Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

"Milotic, prepare for battle!"

The battle officially begins!

…………

Looking at the Pokémon floating low in the air opposite him, which resembled an unidentified flying object, Xia Chen finally understood why this guy had chosen him as his opponent.

Magneton is a dual-type Pokémon with the Electro-Steel attribute.

As we all know, Pokémon with the Steel type are in the upper-middle tier of the type advantage food chain, and Electric Steel is no exception.

Twelve Pokémon are resistant, while three are countered. This terrifying type advantage relationship would leave Rock-type Pokémon speechless and Ice-type Pokémon in tears.

Xia Chen's preferred Pokémon happen to be outside of those three types that are weak against him. Furthermore, Electric Steel Pokémon is strong against Milotic (Water-type) and Fairy-type Sylveon and Gardevoir.

Perhaps this is the source of his confidence in challenging himself.

Despite this, Xia Chen remained calm. While Magneton was effective against Milotic, that was only true when both were evenly matched.

In this match, it's an elite-level versus a veteran-level game, so the advantage is on my side!

However, seeing that the opponent doesn't seem inclined to make the first move, there's one move we need to be wary of.

Pulling himself back to reality, Xia Chen commanded, "Milotic, spray water!"

Xia Chen's loud voice immediately caused a stir among the people on the battlefield.

Water spraying! Water spraying again!

Although it's no secret that Xia Chen's Milotic can spray water, the audience still feels a bit excited when they recall the last time Milotic sprayed water, which looked like a natural disaster.

Who wouldn't want to see a Milotic that can spray water?

……

In contrast to the restless audience, Bai Zhengqiu calmly adjusted his glasses with his index finger across from Xia Chen, a confident smile playing on his lips.

Whether Xia Chen used Milotic as his starting Pokémon or used the most powerful Water Spray to strike first, it was all within his expectations.

Now that he has figured out his opponent's thoughts, he naturally has a way to deal with them.

Before the challenge, Bai Zhengqiu carefully watched all of Milotic's battle videos that had circulated online to date, and based on this, he analyzed Milotic's various data in detail.

He accurately concluded that, given Milotic's special attack power, his own Magneton could reliably withstand a water spray and survive.

Then, the opponent's Milotic will have to face Mirror Reflection, which is enhanced by the [Analysis] ability.

Given Magneton's current strength, its ability allows it to increase the power of its moves by about 20% when it uses them later.

Furthermore, mirror reflection can return the damage of the previous special attack as double!

In other words, the higher the damage Milotic's water spray deals, the greater the backlash damage he will suffer.

Anyone who watched the match where Xia Chen was promoted to the school team would have no doubt about the power of Milotic Water Cannon.

And what about Milotic, who can withstand a water cannon that deals double damage?

Bai Zhengqiu smiled slightly, his glasses gleaming with wisdom.

Pokémon battles are simply based on data analysis.

In regular ranked matches, opponents are randomized, so you have no chance to use your best skills.

So it wasn't until today that I made it into the top 50 of the ladder and qualified for the rematch.

And this kind of competition where you can choose your opponent...

If I have all the information, I'll kill even a god!

…………

Rolling waves surged continuously from Milotic's mouth, instantly creating towering waves on the battlefield.

As all the audience members, and Bai Zhengqiu, wished, a flood, as if possessed by divine power, suddenly descended upon the world, seemingly about to obliterate everything covered by its might.

Under the surging water that rushed forward like a thousand horses, even the Magneton, which was nearly the size of a small aircraft, appeared so small and fragile.

Although it won't suffer double the damage like the previous Blaziken victim of the Water Spray.

But no one doubts the devastating damage Magneton will suffer when the waves crash in.

Bai Zhengqiu had no doubt about this either.

But this is what he wanted.

Seizing the moment just before the tide arrived, Bai Zhengqiu coldly shouted, "Magneto, now! Mirror Reflection!"

“Blue—”

Magneton immediately responded to its trainer's command with a mechanical electronic sound.

Because Bai Zhengqiu had already discussed tactics with his Pokémon before the battle, the well-prepared Magneton only needed to mechanically execute them.

As soon as Bai Zhengqiu finished speaking, a strange, pale pink light suddenly shone from the Magneto's silver-gray body.

Under the light constructed from psychic energy, Magneton's already smooth and shiny steel body appeared even more luminous, like a mirror.

Just like the name of this move, Mirror Reflection!

No matter how powerful the special attack is, as long as it hits this mirror, it will be returned double!

…………

Bai Zhengqiu cleverly timed the timing of Magneto's use of mirror reflection.

If it had happened earlier, Milotic could have used a low-powered move to break Mirror Reflection, or used Rain Dance first, and then waited for an opportunity to use Water Spray.

If it were later, Xia Chen could also command Milotic to quickly unleash a low-power but fast-acting move like Tornado to cover up the damage from the water spray.

It's important to know that while specular reflection is strong, it also has a fatal flaw.

That is, when a Pokémon is hit by multiple attacks, it only reflects the damage from the last attack.

In other words, as long as the trainer or Pokémon releases the move quickly enough, they can follow up a low-power move with a high-power move, causing Mirror Reflection to only deal damage to the latter.

Bai Zhengqiu had clearly taken Milotic's fast attack speed into account, and deliberately timed the moment the wave was about to hit before letting Magneton release Mirror Reflection.

This is to avoid the inherent flaws of the move itself.

As the water was about to crash into the mirror reflection already formed by the exploding Magneton, Bai Zhengqiu's perfect plan was finally completed, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Data analysis and meticulous planning are my keys to victory!

What no one present, including Bai Zhengqiu, noticed was...

At the end of the surging, rolling waves, there was a tiny, almost invisible purple dragon breath.

Meanwhile, the audience members were celebrating, rejoicing that the villain Xia Chen was about to meet with misfortune.

"Holy crap, this guy's playing dirty, huh? But I love it! To deal with someone like Xia Chen, you have to teach him a dirty trick!"

"Mirror reflection is a standard move, not too underhanded. It's just that Xia Chen was too confident and started spraying water right away. Now he's reaping what he sowed."

"Double the water spray? Tsk tsk, even Milotic with its high Special Defense and durability probably can't withstand that, right? Xia Chen might actually be going to lose?"

"Let's pop the champagne!"

"With Xia Chen's current strength, it's unlikely that he'll be completely defeated, but his trump card, Gardevoir, will probably be forced out. We might see him fail in tomorrow's selection."

…………

Amid Bai Zhengqiu's confident smile and the gloating expressions of the onlookers, the surging tide was finally about to be submerged by the self-destructing Magneton covered by the super-powered shield.

“Blue—”

The Magnemite's agonizing electronic sounds echoed across the battlefield, fully demonstrating the immense power of Milotic's water jet.

Bai Zhengqiu's expression, however, was one of joy rather than sorrow, because he knew that since the Magneton could still make a sound, it meant that it had not collapsed in the water spray.

My calculations were indeed correct!

So now, it's time to let your opponent experience double the pain they've endured!

"Magneto, now's the time!"

“Blue—”

As Magneton strained to endure the pain, a beam of light, pale pink mixed with purplish-red, pierced through the water curtain and shot directly at Milotic, who was somewhat exhausted from spraying water.

This beam of light is a mirror reflection created by absorbing the damage from Perfect Nas's attacks!

But the color looks a bit strange.

Bai Zhengqiu frowned slightly.

Normally, the beam of light reflected from a mirror should be a light pink color, representing the Psychic type, mixed with the color of the reflected move.

The beam of light just now should theoretically be a pale pink mixed with a beautiful aquamarine, so how could it be purplish-red?

But everything I calculated turned out fine.

He couldn't find the answer immediately, but a vague unease began to creep into his heart.

There shouldn't be any unexpected problems, right?

Bai Zhengqiu looked up and saw that the beam of light reflected from the mirror had just hit Milotic.

But what happened next made his pupils shrink.

…………

But the scene was completely different from what he had imagined; Milotic did not fall amidst endless wails and pain.

On the contrary, Milotic seemed completely unharmed after taking double the damage from the "water spray"?!

No, I still have something to do.

On the milky-white patch where Milotic was struck by the reflected beam, there was a faint charred spot.

If nothing unexpected happens, this is the energy damage caused by Magneton's reflected beam.

Milotic's long eyebrows furrowed slightly, indicating that the wound was causing him pain.

So, the damage was indeed dealt, but

That's it?

What happened to the promise of a double water spray that would instantly kill you?