Sorry it took me so long, the website deleted this twice.
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At the beginning of the second half, the battle field was replaced by a new, larger water field.
This venue was of course not nearly as professional as the one the Sootopolis City Gym had. This one is just a large swimming pool with many floating things on it, barely any different from a standard low-tier water venue. No other terrains or ground, just a venue only Water-type Pokémon's can thrive.
If there was a Pokémon like Onix among the Pokémon registered by any of the Trainers before the battle, they wouldn't be even able to do anything here, as the moment they come out, they will be unable to battle from them landing on the water or just being too heavy to properly rest upon those floaty things.
And similarly, Donphan, who has just completed his evolution, has little to no chance to battle here, so it was right to say that Donphan lost the battle before he could even get out.
"Stand by for battle, Crawdaunt!"
Ash sent out his menacing, dancing lobster.
In the second half of the first battle of the main Conference, Ash chose a Pokémon that didn't battle yet on the principle of hoping that every one of his Pokémon would have a chance to battle and showcase their talent.
Crawdaunt landed on the floating board, staring directly at Katie opposite with its beady eyes, waiting for her to send out her Pokémon so he can dance on top of its defeated body.
"Damn it!" Katie gritted her teeth. All the tactics she had thought of before the battle had been easily dismantled by Ash without her able to put up a front of defense. Now she was at an absolute disadvantage, whether it was her Pokémon's conditions or her own fighting spirit.
This battle had long turned from being the somewhat of a fair fight it was at the beginning, now it was to a battle of attrition—no, it was more like Ash just testing his Pokémon's capabilities.
She knew that she had to cheer up and try something new again in the second half of the battle. She wanted to put up a performance that showed the world what her partners were truly capable of, so she would fight to the end, even if it led to absolute annihilation.
"Please, Misdreavus!" The Pokémon Katie sent out wasn't like anything she sent out before, this time it was a cute little ghost.
During the last Silver Conference in the Johto Region, Ash, Gary and Harrison rescued a little Misdreavus that was stuck under a tree.
However, Katie's choice made some people in the audience scratch their heads in puzzlement. Her Misdreavus is a pure Ghost-type Pokémon, and Crawdaunt was part Dark-type, and it had quite a few powerful attacks that would have an outstanding effect on it.
Judging from her previous battle style, Katie should have switched her Pokémon to be stronger against the type she had to fight, but now she's doing the exact opposite as she sent out a Pokémon that was weak to the opponent.
She must have a plan, a plan that was very risky—and one especially that Ash could see happening.
"The battles between an eerie Pokémon like Misdreavus are very hard to deal with. Ash must be careful not to get tricked and be fiddled with by the opponent." Tyson has been immersing himself in this battle, but realized that even the "weaker" ones from Ash's team have almost full control of the field. He understood that even he might not be able to do anything once they go full out.
"Ash's strategic planning ability is very strong, too strong if I say so. You would only understand once you have to battle against him, then you would come to know what a towering mountain Ash has grown into!" Looking back at Ash's progress, Gary genuinely felt really happy for his best friend.
Ash frowned, not liking where this was going, "Taunt!"
Sure enough, when Crawdaunt's Taunt skill took effect, Katie suddenly lost the last bit of calmness she had left. She stomped hard on the ground and gave an attack order, something she wasn't planning yet, "Damn it, Misdreavus, use Shadow Ball!"
The Taunt move makes the opponent only be able to use skills that can cause damage for a certain period of time, which all depends on the Pokémon using it and the opposing Pokémon's will to resist it.
The thing about Ghost-type Pokemon is that they have various auxiliary and influencing skills, so Ash's Taunt directly cuts off these skills, forcing Katie to have an all out offensive battle with Ash, a fight she was destined to lose.
The only reason she sent out her Misdreavus was to cause problems for Ash, but again all of her tactics were interrupted.
Obviously she got mad at everything going wrong, but she will soon come to realize that this was her fate as a side character to the main character's important plots.
Misdreavus floated over, holding the condensed black ball of eerie energy and sent it towards Crawdaunt. With her Trainers rage and madness being the driving force behind the attack, this move was stronger than it was supposed to.
"Crunch!"
However, Crawdaunt's pair of powerful, large pliers showed their effectiveness, as they crushed the powerful Shadow Ball with just one swipe.
"Crabhammer!"
Immediately afterwards, the pliers with terrifying Water-type energy hit the water field directly, raising high waves and hitting the floating Misdreavus.
"I'll defeat at least this one!" Katie gritted her teeth, as another one of the tactical layout she was so proud of was shattered into pieces in front of Ash, "Misdreavus, float higher to avoid it, and then use Shadow Ball again!"
It was still the same Shadow Ball, basically showing that her Misdreavus didn't have many damage-causing skills, and was only there to cause chaos for the opponents.
Ash was no longer interested in continuing this battle, he wanted to let his other Pokémon flex a little, "Crunch!"
Crawdaunt jumped into the water, jumped up on top of the waves, and came face-to-face with the floating Misdreavus. The ferocious iron claws were like a bloody trap, and Misdreavus was about to be history.
Katie gritted her teeth, "Misdreavus, use Destiny Bond!"
Ash was right in his understanding of her plan, but made a slight mistake in his estimation of Misdreavus and Katie's will.
She only sent out this Misdreavus to come up to drag Ash's Pokémon down one-by-one, but that was directly destroyed when Ash gave the command to use Taunt.
And just when Misdreavus was about to be defeated, Katie took the gamble of their combined willpower. If the effect of Taunt were weakened even a little, then at least they could drag Crawdaunt out of his ability to fight.
However, even after all their resistance, luck was not on her side. The Destiny Bond skill was not activated. Misdreavus was clamped hard by Crawdaunt, and it immediately lost its fighting ability.
"It's amazing. Ash's Crawdaunt put on an amazing performance. Katie now only has her last two Pokémon left while I don't even need to mention Ash's ones!" The commentator was also excited and praised Ash's skill!
Just then, the commentator heard this from the stand, "JUST TAKE IT OUT ALREADY! I CAN SEE YOU SUCKING AND DOING TRICKS ON IT!"
"Wow, honestly, Katie's plan was very well made, even I would have had a very hard time against her, but it's just that she ran into someone like Ash too soon." Tyson's fighting spirit was on fire. He now wanted to fight Ash even more, no matter if he won or lost, he would have no regrets.
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At this moment, Katie was trembling all over again. She knew that she had lost, and very badly at that. Ash in front of her was like a mountain that was an insurmountable obstacle, but she did her best to calm herself.
"No matter what, I'm standing in this stadium because of the hard work of everyone, there was absolutely no reason to admit defeat! I won't let their work go in vain!"
"Please, Scizor! Do your best!"
The Pokémon Katie revealed this time was her Scizor. This Pokémon was amongst the most popular among many Trainers.
But the Scizor in front of Ash now was not good enough to be a true threat. It was inferior to Gary's one, let alone Ash's one that was stronger in its base form and could use Bonds Evolutions.
One of the strongest reasons for the difference between these three were the resources and time invested into each. Ash spent a lot of points to get the best items and teacher for it, Gary had money to do a lot of things because of his grandfather, but Katie had almost none of that.
"Come back, Crawdaunt!" Ash took his dancing lobster back to give the others a few opportunities to battle.
"Soar up to victory, Swellow!"
This was the first Pokémon that Ash captured in the Hoenn Region, and it was also the first Pokémon to complete Bonds Evolutions with him in the region. Not to mention the tough training Ash gave him as well as being trained by the likes of his Alpha Pidgeot and Zapdos.
So he was without a doubt very reliable in terms of combat power and battle intelligence.
Katie just sighed but launched the first attack, "Scizor, use Quick Attack!"
This Scizor seemed to be very skilled at burst attacks—maybe the only thing it was equal to when compared to Gary's Scizor, and rushed towards Swellow, who was just chilling on the floating board. However, this speed was far from enough as Swellow's eyes perfectly followed it.
Its figure disappeared instantly, and he used his Aerial Ace skill and Steel Wing to hit Scizor's waist, all without needing Ash's order, their connection was more than enough for this level of battle!
Scizor was hit in one of its weakest points and was forced to kneel down on the floating board in pain.
However, Ash's order was issued at this moment and something that Scizor was not ready for, "Brave Bird!"
Swellow's will to fight was too strong, even stronger than the likes of Crawdaunt. It circled and flew high into the sky again, its wings suddenly flashed, and with its heroic and fearless fighting spirit, its wings sliced through the air to form a dazzling, golden flame, as if its whole body was wrapped in pure energy.
"Scizor, use Metal Claw quickly!"
The Brave Bird hit Scizor hard, and the explosion occurred instantly. Swellow fluttered out of the smoke and flew high, injured but still able to go on without much issues. "Scizor is unable to fight anymore!"
Now, Katie only has the last one left, her injured Walrein.
Without thinking much, she threw the Poké Ball out, "Walrein, please, use Ice Beam!"
"Double Team, Full Time Launch!"
Swellows other combo attacks!
Suddenly, a terrifying number of Swellows appeared above the sky of the entire battlefield. The cold Ice Beam only hit some of the clones and the real one easily avoided it along with most of its clones.
Then came the Brave Bird.
It was such a spectacular and contested scene.
Under the light of all of them, the Swellows seemed to be burning, spiraling in the air and falling, it was like a meteor shower.
This was the last scene Katie saw in the battle. She finally realized the difference between her and the boy in front of her.
She took back her Walrein who had lost the ability to fight, bowed lightly to Ash, and then walked off the stage in silence.