Day 54 of the Kanto journey. Clear.
Today was the third day of the Indigo Plateau Conference, and the group stage at the side venues had reached its third round.
After getting up early and grabbing breakfast, Reiji went to draw the field for his third group-stage match. This round, he drew the Rock Field.
Once he had his field, match slot, and opponent, he had his Pokémon transferred over from Mikan Gym before heading to the waiting room at the Rock Field venue. A.J. and Gary were both there too. All three of them had been assigned to the Rock Field today. That really was a coincidence.
"Gary, you're on the Rock Field too?" Reiji looked up at the big screen. Gary's match was after his. Reiji had the morning slot, while Gary's match was at noon.
As for Reiji's opponent, it was none other than A.J., the unlucky guy who had finally gotten the match he wanted.
"Hmph. I'll beat you," Gary said when he heard Reiji greet him, then proudly walked off with his cheer squad.
With those girls in the room, half the guys had completely lost interest in the battle feed. Their eyes kept drifting to the cheer squad instead. Who had time to watch the screen?
"Heh." Reiji watched Gary leave with a helpless smile. The kid was still as proud as ever. He clearly hadn't learned his lesson yet. Maybe he would only tone it down after getting humbled at a major tournament and realizing there was always someone stronger.
"So I ended up facing you after all," A.J. said quietly once Reiji sat down across from him. He could only sigh at the coincidence.
"Why not just forfeit? I'd like to save my strength for the knockout rounds," Reiji said with a teasing smile. A.J. was no pushover. He had already reached Advanced tier, which made him a serious Trainer by any normal standard.
"In your dreams. Even if I can't beat you, I won't know how big the gap is until I try," A.J. said. There was no way he would surrender. He knew they were far apart, but he wanted to feel exactly how far.
Knowing Reiji was actually his biggest advantage. He had already gathered a good amount of information on Reiji's Pokémon, and plenty of competitors had come to him trying to buy it. Reiji's information had sold for the highest price.
Reiji still had no idea that A.J. had already sold off everything he knew about his team.
Even if he knew, he wouldn't have cared. Anyone willing to investigate could find out what Pokémon he owned. At most, they would know the species. As for what those Pokémon were actually good at, even A.J. didn't know that much.
Reiji had gotten free information from A.J. before, so if A.J. wanted to earn some money by selling a little information back, Reiji didn't mind.
"Haha, it's almost time. Let's head in." Reiji and A.J. joked around in the waiting room, then left together. Plenty of other competitors saw it, including some who had bought information from A.J.
Seeing how close the two looked, a lot of them suddenly felt cheated. A.J. knew Reiji, and their relationship seemed pretty good, yet Reiji's intel had still been the most expensive. If that wasn't a scam, what was?
...
On the battlefield, Rock Field.
"On the red side, we have A.J. from Cerulean City. On the green side, we have Reiji from the Orange Archipelago…"
"Both Trainers have fought through two rounds of the group stage, and both are favorites to reach the knockout rounds. It's a shame they have to meet here in Round 3, because only one of them can move on to the bigger stage after today…"
"It may be unfortunate for the competitors, but it is a lucky day for everyone watching. You are about to see one of the best matches of the group stage: a clash between two Advanced-tier Trainers, right here and right now…"
The crowd roared.
Once the host had fired up the audience, the referee spoke.
"Each side may use three Pokémon on the Rock Field. Match 4 of the Rock Field venue now begins. Trainers, send out your first Pokémon."
"Go, Forretress!"
"Gyaaa!"
"Unbelievable! Reiji's first Pokémon is Gyarados, the one that turned yesterday's match around. A.J.'s opener is Forretress, the same Pokémon that carried him through the first two rounds with a high win rate…"
"Oh, you wanted to play hazards? Not happening." Reiji smiled. He knew A.J.'s Spikes strategy, which was exactly why he had opened with Gyarados. Gyarados had excellent coverage.
No matter what A.J. opened with, Gyarados had a way to pressure it. Add Intimidate to the mix, and the opposing Pokémon started out with its Attack lowered by one stage. Leer could drop its Defense by one stage, and Scary Face could cut its Speed by two stages.
"Heh. I figured this would happen." A.J. gave a self-mocking smile and recalled Forretress, choosing to switch.
Reiji's Gyarados knew Flamethrower. One blast was enough to wipe out Forretress. There was no point trying to force that matchup.
"Go, Quagsire!"
"Quagsire?" Reiji looked at it for a moment, then recalled Gyarados. It wasn't that Gyarados couldn't fight it, but his plan of letting one Pokémon carry two others hadn't changed. The group stage was not the place to waste Gyarados's strength.
Against Quagsire and its x4 weakness to Grass, he thought for a second, took a Poké Ball from his belt, and threw it. "You're up, Farfetch'd!"
"Far! Far!" Farfetch'd had been transferred over that morning, so it already knew why it was here. The moment it appeared, it fixed its sharp gaze on Quagsire.
"Farfetch'd? After A.J. switched Pokémon, Reiji has chosen to switch as well. Facing this sharp-eyed Farfetch'd, how will A.J. respond?"
"Farfetch'd…" A.J. realized he had miscalculated. He hadn't known Reiji had a Farfetch'd. Its information was completely unknown, so he decided to use Quagsire to test it first.
This Farfetch'd was the same one the Pokémon hunters had once treated as food. Ever since Fairchild Island, Reiji hadn't paid much attention to its panel. It had been about four or five months since he last checked it.
[Farfetch'd]
[Type: Normal + Flying]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 46.73%]
[Level: 45.99%]
[Ability: Keen Eye/41.55%]
Farfetch'd's potential had stalled at 46, and its level had stalled at 45. If Reiji wanted to raise its potential, all he could do was have it wear a Gem and slowly grind it up over time.
It wasn't that he refused to give Farfetch'd Gems. Farfetch'd just couldn't absorb them quickly. The only option was to let the Gem slowly change its potential, and it was currently carrying a Flying Gem.
After several months, its potential had only risen by 0.7 points. At a little over one point a year, it would take more than ten years to reach 59 potential.
By then, Reiji would already be in his twenties, almost thirty. If he had to wait until Farfetch'd reached Elite Four tier, he might already be a thirty-something old guy. At that point, Farfetch'd would be of limited help to him.
Still, it was perfectly fine for the group stage. Its level was even higher than Butterfree's, and it really had worked hard. Its limited potential was the biggest problem, and there wasn't much Reiji could do about that.
During this time, Farfetch'd had learned quite a few new moves, including Grass-type moves. That was why Reiji had chosen it to fight Quagsire.
...
"Quagsire, Yawn!"
Quagsire stretched lazily and yawned at Farfetch'd, sending a large blue bubble drifting from its mouth.
If Farfetch'd was hit by that bubble, it would become drowsy and fall asleep soon after.
The problem was that the blue bubble was just too slow. There was no way it was catching Farfetch'd.
"Farfetch'd, dodge with Agility, then use Focus Energy!"
"Far!" Seeing how slowly the bubble was moving, Farfetch'd kicked its duck feet into overdrive and blurred across the field, easily avoiding the bubble. It circled Quagsire at high speed and used Focus Energy at the same time.
"Farfetch'd, Leaf Blade!"
Farfetch'd slipped behind Quagsire. The leek in its wing glowed bright green, stretching into a curved blade as it slashed at Quagsire.
Leaf Blade attacked like a sword cut, and its critical-hit rate was one stage higher than most moves.
"Not good. Quagsire, Protect!" The moment A.J. heard Leaf Blade, sweat broke out across his forehead. If that move landed, Quagsire was done.
Quagsire turned at the last second and raised a pale blue Protect barrier, blocking Farfetch'd's Leaf Blade.
A.J. knew this couldn't go on. Right before Protect was about to fade, he shouted, "Quagsire, Counter!"
"Far!" Farfetch'd heard the command before Reiji could react. It immediately changed plans, bit down on its leek, and flapped hard to retreat from Quagsire. Several blades of wind flew from its wings and cut toward Quagsire.
Counter returned double the damage from a physical attack to the same opponent.
Air Slash was a special attack, and it had a 30% chance to make a target flinch if the target had not acted yet.
Counter couldn't reflect Air Slash. Not only did Quagsire fail to counter it, but the wind blades knocked it back and made it flinch.
A flinching Pokémon that had not used a move that turn could not act. The flinch would only wear off once the turn ended.
"Now, Farfetch'd! Leaf Blade!" Reiji let out a breath when he saw Farfetch'd switch moves on its own. He had almost called for it to stop, but there had been no time.
Quagsire was flinching and couldn't move. This was Farfetch'd's opening.
"Far!" Farfetch'd had just pulled back, but now it gripped its leek and rushed forward again. Green light flared across the leek as it prepared to finish Quagsire in one cut.
"Dig! Quagsire, hurry!" A.J. was getting anxious now that Quagsire had fallen behind.
But anxiety changed nothing. Quagsire was still flinching. Farfetch'd swung its leek cleanly through it, and Quagsire had no chance to respond. It froze for a moment, cried out in pain, and slowly collapsed.
"Quagsire is unable to battle. A.J., please recall Quagsire and send out your second Pokémon."
As Quagsire's icon on the big screen turned gray, the referee declared it out. The first battle was over, and the second was about to begin.
"Quagsire, you did well. Get some rest." A.J. comforted Quagsire. It had been hit by a x4 weakness, and with Focus Energy turning Leaf Blade into a guaranteed critical hit, it made sense that Quagsire couldn't endure it.
After recalling Quagsire, he took the earlier Poké Ball and threw it again. "Forretress, I'm counting on you…"
The moment Forretress appeared, Reiji recalled Farfetch'd and sent Gyarados back out.
"Gyaaa!"
"Again?" A.J. was speechless. Every time he tried to use Forretress, Reiji refused to give it even the smallest chance.
He recalled Forretress again. This was the second time he had withdrawn it, using up two of his switching chances.
Then he took another Poké Ball from his belt and sent out his ace: Sandslash.
"Sandslash, huh?" Reiji smiled and recalled Gyarados. He had plenty of Pokémon that could handle Sandslash. He took out a new Poké Ball and threw it. "Staryu, you're up!"
"Staryu? Not Kingler?" A.J. let out a quiet breath when he saw Staryu. As long as it wasn't that Kingler, he still had a chance. If Reiji had sent out Kingler, there would be no point struggling.
"Sandslash, Defense Curl into Rollout!"
"That move again?" Reiji shook his head. A.J. really did like using that combo. In that case, Reiji had his own answer. "Staryu, jump onto a stone pillar and use Gravity!"
A low hum spread across the field.
"Hya!" The moment Staryu landed on the stone pillar, a Gravity field formed around it. Sandslash had just rolled into the field when it was slammed into the ground, leaving only half of its round body above the surface. The other half was buried in the rock.
A.J. should have been grateful that Sandslash was a Ground-type. If it had been a Flying-type or a Pokémon with Levitate, Gravity would have dragged it straight to the ground and left it unable to move.
Gravity affected both sides. While it pinned Sandslash down, Staryu was pinned too, and moving became difficult.
"Slash…" Sandslash slowly crawled out of the pit. Under Staryu's Gravity, it could barely walk. Running was out of the question.
It had A.J.'s weighted training to thank for that. Without it, Sandslash wouldn't have been able to move at all, let alone walk.
The fact that Sandslash could still move proved that it had been trained well. A Sandslash that could act under Gravity was not something to underestimate.
"That's it, Sandslash! Keep walking and take it down!"
"You still think you can reach it? That's a little too easy." Reiji smiled and called to Staryu. "Brine!"
"Hya!" Staryu couldn't move, that much was true, but it could still spray water. The water itself didn't need to be powerful. It just had to reach Sandslash's feet.
As water streamed from Staryu's points and flowed under Sandslash, Reiji gave the next command. "Ice Beam!"
"Hya!" Staryu stopped spraying water from its upper point, then fired Ice Beam at the ground below the stone pillar. Sandslash, standing in the water, was frozen in place. The ice spread until it covered Sandslash's entire body, and only then did Staryu stop using Ice Beam.
"Sandslash has been frozen solid! How will A.J. break out of this?" the host shouted, trying to push the crowd's excitement higher. The battle hadn't been flashy, but it was a real contest of strength and execution.
"Sandslash, Dig!" A.J. knew Sandslash would never reach Staryu by walking. Even if it broke through the ice, it could barely move under Gravity and would only get frozen again. The only way out was Dig.
The longer Sandslash stayed frozen, the more strength it would lose.
He had to get Sandslash out of the Gravity field and away from the frozen ground. Otherwise, it would never be able to use its real strength.
Crack. Crack.
"Slash!" Sandslash heard the command and immediately shattered the ice around it. It raised its sharp claws, dug through the frozen surface, and burrowed deep into the rock layer below.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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