Gastly immediately sprang into action the moment he came out.
"Twin Ghost Ball!"
"Murkrow, dodge then use Dark Pulse!"
Gastly created 2 Ghost Balls but didn't fire them simultaneously.
He fired the first one, then just as soon as Murkrow dodged, he fired the second, predicting Murkrow's movements and giving him no time to dodge.
Murkrow was hit and sent flying.
"Finish it now, Gastly."
Gastly fired multiple Ghost Balls at the falling Murkrow.
"Dark Pulse, Blow them away!"
While falling, Murkrow fired a blast of dark energy in Gastly's direction. That blast blew away the Ghost Balls and reached Gastly, who barely dodged in time.
"Ghost Ball"
"Snarl"
As Gastly fired Ghost ball, Murkrow surprisingly didn't dodge. Instead, he countered with Snarl, which was a sound-based attack.
Murkrow was hit and fell down.
Gastly, who couldn't get out of range in time, was partially hit.
"Murkrow can no longer battle! Gastly wins!"
Iris recalled Murkrow and swiftly sent out her next Pokemon.
Pokémon: Skarmory
Gender: Female
Level: 25
Type: Steel/Flying
Ability: Sturdy
Held item: None
Potential: Blue
Moves: Peck, leer, Sand Attack, Fury Attack, Wing Attack, Steel Wing, Metal Claw, Agility, Slash, Sky Attack, Air Cutter, Curse, Whirlwind, Roost
Another pokemon with Blue potential. This one was stronger than Murkrow.
"Skarmory, use Steel Wing!"
"Gastly, spin around and use Clear smog. Cover the whole area."
"Gas!"
Gastly used Clear smog to cover the sky in a smog, making him hard to spot. But Skarmory used this time to close the distance, and used Steel Wing.
"Protect, then Will-O-Wisp."
Gastly quickly set up a barrier that blocked Steel wing, then flew back and used Will-O-Wisp.
"Skarr"
"Hex, now!"
"Protect, then blow away the smog with Whirlwind. "
Skarmory blocked the Hex, then used Whirlwind to blow away the smog. But Gastly was not in his sight.
"Hex"
Gastly had flown behind Skarmory without him knowing, and used Hex. Skarmory was assaulted by Ghostly energy that entered his body, and mixed with the burn to cause massive damage.
"Skarmory! Use Steel wing and then gain some distance!"
Iris shouted in slight panic.
Skarmory shot towards Gastly's direction using Steel Wing, which Gastly dodged by moving downward. Skarmory's goal was not hitting Gastly however, but to gain some distance and gather his bearings. Which he did.
"Air cutter!"
Skarmory launched numerous wind slashes at Gastly. There were too many of them to dodge, so Gastly instead counter attacked with Hex.
"Skarrr!"
Skarmory struggled to stay in the air, as he was now terribly wounded. Taking 2 Hex's while inflicted with burn was not a joke.
"Finish it, Quick Ghost Ball!"
"Air cutter again!"
Knowing Skarmory couldn't dodge, Iris chose to exchange blows again.
In the end, Skarmory was knocked down while Gastly took some damage.
"Skarmory can no longer battle, Gastly wins!"
Now, it was a 1 V 1, and Gastly had energy to spare. The most damage he took was from getting partially hit by Snarl. He was still at more than 60% health.
"You did good Skarmory. Now rest."
Iris then sent out her next Pokemon, and Eric knit his brows the moment he saw it.
Pokémon: Pawniard
Gender: Male
Level: 29
Type: Steel/Dark
Ability: Defiant
Held item: None
Potential: Deep Blue
Moves: Leer, Scratch, Fury Cutter, Assurance, Metal Claw, Scary Face, Torment, thunder wave, low sweep, Retaliate, Snarl, Swords Dance, Poison Jab, Dark Pulse, X-scissor, Sucker Punch, Headbutt, Mean Look, Quick Guard, Protect, Foul Play, Payback
A Pawniard. Its Dark/Steel typing completely supressed Gastly's Ghost/Poison typing. Not only that, its potential was the same as Gastly and was at a much higher level.
Eric looked grim. He didn't stand a chance here. Will he give up?
No.
He'll fight to the end.
"Pawniard, end it with Foul Play!"
Pawniard blitzed towards Gastly with incredible speed and jumped, reaching Gastly who was mid-air. He was much faster than Gastly.
"Gastly, Dodge down then Confuse Ray!"
Gastly barely dodged and used Confuse Ray, but Pawniard used his arm that was coated in Dark type energy to cut it.
"Use Ghost Ball and then gain some distance."
Gastly fired 2 Ghost balls at Pawniard who use in mid air. Pawniard surrounded himself in dark type energy, negating the attacks entirely.
"Dark Pulse!"
"Dodge then Confuse Ray again!"
Gastly dodged the Dark Pulse and fired back with confuse ray, this time hitting Pawniard.
"Now, Will-O-Wisp!"
"Pawniard, close the distance and use Assurance!"
Gastly waited for the right moment as Pawniard came up to him. Pawniard was not seeing double and was disoriented due to confusion. He attacked the wrong Gastly, hitting nothing but empty air.
That's when Gastly chose to strike, landing the Will-O-Wisp on him.
Pawniard's defiant ability activates, making him surge with power. Eric didn't mind that, as even before Pawniard could knock Gastly out with one move. This didn't change anything.
"Gastly, into the shadows, then use Hex!"
Even the burn amplified Hex didn't cause much damage as Pawniard used his dark energy to counter it. But it did cause some damage.
Eric had deployed a hit-and-run stall tactic against Pawniard. This was the best he could do, as a single attack could knock Gastly out.
From here, a very frustrating battle took place for Iris.
"Foul Play"
Miss
"Hex"
"Assurance"
Miss
"Confuse Ray"
Iris was getting increasingly frustrated. Her Pawniard was stronger, and had an absolute advantage over Gastly. On paper, this battle should have been long over.
This wounded Iris's pride as a trainer.
It was unacceptable.
This tactic had its limits unfortunately. The damage Gastly was doing with Hex and Will-O-Wisp was not enough.
Eventually, Pawniard landed a Foul Play while under confusion, and Gastly was sent flying. He did his best to stay conscious, but the damage was too much and he passed out.
"Gastly can no longer continue, Pawniard wins! And with that, contestant Iris moves on to the finals," the referee declared.
"What a battle! Eric fought hard and gave it his all, but in the end he couldn't overcome the strength of Pawniard. After an intense match, Iris Belmont has won and advanced to the finals!"
The announcer's voice boomed.
Iris felt relieved, but also not satisfied with how this battle went. What should have been an easy victory turned into a long drawn out one.
Had Pawniard not completely suppressed Gastly with his type advantage…She did not want to think about it.
She felt like she had won the battle, but still lost as a trainer.
As for Eric, while he didn't feel good, he wasn't overly disappointed either. He felt like he maximised what he could do.
Had the tournament been longer and he had time to train Poliwag and Spearow more, he might've won. But in this short schedule, this was probably his best outcome.
While he was walking away, Iris, who was usually quite reserved, came up to him.
"…You're quite good."
"…You as well."
"…"
"…"
Both of them looked at each other awkwardly for a moment. Neither of them was good at communication. And Eric didn't know what Iris wanted.
Eventually, Iris spoke.
"Let's exchange contacts. I want to challenge you again in the future."
"Sorry. I don't have a phone."
"…...Ok then. Tell me when you have one."
Iris said as she walked away.
She did not realise untIl much later that she forgot to give her contact details to Eric, so he had no way to contact her when he got a phone.
'…Shit.'
Iris cursed in her head as Murkrow rubbed his head against her.
'Oh well. We'll meet again if fate allows. Or maybe I'll catch him after the finals.'