Harley opened his mouth, wanting to say something. Then he fell silent. In the end, he did not make a sound.
He thought to himself, maybe this man is just like me? Did he put a stronger Pokémon right at the front to steal a surprise win?If that is true, then this man is very tricky!
He told himself to stay calm at a time like this. Harley took a deep breath. He called back Wigglytuff and pulled out his second Poké Ball.
"You are pretty good," he said. He did not forget to mock his opponent. "I can't believe you used a trick like that. Fine, I really did lose the first round, but you won't be so lucky next time!"
Natsui looked at him with a confused expression after hearing those words.
What trick did I use?
Eevee was actually the weakest Pokémon he had right now. This was after Feebas, Beldum, and Torchic had all evolved.
If Harley could not even beat Eevee, he should look at himself first.Why was he blaming me instead?What a strange way of thinking.
Natsui shook his head and ignored him. Harley had made the rules, so even though Eevee won, Natsui still called it back. He took out his second Poké Ball.
This time, Harley still did not want his Pokémon to appear first. He continued to wait for Natsui to make the first move.
After the first round, Natsui was already used to it.If Harley released a Pokémon first, Natsui would think he was planning something!
With a flash of blue light, Natsui's second Pokémon appeared in front of Harley.
It was a Milotic. However, after seeing this Pokémon, Harley paused for a moment.
As for rarity, he rarely saw anyone with a Milotic. Robert was one Trainer who had one. Other than that, he had only seen one or two during his travels a few years ago. Counting this one, he had seen fewer than five Milotic in his life.
Most people knew they evolved from Feebas. After evolving, they became very beautiful. However, it was surprising that Trainers with this Pokémon were still very rare.
Because he had seen them so rarely, he did not know much about this species. But he was sure that this Pokémon had to be very strong!
As for the Pokémon in his own hand...
He quickly weighed it in his head. After looking at Natsui, he put that Poké Ball back into his bag and took out a new one!
Changing Pokémon like this was cheating.
At this, Max shouted to protest. Even Misty started booing.
Harley did not care about their mocking at all. To him, as long as he could win, that was enough!
Without changing his expression, Harley held the new Poké Ball and opened it. He released his Pokémon. A second later, a Manectric appeared in front of Milotic.
Seeing this Pokémon, Misty booed even louder. Even Ash, Brock, and May were unhappy.
He had specifically switched to an Electric-type Pokémon to fight Natsui's Water-type. He looked completely shameless about it. He really had no shame at all!
However, since Natsui did not seem to mind, they did not say much.
In fact, Natsui really did not care about Harley switching Pokémon. After all, it did not matter who he fought. Whether it was an Electric-type or any other type, it only meant he needed to work a little harder.
Also, he liked letting his Pokémon practice against types they were weak to. He wanted to do this before the Ever Grande Conference.
After all, more practice would help them stay calm when it really mattered.
The main reason was that he understood Harley better now. He knew what kind of person Harley was. Showing that he was annoyed would not help. Even if he told Harley that he was breaking the rules, Harley would only laugh at him. It would not do anything.
In that case, the smartest thing was to defeat him and put him in his place through actions!
With both Pokémon ready, the second battle began.
It had to be said that Manectric had a type advantage. Even if there was a gap in strength, the high damage from that advantage made Natsui stay very careful.
But that was all.
A double-damage advantage was not enough to decide the whole match. Since Electric-type attacks were dangerous, he just had to make sure Manectric did not land them!
In this battle, Milotic did not use Water-type moves at the start. That could make the field harder to control. Instead, it first used Safeguard on itself. This meant that even if an electric attack hit it, it would not be paralyzed. Then, it used Twister. This was to damage Manectric and keep it from clearly seeing Milotic's position.
Under the effect of Twister, Manectric had to run back and forth to avoid the wind. Once Twister was released, it was no longer directly controlled, so its path was easy to judge. With its great speed, Manectric escaped the Twister after taking only one hit.
However, just as it escaped, a powerful Hydro Pump struck it right in the face!
Not using Water-type moves carelessly did not mean never using them. It meant waiting for the best chance to catch the opponent off guard with one heavy hit!
Manectric was caught by surprise. It was hit directly in the face by Hydro Pump. The force of the attack sent it flying backward. It almost crashed into the boundary line!
Of course, with Harley's shamelessness, he would probably keep fighting even if it went out of bounds. It did not change much.
Still, that result made Harley feel nervous.
They had only just started. Why did it already look like it was going to end the same way as the last round?
"Manectric, what are you doing? Hurry up and shock it!!"
Attacks did not hit just because a Trainer wanted them to.
In an open field like this, many things affected whether a move could hit. These things included condition, mindset, distance, position, and timing. A Pokémon would not just stand there waiting to be hit. This was not a turn-based game. Just like Natsui had done, Hydro Pump only landed after Twister distracted the opponent. You could not just shock the other side whenever you wanted.
However, after hearing its Trainer's command, Manectric started running. It did its best to fire Electric-type attacks at Milotic.
It used Spark, Discharge, and Thunder Fang. Although Milotic dodged most of them, Manectric still managed to land one hit.
But this was when the Trainer's planning showed its importance.
Because of Safeguard, Milotic did not become paralyzed even after being hit by the electric attack. This allowed it to keep fighting Manectric.
Milotic moved close to Manectric. First, it used Aqua Tail to knock Manectric back. Then, before Manectric could use electricity again, Milotic used Surf!
A massive wave formed instantly in front of Milotic. It rose high and crashed down heavily. It pushed Manectric under the water. It also dragged it into the wave and washed it far away.
Just like Fire-type Pokémon, many land-based Electric-type Pokémon were very afraid of water. This was especially true for Pokémon with fur. Once they fell into the water, their fur became soaked. This made them slower and affected their electricity.
Clearly, this dog-like Pokémon with the triangle on its head suffered badly from that!
Some dogs were good at swimming, but a dog that suddenly fell into the water could still panic. Even though it could swim a little, Manectric could not break free from such a huge wave. It was carried away and rolled in the water. It was washed out of the field.
Splash...
The huge wave rushed all the way to the Trainer's area on the other side. Only then did its force finally disappear.
Manectric was washed right to Harley's feet. When it looked up, it could see Harley's face. His face was twisted with anger and frustration.
"Get back in there and fight!"
From where it had landed, Manectric was clearly out of bounds. But just as Natsui had expected, Harley did not care about that. This battle was a personal grudge match between two people. There was no need to talk about rules. Because of this, Harley ignored the boundary and told Manectric to get up.
However, Natsui had already expected this.
At the end of the wave, Milotic was also riding the water. In a very short time, it was already behind Manectric. While Manectric was still trying to stand up, Milotic used Aqua Tail again right in front of Harley. With a loud smack, it struck Manectric hard across the face. This knocked the Pokémon unconscious instantly.
This hit humiliated Harley. It felt as if Milotic had slapped Harley across the face too.
The corner of his eye twitched. Looking at the Milotic right in front of him, he felt furious and frustrated.
He felt sick and suffocated. He was fuming!
He had already lost two rounds in a row, and Natsui had not even used Gengar. By now, he understood that his Pokémon were not on the same level as this man's Pokémon.
Dammit, I didn't think he would be this strong!
What was the point of fighting anymore?
Harley knew that he had picked a fight with the wrong person. A wave of regret rose in his heart.
Right now, after that slap from Milotic, his spirit had completely broken. He only wanted to leave this place as fast as possible!
"I... I just remembered I have something to do. Let's call today's battle a draw for now. I'm leaving!"
Without giving anyone time to react, Harley took out a Poké Ball and called back Manectric. After saying those words, he turned around and hurried away!
He looked as if something terrifying was behind him and ready to catch him!
He even sped up. In just a few steps, he had vanished from everyone's sight!
"He... he actually just left like that?"
After seeing him disappear, Ash and the others finally understood what had happened. They looked at each other and did not know whether to laugh or cry.
They had expected Harley to lose. They knew there was a huge gap in strength between Natsui and Harley. But they really had not expected Harley to give up and run away!
They had agreed to fight five rounds, but they only finished two. Harley really did not have any chance to win. For someone like him, running away seemed normal.
If they had really fought to the end and he lost all five rounds, that would have been a true embarrassment. He probably would not be able to face these people again.
At least now, because the battle was not finished, he could say that he and Natsui had tied. No one could do anything about that.
It was certain that after this battle, he would never fight Natsui again.
"If he's gone, then he's gone." Natsui was still calm. He called back Milotic and patted its head. Then he said to Ash and the others, "Even though we didn't finish, I believe he won't bother May anymore. From that point of view, I've already reached my goal. As for the battle with him, it was just okay. It didn't really give much training anyway."
After hearing him say that, the others felt it was fine as long as the goal had been reached. Only Misty was still a little angry.
"He got off too easily! You really should have beaten all of his Pokémon to show him how strong you are!"
Since she was completely on Natsui's side, she did not like anyone saying bad things about him. Also, Harley had been bothering May. Because of that, Misty's impression of Harley was very bad. She was not satisfied with this ending.
"Don't worry." Natsui smiled at her. "Pokémon Contests are held in many places. I'm sure we'll run into him again. When that happens, we can just go after him ourselves."
Speaking so casually showed his confidence. He was much stronger than his opponent.
Without that confidence, he would not have used these Pokémon against Harley.
It was because he knew he would not lose that he did not even get angry. In his eyes, Harley was not important. They were not even on the same level. Why would he care about Harley's words?
Looking at it that way, Natsui really had reached a high level now.
Based on what he had shown, only the Elite Four and regional Champions could truly be compared to him.
The two battles took less than five minutes. For Natsui, this was not even enough exercise to help him digest his food.
As they talked and laughed, they walked toward the dormitory gates. They quickly forgot about Harley. They acted as if what had happened had never happened at all.
When they reached the entrance, the group split into two teams again.
May had to find a place to practice for tomorrow's main event. In the same way, Natsui and Ash did not want to waste time either. They discussed it and decided to find an empty place to prepare for the upcoming Ever Grande Conference.
Max and Brock stayed by May's side. Misty looked at May and Natsui before she chose to stay by Natsui's side.
Even though Natsui and Ash were only practicing, she could not be careless.
Lisia had already tried to take him away once. This time, she had to watch Natsui with her own eyes before she could feel at ease!
That kind of thing would definitely not happen a second time!