"Hitmonlee, come on out!"
Without waiting for Riku to speak, Bruno threw out a Poké Ball.
A Pokémon with spring-like legs and arms sprang out of the Poké Ball.
"Lapras, be careful."
Riku quickly instructed, "Since Bruno dares to say that, this Hitmonlee must be faster than Hitmonchan. We'll wait for the opportunity. If we can't match its speed, we'll win with stability!"
"Waa—"
Lapras didn't even turn its head back, directly responding with a cry.
"The second Pokémon. Can this young man win?"
The audience, seeing the second round about to begin, instantly became nervous.
"Should be able to, right?"
"Putting everything else aside, he has to at least defeat half of this Indigo League Elite Four member's Pokémon. I don't want to be unable to hold my head up high when I meet people from the Indigo League in the future."
"Hard to say. Lapras doesn't actually have any advantage against Fighting-types."
"I thought it was a bit lucky that we were able to win just now."
——
The audience's pessimism also affected May.
Fine sweat gradually appeared on her forehead, her fists clenched tightly, her eyes fixed on the arena, not daring to look away for even a moment.
"Hitmonlee, Double Team!"
Bruno quickly issued the command.
Instantly, Lapras's eyes saw eight Hitmonlee rushing toward it rapidly.
Riku didn't feel anything from this Double Team, but May was shocked.
"Impossible! Hitmonlee shouldn't be able to learn Double Team..."
"Nothing is impossible!" Drake interrupted from the side.
"No matter what, he's a veteran Elite Four member from the Indigo League. It's not difficult at all for him to teach his Pokémon Double Team."
After learning that a veteran Elite Four member from the Indigo League had come to the Orange League without notice, the League's elders and various high-ranking officials had already instructed the intelligence agencies to collect all the information on the Elite Four member's Pokémon.
May had already seen the Elite Four member's information after joining the temporary guard team.
But she hadn't expected that information was ultimately just information, and there was still a big difference from reality.
Anyway, Hitmonlee could use Double Team—which wasn't mentioned in the information.
They didn't know how many hidden cards these four veteran Elite Four members still had.
Riku was in danger!
At this moment, Riku frowned slightly and didn't let Lapras attack.
Because Hitmonlee were everywhere, and Lapras was almost dizzy.
Attacking at this time would only waste energy and have no effect at all.
Suddenly, Riku remembered what Lorelei had said before:
Accuracy is just for fooling novice Trainers; area-of-effect attacks are the way to go.
If you can't hit them, use a wide-range attack.
"Lapras, Ice Beam!"
Riku immediately issued the command, which startled Lapras.
"Hahaha, I advise you not to waste your energy," Bruno laughed.
"You won't hit it! Hitmonlee's speed is even faster than Hitmonchan's. Only close combat has a chance..."
"Lapras, spam Ice Beam!"
Suddenly, while Bruno was still laughing and Lapras was still confused, Riku spoke again.
"If one Ice Beam doesn't hit, then five, ten! Cover the entire arena with ice! I don't believe this Hitmonlee can still have traction!"
"You're crazy!" Bruno exclaimed in shock.
"Do you think your Lapras is a legendary Pokémon? Ice Beam is a powerful move. It would be impressive if your Lapras could use it twice in a row. You actually want to use it five or ten times?"
"Waa—"
Lapras's cry was its response to Bruno.
Then, Lapras actually followed Riku's command and began to unleash Ice Beams.
As Lapras released the powerful Ice-type move, the Never-Melt Ice hanging around its neck suddenly flashed with a white light.
The Never-Melt Ice not only greatly increased the power of Ice-type moves by fifty percent, but also reduced the energy required to unleash powerful Ice-type moves.
Take Ice Shard for example.
Previously, even for such a small Ice-type move, Lapras needed at least 2 seconds of casting time.
Since obtaining the Never-Melt Ice, Lapras could already use small Ice-type moves instantly and without consuming any energy.
If Hitmonlee's speed weren't currently too fast and using Ice Shard to cover the ground wasn't too slow, Riku wouldn't have chosen to directly use a powerful Ice-type move like Ice Beam.
"Crazy!" Bruno shook his head.
"I want to see if your Lapras can hold on. Hitmonlee, let's not attack for now. Wait until it's exhausted... what!"
"The third one!"
Seeing that Lapras was actually about to release the third Ice Beam—and clearly still had energy to spare—Bruno's expression finally became tense.
Although the arena was large, Lapras was using a powerful Ice-type move.
With just two Ice Beams, half of the arena was already covered in ice.
At this rate, only four Ice Beams would be enough to cover the entire arena...
"Hitmonlee, we must attack! Charge forward!"
Seeing the dangerous situation, Bruno decisively issued the command to attack.
Screech—
Suddenly, an accident occurred.
Hitmonlee stumbled and almost fell.
The temperature in the Orange Archipelago had always been quite high, especially during the daytime.
Although the ground was frozen, after being exposed to the sun for a while, some of the ice had already started to melt.
And these ice patches that were about to melt were especially slippery.
"Good opportunity!"
Riku was overjoyed. "Lapras, Hydro Pump! Blast Hitmonlee!"
"Waa—"
Lapras, having just released an Ice Beam, opened its mouth again.
Although its whole body felt weak, it still managed to unleash the Hydro Pump.
Bang—
Direct hit.
"Hitmonlee, return."
Just as Hitmonlee was about to be blasted into the arena wall by the Hydro Pump, Bruno actually took out a Poké Ball and recalled Hitmonlee before it even hit the wall.
"What do you mean? Can you do that?"
Riku immediately looked at the referee.
The referee had already raised the red flag toward Riku.
"According to the rules, Bruno's action is not a problem. However, with this move, Bruno is essentially admitting defeat for this round. That Pokémon cannot participate in subsequent rounds."
"Actually... actually won again?"
Drake, standing in the first row of the spectator seats, shuddered.
He couldn't accept the reality before his eyes.
"It's okay," one of the Seafoam Islands Gym Leaders quickly comforted him.
"Riku only has one Lapras. He used so many powerful moves just now, I think it's already—"
"What!"
"Why did Riku recall Lapras?"
"Does he have other Pokémon?"
-----------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter