"Could it be the move Detect?"
At that moment, a spectator voiced his opinion. But immediately, other spectators denied it.
The move Detect, just like the move Protect, cannot be used continuously.
However, on the battlefield, Riolu was maintaining that state constantly—something the move Detect simply could not achieve!
Boom, boom, boom!
While the audience continued to argue, the battle on the field went on without stopping.
The speed at which Gengar fired off the move Shadow Ball was truly astonishing; it was obvious that it had received specialized training in that regard. But no matter how fast Gengar fired, Riolu was always able to foresee the position of the attack in advance and dodge it beforehand.
In fact, watching Riolu's evasive movements, its movement speed was not particularly high, but it always managed to move one step ahead, taking advantage of a tiny difference in timing that caused the attacks to miss completely.
"He did it! Detect sustained by the power of aura and a powerful mental force!"
Seeing this, the corners of Ethan's lips curled slightly upward.
Detect is a Fighting-type move that, when used, concentrates energy in the eyes to foresee the opponent's movements in advance and evade them.
Precisely because it can completely see through the opponent's attacks, the Pokémon can achieve practically a one-hundred-percent evasion rate. Therefore, this move, like Protect, Spiky Shield, and other moves, is considered a state of invulnerability.
However, this type of move has a flaw: when used consecutively, its success rate decreases, which is why it cannot be employed as a routine method of evasion.
Although it is not known for certain why moves like Protect cannot be used continuously, in the case of Detect, its principle is simply to predict the opponent's attack and dodge it in advance.
And in this regard, the power of aura possesses exactly the same capability.
Therefore, Ethan had Riolu base itself on the principle of the move Aura Sphere—which fuses Fighting-type energy with the power of aura—to integrate the power of aura into the move Detect, which is also Fighting-type. By making use of the aura's innate abilities, such as mind reading and perception, he managed to enhance the move Detect.
As long as the power of aura remains activated, Riolu can continuously maintain the use of the move Detect, allowing it to completely foresee the enemy's attacks during that period and respond with swift evasions and counterattacks.
Boom, boom, boom!
The battle on the field continued to unfold.
Although Gengar could maintain an uninterrupted use of the move Shadow Ball, all of its attacks were dodged by Riolu.
At the same time, Riolu continued to condense the move Aura Sphere without stopping. Thanks to Aura Sphere's locking ability, Gengar had no way to dodge and could only withstand the attacks by using other moves.
For a moment, two Pokémon that were clearly not on the same level of power managed to fight on equal footing.
"Is Riolu just too strong, or is Gengar too weak?"
The spectators began to debate heatedly; the performance of this Riolu had completely exceeded their understanding.
Even Lucas Silver, who was well aware of the details of this Riolu, was completely dumbfounded and suddenly began to feel a slight sense of regret.
Although he did not know how Ethan had trained it, this Riolu's innate talent was undoubtedly extremely high!
"Damn it! Why can this Riolu see through all of Gengar's attacks?"
Max Sterling began to grow visibly irritated.
The role of his Gengar within the team was that of a long-range attacker and disruptor.
However, in the face of Gengar's flawless, continuous barrage of Shadow Ball, Riolu was able to respond with complete ease. Even when Gengar switched to other attacks, Riolu still dodged in advance or blocked with its own attacks. For quite a while, Gengar was unable to do absolutely anything to it.
"This can't go on."
Max's face darkened even further, and after gritting his teeth, he made a decision.
At the same time, Ethan watched Riolu's figure fighting on the field and could not help but feel satisfied.
From being unable to put up a decent fight at the beginning, to now being able to go head-to-head with the main Pokémon of an Advanced-level trainer, Riolu's growth during this time had truly been enormous.
"Even though this state can only be maintained for three minutes, you're already extraordinary."
Ethan smiled faintly and glanced at his watch. There was still more than half the time left; Riolu could maintain that state for a while longer. But just as Ethan looked at his watch, a sudden anomaly occurred on the field.
Suddenly, a dense purple mist began to emanate from Gengar's body and rapidly spread, covering the entire arena.
"This is... Smog!"
Seeing this scene, Ethan's expression changed.
Smog is a Poison-type move that damages Pokémon enveloped by the mist and also has a certain chance of poisoning those that come into contact with it.
For Riolu, which relied on the move Detect to foresee attacks and dodge constantly, this kind of wide-area, indiscriminate attack was absolutely lethal.
Gengar possesses the Ghost and Poison types, and since there are few specific breeding methods for Ghost-type Pokémon, Max had trained his Gengar mainly along the Poison-type route.
Now, seeing that long-range attacks could not deal with Riolu, Gengar finally revealed its hidden card.
Fuuuu...
On the field, Gengar's body continued to release the move Smog without pause. The thick purple mist slowly covered the entire arena, displaying the terrifying amount of poison Gengar harbored and its formidable control over it.
Under the coverage of the move Smog, even if Riolu could foresee the opponent's attacks through the move Detect, it no longer had any space to dodge.
"Damn it, he's using poison. Now Riolu has no way out."
Seeing this scene, the spectators could not help but shake their heads in resignation.
No matter how good Riolu's dodging ability was, how could it dodge something like this?
"Riol!"
Realizing that there was no space to dodge, Riolu abandoned the idea of evasion.
Then, it stayed in place and directly launched the move Aura Sphere toward the dense mist.
Although its vision was completely blocked by the purple-colored fog, thanks to the power of aura, Riolu still had Gengar's position locked.
Boom!
A loud explosion resounded.
The violent blast slightly dispersed the mist, and one could vaguely see Gengar being pushed backward by the Aura Sphere before hiding itself once again within the poisonous cloud.
Under Gengar's control, the mist continued to churn until, at last, Riolu's figure was completely engulfed within it.
(End of chapter)