"Why do I feel like Karen is holding back?"
"Now that you ntion it, yeah… That Sneasel doesn't seem that strong."
"Didn't you hear the explanation? This is an assessnt match. It's ant to evaluate how the Gym Leader handles challengers. Do you really think every challenger could beat that Houndoom from earlier?"
Murkrow and Sneasel were evenly matched, and the commanding skills of both Trainers weren't far apart either, so the battle had quickly beco a stalemate.
With no clear winner erging anyti soon, the spectators began discussing it among themselves. After all, compared to the exhibition match, the assessnt match seed far less exciting.
"A lot of people might not fully understand the 'mind gas' going on between the two Trainers, so let give you all a live comntary. You two keep battling, don't mind ."
At so point, Agatha had picked up a microphone, and her face appeared on the big screen in perfect sync with her words.
"Elite Four Agatha is actually doing a live comntary?"
"Mhm!"
The mood in the audience shifted instantly. The recognition from an Elite Four mber erased all previous doubts.
"Just now, both sides were constantly switching moves during direct exchanges: Night Slash, Foul Play, Assurance, and Tornt. These moves aren't just randomly used…"
Elite Four Agatha said it was comntary, but in reality, it was more like breaking down each Trainer's strategy and explaining it in "simple" terms.
There were no dramatic outbursts or shouting, just clear and calm analysis.
Still, the audience quickly showed expressions of realization. After all, if an Elite Four mber is explaining things, even if you don't get it, you'd better pretend you do. Otherwise, you'd look like a fool.
But regardless, it all pointed to one thing: even if the Pokémon weren't that strong, the battle strategies were top-notch, and impressively so.
Behind Agatha, Joseph quietly stepped aside. The so-called comntary had been his idea.
Shortly after the assessnt match began, Joseph imdiately realized the pacing of the event was poorly designed. The exhibition match had been too thrilling and had completely stolen the spotlight.
His original plan had been to ask Drake. Even if Drake gave a dull explanation, his endorsent of the battle would still help silence the critics.
But Agatha, overhearing Joseph's backup plan, snatched the microphone from him without a word and simply said, "I got this!" before waving him off.
Seeing the plan was working, and with Agatha being an Elite Four mber in Kanto, her comntary actually had even better effect. Joseph finally felt reassured.
On the field, Murkrow and Sneasel had resud their clash. Sato, of course, wasn't going to limit himself to only using Dark-type moves out of "pride", so he had Murkrow whip up a Heat Wave.
Heat Wave: a powerful Fire-type area move, posed a serious threat to the Ice-type Sneasel.
Sneasel's Special Defense was laughably low. Even if it could learn moves like Ice Beam or Blizzard, it was still helpless against Heat Wave.
As Murkrow continued fanning out waves of heat while blocking Sneasel's approach, Sneasel's stamina began to plumt rapidly.
"Sneasel, use Swagger!"
"Murkrow, quick, Snarl!"
Unfortunately, Sneasel moved too fast. It tilted its head and mocked Murkrow with so kind of taunt. Whatever it said, the normally obedient Murkrow's eyes suddenly turned red, completely ignoring Sato's command and charging straight at Sneasel.
Swagger enrages the opponent, causing confusion, but also greatly increases the opponent's Attack power.
At this point, Sato's kiting strategy had completely collapsed, and he had even forced a close-range fight.
Once it's up close, Sneasel still has a chance.
"LOCK ON! Get Ice Punch ready!" Karen shouted loudly, this was the deciding mont.
"Murkrow, use Steel Wing!" At this critical mont, Sato also yelled, hoping his voice would reach Murkrow's ears.
"Krow!"
Murkrow flashed past Sneasel like a blur, then crashed straight into the ground, rolling a dozen tis before barely coming to a stop, undoubtedly having lost its ability to battle.
But a second later, Sneasel -who had just struck a finishing pose- suddenly felt a sharp pain in its abdon. It turned out that in the final mont, it too had been hit by Murkrow's Steel Wing.
Sneasel's vision went black, and it collapsed as well.
"Murkrow and Sneasel have both lost their ability to battle. Both sides, please send out your next Pokémon!" Sia announced "seriously".
The audience imdiately responded with warm applause. Everyone had thought that Murkrow had the upper hand after using Heat Wave, but then Sneasel used Swagger to completely flip the situation and drag the opponent down with it.
As Sato recalled Murkrow, he secretly clicked his tongue. Moves like Swagger, which hurt both the user and the opponent, were ones he preferred to avoid unless absolutely necessary.
But Karen was just that confident, using it at the last mont without hesitation.
Sato sighed. Poor Murkrow… this had been its debut battle.
"Weavile, win this back for Murkrow!" Sato imdiately sent out his second Pokémon.
Peak Elite Weavile.
"Is this one of your regular Gym Pokémon too?" Karen recalled Sneasel, her eyes lighting up as she saw Sato send out Weavile.
"Mhm, go ahead."
"Then my next one will be… Absol!"
Sato glanced enviously at Karen. Even in the Hoenn Region, Absol was considered an extrely rare Pokémon. It didn't even need an evolution… its beauty alone made it a powerhouse.
And Sato also knew that Absol could ga Evolution, making its training potential enormous. Too bad he hadn't had the luck to encounter one during his Hoenn journey.
"Still daydreaming~? Absol, use Swords Dance!" Karen, seeing Sato stay silent for a mont, didn't wait and directly gave Absol a command.
"Weavile, use Psych Up."
Psych Up copies the target's stat changes. That ant Weavile also got the effect of Swords Dance without risking being hit for going second.
"You really know a lot~ Absol, Fire Blast!"
"Weavile, Agility then Ice Punch."
If they were going to boost stats, then do it thoroughly!
Weavile pushed off hard with both feet, gliding close to the ground, trailing afterimages as it dodged the Fire Blast and greatly increased its own speed.
"Substitute, then Rock Tomb!"
Absol obeyed. A "convincing" substitute appeared beside it and charged at Weavile.
Ice Punch shattered the substitute in an instant, but Absol followed up right away with Rock Tomb, sealing both itself and Weavile inside.
"X-Scissor!"
"Ice Punch!"
Boom!
The surrounding wall of rocks exploded instantly. Weavile and Absol were both knocked backward, clearly having taken heavy damage.
Two glass-cannon attackers with Swords Dance going head-to-head… no wonder the pace of the battle was this intense.
.
.
.
250 Powa Stones=ExtraChap
Reviews
All reviews (0)