Pokémon: Master System.

It's obvious that Shang Hongxin's goal is to have Gengar sweep the team.

"Buzzing Bat, provocation!"

How could Xia Yu possibly let Gengar use a status move? If this Gengar followed up Nasty Plot with Substitute, Xia Yu would have a really hard time dealing with it, and might even lose the team.

Therefore, Xia Yu decisively had the Buzz Bat use the Taunt skill, which is the perfect counter to all fancy tricks.

It has to be said that Xia Yu really likes skills like provocation, sharing pain, and fate, and it's a good thing that the Buzzing Bat can't learn fate skills, otherwise it would be even more perfect.

Nompton once again released ultrasonic waves from its purple ears. Accompanied by sonic energy, Dark-type energy flowed and enveloped Gengar, directly interrupting Gengar's Nasty Plot and locking down Gengar's status moves.

Looking at the tiny Nombat, Shang Hongxin felt for the first time that Nombat, a Pokémon, could be so disgusting.

"Gengar, Icy Wind!"

Shang Hongxin decided to deal with the buzzing bat first; this buzzing bat was really annoying.

"Buzzbat, hold the line!"

The skill was successfully executed, and a light shield was erected to block Gengar's Ice Wind skill.

"Continuous freezing winds."

"Come back, Buzzbat."

Xia Yu knew, of course, that Nombat was no match for Gengar, so he decisively chose to bring Nombat back.

As for why he didn't use U-turn, it's because Xia Yu was worried that with Nombat's four times weakness to Ice, it might be one-shotted by Gengar's Ice Aura.

"Go, Charizard."

After recalling the Nombat, Xia Yu once again sent out Charizard.

"Roar!"

As soon as Charizard appeared, it let out a roar, followed by a gust of cold wind. The icy wind blew towards Charizard, instantly covering its body with a layer of frost.

Fortunately, Charizard is not weak to ice, so it can withstand a blast of freezing wind without much trouble.

"Charizard, full power geothermal wind!"

"Gengar, one hundred thousand volts!"

Shang Hongxin and Xia Yu's voices rang out almost simultaneously as Charizard unleashed its full power with its Heat Wave skill, holding nothing back.

A raging fire erupted from its body, and with the enhancement of the power of the sun, its entire body was covered in flames. Flames formed in its mouth and suddenly spewed out towards a large area in front of it!

Electricity crackled around Gengar, flashing blue lightning that struck Charizard!

The collision of the flames and lightning instantly caused a huge explosion.

…………

Chapter 227 Sludge Bomb

An explosion rang out, and smoke filled the air.

Charizard's Heat Wave attack and Gengar's Thunderbolt caused a violent explosion.

Shang Hongxin's expression darkened slightly because he realized that in the battle between Charizard and Gengar, Gengar was actually at a slight disadvantage.

Although Charizard's Heat Breeze is enhanced by its STAB (Same Type) and Sunny Day and Solar Power abilities, its Gengar is at a near-Gym Leader level in terms of raw power, much stronger than Xia Yu's Charizard.

This made Shang Hongxin's expression even more solemn. This match was even more difficult than he had imagined. He looked at Gengar, then at Xia Yu's Charizard, and pondered a strategy.

After his transformation skills were blocked by the Buzzbat's taunt skill, Shang Hongxin didn't have many options left.

"Gengar, use Shadow Ball to clear a path, then fly over!"

In just a moment, Shang Hongxin had a plan in mind. He looked at Gengar, believing that his Gengar could definitely help him win, because he and his Gengar still maintained an undefeated record!

No matter what kind of opponent he faces, his Gengar can handle it!

As Shang Hongxin finished speaking, several dark shadow energy balls formed around Gengar, enveloping its body and protecting it as it flew towards Charizard.

Xia Yu frowned slightly as he watched Gengar's movements. Gengar possesses a wide variety of physical attack moves, such as Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, and Power-Up Punch, but its physical attack is extremely poor; it's a pure special attacker Pokémon.

Shang Hongxin suddenly let Gengar get close, which was obviously strange. A special attack Pokémon getting close was very odd.

"Charizard, use Heat Wave to stop it!" Although he didn't understand Gengar's intentions, Xia Yu still carefully kept Charizard at a distance from Gengar and used Heat Wave to prevent Gengar from getting closer.

Charizard took another deep breath and exhaled a scorching gas, sealing off a large area in front of it.

However, Gengar completely ignored Charizard's Heat Wave move and charged straight at Charizard while enveloped in Shadow Ball.

The Shadow Ball collided with the heat wave, instantly triggering another explosion and a smoke screen. Using the smoke screen to obscure the view, Gengar bravely charged towards Charizard despite the damage.

When Gengar reappeared, it had closed the distance to Charizard. At the same time, Gengar had many more wounds on its body, obviously caused by the heat waves. Even with the protection of the Shadow Ball, it could not be completely immune to the damage from the heat waves.

Seeing the aggressive Gengar approaching, Xia Yu felt uneasy. The more Gengar tried to get close, the less he could let it get close!

"Create some distance, Charizard, use Flamethrower!"

As Xia Yu's voice rang out, Charizard had already flapped its wings and retreated. It had sensed the danger signal emanating from Gengar. As it retreated, it breathed fire from its mouth at Gengar.

Faced with the Flamethrower attack, Gengar showed great agility. It dodged and weaved in the air, and Shadow Balls appeared on its body again. After blocking Charizard's Flamethrower, it forced its way close!

"Gengar, use our secret weapon, Sludge Bomb!"

As the distance between the two sides was closing, Shang Hongxin's voice rang out. Suddenly, a putrid sludge appeared in Gengar's hand, with poison-type energy surging. Bubbles rose on the black sludge, like a fermenting swamp, and at the same time, a nauseating, pungent chemical smell filled the air.

It was only then that everyone remembered that Shang Hongxin was a Poison-type Trainer, and his specialty should be Poison-type moves!

With a powerful throw, Gengar sent the Sludge Bomb hurtling towards Charizard.

"Charizard, fly into the sky, dodge the Sludge Bomb, and then use Solar Beam!"

Sludge Bomb is a powerful Poison-type move. Not only is it extremely powerful, but it also has a certain chance of poisoning the enemy. Looking at the purplish-black sludge in Gengar's hand, Xia Yu guessed that if Charizard were to be hit by Gengar's move, it would definitely be poisoned.

Therefore, Xia Yu absolutely cannot allow Charizard to be hit by this Sludge Bomb.

As Charizard ascended into the air, it began to gather Grass-type energy. In an instant, the energy was fully charged, and a dazzling beam of sunlight shot out, colliding with the Sludge Bomb and instantly causing another explosion.

The purplish-black sludge bomb exploded, sludge splattering everywhere and releasing purple poisonous gas that instantly covered the entire area.

At this point, the referee intervened, having the Pokémon next to him seal the poison mist within the arena; otherwise, the trainer and the audience would be poisoned to death before the match was over.

At this moment, Xia Yu also noticed that the Charizard's jet-black body was covered with some purplish-black mud, causing a burning sensation and emitting a faint purple poisonous mist.

Poisoned!

No matter how hard Charizard tried, it couldn't dodge the sludge bomb and was poisoned.

Seeing this scene, Xia Yu was also moved and thought of his own Gengar.

Gengar is a Ghost/Poison type Pokémon. I focused too much on training Haunter to be Ghost type, thus neglecting its Poison type. Look at the power of this Gengar's Sludge Bomb. Poison type can also play a huge role if trained well.

If you have the chance, you can ask Shang Hongxin for advice on raising a Poison-type Gengar.

Just as Xia Yu was slightly stunned, the poisonous fog gradually dissipated, and Gengar was nowhere to be seen in the arena.

Seeing this, Xia Yu reacted instantly and quickly shouted, "Charizard, watch out for your shadow..."

Just then, Gengar emerged from Charizard's shadow, its hands surging with Psychic energy that rippled outwards.

"Hypnosis!"

Seeing this, Xia Yu was shocked. The taunt skill of the Buzzbat had become ineffective so quickly?!

However, upon closer reflection, Xia Yu understood. Gengar's strength far surpasses Nombat's, and the fact that Taunt could last for such a long time was already quite impressive.

However, at this moment, the taunt effect is removed, and Gengar emerges from Charizard's shadow and casts Hypnosis, which is absolutely fatal to Charizard.

At this moment, the scales of victory have tipped in Shang Hongxin's favor. Once Charizard is hypnotized, it will definitely not be able to hold on until it wakes up.

Xia Yu was also feeling heavy-hearted. He had already taken out a Poké Ball and was preparing to recall Charizard.

Because if Charizard falls asleep, Gengar can use the Dream Eater move to not only kill the match but also knock down Charizard.

More importantly, the Dream Eater move restores Gengar's HP, which means that the damage caused by Charizard's Heat Wave, Flamethrower, Solar Beam, and other moves to Gengar is completely ineffective.

After fighting for a long time, Xia Yu found his Charizard unable to battle, while Gengar remained full of energy. Xia Yu could accept Charizard being knocked down, but he absolutely could not accept Gengar regaining its health.

Therefore, he must take back Charizard, even if it means Charizard has been rendered obsolete.

…………

Chapter 228 Eating Dreams

Cheng Taiheng, watching the match from the commentary booth, was full of praise, constantly commending Shang Hongxin's Gengar and Xia Yu's on-the-spot reactions.

"So this is Shang Hongxin's secret weapon. This Sludge Bomb is incredibly powerful, no wonder he's a Poison-type trainer. Of course, the most crucial thing is that at this moment, the Taunt move actually failed."

"Sigh, at such close range, the hypnosis is almost guaranteed to hit. We know that Shang Hongxin's Gengar used the Hypnosis and Dream Eater move as its signature move combination in previous matches. Next, Shang Hongxin will definitely make Gengar use Dream Eater to recover its health."

"This puts Xia Yu in danger."

"However, Xia Yu was also very clever. He took out a Poké Ball and prepared to replace the Pokémon to prevent Gengar from recovering its health through the Dream Eater move. It was a very wise choice."

…………

The sudden reversal of the situation made Xia Yu frown; the strength of this Gengar was somewhat beyond Xia Yu's expectations.

Unlike typical Gengar, Shang Hongxin's Gengar is more Poison-type, and its control over Poison-type energy is far superior to that of Ghost-type energy. The Sludge Bomb it just unleashed was ridiculously powerful, extremely toxic, and highly corrosive.