chat discussions.

"[Katy's Luxray] is clearly a student who listens well in class, familiar with the excellent skills we often mention in our stream."

While commanding his Pokémon in-game, Xia Chi said, "Baton Pass teams are far less adaptable than Trick Room teams. Never mind Taunt; Encore, Haze, Defog, Roar... there are ten thousand ways to counter [Baton Pass]."

This is also the reason why the Baton Pass tactic is not popular in this world—

Real-world battles are not limited to four moves. A simple Taunt, and wouldn't you just blow up?

Based on this inertia of thought, people in the game often ignore these various tricks and simply rely on brute-force attacking.

"But it's still fun to bring it out for entertainment once in a while."

Xia Chi said, "The metagame is a cycle. When more people in the ranked ladder start carrying moves like [Taunt] and [Roar], Baton Pass will have no room to perform."

Amidst the banter, Xia Chi took down another Sandstorm team.

He didn't stop to rest; while chatting with the audience, he continued to queue for ranked matches.

At first, the audience was seriously observing and learning the Baton Pass setup tactic.

But after victory upon victory, when Psyduck still hadn't appeared, other voices gradually emerged in the chat.

"Is Psyduck just a mascot? Fraud!"

"Geneva, give the Admiral a refund!"

The semi-joking spam was undoubtedly urging Xia Chi to send out Psyduck and then crash and burn under the leadership of the Duck God.

Xia Chi naturally couldn't ignore this question, so he euphemistically said, "The current rank is still too low; there's no need for Psyduck to make a move. My Duck God only plays high-level matches!"

Finally, he didn't make the audience wait too long. After a four-game winning streak, a high-level match arrived.

Kanto’s Number One Sentimentalist VS Hulbury Stadium’s Nessa!

Xia Chi felt a bit sentimental, "Matched with a Gym Leader again..."

Actually, it wasn't really a coincidence.

The number of players in this game is staggering, and most trainers and Pokémon battle enthusiasts play it in their spare time.

After all, as a high-ranked account, it was actually a low-probability event that it took a whole week after matching with Raihan to encounter another Gym Leader.

In any case, when matched with a popular trainer, regardless of whether he wins or loses, Xia Chi would definitely choose the most popular playstyle...

Scratch that, he would definitely take it very seriously.

Entering the match.

Nessa's lineup consisted entirely of Water-type Pokémon—Drednaw, Pelipper, Barraskewda, Golisopod, Toxapex, and Milotic; it was a standard Rain team.

Xia Chi didn't have to think much; he instantly locked in his three Pokémon.

Whimsicott, Dudunsparce, and the long-awaited Psyduck!

Instantly, the screen was filled with cheering messages.

After waiting all night, the Duck God had finally appeared!

Both sides selected their Pokémon, and the battle officially began!

——————

As expected, Nessa chose Pelipper as her weather setter, while Xia Chi sent out the cute Whimsicott.

The [Drizzle] ability activated!

A torrential rain poured down; the rain had begun!

As soon as the battle started, Xia Chi quickly commanded, "Whimsicott, Taunt!"

A ball of Dark-type energy was launched instantly.

Pelipper, just about to set up Tailwind, was struck; no matter how hard it flapped its wings, it couldn't conjure a [Tailwind].

This is the confidence brought to me by Prankster!

Xia Chi continued to command: "Now, Reflect!"

Although Pelipper is a Special Attacker, there was no rush to set up Light Screen.

This guy's primary role is a weather setter that can set up Tailwind; it can't output much damage.

The truly terrifying ones were Barraskewda and Drednaw in the back.

However, before Reflect could be set up, Pelipper retreated after a flash of red light.

Replacing it was the very Pokémon Xia Chi was worried about—Barraskewda!

That decisive?

Xia Chi’s eyes narrowed, his vigilance rising instantly.

Nessa didn't dwell on whether Tailwind was set up or not and instead swapped in Barraskewda directly, which was undoubtedly a signal to increase speed.

Anyway, with the [Swift Swim] ability that doubles speed in the rain, Barraskewda's speed was more than enough.

And just as the Reflect in front of Whimsicott was finally established, Barraskewda used its first move since entering the field—Swords Dance!

This was completely ignoring Whimsicott, which posed no threat, to focus on the rhythm of setting up for a sweep.

Helpless, Xia Chi had to abandon the idea of setting up Tailwind and instead commanded, "Whimsicott, Taunt!"

If he didn't lock Barraskewda's [Swords Dance], the feat Garchomp had just accomplished of sweeping three Pokémon could be replicated by it in minutes.

There was no need to doubt it; with all its stats focused on Attack and Speed, Barraskewda had that kind of terrifying offensive power!

Whether it was because it was satisfied with one Swords Dance boost or had predicted Whimsicott's Taunt, Barraskewda didn't choose to use Swords Dance again, but instead struck with Ice Fang.

Seeing this Ice Fang, Xia Chi breathed a sigh of relief—

Fortunately, not many people in this world like to set up screens, and Nessa didn't bring [Psychic Fangs] or [Brick Break] to break screens, but instead brought the more broadly covering [Ice Fang].

Otherwise, the pressure on Xia Chi’s subsequent Pokémon would have been too great.

The terror of a post-Swords Dance Barraskewda was on par with top-tier attackers like Garchomp.

One Ice Fang dropped Whimsicott's health by more than half!

It was only because Xia Chi had set up Reflect in advance; otherwise, the super-effective Ice Fang would have one-shot the "black-hearted cotton"!

"Whimsicott, Tailwind!"

With the help of Prankster, Whimsicott finally set up Tailwind before Barraskewda's second Ice Fang landed.

Take it, this is my final ripple!

Ice fangs clashed, a cry rang out, and Whimsicott surrendered its first blood.

Xia Chi immediately sent out his second Pokémon, Dudunsparce.

Nessa was clearly stunned by the appearance of Dudunsparce.

Dudunsparce?

What kind of thing is this? Is this Pokémon even in the Pokédex?

That was, of course, a joke; as a Gym Leader, it was impossible for Nessa not to recognize the Pokémon in the encyclopedia.

However, this Pokémon was indeed unpopular.

Because she didn't command in time, Barraskewda attacked violently after a moment of obvious hesitation.

Facing the Normal-type Dudunsparce, which had no type advantage, there was nothing to consider.

She just let Barraskewda hit it with its STAB move, and that was that.

Take this, Liquidation!