"Go, Milotic!"
Milotic appeared on the rock field, drawing an immediate reaction from the commentator.
"Milotic! What a beautiful Pokémon! Now the question is whether Gyarados can keep its mind on the battle with an opponent like that."
Reiji was wondering the same thing. Gyarados had always had a weakness for Milotic, and judging by the way it was staring across the field, this one had already caught its attention.
"Keep looking and I'm telling Mimi when we get home," Reiji warned. "I'll make sure she ignores you."
Gyarados snapped its head around and stared at him in horror, its scales practically standing on end.
Mimi was Cissy's Milotic, and Gyarados had been chasing after her for quite a while. Unfortunately for it, Mimi seemed much more interested in Dragonair, while Dragonair had absolutely no interest in returning her attention. Reiji had watched that ridiculous triangle play out around the lakeside cabin often enough to know exactly how to get Gyarados back on task.
"Gyarados, Hurricane! Clear the clouds!"
Gyarados immediately stopped looking at Milotic and summoned a violent gale. Milotic answered by slamming its tail down and whipping up a Twister, and when the two attacks collided, the spiraling winds tore a hole through the clouds overhead.
The light rain faded as the sky opened.
"Now use Thunder!"
Across the field, Reiji's opponent finally understood why he had bothered changing the weather first. In heavy rain, Thunder would spread far more easily through the wet battlefield, and with Gyarados carrying a x4 Electric weakness, Reiji had no reason to take that risk just to hit Milotic harder.
"Milotic, Protect!"
Lightning burst from Gyarados and branched across the field in several directions. The largest bolt went straight for Milotic, which raised Protect in time to stop the direct hit, although stray current still crawled through the water covering the ground and forced it to brace behind the barrier.
Reiji pressed immediately.
"Gyarados, Hyper Beam!"
Gyarados opened its mouth and began gathering energy. His opponent recognized the danger at once; he had already seen that this Gyarados could recover from Hyper Beam unusually quickly, and Milotic had just committed Protect.
"Milotic, Hyper Beam! Meet it head-on!"
Both attacks fired almost together.
The beams collided over the center of the field and detonated, lighting the protective barrier around the stadium like a glowing dome. Gyarados and Milotic were thrown in opposite directions and slammed into the barrier on their respective sides.
Gyarados took the impact well. Its body could handle punishment, and it had managed to use Protect at the last moment to blunt part of the blast.
Milotic was not nearly as fortunate. It slid down the barrier and remained there without moving.
"Milotic is unable to battle! Please recall it and send out your final Pokémon!"
Reiji's opponent recalled Milotic with five of his six Pokémon already eliminated. The only Poké Ball he had left was the one Aya had slipped him during intermission.
Before he could send it out, another recall beam flashed across the field.
"Come back, Gyarados."
Reiji had no reason to force another battle out of it. Gyarados had already beaten Kingdra and Milotic back-to-back, which was more than enough for one appearance.
"Reiji has recalled Gyarados as well! Both Trainers will send out fresh Pokémon for the final matchup!"
Reiji's opponent tightened his grip around Aya's Poké Ball. He still had no idea what Reiji had left, and the possibility of another Elite Four-tier Pokémon was enough to make him uneasy.
If Reiji had one, the match was probably over.
Worse, after everything that had happened before the battle, losing now would leave him humiliated in front of the entire stadium. That thought only made his hatred for Reiji burn hotter.
Both Trainers threw their Poké Balls.
"Go, Kingdra!"
"Go, Forretress!"
The commentator immediately checked the readings on the screen.
"Another Kingdra! And this one is Elite Four tier! Reiji has answered with Forretress, but his Pokémon hasn't reached that level. Is he really going to try taking down another Elite Four-tier opponent from below?"
Kingdra did not immediately look at Forretress. Instead, it turned toward Aya, the person it had actually been entrusted to protect.
It had no interest in fighting for her fiancé, but Aya had pleaded with it before the match resumed. Kingdra had watched her grow up and could not bring itself to refuse when she looked at it like that.
After a moment, it turned toward her fiancé and gave him a hard stare.
The message was obvious: once, and never again.
He exhaled in relief. At least Kingdra was willing to listen.
"Forretress, Toxic Spikes!"
His relief disappeared immediately.
"Toxic Spikes?"
The order brought Shingo's match rushing back to him. Was Reiji preparing another drawn-out attrition strategy, sacrificing weaker Pokémon simply to wear down one Elite Four-tier opponent?
Then the opposite possibility occurred to him. If Reiji still had another Elite Four-tier Pokémon available, there would be little reason to begin with Toxic Spikes.
Maybe Reiji really had run out of stronger options.
That thought restored some of his confidence.
"Kingdra, Hydro Pump! Don't let it set up!"
"Forretress, Autotomize! Keep moving and spread more Toxic Spikes!"
Forretress shed enough excess weight to accelerate into a rolling escape before Hydro Pump reached it. The blast tore across empty ground while Forretress circled the battlefield, scattering another layer of Toxic Spikes as it went.
Kingdra fired again and managed to clip it this time, but the hit only sent Forretress spinning farther across the field. It hit the ground, recovered almost immediately, and continued rolling.
Hydro Pump kept chasing it without finding a clean target. By the time Kingdra finally adjusted to Forretress's movement, it had already crossed the poisoned sections of the field several times, and a faint purple haze was beginning to gather around its body.
The poison had taken hold.
It was not severe yet, especially against an Elite Four-tier Pokémon, but Reiji did not need it to work instantly. He only needed Kingdra's condition to worsen the longer the battle continued.
"Damn it, it's too fast."
Reiji's opponent glanced toward the clouds gathering overhead and changed tactics.
"Kingdra, Rain Dance!"
Rain began falling again, and the moment the weather changed, Kingdra's Swift Swim kicked in.
This was not the same Kingdra Gyarados had beaten earlier. The speed difference became obvious almost immediately.
"Forretress, go straight at it!"
Forretress stopped scattering hazards and rolled toward Kingdra.
"Kingdra, Hyper Beam!"
"Dodge!"
Forretress changed direction just before the beam reached it. Hyper Beam swept past and struck the protective barrier instead, leaving Kingdra locked in place during the recovery.
Forretress took advantage immediately.
It slammed into Kingdra's face and knocked it backward into the barrier, then curved around and hit it again. A third Rollout followed with even more force than the first two.
Kingdra finally recovered and escaped with Agility before another hit could land. With its natural speed, Swift Swim, and the extra boost from Agility, it became little more than a blur moving through the rain.
Forretress could no longer chase it directly.
Unfortunately for Kingdra, simply being faster did not solve the original problem. Its ranged attacks still struggled to catch a rolling Forretress cleanly.
"Ice Beam! Freeze the battlefield as soon as you have an opening!"
The idea was sound. A sheet of ice could reduce traction and make it harder for Forretress to control its rolling path.
The problem was that Forretress's shell was not smooth. Its uneven surface bit into the ground as it rolled, scraping across slick terrain instead of simply sliding over it.
Reiji knew that too.
"Forretress, keep pressing it!"
His opponent finally lost patience.
If long-range attacks could not pin Forretress down, he would meet it head-on.
"Kingdra, Giga Impact!"
Kingdra turned and accelerated straight toward the incoming Forretress.
Reiji smiled.
That was what he had been waiting for.
He had sent Forretress charging forward precisely to make ranged attacks look ineffective and close combat seem like the obvious answer. The moment Kingdra committed to a physical attack, the matchup changed.
"Forretress, Counter! Then Rest!"
Across the field, confusion replaced confidence.
"Counter? It has to survive the hit first!"
That was true. An Elite Four-tier Kingdra was about to drive Giga Impact directly into a Pokémon below its tier, and Counter meant nothing if Forretress went down before it could return the damage.
Rest was the part his opponent could not immediately make sense of.
Kingdra and Forretress collided.
The impact blasted Forretress across the field and into the protective barrier before it dropped motionless onto the rain-slick ground.
The referee began raising his flag.
"Forretress is unable—"
"Wait!"
The commentator cut him off after receiving a signal from Lance and quickly turned back toward the field.
"Hold on! This may not be over yet!"
A moment later, white light erupted from Forretress's body.
Counter activated.
The force of Kingdra's Giga Impact came surging back across the battlefield, striking Kingdra head-on just as another pulse of poison spread through its body.
Aya shouted its name.
The reflected attack hit brutally hard. Kingdra had committed everything to Giga Impact, and Counter returned that physical damage with even greater force.
The commentator checked Forretress's data and immediately found the missing piece.
"Sturdy! Forretress has Sturdy!"
Now the setup made sense.
Rest had restored Forretress to full HP before the collision, allowing Sturdy to keep it from being knocked out in a single hit. That gave Forretress exactly enough time to survive Giga Impact and send the damage back with Counter.
Forretress's shell opened slightly as the last of its strength faded.
"Forre... Forre..."
It managed two weak cries before going still.
This time, the referee completed the ruling.
"Forretress is unable to battle! Reiji, please recall your Pokémon and send out your next fighter!"
Kingdra remained standing, but the situation had changed completely. Between the poison and the reflected Giga Impact, the Elite Four-tier Pokémon was already showing clear signs of damage.
Reiji still had Pokémon left.
The match was not over yet.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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