Elf: Start your slow-paced life after becoming a farmer.

As the only designated weather setter for traditional rain teams, Pelipper possesses the powerful ability to activate rain upon entering the battlefield.

Among the Pokémon currently known, only Poliwag, Kyogre, and Pelipper possess this ability.

Kyogre goes without saying; as a legendary Pokémon, it's almost impossible for anyone to catch it. While Poliwag possesses the Rain ability, Rain is actually a hidden ability for Poliwag.

Therefore, Pelipper, whose common ability is Rain, has become the only weather setter choice for most rain teams.

It's clear from Haidai's choice to send out Pelipper at the start that he intends to reveal his Rain Team strategy. Furthermore, thanks to the U-turn move, he can bypass the rule that Gym Leaders cannot switch Pokémon at will.

"Uncle Haidai is getting serious now," Qi Shu commented.

Chapter 132 Hakron and the Rain Team

"Most viewers in the live stream probably know that the weather-based tactical system is the most classic tactic in Pokémon battle history, bar none."

Qi Shu explained quickly, "Although the four weather systems each have their unique features, if we rank them according to the intensity of the battle, the rain weather system is undoubtedly number one."

"As a Water-type trainer, Gym Leader Haidai is best at rain tactics, which is why I say that Uncle Haidai gets serious."

Glancing at the frantically scrolling chat in the live stream, Qi Shu continued his commentary: "Meanwhile, Carl has sent out Dragonair, a Pokémon that hasn't yet evolved into its final form..."

On the other hand, the moment Carl saw Haidai send out Pelipper, he knew that Haidai intended to use the Rain strategy openly in the battle. He was not surprised at all, or rather, he would be surprised if Haidai did not use the Rain strategy.

Carl had anticipated this situation before the battle. If it weren't for the fact that he hadn't yet obtained the Swampert's Mega Stone, he would have wanted to let Haidai experience what a true "Rain General" was like.

Carl chose Dragonair as his starting Pokémon because Dragonair's move pool is also very well suited to rain-based strategies. Even if Hyde doesn't set the weather, he will have Dragonair change the weather on the field to rain.

"Dragonair? A very rare Pokémon, but it can't withstand my attack before it evolves into its final form." Haidai said, his expression turning serious: "Puck, Hurricane!"

Hurricane, a powerful Flying-type Special Attack move. When the weather is rainy, this move will hit the opponent 100% of the time.

As Haidai's rough voice and the rain curtain reached the ears of the Pelipper, the Pelipper immediately flapped its wings, and pale blue Flying-type energy surged out. The violent airflow swept across the entire battlefield in an instant, carrying rain towards Hakuryu.

"Hakron, show them what a real storm is!"

Upon hearing this, Hakron's gaze sharpened, and the jewels on its chest and tail tip immediately emitted a soft blue halo.

The next moment, Hakuryu let out a long dragon roar, and the abundant water and flying energy in the battlefield instantly fell into Hakuryu's control, just like subjects meeting their monarch.

The originally violent airflow instantly turned into a gentle breeze, brushing against the slender and long body of the Hakron without causing it any harm.

The spectators watching from the perimeter of the battlefield gasped in amazement when they saw Hakron effortlessly deflect the storm that was hurtling towards it.

Watching the battle unfold, Qi Shu provided timely commentary: "Although it seemed easy for Dragonair to use Hurricane to counter Pelipper's Hurricane, this maneuver actually requires extremely high control over the Pokémon. Even if a trainer could think of this method, it would be difficult for them to execute it."

"Such terrifying control...no wonder he's a trainer capable of defeating Aoki." Haidai exclaimed first, then his gaze darkened. "In that case, Pelipper, use Ice Beam!"

Upon hearing Haidai's command, Qishu immediately revealed a wicked smile: "As we all know, besides Fairy-type, Ice-type is the most effective type against Dragon-type. Unfortunately, Dragonair is a Dragon-type Pokémon, and this Ice Beam poses a great threat to it."

"Tsk." Karl knew very well that most trainers would teach their Pokémon one or two Ice-type moves to cover their weaknesses, since Ice-type moves have pretty good coverage.

But despite his understanding, he was still quite unhappy about the situation, especially when he was playing as Hakuryu.

'Is the tradition of your Parthian region to persecute Hachisaku?' Karl muttered to himself, then commanded without hesitation, 'Hakron, use Divine Speed ​​to dodge, then unleash Thunder with all your might!'

"Using Divine Speed ​​to dodge the Freeze Beam? A very clever decision." Qi Shu explained with great interest, "Oh? Karl retaliated with lightning. Thunder in the rain, a classic tactic."

"Any viewer familiar with the thunder move knows that, like a storm, thunder is a guaranteed hit in rainy weather!"

"With Pelipper having four times the weaker electric power of Flying-type, if this Thunderbolt hits successfully, then Haidai will not only have to bear the pressure of losing personnel, but will also face the disadvantage of the weather being on the field!"

Qi Shu's passionate commentary made the audience, both at the scene and in the live broadcast room, realize that this thunderbolt was extremely devastating for Haidai.

However, Haidai had clearly anticipated this, and he responded immediately after hearing Karl's command: "Spider, use Protect, then immediately use U-turn."

At this moment, in the arena, Hakuryu had already used Thunder under Karl's command, and the thick lightning bolt, under Hakuryu's control, struck straight at Pelipper.

Just a second before the lightning bolt hit Pelipper, Pelipper successfully used Protect, and an invisible barrier blocked the fatal lightning bolt by a hair's breadth.

The audience at the scene and in the live broadcast room all breathed a long sigh of relief. They had all subconsciously put themselves in Haidai's shoes.

As Pelipper used U-turn to return to its Poké Ball, a muffled rumble of thunder belatedly reached everyone's ears. After recalling Pelipper, Haidai immediately threw out another Poké Ball.

As a flash of white light streaked through the rain, a crab Pokémon covered in white fur with purple patches on its chest, back, abdomen, and forelimbs appeared on the battlefield.

Crabcracker, the Crabcracker Pokémon, first appeared in Generation VII. Some scholars say that the white fur on Crabcracker's body grew from enduring the severe cold in the snowy mountains.

As its name suggests, the aggressive hairy crab has a rather aggressive personality. When it encounters prey in the wild, it doesn't consider whether it can win the fight, but instead tries to attack the prey first.

The competitive hairy crab boasts a high Attack stat of 132, and with its Ice and Fighting typing, it performs well offensively.

It's worth noting that Crabcrab possesses two excellent abilities: Mighty Claw and Iron Fist. The former prevents it from being affected by Intimidate or other status moves, thus reducing its attack power, while the latter increases the power of its punching moves.

Judging from its appearance, Carl believes that Haidai's competitive hairy crab's ability is most likely Iron Fist, because most Pokémon with the Strength ability have pincers that are much larger than their counterparts.

Just then, Haidai took out the Crystal Bead without hesitation and threw it at the competitive hairy crab: "Crystallize! Competitive hairy crab!"

Chapter 133 Annihilation Song and Shared Fate

After Haidai handed over Taijinghua, Qishu's commentary also sounded at the right time.

"If I remember correctly, the Gym Leader Haidai caught this competitive hairy crab in the wild. Its Crystal type is not Ice, but Water, which is suitable for rain teams."

As the outer shell of the crystal cracked, the competitive hairy crab appeared in everyone's sight, wearing a crystal crown shaped like a fountain.

Upon seeing this, Carl's expression also became more serious.

Rainy weather amplifies the power of water-type moves, and with the amplification from crystallization, this Victorious Crab's attack power is already capable of posing a fatal threat to Dragonair.

However, Carl is Carl after all. With his rich battle experience, he quickly came up with a counter-strategy. He picked up the Poké Ball in his hand and aimed it at the Dragonair in the field.

With a flash of red light, Dragonair was returned to its Poké Ball by Carl. Under the watchful eyes of the audience both at the venue and in the live stream, he threw out another Poké Ball: "Come out, Gengar!"

The moment the chubby purple-skinned creature appeared on the battlefield, Haidai couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He then immediately gave the command to the crystallized, competitive hairy crab: "Competitive hairy crab, use the crab claw hammer!"

Crab Claw Hammer is a Water-type physical attack move. When the user attacks an opponent using its large claws, it is easier to hit the opponent's vital points.

"Gengar, protect it," Carl calmly gave the command.

Since the competitive crab is much slower than Gengar, when it rushed in front of Gengar, the transparent barrier that represented Protect steadily blocked the competitive crab's attack. Karl's next command arrived as scheduled: "Gengar, use Wonder Beam on the competitive crab."

"Hehehe! (Understood!)" Gengar cried out excitedly, and then purple Ghost-type energy emerged from its body. The next moment, the Ghost-type energy gathered together, forming a distorted beam of light that shot towards the competitive Crab that was right next to it.

Because the distance was so close, Haidai didn't even have time to give instructions before the competitive hairy crab was affected by the strange light and its body began to sway.

"Great opportunity, Gengar! Create some distance and sing the Last Song!" Carl commanded rapidly.

The End Song, also known as the Extinction Song, is generally a variation move. When a Pokémon sings the End Song, all Pokémon on the field except the user will be affected by the End Song status.

After a Pokémon enters the End Song state for three turns, the Pokémon in the End Song state will directly fall into a coma.

Although the effect of End Song is incredibly powerful, it has a fatal flaw: the Pokémon loses the End Song state after being switched out.

Despite its flaws, many trainers have developed tactics centered around the song "Final Song".

Of all the trainers that Carl has faced, Granny Kikuko, one of the Elite Four of the Kanto region, is particularly skilled at the Song of Destruction strategy.

In Karl's previous life, there was also a player who was very good at the Annihilation Song deck. Even when using the Annihilation Song deck against the meta, that player was still able to win the championship.

The reason why Karl used the "Song Destroyer" tactic was not because he was familiar with the Song Destroyer system. On the contrary, Karl had never used the Song Destroyer tactic before today.

The key to Karl using the Perish Song strategy is that Gengar's current strength is not enough to compete with the competitive Crab. Its move pool is still pitifully small, and it has not yet learned moves such as Substitute, Toxic, and Cursed.

Karl didn't want the competitive hairy crab to use Drain Punch for sustain, so he came up with the Annihilation Spell.

It's worth mentioning that Gengar seems to really like the End Song skill, as it sings a line or two after finishing its training each day.

Standing at the edge of the battlefield, Qishu showed a hint of shock on her face after seeing Gengar sing the End Song: "This is the End Song? Kael actually knows how to use the Extinction Song system?"

Perish Song is widely recognized as the lowest-level tactic in Pokémon battles, and trainers of average skill who use Perish Song are simply inviting humiliation.

However, if a trainer can master the Perish Song strategy, its potential is incredibly high.

Since Gengar's Mega Stone has not yet been discovered at this point in time, only the Woj family and the Gothia family currently possess the Shadow Tag ability, which is very compatible with the Perish Song system.

Shadow Tag, as the name suggests, allows Pokémon with this ability to tread on the shadow of their opponent, preventing the opponent from escaping or switching out.

This feature perfectly solves the problem that the Extinction state disappears after rotation, thus reducing the learning curve of the Extinction system.

Mega Gengar, possessing both Perish Song and Shadow Tag abilities, is considered a master of Perish Song. After activating Shadow Tag, it only needs to stall for time to reliably use Perish Song to defeat its opponent, requiring absolutely no special actions.

Getting back to the main point, when Gengar in the battleground distanced itself from the competitive Crab and began singing its final song, Hyde realized he had fallen into Karl's rhythm.

Due to the special rules of the Gym Challenge, the Gym Leader cannot actively rotate Pokémon. Therefore, after Carl commanded Gengar to use the Perish Song tactic, Haidai now only has one option left: to defeat the opponent before Gengar finishes singing a complete End Song.

The problem is that the competitive hairy crab is in a state of confusion, and there is a one-in-three chance that every command Haidai gives will cause the competitive hairy crab to attack itself.

However, if Hyde doesn't take command and waits for the competitive crab to recover from its confused state, he can't guarantee that Gengar won't give the competitive crab another strange look.

With this in mind, Haidai finally made up his mind to take a gamble: "Competitive Hairy Crab, use the Taijing Burst!"

Upon hearing Haidai's command, the competitive hairy crab, who was in a state of confusion, shook its head vigorously, then steadied itself and looked at the chubby boy singing not far away.

The competitive hairy crab was also very clear about the current situation. Although it didn't understand what song Gengar was singing, it could hear a hint of urgency in Haidai's command.

Then, Qishu's slightly anxious voice rang in the ears of the competitive crab: "Even if the competitive crab is in a confused state, Haidai has no choice but to go all out. If Gengar sings the complete End Song, then even the over-crystallized competitive crab will directly fall into a state of unconsciousness!"

Upon hearing Qishu's words, the competitive crab knew that Haidai had placed a lot of expectations on it in this battle, so even though it was in a confused state, it did not want to disappoint its trainer!

With an unwavering belief that it absolutely could not lose, the competitive hairy crab began to earnestly mobilize the Taijing energy within its body.

The next moment, a rich water-attribute energy surged from the body of the competitive crab, and with the blessing of the rain and the crystallization, a dazzling blue light swept towards Gengar.

"What?! The competitive Crab has overcome its confused state and successfully unleashed its Crystal Burst!" Qi Shu's voice became somewhat shrill with excitement. "Is this the bond between it and its trainer?!"

At this moment, the eyes of the audience both at the scene and in the live broadcast room were firmly fixed on Gengar, and they all prayed in their hearts that Crab's Crystal Burst would hit Gengar.

Just then, Karl's calm command echoed across the battlefield.

"Gengar, use Destiny Bond."

Chapter 134 Swamp Monster Card Luck

Destiny Bond, a Ghost-type status move. When the user uses this move, they will fall into Destiny Bond. If the user falls into a coma due to the move, the opponent will also fall into a coma simultaneously.

Simply put, being of the same fate can cause your opponent to lose their ability to fight as well.

Of course, this effect can only work if the user is knocked unconscious by a direct attack from the opponent, rather than by abnormal statuses such as burns or poisoning, or by weather damage such as sandstorms or hail.

When Carl used the Extinction Song tactic, he considered the possibility that Hyde might make the Competitive Crab go all out. Therefore, after the Competitive Crab successfully used Crystal Burst, he immediately had Gengar use Destiny Bond to trade lives with the opponent.

As for whether Gengar is truly willing to use Fate/Destiny Bond, just look at the smug smile on that chubby purple-skinned guy's face; he's very satisfied with Karl's command.

In fact, if Gengar weren't currently not strong enough, Carl wouldn't have used such a complicated tactic.

However, Carl's tactics were undoubtedly successful. After he commanded Gengar to use the Destiny Bond move, everyone, including his opponent Haidai, the commentator Qishu, and the viewers watching the battle live, subconsciously opened their mouths wide.

They originally thought that Carl would command Gengar to demonstrate textbook-level pulling, allowing it to fully sing the End Song to deal with the over-crystallized, competitive Crab.

But who would have thought that Carl would let Gengar use Destiny Bond, a move with maximum Sunlight.

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Padia Alliance, Ye Ci paused in her work after hearing Karl's commands in the live broadcast room. She then put down her pen and looked at her phone screen: "Karl, was this also part of your calculations?"

Because the competitive Crab concentrated all its willpower into this Crystal Burst, it completely failed to notice Gengar, which was heading straight for the Crystal Burst's light after using Destiny Bond.

As the competitive Crab's full-power Crystal Burst hit Gengar, its willpower, which was on the verge of collapse, finally relaxed.

'Haidai, I've won this round!' the competitive hairy crab thought to himself.

On the other side, after being hit by the Crystal Burst, Gengar's rounded body transformed into a graceful arc and landed on the dusty ground.

Before losing consciousness, Gengar twisted its body to adjust to a sleeping position, then stuck out its tongue, tilted its head, and passed out.

As Gengar lost consciousness, an extremely dense Ghost-type energy instantly erupted from its body.

Still reeling from the chaos, the competitive hairy crab was completely unaware of the impending danger. It wildly waved its massive pincers, seemingly celebrating its victory in this round.

The next moment, the dark purple ghost-type energy tore through the rain and poured into the body of the competitive hairy crab.

Before the competitive hairy crab could even make a sound, it fell into a coma under the influence of this energy, its body crashing straight to the ground, splashing up a puddle of rainwater.

Before Qishu could give any warning, Karl and Haidai simultaneously recalled their Pokémon into their Poké Balls, and then they both looked up at each other on the other side of the rain.

Their eyes met in the pouring rain, and they both saw the fighting spirit unique to trainers in each other's eyes.

Without a word, Carl and Haidai once again simultaneously threw a Poké Ball into the battlefield.

"Go! Three Sea Gophers!"

"Come out, Swampert!"

As two figures, one large and one small, appeared on the battlefield, the third round of the battle officially began.

Diglett, the Eel Pokémon, may look like the regional form of Diglett, but it is actually a type of fish Pokémon.

In the game, Garchomp has a base Attack stat of 100 and a base Speed ​​stat of 120, which makes it perform well offensively.

More importantly, the Three Sea Grub possesses a very rare trait—Slippery—which allows its owner to slow down opponents when attacked.