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The New Normal - 12-2
🕑 Added 2024-10-07 11:00:10 +0000 UTCThe New Normal – 12-2 – A Grand Show
Despite having recently just been here when we watched Karen stomping over Vettel to win the Indigo Conference, we were here again in the VIP booth overseeing the main arena of the Indigo Plateau as all of us got ready for the upcoming battle between Koga and Will.
While other events may have overshadowed this battle for some time, now that it was actually in front of us, the crowd was as excited as ever as they waited eagerly for the battle to begin. The Cinnabar Eruption may have put a damper on things, but now the tension and anticipation had returned in full force.
The emotions weren’t much different in the VIP room. The outcome of this battle would have significant implications on the future of the region. We would either be maintaining the current status quo in the event of Will’s victory, or there would be a new voice within the upper leadership of the Indigo League in the event that Koga wins.
My thoughts hadn’t changed about my neutrality on who I wanted to win. I treated both Koga and Will as friends, and I felt that their strengths were very similar, so I didn’t have a favourite to win. Nor was I worried about the political implications of either’s victory; I was confident that I could adapt and adjust to the outcome of today’s battle.
Sitting in the VIP booth beside me was just Lance and Lorelei. Agatha was notably absent, having given an excuse to not attend due to needing to ‘prepare for her battle against her student’. That excuse would have worked for many, but I was pretty sure she just didn’t care enough to drag herself to the Indigo Plateau when she could watch the match at home.
Or perhaps she was indeed training hard in preparation against Karen. I really couldn’t know for sure.
Either way, there were still a few minutes before the fight was scheduled to begin, and the three of us made some casual conversation in the meantime.
“I heard from your girlfriend yesterday that she’s going to be coming over.” Lance told me, “You must be happy about that.” He shot me a teasing smile.
“You would be too, in my place.” I replied, not rising to the bait.
“It feels like I see them all the time now.” Lorelei chuckled, “I had just said goodbye to them when I left Sinnoh, and now they’re coming over! Not that I mind, I enjoyed working with them.”
“That’s a good sign.” Lance said, “If we’re to be working closer together, then we should expect to see our foreign friends more often. In fact, the more visits the better.”
“Oh, speaking of Sinnoh, how’s that new Avalugg treating you?” I asked Lorelei, “Have you found a good way to train it up?”
Lance also stared at her, interested in her answer.
“Eventually.” She nodded, “It took some time, a little longer than I expected. You were right with your warnings; it was a challenge trying to think of a way to overcome its abysmal Speed and Special Defenses. Its typing is also – frankly – atrocious. Ice/Rock has far too many weaknesses for a supposedly defensive Pokémon.”
Yeah, that was about what I expected. In my mind, I saw H-Avalugg as a worse Snorlax.
“Wait, how slow is it exactly? I hadn’t paid much attention before.” Lance asked, “Like…Torkoal slow?”
“Thereabouts.” She shook her hand in a ‘so-so’ gesture, “I reckon it’s about as slow as a Steelix. In fact, a Steelix is probably a good Pokémon to compare it to. Incredibly slow, poor Special Defenses, excellent Defenses. The only difference is that Steelix has a far better Typing, while my Avalugg has a higher attack.”
“…So how did you think of a way to use it?” I asked.
“Well, after spending a lot of time thinking about it and undergoing some specialised training, I think I’m starting to make it so that its not so vulnerable to its plethora of weaknesses anymore. For example, I’m confident it can take Ground and Water attacks decently well.” She explained. “Also, I’ve trained up its Special Defenses to the point where Special Attacks wouldn’t be immediately crippling to it if one lands, so that shored up another large weakness.”
“Plus, I’m making sure that it masters its Ice Body ability and Recover to capitalise on its incredible physical bulk.” She added, “If I can train all of that, then given some more time, I’m confident that I’ll be able to make use of Avalugg into specific matchups as an unbreakable physical wall. It will be able to withstand even the strongest of physical attacks with little issue.”
She smirked at the two of us, “I hope that will keep the both of you on your toes if we ever fight again in the future. Your Pokémon will break against my new Avalugg, just you wait.”
Lance and I both chuckled, but not mockingly. Instead, we were both pleased at the confidence and conviction that she showed.
“Those are some fighting words!” Lance praised, “In that case, should I expect a challenge from you anytime soon? Do remember that the position of Champion also includes the paperwork.”
Lorelei quickly shook her head, waving her hands frantically, “Uh…that’s not what I meant by us fighting. I do not want your position, thank you very much. And Avalugg will probably only be strong against your physical attacks….so if you send out Emperor or Tyrant I’ll still lose because I know they’ll just make use of their Special Attacks to beat down Avalugg. I’m less confident about its ability to withstand against those, even with more training.”
Before Lorelei could say anymore, the announcer finally made himself known, signalling the beginning of the match.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME BACK TO THE INDIGO PLATEAU! IT SEEMS LIKE NOWADAYS IS THE SEASON FOR CHALLENGES, AS WE WILL BE HOSTING ANOTHER BATTLE NOT TOO FAR IN THE FUTURE AS WELL!”
“BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THE FUTURE, WHEN WE SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON THE PRESENT! TODAY, WE HAVE THE GREAT HONOUR OF HOSTING A BATTLE BETWEEN TWO FORMIDDABLE TRAINERS ONCE AGAIN!”
“ON THE ONE SIDE, WE HAVE THE MAN THAT HAS BEEN PRAISED FOR HIS EXEMPLARY SKILLS AS A GYM LEADER, A TITLE WHICH HE HAS HELD FOR DECADES. HE IS THE NINJA OF FUSCHIA, THE POISON SPECIALIST THAT ALL OTHERS ASPIRE TO BE! A MAN WHO’S CUNNING TACTICS AND POKÉMON HAVE PROVEN TIME AND TIME AGAIN WHY HE IS CONSIDERED TO BE ONE OF THE STRONGEST GYM LEADERS! PLEASE GIVE IT UP – FOR GYM LEADER KOGA!”
Koga silently walked onto the stage, hardly even reacting to the roaring crowd around him. Instead, his steely glare was locked onto the entrance opposite him, where Will walked forwards.
“AND HIS OPPONENT, OUR VERY OWN ELITE FOUR MEMBER! THOUGH HE HAS REMAINED UNCHALLENGED, THIS WAS THE MAN THAT HAS BEEN A VITAL SUPPORTER OF MANY OF THE RECENT CHANGES THAT YOU’VE SEEN! A MAN WITH A SHARP AND KEEN EYE FOR BUSINESS, WHO HAS PROVEN HIMSELF TO BE AN EXCELLENT POLITICIAN FOR OUR REGION! TODAY, WE WILL SEE IF HE IS MORE THAN JUST BRAINS; HAS HIS SHARP MIND ALSO ALLOWED HIM TO HONE HIS PSYCHIC TYPES INTO UNBEATABLE POKÉMON?! I’M WILLING TO BET THAT IT HAS, SO HERE COMES OUR VERY OWN ELITE FOUR – WILL!”
Completely opposite to Koga, Will walked slowly, waving and bowing to the crowd like he was a showman walking onto his stage, ready to dazzle the audience with an unforgettably grand performance. A closer look proved that his showboating was no façade to hide his nervousness. Whatever nervousness he had demonstrated to us a few days earlier had completely disappeared, and now he almost seemed at peace with the battle he was about to face.
As soon as Will arrived at this designated spot, he carefully took off his mask, revealing his bright smile to the crowd as he stretched his arms out wide, “WIN! OR LOSE! I PROMISE YOU, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF INDIGO, THAT WE WILL BRING YOU A BATTLE THAT YOU WON’T SOON FORGET!” He announced, inadvertently taking over the announcer’s job, “WILL THE YOUNG BEAT THE OLD? OR WILL THE EXPERIENCED TRIUMPH OVER THE NEW? EITHER WAY, ARE YOU READY FOR OUR GRAND PERFORMANCE?!”
I could feel Lorelei facepalming at Will being Will, but I just allowed myself to smirk. That was the Will I knew. To my surprise, Koga didn’t look like he disapproved, simply content to silently wait for Will to do his thing.
And the crowd lapped it up, exploding in excitement and cheers, and Will allowed himself to bask in the cheers of the crowd for a moment before he then snapped a finger towards the announcer, “CALL US IN! ITS TIME TO BATTLE! MAY THE BETTER TRAINER WIN!”
The announcer looked flummoxed at Will’s antics, but he recovered quickly enough, “…Right, yes. TRAINERS, RELEASE ON THREE…TWO…ONE…FIGHT!”
“Start us off, Espeon!”
“Seviper.”
Seviper emerged and immediately burrowed into the ground, hiding out of sight as it snuck its way through the ground. In the meanwhile, Espeon’s eyes flashed blue as a Reflect screen shimmered in place around her; forming a protective shield of defense.
Of course, the Reflect shield was immediately put to the test as Seviper came leaping out of the ground, lunging at Espeon with its jaws opened threateningly wide, as if it was about to devour Espeon whole with its Crunch.
However, Espeon was far from defenseless, as a Future Sight came bursting into existence and blasting Seviper with a powerful explosion of Psychic energy. Yet, Seviper had a counter ready of its own as it instead released a quick Dark Pulse of its own, nullifying the incoming Future Sight and allowing it to follow through with its initial intent as it Crunched down hard on Will’s Espeon.
…Which was when ANOTHER Future Sight came exploding out of nowhere, knocking the Seviper off of the Espeon as it tumbled to the ground.
Already, I could see the level of preparation that both trainers put in to prepare for the other. In a single exchange, it showed how they had anticipated and predicted each other’s moves and had already prepared potential counters far in advance.
The battle raged on despite my thoughts, and Espeon dashed backwards with a Quick Attack just as Seviper slashed the area it was just in with a Night Slash, ripping a large tear into the ground.
Thinking that Espeon was about to go for a setup move, Seviper immediately tried to cancel it by preparing to unleash an Earthquake, but it was punished for its mistake by being blasted face-first with a Psychic that sent the Poison type skidding back.
However, Seviper recovered quickly enough to be able to dodge the next Psychic by burrowing into the ground once more. Unfortunately, Espeon had no way of punishing Seviper for using Dig, and it was now forced on the defensive as the Psychic type waited for the Seviper to strike. I watched as Espeon’s eyes repeatedly flashed blue as it began setting up Future Sights around it, trying to anticipate Seviper’s angle of attack.
But the attack did not come as Espeon expected. Seviper did come bursting out of the ground near Espeon, yet instead of leaping at Espeon, it leapt away from the Psychic type as it released a Dark Pulse while in mid-air that shot forwards with impressive speed. Caught completely unprepared, Espeon found itself flinching as it was hit directly by the Dark Pulse before it could throw up a Protect shield.
Fully capitalising on this moment of vulnerability, Seviper unleashed an onslaught of Special Attacks, firing off pulse after pulse of concentrated Dark energy towards the exposed Espeon; its earlier prepared Future Sights proving useless as Seviper refused to get in close, obviously anticipating the trap that Espeon had prepared.
And Koga was never giving Espeon a chance to recover, knowing full well that if given the opportunity to fight back, Will’s Espeon would otherwise be able to overpower his Seviper if they began exchanging Special Attacks. Therefore, Koga prioritised speed over power as the unending barrage of Dark energy smashed into Espeon again and again, ravaging the Psychic type as it repeatedly flinched.
“PUSH THROUGH IT, ESPEON! ITS NOT OVER FOR YOU!”
Heeding its trainers words, Espeon’s eyes began glowing a blindingly bright blue as it exploded with Psychic energy. Through its own sheer will, the powerful explosion of Psychic energy actually managed to push away the incoming Dark Pulse, buying Espeon enough time to successfully Teleport away to create more distance between the two and it instantly threw up a Light Screen to prevent further attacks.
Unfortunately, Seviper made a mockery of its escape attempt as it unleashed its own Earthquake, sending Espeon stumbling to the ground while Seviper rapidly darted forwards – its venomous fangs once again gleamingly menacingly in the afternoon sun.
Even with the distance that it had just created, Seviper was able to swiftly close the distance as it broke through another Psychic with a Dark Pulse. Then, just before it got close, Seviper sprung into the air with its tail, but not before unleashing a small pulse of an Earthquake that just managed to disrupt Espeon’s concentration and interrupt its Teleport.
Seviper leaped towards Espeon even as Future Sight after Future Sight detonated on it as it sailed through the air. But the Poison Type had anchored its trajectory with an Iron Head, preventing itself from being knocked away. Then, Seviper tanked through the Future Sights and managed to bite down with a painful Crunch onto Espeon.
The Psychic type wailed out in pain, which was actually a Hyper Voice in disguise, but Seviper refused to let its prey go as it swung its tail around in a powerful Night Slash that finished off the injured Espeon.
However, despite his defeat, Will seemed unbothered as he clapped for his fallen Pokémon, “A wonderful job, Espeon! But it’s time for someone else to take the stage!”
“Come on out and dazzle them all, Gardevoir!”
As soon as Gardevoir emerged from her Pokéball, Seviper fired off an immediate Taunt while Gardevoir was still trying to orient itself to shutdown any future attempts to use Teleport or status moves.
Unfortunately for Koga, Gardevoir instantly Teleported out of the way, causing the Taunt to miss completely.
Will grinned, “I learnt my lesson! You can’t catch me with the same trick twice!”
“Now come on, Gardevoir! Do your thing!”
Another Teleport found Gardevoir appearing behind the Seviper, and she promptly blasted the Seviper with a powerful blast of Psychic. Seviper had the reaction speed to try to block the attack with a quick Dark Pulse; only to be surprised when the Psychic shattered the Dark Pulse – when it usually was the other way round.
“!” I could see the surprise in Koga’s face as Seviper was blasted back, skidding off the ground from the explosive impact of Gardevoir’s attack. The Poison type tried to recover and instinctively formed a Protect shield, but Gardevoir had already Teleported to the opposite side and fired off another Psychic that hit Seviper’s unshielded side.
Recognising that Gardevoir was a far more mobile and agile threat than Will’s Espeon, Koga ordered Seviper to go fully on the offensive. Despite the heavy injuries that it sustained, Seviper released a vicious hiss as it sprung up and shot through the air like an uncoiled spring, releasing a small Earthquake and simultaneously pouncing onto its target with its fangs dripping menacingly with deadly poison.
It was repeating its manoeuvre that it used against Espeon, but instead of latching its fangs onto its target, all Seviper managed to find was empty air as Gardevoir had already Teleported away – in fact Gardevoir had Teleported away so quickly it even managed to dodge past the Earthquake entirely.
Sensing the Psychic coming its way, Seviper reacted instinctively as it slashed through the air with its glowing tail, trying to rip apart the attack with a Night Slash.
But the Night Slash failed to completely nullify the attack, causing Seviper to be hit full force with a supereffective Psychic once again.
This time, willpower alone was not enough at keeping Seviper in the fight. The injuries it had sustained had finally proven too much for the Poison type, and it fell limply on the ground without even managing to land a scratch on Will’s Gardevoir.
Unlike Will, Koga said nothing as he withdrew his Seviper, and instead took his time to think about his next choice of Pokémon.
In the meanwhile, I was pretty confident I had figured out the secret behind Will’s ability to get around Koga’s Dark type moves. Thanks to the excellent cameras, I spotted that Gardevoir’s Psychics were encased in a noticeable gleam of bright pink – different from the usual darker pink colouration of a typical Psychic.
I suspected that many would miss it, but as I had worked with the Fairy type more than anyone else, I knew what it was. He had combined Dazzling Gleam and Psychic together, using the Fairy type to prevent Dark type moves from nullifying the Psychic.
Very smart.
I didn’t know whether Koga had also figured out Will’s secret, but he had chosen his next battler. My eyes widened as I stared at his choice, or rather, the fact that I couldn’t tell what his choice was.
Because what came out of his Pokéball was a hazy mist of growing poisonous fog that almost instantly concealed the Pokémon within; with no exposable features visible to the outside world. Suddenly, a two purple lights glared out from within the fog, and Gardevoir physically shuddered as she was caught in the surprise attack.
I knew what that was. It was a Mean Look. And Gardevoir had just been trapped.
As soon as the Mean Look took effect, a purple blur burst out within the fog, flying forwards at such fast speeds that it managed to disperse the fog entirely. I hardly could catch a glimpse of Koga’s Pokémon before it slammed into Gardevoir, moving so fast that Gardevoir wasn’t even able to Teleport out of the way in time while it was still recovering from the effects of the Mean Look.
Gardevoir’s figure was flung wide into the air; her once graceful body now tainted with a dripping and viscous poison that stained her form. And before she could even Teleport herself once again, the purple blur smashed into Gardevoir once again in mid-air, mercilessly slashing at her with a myriad of swift strikes that eviscerated the Psychic type, before a final slam sent Will’s Pokémon crashing painfully into the ground.
“U-Turn.”
Without giving any opportunity for Gardevoir to recover, Koga’s Pokémon dove down and brutally crashed into the Psychic type once more, landing the coup de grâce that finished off the Gardevoir. Then, almost like nothing happened, Koga’s Pokémon simply retreated back into its Pokéball as if it hadn’t just devastated one of Will’s most agile fighters.
From the time that it emerged from the fog to the Gardevoir’s swift defeat, the entire exchange had barely lasted ten seconds. It was an utterly vicious and decisive knockout. And from what I knew of Koga’s team, there was only one Pokémon that could accomplish such a feat.
His starter, Crobat.
Koga had chosen to reveal his ace’s abilities early and utilised the surprise factor to assassinate a key threat on Will’s team. I approved of his decisive choice; Gardevoir would have been a real threat for Koga’s team had she been left unchecked.
However, despite the quick defeat of his Gardevoir, Will appeared unruffled as he simply sent out his next Pokémon.
“It’s your turn in the light, Exeggutor!”
“Muk.”
The two Pokémon that were released couldn’t have been more different from each other. Will’s Exeggutor was lively and upbeat, its three faces smiling happily as they danced and bathed in the afternoon sun. On the other hand, Muk was odious; its’ entire form dripped and oozed with disgusting poisons that managed to burn through the ground itself as they dripped off its body.
As soon as I saw the matchup, I had expected the fight to be a slow, drawn-out battle between two defensive Pokémon; a fight of endurance to see who would outlast the other.
And indeed, that was what Will planned to do, as I watched Exeggutor fire off a barrage of Leech Seeds that scattered through the air – looking to implant themselves within Muk.
However, to Will’s and my surprise, and probably to the surprise of many others as well, Koga had different plans.
“As we planned, Muk.”
Instead of lumbering around slowly as I expected, Muk suddenly disappeared into its shadow. Exeggutor instantly threw up a Protect Shield to block the incoming Shadow Sneak, but the Protect shield was only able to block Muk’s first attack. And it did nothing to stop Muk’s quick follow-up Poison Jab that pummelled straight into Exeggutor’s face the moment the Protect shield dispersed.
But Exeggutor didn’t have three heads for nothing, and it was still able to counterattack with a powerful Psychic of its own that blasted Muk at point-blank range; sending shockwaves that rippled through its poisonous form.
And then Muk exploded.
The resulting blast surprised EVERYONE, and sent the unsuspecting Exeggutor crashing limply into the Psychic shields. Although Exeggutor were known as being defensive Pokémon, that was because it relied on its plethora of self-regenerative moves to keep itself in the fight. Compared to other defensive Pokémon, its raw defenses were lacking.
So having to tank through a point-blank, full-power, surprise Explosion instantly knocked the Grass type out.
As the Explosion petered out, the crowd fell silent as they were frozen in surprise. But it was not only them, as even the VIP booth was no different.
“…Wow.” Lorelei muttered after she recovered, “That…wasn’t what I was expecting to see.”
“Let no one say that Koga lacks decisiveness.” Lance agreed, “That was very fitting.”
“I think that’s the first crack in Will’s composure this whole battle.” I pointed towards the slight frown that adorned Will’s surprised face, “For all his planning, I doubt he saw this coming.”
I didn’t blame him. Back-to-back he just had the momentum ripped out from under him. I would be a little shaken too in his place.
However, despite what just happened, he wasn’t actually in a horrible position. The score was currently 3-2 in Koga’s favour; far from hopeless for Will. Now it was a test to see if Will could remain focused.
As if sensing my thoughts, I saw Will taking a deep breath as he withdrew his fallen Exeggutor. Nodding to himself, he met Koga’s eyes as they both sent out their next Pokémon.
“Hypnotise them, Hypno!”
“Weezing.”
Once again, a poisonous cloud of smoke emerged out of Koga’s Pokéball. But instead of being merely a cover for a future attack, the poisonous fog that accompanied Weezing began to rapidly spread across the arena; flooding the whole battlefield in its toxic gases.
“Put them to sleep, Hypno.”
Seeing that the Weezing wasn’t doing anything except expelling more and more of its noxious fumes, Hypno did what it did best and swung its pendulum back and forth, sending hypnotic rays towards the Poison type and quickly putting it to sleep.
…Yet the fumes didn’t stop coming. No, even as the Weezing slumbered, the flood of toxic gas didn’t stop – they kept coming, covering more and more of the battlefield in a thick and unbreathable smog.
As the toxic gas continued to spread across the battlefield, Koga seemed content to do nothing but watch as Hypno began blasting down Weezing with a cautious barrage of Psychics – Will having a look of confusion on his face as he tried to figure out what was Koga’s plan.
But my own eyes had shot open as I gradually pieced together Koga’s strategy. The Weezing was a ticking time bomb – one that threatened to engulf the entire arena in poisonous gases that would undoubtedly last and linger beyond a single round. Therefore, while Koga’s own Poison Types would be unaffected by the noxious fumes, Will’s would have no such luxury.
It was basically Toxic Spikes in gaseous form. And even more deadly.
It took a bit longer, but then I watched as a look of growing horror slowly appeared on Will’s face as he had the same realisation that I just did.
“Full out offense! Psychic and Dream Eater! You need to take it down, now!”
Wasting no time on anything else, Hypno’s eyes repeatedly flashed blue as it fired off wave after wave of powerful psionic energy, sending the Weezing tumbling through the air like a floating orb as the supereffective attacks smashed into it again and again.
However, despite the pain it was in, Weezing stayed asleep – a testament to the power of Hypno’s Hypnosis.
And worse for Will, there was still another nasty surprise that Koga had waiting for him, because Weezing wasn’t completely helpless even as it snoozed. No, it knew Sleep Talk, and it revealed itself to be highly proficient in the move as the moves it used were far from random – and were clearly well-ingrained into Weezing for these very situations.
Every once in a while, a Protect shield would form that managed to block a Psychic from Hypno. Not only that, but it was also able to fire off the occasional Dark Pulse, which unlike with Will’s Gardevoir, was also able to block the incoming Psychic and further disrupt Hypno’s ability to bring it down.
Clearly, Will wasn’t able to fully train all of his Pokémon to infuse Fairy energy into their Psychic attacks.
Worse, the poisonous clouds had already begun to reach Hypno’s shoulders. Hypno groaned as its usually yellow form turned sickly as a Toxic amount of poisons seeped into its body. Fortunately, the Dream Eaters it was using managed to provide enough health for Hypno to fight off the mounting Poison damage, but not for much longer.
Sadly for Will, the next few moments of the battle did not go his way. Hypno were known for their excellent ability to neutralise potential foes with their powerful Hypnosis, putting them to sleep before they could fight back. However, they were not known for their raw power, which was something he desperately needed at this very moment to take out the Weezing before Hypno succumbed to the poison.
But between the disruption from the Sleep Talk and Hypno’s own weakening state from all of the poison, the Weezing proved to be victorious as Hypno eventually collapsed.
Weezing was far from unscathed, but it was just tanky enough to outlast the Hypno.
“…Think Will should have swapped out his Hypno as soon as his Hypnosis proved ineffective?” Lorelei asked us as Will withdrew his Hypno.
“Maybe if he realised Koga’s plan sooner; by the time he did it was already too late for him.” Lance replied, “When he realised, he took a gamble to try to take out Weezing before Hypno could be knocked out instead of risking another Pokémon to be badly poisoned, which I probably would have done in his place. It didn’t work out, but that’s just how it is sometimes.”
“Or Koga had already predicted Hypno’s power and had sent out Weezing specifically to counter it.” I pointed out.
“True.” Lance nodded, “Honestly, I’m very impressed by what I’ve seen from Koga so far.”
“I agree.” I nodded. Koga had managed to balance the scales by utilising such tactics to overcome the difference in strength between his Pokémon. So far, even though Will was the more powerful trainer on paper, Koga never allowed Will to fully utilise his strengths. This was where the difference in experience really showed itself.
“I think everyone here could learn a thing or two from him.” Lance continued, “Win or lose here, he’s proven to me to be wasted as a ‘mere’ Gym Leader. He clearly is more than that.”
“Things aren’t looking up for Will though.” Lorelei pointed out, “With the poison still lingering around, his next Pokémon is going to be badly poisoned the moment it comes out. Plus, it’s going to have to disperse the poisonous clouds somehow unless it wants to fight within that unbreathable smog.”
Before I could respond, Will sent out his second last Pokémon.
His Slowking dropped onto the battlefield with an audible oomph as its full weight hit the ground, but it was immediately badly poisoned by all of the lingering cloud of poison.
Will wasted no time with his first move.
“Blizzard, Slowking! Start dispersing that fog!”
Slowking let out an affirmative grunt as a huge gust of wind started to form right on top of the sleeping Weezing. That gust of wind suddenly turned into a giant vortex of freezing ice, with the unsuspecting Weezing trapped right in the epicentre. The Poison type was jolted awake from the freezing gale winds cutting deep into it.
At the same time, the heavy winds was also able to gradually disperse some of the toxic fumes, which I suspected was the whole reason Will chose to use Slowking.
Yet, that didn’t change the fact that Slowking had already been badly poisoned. So Will’s Pokémon was once again on a timer as it threw out Hydro Pumps and Psychics against the now-awakened Weezing, who tried to defend with its own barrage of Shadow Balls and Dark Pulses.
Weezing’s pitiful Special Attack was no match for Slowking’s as the Poison type’s attacks were easily overpowered and broken through, but its attacks were able to at least partially block some of the damage, which stalled for more time.
Then Koga looked to stall for even more time as he ordered his Weezing to Rest.
The floating ball of Poison shut its eyes for the second time this battle, leaving itself completely exposed as it fell into a rejuvenating sleep. But with the Blizzard still right on top of the sleeping Weezing, dispersing more and more of the poisonous gases as time went on, there was no chance that it was actually going to be able to last long enough for Slowking to succumb to its Poison.
And Koga knew it too, which was why, after another wave of psychic energy detonated on his Weezing, he gave the order.
“Explosion.”
Despite being asleep, Weezing obeyed the order regardless as his form flashed a dangerously bright white for all of a tenth of a second, before erupting in a deafening explosion that caused a small crater to form around where it had been floating.
However, Will was prepared for this, and his Slowking had already prepared a Protect shield that blocked practically all of the damage.
Koga didn’t seem to mind, and he withdraw his Weezing with his usual unreadable expression. Yet he did not send out his next Pokémon right away. Instead, he seemed to want to maximize the poison damage that Slowking took as he made full use of his allotted ‘thinking time’ before he sent out his next Pokémon.
There were a few boos, but at this point I think everyone had already figured out Koga’s fighting style, so they had expected this.
Then, just seconds before his time was up, he sent out his next Pokémon.
“Venomoth, stick close to it.”
The Venomoth buzzed forwards, showing off its impressive speed as it quickly closed the distance with Slowking. Taking full advantage of the fact that Slowking had little way of defending himself against close-range threats, Venomoth ducked under a Psychic before suddenly swooping around the Slowking (likely to get around any potential Future Sights) before lunging downwards at its target with a vicious Leech Life that latched onto and rapidly drained the Slowking of its health.
Slowking tried to fire off a point-blank Psychic to force the Bug away, but Venomoth was quick enough to whirl around to the other side of Slowking and repeat the same thing.
It was a pesky Bug; making use of its small size and incredible speed to be an unremovable and painful thorn in Slowking’s side as it attacked relentlessly, never giving an opportunity for Slowking to fully regain its concentration.
Plus, it wasn’t like its Leech Life were weak attacks. From the way that Slowking winced and grunted in pain, it clearly wasn’t able to just shrug off the supereffective attacks. Worse, any glancing blows that Slowking DID manage to land against Venomoth was simply healed through the Leech Life.
Slowking were Pokémon that fared a lot better in calm and slower fights that allowed it to utilise its plethora of regeneration moves. It wasn’t nearly as good against the agile, hit-and-run attacks that Venomoth was employing.
Of course, a Pokémon like Venomoth wasn’t actually able to overcome a Pokémon as defensive as Slowking so easily, even as it repeatedly struck with supereffective Leech Life’s. But that wasn’t where the bulk of the damage to Slowking was coming from, as that was from the poison that was ravaging through the Psychic Type’s body. Venomoth was merely an annoying distraction that prevented Slowking from just healing up.
Thus, after seeing this, Will made the choice that I would have in his position.
“Come back, Slowking. Save your strength.”
I nodded as I watched Will recall his Slowking. Despite its current injuries, I knew it had the potential to heal itself up with Regenerator, and it could do the same with its plethora of healing moves if Koga ever gave it the space to do so.
But that meant that Will had, effectively, only one Pokémon remaining that could truly win the fight. On the other hand, Koga still had three left, including his mostly undamaged Venomoth.
Will was really going to have to pull back a comeback of a lifetime to win this fight. Luckily, he still had his starter with him.
And I was confident his Xatu would not disappoint.
A.N. I wanted this fight to highlight mainly the two trainer’s strengths, but more particularly Koga’s because I thought there was more potential there. I tried to get really creative with his style of battling, which I hope came out well.
Don’t get me wrong, Will is a strong trainer, and he was on paper the stronger of the two, but I wanted to really highlight how Koga was able to flip the tables with his unorthodox and decisive tactics.
However, though the score may be 4-3 in Koga’s favour (but more like 5-3 with how damaged Slowking is), Will hasn’t lost yet. He still has an Ace to play. Hope you enjoyed the fight so far!
Comments
Vtec
I'm glad that you've come to enjoy Will's character! But like I said in the chapter, his story isn't over yet despite the loss. He's too important and useful to just step down quietly!
Israfil
Shame for Will. Genuinely wanted him to win. He's grown on me.
