"Let's go, Shuckle!"
"I choose you—Wartortle!"
Conway led with Shuckle. Ash answered with Wartortle.
Yes, even though Wartortle was still the captain of the Squirtle Firefighting Squad, how could it possibly sit out such an important mont in Ash's journey?
No matter what, it had to fight for Ash!
"Warrr-tortle!"
"Shuuu-ckle!"
Conway blinked, then frowned slightly. His prediction had clearly gone wrong.
He had expected Ash to start with a power-type or speed-type Pokémon, not sothing like Wartortle.
"Even if you have a type advantage against my Shuckle, don't think it'll be that easy! Let's go, Shuckle—use Withdraw!"
"Shuuu!"
Ash looked at Conway—and chuckled softly.
Conway really was quite the strategist. His battle planning and predictive ability weren't bad at all.
But against Ash, it still wasn't enough.
"Wartortle, use Withdraw too!"
"Tor!"
Both Pokémon used Withdraw simultaneously.
The announcer blinked in confusion. This wasn't sothing he'd seen before, and he jumped into his comntary with excitent.
"Both trainers are using Withdraw at the sa ti! That's rare! Are they planning to see whose defense is higher and just tank it out?"
The crowd erupted into laughter, intrigued to see how this unusual matchup would play out.
"Shuckle, again! Use Withdraw!"
"Wartortle, keep using Withdraw!"
"Once more—Withdraw!"
"Withdraw again!"
Three uses each—both Pokémon boosted their Defense by three stages.
Conway smirked.
"Ash, I wasn't stacking defenses without a purpose. Shuckle, use Power Trick!"
Shuckle—one of the highest Defense and Special Defense Pokémon out there—had laughably poor Attack, Special Attack, Speed, and HP.
But Power Trick switched its Defense stat with its Attack stat.
While the level modifiers didn't transfer, the base stat did.
With three Defense boosts, Power Trick now turned that rock-hard Defense into explosive Attack power.
Conway's strategy: land a single decisive hit, and ideally take out one of Ash's Pokémon without a scratch.
Ash simply smiled.
"Wartortle, Shell Smash."
Crack!
A burst of energy shattered a mbrane around Wartortle's shell.
Its Defense and Special Defense dropped—but in return, its Attack, Special Attack, and Speed all rose by two stages.
Conway's eyes narrowed.
"So you were doing the sa setup as ... but your Special Defense dropped! Shuckle, use Gyro Ball!"
Conway looked confident—like he had Ash in check.
But Ash was calm.
"Wartortle, Aqua Tail!"
Thanks to the Shell Smash boosts, Wartortle was faster—a lot faster.
Before Shuckle could even begin spinning up its Gyro Ball, Wartortle's gleaming, watery tail smashed straight into it.
Boom!
Shuckle slamd into the ground like a crater had opened beneath it—completely KO'd.
"Shuckle is unable to battle! Wartortle wins!"
Ash took the first round!
Conway was speechless. Once again, his entire strategy had been derailed.
"...Fine. Even predictions have errors. Go, Lickilicky!"
"Noctowl, I choose you!"
Ash stuck with his original matchup from the ani—Noctowl vs. Lickilicky.
"Go-goo!"
"Lickilicky, use Lick!"
"Quick rise, Noctowl—use Agility!"
Lickilicky's tongue failed to catch Noctowl, who zipped away in a blur of motion.
"You're not escaping! Lickilicky, use Power Whip!"
"Guuh!"
Noctowl suddenly stopped in midair.
Conway grinned—until...
The tongue missed by a hair's breadth.
It stopped about ten centiters short of Noctowl.
"Wh-what?! Another miscalculation?!"
"Aerial Slash!"
"Go-gooo!"
Noctowl's wing shimred with sharp energy—slicing straight into Lickilicky.
"Lickilicky, use Thunderbolt!"
"Dodge it with Agility—then use Psychic!"
Noctowl zipped around again, evading the electric blast.
Its antler-like head crests glowed.
With Psychic power, it lifted Lickilicky into the air—and smashed it into the ground!
"Lickilicky is unable to battle! Noctowl wins!"
Conway: "..."
"Fine then! Let's see how you handle this one—go, Dusknoir!"
"Return, Noctowl. Go, Electivire!"
"Hyeh-hou!"
Conway's Dusknoir was strong—Level 55.
Say what you will about his appearance, Conway was no pushover.
With a high-level Dusknoir and sharp tactics, he could've easily made it into the Top 16 of any tournant.
Too bad he ran into soone even stronger.
"Dusknoir, use Trick Room!"
This Dusknoir was the sa one that once saved Conway during a field study taught by Professor Rowan. Since then, he'd loved the species and caught one himself.
"Conway has used the rare Trick Room move! This could be ga-changing! What will Ash do next?" the announcer exclaid.
Even the Champions on the judging panel perked up.
Used well, Trick Room could completely flip a battle.
"Electivire, Bulk Up!"
"Hyeh!"
Electivire's body surged with a red aura.
Conway adjusted his glasses with a smirk.
"Heh... Bulking up all you want won't help if you can't hit . But I can hit you! Dusknoir—Fire Punch!"
"Protect!"
Ash called it just in ti.
A green barrier flared to life and blocked the attack.
Conway's smile twitched.
"Protect only works a few tis. Let's see how many more you can handle. Dusknoir—Shadow Punch!"
Two dark fists flew toward Electivire.
"Protect again!"
The second shield ca up and blocked the hit—again.
Conway's brow furrowed.
"Shadow Punch—again!"
"Thunder!"
Electivire began charging, but Trick Room still gave Dusknoir the edge in speed—it teleported right up to Electivire and landed the Shadow Punch!
It was the first ti Conway had landed a hit on one of Ash's Pokémon.
Dusknoir turned to retreat—it was fast enough to avoid Thunder easily.
But then...
Its hands—used to punch Electivire—were suddenly gripped by Electivire's twin tails!
"No!"
CRACK!
A blinding Thunder crashed down—point-blank.
Dusknoir took it full force.
--------------
T/N:
Access Advance Chapters on my
P@treon: [email protected]/PokePals
Reviews
All reviews (0)