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

But then, the Aegislash, which was about to unleash its King's Shield, stopped and instead began to dance a spirited and energetic dance!

Aegislash countered the move and also chose to enhance its Swords Dance!

…………

The commentators couldn't help but laugh when the two sprites "disobeyed commands" at the start of the battle.

"These two players are quite interesting, starting their battle right from the start. Xia Chen must have agreed with his Pokémon beforehand that he would pretend to be attacking at the beginning, but actually choose to strengthen his Pokémon. If he can fool his opponent, he can not only get a free Quiver Dance, but also make his Aegislash start with no defense. However, Bai Mu has been raising and battling his Aegislash for several years, so he definitely won't be fooled by such a trick."

The commentator then added with concern, "But this puts Milotic in danger. Aegislash in its sword form already has exceptional attack power, and with a Sword Dance, that kind of attack strength would be enough to give Milotic a headache, let alone the Excalibur."

Ma Xiu, however, thought differently. She said without any concern, "Your analysis makes sense, but Xia Chen's start is not that simple. What if we add the variable of Milotic's fast skill casting speed?"

Ma Xiu's hint made the commentator pause for a second. After a moment of thought, she replied, "This means that Milotic can start attacking while Aegislash is still using Swords Dance, for example, by using Water Spray!"

During the narration and conversation with Maxiu, on the battlefield, Milotic indeed completed Butterfly Dance quite a while before Sword and Shield Monster could react.

Aegislash only unleashed its Sword Dance after watching Milotic's Whirlwind Dance, so its Sword Dance was naturally not yet complete.

Because he subconsciously overlooked Milotic's unique characteristic, Bai Mu was surprised to find himself in a dilemma.

Should we stop Sword Dance to unleash the King's Shield and block the water spray that's fully charged and enhanced by Butterfly Dance, or should we persevere and finish Sword Dance?

this is a problem.

The former results in the opponent getting a free Butterfly Dance, while the latter results in them getting a free high-power water spray.

Neither of them is pleasant.

Bai Mu didn't have much time to choose. Just as Milotic was about to activate its water-type energy to release a water jet, Bai Mu opened his mouth but didn't call to stop Aegislash's Sword Dance.

Well, Aegislash is stronger than Milotic to begin with, and it's in its shield form right now, so taking a water spray isn't a big deal.

Bai Mu thought to herself, trying to comfort herself.

No matter how you look at it, the fact that this happened is already a done deal.

As Milotic's internal energy circulated, water surged forth, and the rolling waves quickly engulfed Aegislash, which was in Sword Dance mode.

Bai Mu watched this scene with a mix of heartache and helplessness.

Just a minute into the game, he had already suffered a significant loss at Xia Chen's hands.

I will definitely avenge this!

"Shielded Swordsman, Shadow Sneak Attack!"

…………

As the tide receded, the Shielded Sword Monster suddenly emerged from it.

The slightly harsh scraping sound of swords rang out, followed by the clanging of blades against shields.

In an instant, the shield that had been blocking the blade was taken by the Shielded Sword Monster and placed on the tassel of its sword, which resembled an arm.

Transformation, sharp blade unsheathed!

Beneath the sharp blade, the shadow of the Aegislash suddenly seemed to come alive, darting out swiftly and heading straight for Milotic.

Its main body, however, was fully alert, ready to switch to shield form at any moment to defend against another possible spray of water.

At least the water spray hit the shield just now, but now that the Aegislash has switched to its sword form, it absolutely cannot be hit by such a high-damage attack again.

As if he had read Bai Mu and the Shielded Sword Monster's minds, Xia Chen commanded a move whose power was far less than that of the water spray, but was still quite strong.

"Minatra, hot water!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Milotic did not rush to unleash his attack, but instead tried to dodge the sneak attack from the rapidly approaching shadow.

Thanks to the water spray, the originally dry and waterless rocky area has temporarily turned into a small expanse of water.

At least that's the case around Milotic.

Milotic, an aquatic sprite, is much more agile and fast in the water than on land, and with the speed boost from Butterfly Dance just now...

Milotic plunged into the water and twisted around, causing the shadow attack, imbued with a faint, eerie ghostly aura, to miss its target.

Immediately, Milotic surfaced quickly and sprayed a stream of hot water from its mouth.

"Strong Shield Sword Monster, King's Shield!"

After thinking for a moment, Bai Mu decided to block the stream of hot water.

The damage wasn't significant, but the additional burning effect from the move, though only a possibility, was something he didn't want the Aegislash to get affected by.

Keng——

Like the crisp sound of a water gun blasting through an iron gate, Milotic's hot water was shut out by Aegislash.

One relied on the aftershocks of the spraying water to evade shadow attacks, while the other used the King's Shield to block the hot water.

The two elves engaged in another round of combat with much fanfare but little substance.

Although they appeared to be evenly matched, Bai Mu's brows furrowed subtly.

Aegislash has now transformed back into its shield form. Although it is safe for now, Xia Chen and Milotic will definitely not miss this window of opportunity when it transforms into its sword form again.

…………

As a unique move exclusive to Aegislash, King's Shield is powerful, capable of completely blocking the opponent's attacks just like Protect, but it is not without its flaws.

Its biggest limitation lies in the interval between the two [Defend] effects.

The rules for Guard in the game are simple: as long as you don't use Guard consecutively, the success rate of blocking moves is 100%.

In other words, it's a seven-word mantra: protect or not protect, protect.

However, in real-world, non-turn-based battles, the protection is far less effective.

Its principle is to activate a special energy within the body to resist damage from the outside world.

This special energy is not inexhaustible; it has different "cooldown times" depending on the Pokémon's own strength.

The stronger you are, the shorter your cooldown time.

Bai Mu, a mere elite-level one or two-star Shield Sword Monster, although he mastered the Protect skill through the special move [King's Shield], which was not something he could learn at his current level, had an interval of nearly three minutes between his two [Protect] attacks.

Three minutes is almost enough time for two equally matched Pokémon to decide a winner.

Fortunately, this does not affect the Aegislash's ability to switch between its two forms. As long as the sword is sheathed quickly enough, its sturdy shield can still protect it from most of the damage.

Wealth and wealth are found in danger.

Since the dance has already been performed, every sword strike landed on Milotic is a gain for me!

With this thought in mind, Bai Mu firmly commanded, "Shielded Sword Monster, fly over there!"

As a Ghost-type Pokémon, Aegislash can naturally fly. Although it is not fast, in its shield form it looks like an impenetrable city wall, or a riot control soldier holding a riot shield and approaching layer by layer.

Bai Mu is not afraid that Milotic will use high-powered moves such as water jets or water cannons during the time it flies over.

On the contrary, he hoped that Milotic would attack at this time.

This means that after taking the attack in shield form, Aegislash can draw its blade without hesitation and launch a full-scale attack.

Bai Mu understands this principle, and Xia Chen would never make such a basic mistake.

He then commanded, "Melnas, rain!"

…………

Faced with the relentless approach of the Shielded Sword Monster, Xia Chen's choice was to pray for rain! Why pray for rain? Was it because he had nothing else to do?

The narrator seemed somewhat confused, while Ma Xiu, standing to the side, appeared thoughtful.

“If it were Butterfly Dance, Aegislash might be eager to speed up its attack, such as by directly firing Shadow Ball. But if it were Rain Dance, which has less impact on the battlefield, Bai Mu wouldn’t be in such a hurry. For example, right now, Aegislash has not made any aggressive moves other than speeding up to get closer.”

The commentator nodded in realization, "That makes perfect sense! Back on the field, Aegislash was already within its attack range, while Milotic's Rain Dance was just a hair's breadth away from drawing its blade! Aegislash unleashed Shadow Claw! To be precise, it should be Shadow Sword! Wow, even Milotic, with its massive size, was knocked back several meters. The output of Aegislash in its Sword Dance form is terrifying!"

"Looking at it now, Xia Chen got a bit greedy with this Rain Dance. If he adds another Shadow Claw, Milotic won't be able to stay on the field. Who is he going to use Rain Dance on? Oh? Aegislash didn't switch to Shield Form, but instead pressed its advantage and conjured another Shadow Claw! What should Milotic do now?"

"Mildac's response was Dragon Tail! A clever idea! If I can't handle you, I'll switch to another Pokémon. Aegislash was too close and couldn't dodge the Dragon Tail, so the damage was low, but it bounced it back into its Poké Ball. Bai Mu looked a little disappointed, perhaps because he regretted not being able to use Shadow Claw before leaving the field."

"The moment of choice has arrived. Will Bai Mu choose to switch to Chandelure or Mismagius? Ah, now the rain is showing its value. Chandelure is not only countered by Milotic, but it also can't unleash the power of its fire-type moves in the rain. Xia Chen, was this part of your calculations?"

"It's here! It's not Chandelure, nor Mismagius, but Dusknoir, a Pokémon that Bai Mu hadn't used before! I didn't expect Bai Mu to reveal his trump card so early! But this is a wise choice. If he had to hide this Pokémon and let Chandelure be suppressed when it came out, that would have been putting the cart before the horse."

"Now, let's see how Bai Mu's trump card, the spirit, performs!"

…………

Xia Chen was somewhat surprised to see the ghost-like, or rather, ghost-like spirit appearing on the battlefield.

Is the trump card actually the Night Demon?

Xia Chen was actually less familiar with this Pokémon than with its unevolved form, Dusknoir.

In game battles, Dusknoir with an Evolution Stone is a more useful Trick Room setter and support Pokémon than its evolved form, Dusknoir.

Of course, the same principle applies: reality is different from games. Evolution is a leap in the life level of an elf, so there's no reason for it to be weaker after evolution than before.

The key evolution item for the Night Demon, the Spirit Realm Cloth, is as rare as the Beautiful Scales, so this Night Demon must have been nurtured by Bai Mu with all his resources, and its strength should not be underestimated.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Xia Chen focused and commanded, "Milano, Surf!"

The power of the dragon allowed Xia Chen and Milotic to connect with each other.

He could sense that Milotic had only suffered damage from that Shadow Claw attack since the start of the match.

But that one attack alone caused considerable damage to Milotic, to the point that even the power of its water jets couldn't compare to its surf!

Xia Chen decided not to let Milotic waste the enormous energy required to unleash its water jets.

Let's test our opponent's strength with a little surfing first.

Faced with Milotic's attack, Bai Mu remained fearless and commanded Night Demon to launch a strong counterattack.

"Night Demon, earthquake!"

The moment the water energy condensed into a surging wave, the ground also began to tremble.

Xia Chen raised an eyebrow in surprise. Was the speed at which this Night Demon released its attacks no less than Milotic's?

There's something.

The two Pokémon's moves clashed fiercely, but the field suffered the consequences.

The floods were devastating, and tremors were frequent.