Chapter 116: A Difficult Victory

The battle between Starmie and Aggron continued. During this period, Yang Yan kept using Psychic-type moves to drain Aggron's physical strength, while employing Water-type moves to try and damage Aggron. It caused significant damage, but Aggron had vast combat experience and could always block incoming attacks at the critical moment.

As time passed, Yang Yan clearly noticed that Aggron's stamina was gradually failing.

On the other side, all five of the junior-level aron had been defeated, leaving only two of the three intermediate-level Lairon still fighting.

The situation seemed to be improving gradually, but Yang Yan could sense that kleavor was struggling to hold on.

Judging by its appearance, Scyther excels in physical attacks. However, due to Aggron's extremely high physical defense, kleavor's strikes had little effect. Instead, kleavor could only rely on its slight speed advantage to barely avoid Aggron's powerful attacks.

But as the saying goes, "The longer you hold on, the more likely you are to slip up!" As time dragged on, kleavor would eventually run out of stamina to keep dodging.

Yang Yan watched as kleavor was sent flying by Aggron's Metal Claw. Had kleavor not reacted quickly, it might have been knocked out of the battle by the subsequent Rock Slide.

It was clear that if the fight continued like this, Scyther would soon be defeated.

The situation no longer allowed Yang Yan to entertain any other strategies; he had to go all out!

"Starmie, use Rapid Spin to move quickly around Aggron's body! Wait for the right moment and hit it with Hydro Pump!"

With the speed advantage from Rapid Spin and enhanced mobility due to its Psychic powers, Yang Yan was confident Aggron's heavy body wouldn't be able to track Starmie right away.

As soon as Aggron exposed an opening, it would be Starmie's chance to strike.

Initially, this tactic wasn't very effective, as Aggron's reactions were sharp. However, after enduring numerous Psychic attacks, Aggron's mental processing speed had clearly slowed down.

Meanwhile, Yang Yan's other Pokémon had successfully defeated the remaining two Lairon.

Since Pokémon of the same species tend to have similar attack patterns and abilities, it was only a matter of time before Yang Yan's diverse team, using multi-type moves, overwhelmed them.

However, Yang Yan's Pokémon didn't come out of the battle unscathed. Due to its lower level and bravery, Ponyta was the most seriously injured, now barely able to stand.

Next was Meditite. Even though its Fighting-type moves were effective against Lairon, Meditite had taken some hits during the battle. With its relatively low HP, it wasn't much better off than Ponyta.

Sableye and Butterfree also sustained varying degrees of injury. Butterfree, in particular, had been caught by a Rock Slide, which is extremely disadvantageous for it, making flight difficult.

However, Misdreavus and Ninjask had remained unharmed, thanks to their speed and stealth tactics. This was the only good news.

"If you can still attack, launch long-range attacks and target Aggron's right leg to create an opening for Starmie!"

Seeing that the battle with the Lairon was over, Yang Yan wasted no time in ordering the others to rejoin the fight.

Scyther had already been defeated, so they had to take down Aggron before it could retaliate. Otherwise, they would still end up losing!

"Now, Starmie—Hydro Pump!"

Although Yang Yan's other Pokémon weren't strong enough to deal much damage to the high-level Aggron, repeated attacks aimed at the same spot eventually took their toll. Aggron's defenses, no matter how sturdy, began to falter.

After suffering consecutive hits, Aggron roared in pain. Starmie seized the moment and unleashed a powerful Hydro Pump, landing a decisive blow!

Aggron's Special Defense wasn't particularly high, and with the accumulated damage from earlier in the fight, this attack became the tipping point, causing Aggron to lose its ability to fight.

As the other Aggron charged forward, seemingly enraged, it fired a Flash Cannon directly at Starmie!

Yang Yan had anticipated this, reacting quickly to the incoming attack.

"Starmie, Light Screen, then use Brine!"

With the protection from Light Screen, Flash Cannon's impact on Starmie was reduced, while Brine blocked Aggron's charge.

Though Scyther had been defeated, it had inflicted considerable damage on Aggron, allowing the Brine attack to be highly effective.

The reason Yang Yan hadn't used Brine earlier was that it's a wide-range move, which Aggron could easily block. Moreover, the splashing water could have harmed Yang Yan's other Pokémon. But now, with the battlefield cleared and the injured Ponyta and Butterfree already withdrawn, there was no need for caution.

The rest of the battle played out without suspense. Even though Aggron refused to go down easily, it was eventually overwhelmed by Yang Yan's team and brought down by Starmie's Hydro Pump.

Despite the victory, the long fight had drained too much of Starmie's stamina. It had taken a Flash Cannon and a Rock Slide from Aggron. If not for Yang Yan's timely command to have his other Pokémon disrupt Aggron's rhythm, giving Starmie a chance to heal itself, they might have been on the losing side.

But a win is a win, even if it came at the cost of most of his Pokémon being seriously injured.

To prevent any surprises, Yang Yan planned to capture the entire Aggron clan with Poké Balls.

There was no issue capturing the first Aggron, but as Yang Yan prepared to capture the second Aggron, he hesitated, feeling a strange sense of unease.

Yang Yan paused and realized, "It seems Lugia is stopping me. If that's the case, I'll have to give up."

After all, this space belonged to Lugia, and these Pokémon were likely under its protection. Yang Yan had already captured several Pokémon here, so taking away the Aggron family too would seem greedy. Plus, the Aggron clan might have been part of Lugia's trial, which would explain why Yang Yan wasn't allowed to take them.

"What a shame, I could've scored big..." Yang Yan remarked, stepping forward to retrieve the Poké Ball. After checking Aggron's stats, he couldn't help but laugh. "So strong…!"

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