'Of course'
Eric thought, as he saw his matchup for the Quarter-Finals.
It was evening by the time the quarter finals kicked off. The crowd had multiplied in size compared to the morning, as everyone was interested in seeing the quarter finals.
Soon, it was Eric's turn.
"We met sooner than I thought"
Opposite to him stood Ethan, who greeted him casually. Eric nodded, but didn't reply back as he calmly studied Ethan.
Soon, the referee signaled the start of the match as the crowd roared in excitement. Both trainers sent out a pokemon at the same time.
Poliwag Vs Venonat!
Pokémon: Venonat
Gender: Male
Level: 27
Type: Bug/Poison
Ability: Compound Eyes
Held Item: None
Potential: Green
Moves: Tackle, Disable, Foresight, Supersonic, Confusion, Poison Powder, Psybeam, Stun spore, Signal Bean, Protect, Toxic, Venoshock, Toxic Spikes, Agility, Bug Bite
Level 27! It was a massive level gap, as Poliwag was just Level 18.
"Poliwag, Muddy Water."
"Venonat, Counter with Psybeam!"
Poliwag released a big wave of Muddy Water, but Venonat countered by releasing translucent waves of Psychic energy that messed with the flow, and dispersed the attack. The Psychic beam didn't stop just there, as it passed through the water and towards Poliwag.
"Dodge, and counter with Water Pulse!"
"Venoshock!"
Poliwag used Water Pulse, but again it was countered by Venonat fired a glob of Poisonous energy to counter. Venonat didn't stop after just that, as he continued firing more globs.
Venoshock seemed to be at the intermediate level.
"Poliwag, run sideways and dodge them. Deflect those you can't dodge with a water gun!"
Poliwag ran, dodged, and deflected most of them, but there were so many that he was hit by one of them.
Poliwag was knocked back, and Venonat didn't miss this chance; he immediately used Psywave on the air-borne Poliwag, nearly knocking him unconscious.
The gap between both, their levels and experience, was too big.
However Poliwag wasn't done. He got up, eyes burning with determination.
"Poli!"
Eric was quite happy with Poliwag's fighting spirit. Now it was his job as a trainer to not let him down.
"That's the spirit, Poliwag. Show them what you are made of. Use Muddy Water again!"
"Is that the only strategy you have with Poliwag? Venonat, same as before. Use Psywave!"
Eric ignored Ethan's comment as he calmly watched the battlefield. Poliwag once again used Muddy Water, and it was once again dispersed by Psywave.
But this time, Poliwag was nowhere to be seen! It was only when Venonat was hit by a Water Pulse that Ethan understood what happened.
When Poliwag had used Muddy Water, he had jumped into the wave himself. He then moved with the dispersed water, and hit Venonat from the side!
Eric had taught Poliwag 2 strategies with muddy water. Usually, pokemon dodge by jumping up. Poliwag then counters with an attack while they are mid air.
In case that strategy fails and the opponent counters in a different manner, Eric taught Poliwag to use this strategy the next time he commands to use Muddy Water.
"Poliwag, don't let up. Bubble Beam!"
"Venonat, Confusion!"
Poliwag hit Venonat again while she was recovering from the previous impact, but Venonat also countered with confusion, knocking Poliwag out.
"Poliwag is unable to continue, Venonat wins!"
"You did good, Poliwag. Now rest."
Eric returned Poliwag to his ball and sent out Spearow, who instantly used Aerial Ace the moment she came out!
"Venonat, Knock her down with Venoshock!"
Venonat fired multiple globs of poison at Spearow, but she had accelerated a lot already. Spearow moved slightly and dodged 2 Venoshock, hitting Venonat before he could use a third one.
Venonat was sent flying.
Spearow followed up with peck but she was assaulted by waves of Psychic energy and fell down.
Venonat had used Confusion!
Both Pokemon got back up, but now Spearow had lost her initial momentum. It won't be so easy to get near Venonat now.
"Spearow, fly up!"
"Venonat! Venoshock!"
Both trainers gave the order simultaneously. Spearow flew up, making it a lot easier for her to dodge the incoming attacks.
In the end, Venonat wasted a lot of energy trying to knock her down without any success.
It was then that Eric asked her to dive down while using Peck.
Spearow smoothly navigated through the incoming attacks and reached Venonat.
"Venonat, Protect then Psybeam!"
"Spearow, Protect then Aerial Ace!"
Venonat blocked Peck with protect, then used Psywave which was Blocked by Spearow's protect.
Spearow then took this chance and sped up, landing the Aerial Ace on Venonat and knocking her back.
"Once more, Aerial Ace!"
"Counter with Signal Beam!"
Both Pokemon landed their moves. Both were knocked back and lay on the ground.
In the end, Spearow barely managed to get back up, but Venonat stayed down.
"Venonat can no longer battle, Spearow wins!"
"You did great Venonat, now leave it to us."
"Good job Spearow. Now gather all your energy."
"Spearow!"
Ethan recalled Venonat and released his next Pokemon.
Pokémon: Graveler
Gender: Male
Level: 26
Type: Rock/Ground
Ability: Sturdy
Held Item: None
Potential: Deep Green
Moves: Tackle, Defense Curl, Rock Polish, rollout, magnitude, rock throw, smack down, earthquake, bulldoze, magnet rise, counter, charge beam
'Well that's not good' Eric thought as he ordered Spearow to use Steel wing.
Spearow was a terrible match up against Graveller. In the end, she landed Steel Wing and was knocked out by a rock throw.
Even though it was Super effective, Steel wing didn't do much damage. Graveler's defense and level were too high.
Now Ethan had 2 pokemon left, while Eric only had Gastly. The crowd was already leaning towards Ethan.
Eric, however, looked calm as he recalled Spearow and sent out Gastly.
The moment Gastly appeared, the atmosphere around the battlefield instantly changed.
An eerie feeling filled the whole arena, making the crowd gulp collectively.
"Gastly, finish this off."
Without wasting any time, Gastly fired 2 Strong Ghost balls at Graveler. Graveller tried to block them by creating a shield from Rock type energy, but he was unfortunately way too slow.
Graveler stood no chance. He couldn't match Gastly's speed, his Ground-type moves were ineffective, and he wasn't good at long ranged attacks.
What followed could only be described as bullying.
In the end, Gastly dominated the 'fight' completely. He didn't get hit once and finished Graveler off.
"Graveler can no longer battle, Gastly wins!"
The crowd fell silent for a heartbeat, stunned by the sheer one-sidedness of the match.
Then, as one, they erupted into cheers.
This was an expected outcome for Eric. It was just a very unfavourable matchup for Graveler. He still smiled as he looked at Ethan.
"Oh boy. Guess it all comes to you now, partner."
Ethan recalled Graveler and sent out Scyther.
Eric looked seriously at Scyther.
Gastly Vs Scyther.
The winner decided who will get to move on to the semi-finals.