"Wow." Reiji felt like the announcer talked a little too much. The guy really had a big mouth. He was saying everything out loud.
Kameda looked at Forretress, a Steel- and Bug-type, and awkwardly took out Vaporeon's Poké Ball to recall it.
The announcer was right. He really had grabbed the wrong ball. It was the kind of stupid mistake that should never happen, but when he heard the announcer mention where Reiji was from, he had decided at the last second to switch to Jolteon. Unfortunately, he mixed up the order of his Poké Balls.
Even if he had picked the right one, Jolteon would not have had much of an advantage against Forretress. Kameda quickly recalled Vaporeon, using up one of his allowed switches, then took out another Poké Ball and threw it.
"Go, Flareon!"
"Kameda has chosen to switch Pokémon and recover from a bad opening! How will Reiji respond?"
"Forretress, Toxic Spikes."
"Reiji isn't switching! He's choosing Toxic Spikes instead—right in front of Flareon!"
The announcer was so excited his voice cracked. Everyone knew Forretress had a x4 weakness to Fire, but Reiji had chosen not to switch. Anyone could guess what was supposed to happen next.
"Heh. You've got guts, using Forretress against my Flareon." Kameda sneered, then shouted, "Flamethrower!"
Flareon opened its mouth and blasted out a huge stream of fire, aimed straight at Forretress hovering in the air.
Reiji did not have Forretress dodge. He had it keep laying Toxic Spikes.
Forretress spun in place, scattering countless sharp purple spikes across the grass, where they quickly vanished among the blades.
Once two layers of Toxic Spikes covered every corner of the battlefield, any of Kameda's Pokémon that entered the field would be badly poisoned.
Once a Pokémon is badly poisoned, the damage gets worse every turn. It starts at one-sixteenth of its max HP, then doubles to two-sixteenths, then three-sixteenths, and keeps climbing from there. Switching out resets the count.
Not that Kameda's Pokémon would ever last that long. They would collapse from the poison long before then.
"Heh. What good are Toxic Spikes? Flamethrower still hit. One Flamethrower is all it takes to knock your Forretress out."
Then the impossible happened.
The flames cleared, and Forretress's black shell clicked open, revealing its two dark eyes. It had not taken any visible damage at all.
"How is that possible? Forretress is fine! It endured Flamethrower's heat! A x4-effective Flamethrower did nothing!"
The announcer shot to his feet, gripping the microphone as he shouted in disbelief. Forretress's complete lack of reaction had turned everything he knew upside down.
"Reiji's Forretress isn't afraid of fire! It isn't afraid of fire!"
"Everyone, look closely! This Forretress has a black shell, and its size is unusual too. It's twice as large as an ordinary Forretress. That may be why fire doesn't work on it!"
"Seriously? Did he have to say it that directly?" Reiji rubbed his forehead. Now everyone was staring at him. He really did not want to become famous, but his Pokémon were all too distinctive to hide.
Kameda looked the exact opposite. His face had gone ugly. If Flamethrower did nothing, how was he supposed to beat this Forretress? Worse, his Flareon was already poisoned.
If he dragged this out, the poison would only keep getting worse until Flareon fainted. He had to find a way to clear the Toxic Spikes.
There were plenty of ways to remove them. He could use a Poison-type Pokémon, clear the field with Rapid Spin, or use moves like Defog or Tidy Up.
"Go, Starmie!" Kameda recalled Flareon and sent out Starmie. "Rapid Spin!"
"Star!" Starmie was badly poisoned the moment it entered the field. Only then did it start spinning across the grass, trying to sweep away the Toxic Spikes.
But the moment Starmie cleared them, the ground was covered again. Forretress was laying another layer.
Starmie cleared the spikes. Forretress laid them again. No matter how many Kameda removed, Reiji replaced them.
With the poison eating away at it the whole time, Starmie could not outlast Forretress. In the end, its strength gave out, and it drooped weakly on the battlefield.
"Come back, Starmie." Kameda recalled it. That was his final allowed switch.
On the stadium's big screen, all three of Kameda's Pokémon icons were now lit up: Vaporeon, Flareon, and Starmie.
On Reiji's side, only one icon had appeared.
Forretress.
"Go, Vaporeon! Use Rain Dance!"
With his third switch, Kameda gave his final chance to Vaporeon and had it use Rain Dance right away.
He had clearly realized that Vaporeon would not stay poisoned in the rain. This Vaporeon had its Hidden Ability.
It was not that Vaporeon could not be poisoned. Its Hidden Ability was Hydration.
In rain, Hydration cured status conditions. As long as the rain kept falling, Vaporeon would not remain affected by any status condition.
Reiji smiled when he saw Kameda's answer to Toxic Spikes. "Forretress, Spikes."
"What the hell? Why are you this dirty?" Kameda snapped the moment he heard Spikes. He had finally dealt with Toxic Spikes, only for Reiji to start laying regular Spikes instead.
Now, any time he switched, his Pokémon would take damage on entry. One layer took one-eighth of max HP. Two layers took one-sixth. Three layers took one-fourth.
The damage also changed depending on Ground-type effectiveness. If the Pokémon had a x2 weakness to Ground, then three layers would deal double damage, taking away two-fourths of its HP.***(TL Note: It looks like the author mixed up Spikes with Stealth Rock here. Spikes deals fixed damage based on how many layers are on the field, from one to three, and type effectiveness does not affect it.)
That meant if Kameda sent in a Pokémon weak to Ground, it would instantly lose half its HP on entry.
"That's right. Break down. That's exactly what I want." Reiji smiled and stroked the little Eevee on his shoulder. It was almost time for Eevee to go in and finish this.
"Forretress, Autotomize. Hit it with Gyro Ball."
This was Reiji's first actual attack command in the match, and its purpose was simple: force Kameda to recall Vaporeon.
"Not good! Forretress is coming! Vaporeon, dodge!"
The ever-reliable dodge command worked again. Vaporeon did manage to avoid the first charge, but dodging once did not mean it could keep dodging forever.
Eventually, Forretress slammed into Vaporeon and knocked it down. The rain stopped at the same time. Toxic Spikes spread around Vaporeon again, and the moment it got back up, it stepped on them and was badly poisoned once more.
"Damn it. Vaporeon, return!" Kameda recalled his Pokémon for the fourth time, and the referee immediately warned him.
"Red Corner's Trainer Kameda has recalled his Pokémon for the fourth time. One red-card warning. If you switch Pokémon again without permission, you will be disqualified."
"I know." Kameda gritted his teeth. He knew the rule. This was a loophole within the rules. Trainers only had three official switches, but they could force a fourth at the cost of a referee warning and losing points with the referee.
For the sake of winning, he was willing to do it. One warning was nothing to him.
"Kameda has received a red-card warning. The pressure from this Forretress must be enormous, but that is no excuse for breaking the rules. We hope Kameda will respect the rules and continue the match properly!"
After recalling Vaporeon, Kameda took out another Poké Ball. He ignored the announcer humiliating him in front of the whole stadium and sent Starmie back out.
"Starmie, Recover! Rapid Spin!"
The moment Starmie appeared, it took damage from three layers of Spikes and two layers of Toxic Spikes. Its HP dropped dangerously low at once. If it did not recover, it would barely be able to move.
Reiji saw that Kameda still wanted to clear the field and immediately called out, "Forretress, Rapid Spin."
"Huh? Rapid Spin? You're clearing your own spikes?" Kameda was surprised when he heard the command, but he would not be surprised for long.
"For! For!" Forretress closed its black shell again and charged toward Starmie, which was trying to heal.
With Forretress rushing at it, Starmie had no choice but to dodge. It did not even get the chance to use Recover. Then the poison struck again, and after taking a hit from Forretress, it could barely get back up.
"Starmie?" Kameda called its name, but Starmie did not answer. The gem on its chest flickered weakly. It was clearly close to done.
The poison flared again. Starmie convulsed as a purple glow spread over its body, the same poisoned reaction all three of Kameda's Pokémon had shown.
As for the held items on his three Pokémon, they had not helped at all. Kameda had brought attack items. The only status Berry he had was a Pecha Berry, and he had already used it.
Among the three Pokémon's Abilities, only Vaporeon's helped with status conditions. The other two had nothing to do with poison.
Kameda had no way out now. The only question left was how he would lose, and to whom.
Once Kameda had no chance to turn things around, it was time for Eevee to enter.
Reiji seized the moment and recalled Forretress. Then he gave the shoulder carrying Eevee a small shake. Eevee understood immediately, leaping down from his shoulder and onto the battlefield for its debut.
"There it is! With a huge advantage already secured, Reiji has cleared both Toxic Spikes and Spikes from the field, switched out Forretress, and sent out his second Pokémon—Eevee!"
"Eevee? You're using Eevee?" Kameda's eyes lit up when he saw it. Reiji's spike tactics had made him miserable, but now Reiji had switched Pokémon and cleared the field himself. Kameda immediately shouted, "Starmie, use Recover!"
"Star!" Starmie had just begun to use Recover when a streak of white light shot toward it and slammed directly into the gem on its chest, knocking it across the field.
"Vee!" After knocking Starmie away, Eevee turned and used Sand Attack on Kameda, filling his mouth with grass and dirt.
"One red-card warning, Trainer Reiji. Competing Pokémon may not use moves against opposing Trainers."
"Oh dear, what's this? Reiji has received a red-card warning as well. Let's hope both competitors follow the rules and complete this exciting match smoothly!"
"Eevee…" Reiji scratched his head awkwardly. He knew Eevee hated this guy, but he had not expected it to attack the Trainer directly. That was his mistake.
"Vee." Eevee glanced at Kameda, made a face at him, then wagged its tail and returned to Reiji's side, clearly saying it would not cause him any more trouble.
"You little brat! What's wrong with that Eevee? Why did it attack me?" Kameda wiped the grass from his face and furiously accused Reiji of breaking the rules.
"First, you broke the rules before I did." Reiji raised one finger, then a second. "Second, don't you recognize this Eevee?"
He looked at Kameda with open mockery. He did not scold Eevee. In fact, he even gave it a thumbs-up.
"Eevee? Should I remember this Eevee?" Kameda stared blankly at it, confused by the question. But as he kept looking, something finally clicked. The Eevee did look familiar.
"Ah. I remember now. It's that useless Eevee I threw away."
At first, Kameda was not sure. But the fury in Eevee's eyes, and the way it refused to even look at him properly, made him realize it was the Eevee he had abandoned in Stone Town.
"Well, well. I didn't expect Kameda to have that kind of history. He abandoned his opponent's Eevee, that Eevee was later caught by his opponent, and now they've met again on the battlefield. What a tangled bit of fate. Still, abandoning Pokémon is wrong. Let's hope Kameda does not abandon any more Pokémon in the future."
"Damn it. How did the announcer hear that?" Kameda looked around and finally noticed the earpiece on the referee's collar, along with the microphones placed around the battlefield. They were picking up the sounds of the match and broadcasting them through the speakers in the stands.
Now the entire stadium knew Kameda had abandoned Eevee, only to run into it again in a match. Worse, his Starmie had just been beaten by that same Eevee's Quick Attack. It could not have been more humiliating.
"That Trainer is awful. How could he abandon a cute Eevee?"
"Exactly. How can someone who abandons Pokémon be allowed to enter the Indigo Plateau Conference?"
"The organizers should disqualify him!"
"That's awful, meow. Little Eevee was abandoned. Humans really are the worst, meow…"
"Meowth, don't compare us to someone like that."
"Yeah, Meowth. We don't abandon our partners. We're not that awful."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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