Tentacruel felt the Thunder coming before Yoshiki even gave an order. It jumped onto a platform to dodge, but the lightning struck right after it, splitting the platform in half and sending both pieces sinking into the water.
With nowhere left to stand, Tentacruel fell back into the pool. The next bolt hit right beside it, and Tentacruel started convulsing almost instantly.
By the time Gyarados stopped using Thunder, Tentacruel was floating in the pool, foaming at the mouth with its eyes rolled back. It was done.
"Tentacruel is unable to battle. Yoshiki, please recall Tentacruel and send out your third Pokémon."
"Damn it." Yoshiki clenched his teeth and recalled Tentacruel.
First Magnezone, now Tentacruel. Both had gone down way too easily. Was his opponent really that strong, or was he just that weak?
No. He was the Trainer who had beaten Professor Oak's grandson. How could he be weak? That didn't make sense.
Yoshiki still hadn't figured it out. Both of his Pokémon had been hit by big moves with type advantage behind them.
Even Pokémon at the same level would struggle to take that kind of hit, and his two Pokémon hadn't even reached Advanced tier. Almost Advanced tier was not the same thing. The gap was huge.
Raising a baby Pokémon to Advanced tier in two months wasn't that simple. Just going from Elite tier to Advanced tier could take more than two months by itself.
Reiji's Gyarados had evolved two months ago. It had been level 31 back then, and now it was only level 42, just barely stepping into Advanced tier.
These rookies wanted Advanced-tier Pokémon in two months? They were dreaming. Even with resources poured in nonstop, three months to half a year was a more realistic minimum.
Yoshiki only had one Pokémon left. He knew he was probably going to lose, but he still threw the Poké Ball.
"Golem, I'm counting on you."
"Yoshiki's final Pokémon is his ace, Golem! On this Water Field, can Golem somehow turn the match around despite the bad matchup?"
Golem had a x4 weakness to Water, so Reiji didn't bother switching. He called straight to Gyarados. "Gyarados, hit the platform under Golem. Hydro Pump!"
"Gyaa!" Gyarados aimed at the white floating platform beneath Golem and fired Hydro Pump.
The blast slammed into the platform. It was already unstable, and under the force of Hydro Pump, it flipped like a tiny boat in a storm. Golem dropped straight into the water.
"Grrk… grrk…" Golem was already scared of water. Now that it was in the pool, it immediately started drowning.
"I give up! I give up!" Yoshiki panicked the moment he saw Golem struggling and shouted his surrender to the referee.
"Gyarados, get it out," Reiji said once he heard the forfeit.
"Gya!" Gyarados dived into the water and slapped Golem out with its tail. Golem flew out of the pool and landed outside the Water Field, coughing up mouthfuls of water.
It wasn't that Golem couldn't swim at all. It had panicked the moment it fell in, and with Gyarados still looming nearby, it had been too scared to calm down. That was why it started drowning.
"This group stage match is over. Yoshiki has forfeited, so the winner is Reiji! Congratulations to Reiji for advancing to the knockout rounds. The knockout matches will be held in the main stadium."
With the host's announcement, the Water Field match came to an end. Reiji recalled Gyarados and left through the competitor tunnel with Eevee.
This time, he had used Hanhan and Gyarados, and the match had been even easier than the earlier ones. He hadn't felt any pressure at all. What he didn't know was that his opponents had felt plenty. Now he just had to see who he would face in the first knockout round.
...
"Meowth, that guy's strong. He won again…"
"Good thing we didn't try to steal his Pokémon back then. We definitely couldn't beat him…"
"Meowth, he's the nice guy who bought us mushroom instant noodles when we were at our lowest!"
"Hey, are you still selling cold drinks over there?"
"Meowth! Coming, coming! Please wait a moment!"
The Team Rocket trio ran right past Ash, but Ash's group didn't recognize them. They were still talking about the match. They hadn't missed a single one of Reiji's battles.
"He's so strong. That guy beat Gary, but Reiji took him down that easily…"
"Ash, it's not like you only found out today that he's strong. He hasn't even gone all out in the group stage."
"I haven't gone all out either," Ash said, clenching his fist the moment Misty looked down on him. "I still have Charizard."
Misty burst out laughing. "That giant fire lizard doesn't even listen to you. You can't command it at all. No chance."
"Damn it, Misty…" When Ash got to this point, it usually meant he had run out of things to say. All he could do was grit his teeth.
"Okay, okay, stop fighting. Let's get some cold drinks and cool off." Brock called over the Team Rocket trio to buy drinks for the three of them, but when he saw Jessie, he paused. For some reason, he felt nothing. It was like he had seen her somewhere before.
"Here are your drinks, meow…"
"I remember now. You're Team Ro—"
Before Brock could finish, Meowth was grabbed and dragged away with its mouth covered. In the blink of an eye, the Team Rocket trio had vanished.
At least they had left the drinks behind. Ash, Misty, and Brock each took one and kept watching the next match. Ash's match was later in the afternoon, so they still had time to eat lunch before heading over.
At the same time, Gary stood in the shadow of the spectator tunnel and watched Reiji's match to the end. His fists clenched, relaxed, then clenched again. In the end, he only let out a quiet sigh and left the Water Field.
He had seen it with his own eyes now. The Trainer who beat him had been helpless against the person he had been chasing in his head. The gap between them was real, and it was huge.
...
At the Rock Field side venue, Tania had also watched Reiji's match on the screen. He really was getting stronger. Back during the Gym battle, that "stupid fish" hadn't been anywhere near this vicious.
That made sense, though. Back then, Gyarados had only been Elite tier, while Venusaur was Advanced tier. Tania had lost anyway, and then got chased around by a crowd of people yelling at her.
Sometimes winning was too easy, and trying to lose even twice was impossible. Either you froze up the moment you saw a pretty girl, or you turned into some shameless simp. Honestly, Reiji had had enough of it.
He had sworn he would never become a simp. All he wanted was to lie around and fish. He was so close to living that dream, so why did nobody believe him?
...
Also at the Rock Field side venue, Shun watched Reiji's match on the big screen. Reiji-nii was as steady as ever. He gave his opponent no chance at all.
After Reiji's match ended, Shun's own match was about to begin.
His opponent was Paul.
It really did feel like fate.
He hadn't lost their previous three-on-three battle, and he wasn't going to lose this one either. His bond with his Pokémon couldn't lose to a Trainer who treated Pokémon like tools.
When Shun entered the field, the crowd cheered for him. Over the last few days, he had become almost as popular as Reiji.
That was natural. He was Bruno's disciple, so people were already paying attention. Add the fact that he was a commoner Trainer, and plenty of spectators wanted to see him do well.
Paul was nowhere near as popular. From his earlier matches, everyone had seen him as a Trainer who didn't care how his Pokémon felt.
Most spectators believed in the League's usual message, so they disliked Trainers like him. Paul heard the boos from the stands and ignored them. As far as he was concerned, Pokémon only needed to be strong. Feelings were pointless.
"On the red side for this Rock Field match, we have Paul from Sinnoh. On the green side, we have Shun from the Orange Archipelago…"
"We've heard that Shun is the disciple of Bruno of the Elite Four, and he is one of the favorites to win this Indigo Plateau Conference. Let's see what kind of battle the disciple of the Fighting-type Elite Four member will bring us today."
Being an Elite Four member's disciple brought attention, but it also brought pressure. If someone like that lost, people would start questioning the Elite Four member's judgment.
"Go, Gyarados!"
"Go, Breloom!"
"There it is! Paul's first Pokémon is Gyarados, while Shun's first Pokémon is Breloom!"
"Are you going to switch?" Paul compared the matchup at a glance and smiled slightly at Shun.
"No." Shun knew the type matchup was bad, but he wasn't switching. Switching now wouldn't fix the disadvantage. This was the price of misreading the opener. "Breloom, stay sharp. Don't let it scare you."
"Bree! Bree!" Breloom nodded to its Trainer. After a few deep breaths, it finally steadied itself. It couldn't embarrass Shun here.
"Gyarados, Rain Dance."
The sky was already dark and rainy, so Gyarados's Rain Dance took hold fast. Heavy rain began pouring over the field.
"Breloom, Leech Seed!"
"Bree!" Breloom had just fired the seeds when Paul called the next move.
"Hurricane."
The wind roared across the field.
Hurricane was a wide-area move. It blew Breloom's Leech Seed away at once, and Breloom almost went with it. It dropped low on all fours and dug into the rocks beneath it, barely holding on.
But Hurricane was aimed right at Breloom. If Shun didn't find a way out, it would get blown away sooner or later.
"Dig! Breloom, hurry!"
Breloom heard Shun's shout and immediately dug into the ground, finally escaping the Hurricane. With a x4 weakness to Flying, it couldn't afford to keep taking that wind head-on.
As soon as Breloom went underground, Paul changed tactics. Gyarados fired Hydro Pump into the hole, then followed with Ice Beam, trying to freeze the entire tunnel.
"Not good. Breloom, get out!"
The ground burst open.
Breloom climbed out, followed by a jet of water. The water froze right behind it, catching Breloom's feet in ice.
"Breloom, break the ice!"
"I'll help you." Paul smiled and raised his hand. "Hurricane."
This time, Breloom had no footing. Hurricane ripped it away and slammed it toward a stone pillar. It grabbed on tight, clinging to the pillar as the wind dragged at its body, trying to use the stone as cover until the Hurricane passed.
Paul wasn't going to give it that chance. His style was ruthless and fast. He changed moves immediately.
"Icy Wind."
Icy Wind was an Ice-type move, and Breloom had a x2 weakness to it.
Cold air swept across the field. With the rain still falling, Breloom froze over in no time.
"Breloom, break the ice!"
"Heh. Struggling to the end." Paul swept his hand down again, completely sure of the finish. "Flamethrower. End it."
"Breloom!" Shun knew there was nothing he could do. All he could do was shout as Breloom's block of ice melted and steamed away in the fire. When the flames cleared, Breloom dropped to the ground, scorched black.
After taking both Ice and Fire moves with type disadvantage, Breloom couldn't hold on anymore. It fainted.
"Breloom is unable to battle. Shun, please recall Breloom."
Under the referee's urging, Shun recalled Breloom and quietly told it it had done well. Then he took out his second Poké Ball and threw it.
"Electabuzz, Thunder!"
Facing Electabuzz, Paul still refused to switch. He had been holding this in for a while. He wanted to prove that feelings were useless. Strong Pokémon didn't need bonds. Bonds were nothing.
But in the rain, Gyarados couldn't last long against Electabuzz's Thunder. Soon enough, black smoke poured from its mouth, and it collapsed unconscious.
Paul recalled Gyarados, gritting his teeth. Fighting against type disadvantage really was hard.
So he threw out his next Pokémon.
"Onix!"
"Onix? Should I recall Electabuzz?" Shun looked up at the stands, then at the big screen. The rain had stopped. Breloom's icon had gone gray. Then he saw Paul's mocking smile.
He knew what that smile meant.
Go on, switch. Your bond with your Pokémon is worth that much? You won't even face a bad type matchup? Pathetic.
Shun clenched his teeth and tightened his fist. He couldn't switch. Even if Electabuzz had a terrible matchup against Onix, he couldn't switch here.
Reiji-nii was probably watching him from somewhere. Bruno was probably watching too. He couldn't embarrass them.
"Electabuzz, Quick Attack! Get in close and use Ice Punch!"
"Good. Onix, Earthquake."
Onix slammed its tail into the ground.
The shockwave tore across the field and hit Electabuzz before it could get close, throwing it backward.
"Earthquake again."
The ground under Electabuzz split open as more tremors rolled through the field. It couldn't keep its footing and fell straight into one of the cracks.
Earthquake hit even harder underground. With Ground already having type advantage, Electabuzz was unconscious by the time it was pulled out.
"Electabuzz…" Shun held the Poké Ball in trembling hands. Electabuzz was inside, knocked out. One wrong read at the start had dragged the whole match further and further out of reach.
Onix hadn't even taken damage. It had beaten Electabuzz with nothing but stamina spent. What was Shun supposed to use to turn this around? How was he supposed to win from here?
If Reiji had been there, he probably would have sighed. This kid's pride was too strong.
As for Reiji, his own pride had already been worn down in the mess of his past life. He had no personal integrity left, only a shameless way of surviving.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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