It was difficult to tell who had come out on top and who had lost out.
Luther had lost Jumpluff, leaving him with only three Pokémon. Among them, Darkrai was still secretly recovering.
Dakota's Metagross was badly injured.
Froslass's stamina had dropped drastically after unleashing moves without restraint, and it had also been affected by Stun Spore and Poison Powder.
Vigoroth entered the field and instantly finished off the already weakened Jumpluff. However, Jumpluff managed to poison it before going down.
Judging purely from the situation on the battlefield, Dakota still held the advantage with his four remaining Pokémon.
Dakota's head was still spinning slightly. There had been far too many variables beyond his control. One incomprehensible play followed another, and he had completely stopped believing Luther's earlier claim that 'this is my trump card'.
One trump card after another, who was he trying to fool?
Dakota recalled Vigoroth. Looking at its Poké Ball, he lowered his head, muttering quietly to himself, before revealing a satisfied smile.
The time bought by Jumpluff, Azumarill, and Mismagius working together should have allowed Darkrai to regain considerable stamina from the fierce first match. After glancing at the clock, Luther made his decision.
Darkrai, the openly acknowledged ace of Luther's team, returned to the battlefield.
Dakota responded by sending out Metagross.
Metagross had previously increased its speed, enabling it to take the initiative and trade blows with Darkrai while gauging how much Darkrai had recovered.
Darkrai still had no intention of revealing its final move slot. It used Shadow Claw while Metagross charged forward with Thunder Punch.
After exchanging blows, Darkrai broke free from the flashes of electricity. Its eyes narrowed slightly as it endured the damage, standing proudly in the battle arena.
Shadow Claw hit the arm that had been brutally battered by Azumarill earlier on directly.
Metagross let out a miserable cry, immediately losing its balance and crashing towards the ground.
The attack only worsened its condition.
It was super effective.
The hail that had been covering the battlefield finally dispersed.
"Metagross is unable to battle. Darkrai wins," the referee announced immediately.
Unlike Mismagius and Jumpluff, who showered him with praise, Azumarill, who was chewing on some sweets that Luther had brought with him, commented casually:
"Not bad. You've reached about half my level."
Even now, Luther still couldn't understand Azumarill's bizarre way of thinking. Whenever they interacted, they both felt the other was crazy, but that didn't stop Luther from avenging Azumarill.
One by one, he would reclaim every battle his teammates had lost.
The corners of Dakota's mouth curled upwards.
The moment he threw out his Poké Ball, Luther, who had been closely watching his expression, immediately recalled Darkrai.
As expected, Dakota's final Pokémon was Eelektross, the battlefield-cleaning machine that prioritized speed and attack power.
Although Darkrai had recovered some stamina, the accumulated damage it had taken was already close to its limit. A short rest wouldn't be enough to restore it to peak condition.
Dakota had noticed this, which was why he chose this moment to send out Eelektross.
He was betting that Luther wouldn't dare gamble with his final offensive trump card.
As long as Luther refused to sacrifice Darkrai in a direct showdown, instead using his other Pokémon to intercept Eelektross, Dakota's plan would succeed.
Eelektross's immense offensive power would render Luther's remaining support Pokémon completely incapable of withstanding it. Even if they fought back, they might not be able to defeat Eelektross, despite its poor defensive capabilities.
But what if Darkrai was preserved?
Ultimately, it would simply be a case of a few battered Pokémon joining forces to surround and eliminate it.
Yet Dakota couldn't understand Luther's expression.
After letting out a long sigh as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, Luther tremblingly took out a Poké Ball and threw it onto the battlefield, where it landed among the battered Pokémon.
An adorably plump Chansey appeared opposite Eelektross.
This was the special gift that Luther had prepared for Eelektross.
Dakota instantly realised what Luther was trying to do.
The immensely powerful Eelektross against the incredibly durable Chansey, this was a clash of spear versus shield.
At this point, it was practically a provocation. Luther was only one step away from saying it outright:
"Don't chicken out. Don't switch. If you've got the guts, come at me head-on."
'Interesting, very interesting.' Dakota clapped his hands lightly. 'Then let's give it a try.'
"Eelektross, Thunder Punch! Show them just how powerful you are! Show them the results of all your training!"
"Defense Curl."
Chansey tucked in her limbs and transformed into an oval-shaped ball.
After being sent flying by Thunder Punch, she rolled across the ground several times. She touched the spot that had been hit and quickly got back to her feet.
The way she wagged her tiny tail conveyed her message to Luther.
"That punch hurt a little."
Despite having boosted her physical defence with Defense Curl, Chansey was clearly still in pain. Luther couldn't help but wonder whether any of his other Pokémon could survive two attacks from Eelektross.
Meanwhile, Dakota was astonished by Chansey's toughness.
Eelektross was the first Pokémon that Dakota had trained specifically as an experiment. The aim was to develop a training method that would maximise a Pokémon's offensive capabilities, strong enough to incapacitate or even knock out a Champion's main Pokémon with a single hit.
As the first "guinea pig" of this experiment, the damage output of Eelektross was obvious for all to see. Had that punch landed on Dakota's own Darkrai, it would have been severely injured.
Yet after taking the hit, Chansey's expression hadn't changed at all. She looked as though she had suffered nothing more than a minor bruise.
"Thunderbolt."
If physical attacks weren't enough, special attacks would do the job.
After all, Eelektross excelled in both.
"Bomb."
Seeing Dakota switch to long-range special attacks, Luther immediately responded in kind.
Chansey was slightly slower than Eelektross. By the time she had pulled a Nutrient Egg from her pouch and thrown it forward, the electric blast had already struck her, and Eelektross had begun to move out of the way.
However, Chansey's bomb wasn't aimed at where Eelektross had been standing.
She had waited until Eelektross started moving before throwing the bomb at the ground near its path.
The bomb met the ground with explosive force.
The shockwave slammed directly into the dodging Eelektross. On the already ruined battlefield, stones and debris flew everywhere, hitting its body repeatedly and forcing it backwards.
Luther didn't know why Dakota was so reluctant to change battlefields.
For his part, he had refused to switch precisely for situations like this.
Chansey's movement speed was nowhere near that of Eelektross. In order to land attacks effectively, she would require exceptional predictive abilities and could easily be manipulated by her opponent during battle.
As her Trainer, Luther had improved her offensive strategy.
If she couldn't hit the eel directly, she could still hit it somewhere nearby.
That way, she wouldn't need to predict its movements so precisely.
No matter how fast you are, can you really dodge all the secondary effects and splash damage?
Chansey pulled another Nutrient Egg from her pouch.
She didn't throw it.
Instead, she simply held it there, suspended above her pocket. Tilting her head, showing half her face, she smiled cheerfully at Eelektross.
This was strategic intimidation.
Sure, you can keep firing from long range.
Then let's have a sniper duel right down the middle.
We'll see which one of us goes down first.
(End of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395