Song Shuangyu had planned to gradually shift the battlefield towards Shen Yu, but he knew there was a difference between a proactive and a passive shift.
If he moved towards Shen Yu, as long as Xia Hunaao kept Frogadier at a distance, he would be helpless. But if he, instead, forced Xia Hunaao's Frogadier over, then the situation would be in his control.
"Charizard, go catch Frogadier and throw him down!"
Charizard spread its wings and flew low to catch Frogadier. Under Xia Hunaao's command, Frogadier continuously dodged Charizard's attacks. Everything was proceeding as Song Shuangyu had envisioned, and the battlefield was inching closer to the crowd.
"Charizard, use Dragon Claw!"
He kept using Dragon Claw because attacks like Flamethrower and Fire Blast had a wider range than Dragon Claw. If Dragon Claw could accurately hit Shen Yu, then using Flamethrower or Fire Blast might accidentally injure other students.
This wasn't because Song Shuangyu was compassionate; he simply felt that injuring other students would make things more troublesome to handle.
However, Xia Hunaao wasn't completely passive as the battlefield slowly moved. Seeing that his classmates were in danger, Xia Hunaao quickly instructed Frogadier to dodge further away: "Frogadier, use Double Team to create distance and run north."
Upon receiving the order, Frogadier immediately created clones on the spot and charged towards Charizard. The shadows worked together, and after a few blurs, it was impossible to distinguish the original from the clones.
Frogadier's charge provided Charizard with a golden opportunity to attack. Charizard opened its mouth and unleashed Flamethrower. Facing the oncoming Flamethrower, two of the Frogadiers quickly braked and formed a human trampoline with their hands. One Frogadier leaped from the trampoline, arcing through the air, seemingly about to fly over Charizard. Unexpectedly, Charizard extended its hands and grabbed the Frogadier.
"You're finished, Charizard, use Fire Blast!"
"Dream on, Frogadier, get past him and hit him from behind!"
Charizard opened its mouth to attack the target it had captured. However, at that moment, another Frogadier stepped onto the trampoline and leaped over Charizard's head. Upon landing, it unleashed a Water Pulse, which was about to hit Charizard.
Without waiting for Song Shuangyu's instruction, Charizard threw aside the Frogadier it had captured and unleashed Fire Blast at the one behind.
Charizard's Fire Blast and Frogadier's Water Pulse collided once more, erupting in a large amount of steam. Xia Hunaao seized this opportunity to press his advantage: "Frogadier, use Ice Beam to immobilize him!"
Frogadier fired a low-temperature Ice Beam, condensing the water vapor around Charizard's legs and freezing it to the ground. Charizard flapped its wings, dispersing the surrounding steam but unable to stop Frogadier from freezing its legs.
"Frogadier, go to the side and use Aqua Jet."
"Charizard, break free and fly!"
Aqua Jet was launched, but it only hit the fragments of ice left behind as Charizard broke free. Charizard, now in the air, unleashed an Air Slash. However, Frogadier's movements were incredibly agile, perfectly embodying Xia Hunaao's hit-and-run strategy.
Seeing that Air Slash had missed Frogadier, Song Shuangyu decided to abandon his pretense of benevolence and pointed at Shen Yu, who was among the observing students: "Charizard, use Fire Blast on her!"
Song Shuangyu's furious roar shocked Xia Hunaao. Charizard turned in mid-air and fired a Flamethrower towards Shen Yu. Shen Yu had been intently focused on Xia Hunaao and had not anticipated that a trainer in a battle would attack an observer.
Even in the rain, this Fire Blast still possessed intense heat, constantly evaporating the water droplets in the air as it flew. As the Fire Blast neared, Shen Yu knew she had to dodge, but her legs felt rooted to the spot, refusing to move.
"Xiao Yu!"
Just as the Fire Blast was about to hit Shen Yu, a blue shadow shot through the rain and appeared before Shen Yu, raising its hands to create a water shield in front of itself, blocking the oncoming Fire Blast.
Fire Blast collided with Frogadier's Water Pulse again, creating a massive plume of smoke that obscured everyone's vision. Students panicked and fled from the smoke, while Xia Hunaao stared tensely into the fog. Song Shuangyu, seeing Frogadier dash in front of Shen Yu, grinned maliciously: "You came to me, Charizard, use repeated Fire Blasts to finish him off!"
Several consecutive Fire Blasts rained down on Frogadier. The intense smoke lingered for over a minute before gradually dissipating. Xia Hunaao's eyes were fixed on the smoke; he truly feared seeing the "corpses" of Frogadier and Shen Yu when the smoke cleared.
Song Shuangyu looked at Xia Hunaao: "This is the price you must pay. Your woman, your Pokémon, they must all be punished!"
Song Shuangyu's voice was chilling. As the smoke cleared, a large blue sphere of water was spinning rapidly on the ground. Inside the sphere, Shen Yu sat on the ground, with a figure kneeling before her with clasped hands – it was Frogadier.
"Damn it, it's evolving now?"
Xia Hunaao finally breathed a sigh of relief. According to the "evolution is invincible" theory, Frogadier would be immune to all damage at the moment of its evolution. Not just a few Fire Blasts, even several Self-Destructs would be harmless.
The system, seeing Xia Hunaao's Frogadier complete its evolution, was also pleased: "After so long, it has finally evolved. Accumulating so much experience at level thirty-five has truly paid off. Host, if you have anything to do, hurry up. You understand Frogadier's current state; it's in a bonded transformation state for a short period, a bonus from evolution. You know."
Several teachers approached, hoping Song Shuangyu would explain his actions. But Xia Hunaao took a deep breath and stopped them: "Xiao Yu, get behind me. Teachers, please don't intervene; I can handle this myself."
Bai Lan looked at Xia Hunaao with concern, believing this was not something a young man could handle alone. Just as she was about to say something, Teacher Du beside her stopped her: "It's alright, let him handle it himself. This is how men deal with things. Besides, do you think our school's old headmaster would just stand by?"
Bai Lan thought of the old principal who spent his days drinking tea in the principal's office. Xia Hunaao's parents were the old principal's prized students, and Xia Hunaao was no ordinary student now. She figured the old principal wouldn't remain indifferent.
"Alright, be careful."
Xia Hunaao glanced at Bai Lan and nodded. Seeing Xia Hunaao's red eyes, Bai Lan's relieved heart tightened again: "Is this really okay?"
Xia Hunaao's current state was peculiar. Although his eyes were red, his rationality was unaffected. He knew that Frogadier's current state was time-limited and he had to finish quickly.
"Frogadier, Double Team, Water Shuriken!"
Frogadier instantly created dozens of illusions. It was evident that after evolving, Frogadier's mastery of Double Team had also improved. This time, it created nearly forty shadows that charged towards Charizard. When Xia Hunaao commanded Frogadier to use Water Shuriken, Song Shuangyu was completely disbelieving.
Water Shuriken, a skill learned only after evolving into Greninja, required considerable practice. Furthermore, as there were no TM machines for this skill, Xia Hunaao using Water Shuriken seemed even more bizarre.
However, Xia Hunaao had trained in a ninja dojo. Frogadier had seen Greninja use Water Shuriken numerous times, and under Xia Hunaao's deliberate guidance, Frogadier had studied this move. When they left the ninja dojo, the only difference between Frogadier and Greninja concerning Water Shuriken was Frogadier's species. After evolving, converting the energy used for Water Pulse into the energy for Water Shuriken was merely a thought.
With a water sphere surrounding Frogadier, dozens of Water Shurikens flew towards Charizard from all directions. Although Song Shuangyu didn't react immediately, Charizard took to the air and dodged all the incoming Water Shurikens.
Seeing that Water Shuriken had not had the desired effect, Xia Hunaao became slightly anxious: "Frogadier, pursue him, use Ice Beam to freeze his wings!"
Frogadier moved swiftly, aiming at Charizard's wings with an Ice Beam. Song Shuangyu also commanded Charizard to continuously evade the Ice Beams fired from the dozens of Frogadiers on the ground. However, with increased numbers came improved quality and accuracy. As Frogadier moved, it successfully hit Charizard's wings with an Ice Beam.
Although Charizard's wings were frozen, the Ice Beam only affected a small portion. While it impacted Charizard's flight, the slight imbalance did not cause absolute incapacitation. Song Shuangyu directly ordered Charizard to unleash Flamethrower on its own wings to thaw the ice.
The system helpfully displayed a countdown in the upper right corner of Xia Hunaao's vision: "Host, Frogadier's evolution bonus time is almost up. Please be aware."
Xia Hunaao glanced at it; less than thirty seconds remained. "I know. Frogadier, get close to Charizard, use Water Shuriken!"
After thawing the ice on its wings, Charizard took to the air again to dodge the Water Shuriken. Right after this Water Shuriken missed, the water sphere around Frogadier dissipated, and Xia Hunaao staggered back a couple of steps, looking drained.
"It seems your final surge is also over."