A regal Pokémon appeared.
It was a Slowking.
Silas was surprised because it was still a relatively rare pokemon as its evolution method wasn't widely known like other pokemon.
Even before activating his scanner, Silas could feel the pressure radiating from it, similar to Politoed.
This wasn't some casual gym Pokémon intended for inexperienced challengers.
Silas immediately scanned it.
Slowking (M) — Level 53
Ability: Regenerator
Potential: B+
Moves: Rank A Rain Dance, Rank A Psychic, Rank A Light Screen, Rank A Reflect, Rank A Hyper Beam, Rank A Surf, Rank B Tackle, Rank B Curse, Rank B Water Gun, Rank B Yawn, Rank B Confusion, Rank B Disable, Rank B Water Pulse, Rank B Headbutt, Rank B Sludge Bomb, Rank B Brick Break, Rank B Zen Headbutt, Rank B Amnesia, Rank B Slack Off, Rank B Psych Up, Rank C Heal Pulse, Rank C Sludge Bomb, Rank C Ice Beam, Rank C Ice Punch, Rank C Trick Room
Silas' eyes narrowed.
Level 53 with B+ potential and multiple Rank A moves meant this would be difficult.
More importantly, Slowking's Psychic mastery was obviously substantial.
Silas could already see subtle distortions in the air around its body.
The Pokémon wasn't simply strong, it had a refined skillset.
Silas understood immediately that sending out something weaker simply for experience would be pointless.
He needed comparable strength.
One Pokémon came to mind.
"Greninja."
Silas threw the Poké Ball.
Greninja appeared with its armed folded. His eyes immediately locked onto Slowking.
Violet looked between the 2 Water types.
"Wow."
She smiled.
"So you think you can win a duel between Water types?"
Silas shrugged.
"Time will tell, won't it?"
Violet laughed.
"As the challenger, you may have the first move."
Silas didn't hesitate.
"Greninja, use Quick Attack into Taunt."
Greninja almost disappeared. He rushed forward at incredible speed consistent with a ninja Pokémon.
Slowking's eyes widened slightly as Greninja crossed the distance in under a second.
Dark energy gathered around Greninja before washing over Slowking.
Slowking's calm expression immediately changed.
Its eyes narrowed and then its irritation became anger.
The regal Pokémon visibly bristled as the Dark type energy interfered with its concentration.
Greninja seemed to be saying something to Slowking.
Silas used his psychic power to hear Greninja's words.
All he caught was that it was fatter and slower than a Snorlax even on its best day.
Violet's smile disappeared.
That was an irritating opening move.
Slowking possessed a variety of support techniques that it could now no longer access.
Many of the options that made Slowking such an irritating opponent had just been temporarily removed.
Taunt dealt no direct damage. Yet strategically, it was devastating. For now, Slowking could only attack.
Violet adjusted immediately.
"So be it."
She pointed forward.
"Slowking, use Brick Break."
Slowking moved with a savage smile on its face. Seeing such aggression from a Pokémon like Slowking was unnerving for Silas.
Psychic energy wrapped around its body.
The normally slow Pokémon suddenly accelerated as telekinetic force reinforced its movements.
One arm became coated in Fighting type energy.
Silas smiled knowingly.
He had seen this type of tactic before.
Espeon did the same thing.
Psychic Pokémon didn't necessarily need naturally impressive physical attributes when psychic power could reinforce their bodies and propel their movements.
It was a crude but effective tactic.
Slowking descended toward Greninja.
Its glowing arm came down with tremendous force.
Greninja didn't move away. Instead, his body seemed to shimmer for a split second.
Protean had been subtly activated
His Water and Dark attributes were traded for the Ghost attribute.
Brick Break passed directly through him.
Slowking's eyes widened.
Greninja had already moved, not waiting for any commands.
Dark energy gathered in one hand into a blade.
Greninja twisted around Slowking's extended arm and drove the Night Slash blade into its shoulder.
Slowking grunted in pain.
The blade pierced through flesh but Greninja was careful not to strike with lethal intent.
Silas immediately recognized the opportunity.
"Now use Dark Pulse into the wound."
Instead of launching Dark Pulse normally, Greninja concentrated the energy along the same point where Night Slash had opened Slowking's shoulder.
The dark power detonated when it entered the wound.
BOOM!
Slowking was blasted backward.
It slid several feet before catching itself with psychic power but it had some trouble gathering its power now that the dark energy was interfering with its control.
One hand instinctively moved toward its injured shoulder.
Violet's eyes narrowed.
The exchange happened incredibly quickly.
Quick Attack into Taunt.
Then Greninja activated his ability and used a deadly combination of Night Slash and Dark Pulse.
Silas had deliberately chained everything together before Slowking could establish the slower, more controlled battle it preferred.
Violet looked toward Greninja.
"It seems I should've chosen a different Pokémon."
Silas didn't answer.
She suddenly smiled.
"But don't underestimate us."
Slowking straightened.
Despite its injured shoulder, its expression returned to something closer to calm.
"Slowking, use Trick Room."
"Shit, Taunt wore off. Greninja, heads up."
Slowking erupted with speed similar to Greninja and flashed to its side.
"Slowking, use Brick Break."
His fist found Greninja, he didn't have the time to shift his type again. The attack sent Greninja off of the platform and into the pool.
Despite the powerful attack, Greninja quickly returned to the surface and jumped out of the water, landing on the platform.
"Greninja, use Double Team."
Greninja split into numerous copies. There were 2 to 3 of them on every platform and some in the water.
"Do you think you can wait out Trick Room? Slowking, use Substitute then Sludge Bomb."
Energy seeped out of Slowking and took the form of an identical Slowking. Both Pokémon fired dark blobs of poison at the many clones of Greninja.
Surprisingly, all the Greninjas vanished.
Silas smirked knowingly.
"Greninja, use Dark Pulse."
From the water a beam of dark energy shot out and struck one of the Slowkings.
When the smoke cleared, it was in the process of vanishing.
"Nice try but you struck the clone. Slowking, use Headbutt."
Slowking turned his body into a missile projectile and shot into the water at Greninja's previous position.
He fired a few more Dark Pulses but Slowking dodged using his temporary speed.
At the last moment, Greninja split into multiple clones underwater but Slowking still found the real Greninja and crashed into him.
The water began to stir in the pool from the force of the attack.
Greninja roughed it out and condensed a Water Pulse using the pool water to increase the attack power. The pulse blasted Slowking out of the water.
Greninja returned to the surface as his clones vanished.
"To think that even without the speed advantage, you still can't get the advantage."
Violet was visibly annoyed.
"Fine., have it your way. Slowking, show them our true power. Use Hyper Beam at full power."
Energy immediately began gathering inside Slowking's mouth.
Silas' eyes narrowed.
There was far more power accumulating than he expected.
Then Violet added another command.
"Condense your psychic energy into the attack too."
Silas' expression changed.
Psychic energy began wrapping around the growing Hyper Beam.
Rather than simply firing the Normal type attack, Slowking was using its psychic power to compress and stabilize the energy while also adding psychic force to the attack.
The beam became smaller but more dangerous.
Violet pointed directly at Greninja.
"Blow him away in 1 move!"
Slowking fired.
The arena illuminated with light. The beam crossed the battlefield with terrifying speed.
Greninja attempted to evade, but the attack covered too much space.
Silas made an immediate decision through their psychic connection.
"Use Protean to cycle through Dark and Ghost type." .
Greninja did as instructed.
Ghost was first. The Normal type portion of the attack became ineffective but the psychic reinforcement still carried force.
Greninja shifted again to Dark.
The Psychic component became ineffective.
His typing rapidly alternated as he manipulated Protean to minimize the different forms of energy striking his body.
It didn't make the attack harmless.
Not even close.
The sheer physical and elemental force contained inside the combination still blasted Greninja backward.
His feet tore across the battlefield.
The beam continued pushing.
Greninja crossed his arms and endured.
The wall behind him shook when the remaining energy struck it.
A visible scar was left across the reinforced surface.
Smoke covered Greninja.
Silas stared into it.
Violet exhaled.
"That should…"
A silhouette moved.
Greninja lowered his arms.
His body was bruised and parts of his skin were visibly damaged. His breathing had become heavier.
Even with Protean allowing him to exploit immunities against portions of the attack, he had still absorbed roughly a third of the overall damage.
Against an attack of that magnitude, one third was still considerable but Greninja remained standing.
His eyes were clear and his posture lowered.
Violet stared.
"How the hell is your Greninja still standing?"
Silas smiled.
"The power in that move should've instantly put him out."
"Never underestimate your opponent, right?"
Slowking's own condition wasn't perfect.
More importantly, Hyper Beam had been combined with an enormous amount of psychic power.
The expenditure was tremendous.
Slowking's body was momentarily sluggish.
Its psychic energy fluctuated.
Silas immediately recognized the opening.
This was the moment.
"Greninja."
His voice became serious.
"Liquidation and Dark Pulse together."
Greninja moved his arms.
Water rapidly gathered.
But instead of shaping Liquidation normally, Greninja continued condensing it but this time into a new weapon.
The technique gradually took the shape of a massive hammer.
Dark energy followed. It spread across the condensed water.
The clear blue weapon became streaked with black and purple energy.
The combination looked sinister.
Greninja didn't rush. For once, speed wasn't necessary.
Slowking had put everything into Hyper Beam and psychic compression.
Its body needed time to recover.
Greninja used every available second.
He compressed the Liquidation hammer further.
The enormous shape became slightly smaller but dramatically denser.
Dark Pulse sank throughout the weapon instead of merely coating its surface.
Violet understood what was happening.
"Slowking, move!"
Slowking attempted to respond.
Its legs shifted. Psychic energy flickered around its body but the recovery wasn't fast enough.
Greninja charged. His first step cracked the battlefield beneath him.
The second carried him almost entirely across the remaining distance.
Slowking raised an arm instinctively.
Greninja jumped.
He rotated his entire body through the air, using the momentum of the spin to increase the force behind the weapon.
Then the hammer descended.
Slowking attempted to gather Psychic power but it was far too late.
The Liquidation-Dark Pulse combination smashed directly into it.
BOOOOM!
Water erupted outward. Dark energy detonated inside the blast.
Slowking was ripped from the ground and launched across the arena.
Its body struck the reinforced wall hard enough to create a crater.
Silas watched carefully.
Slowking remained embedded there for a second then its body fell forward and it fell to the ground.
Silence.
Violet stared in disbelief.
Slowking didn't move.
The referee confirmed what they could already see.
Slowking was unconscious.
Greninja remained standing several meters away.
Barely.
His breathing was heavy after enduring Hyper Beam and then pouring so much power into his final combination.
He had won but it was close.