Days passed and it was finally the last day of the Ranking Battle. After Dante and Mualani's match, Shinobu and the others also began challenging and receiving challenges from other students.
Shinobu had climbed from the upper level of the class rankings to third place, just behind Dante and Focalors.
And today, the two girls are standing on opposite sides of the arena, having decided to settle who really deserved second place among the first-year students.
Although the stadium was not as packed as Dante and Mualani's match, many still came to watch. After all, the identity of the two competitors is very special.
One is the lover of the strongest student in their university, while the other is the daughter of another country's Champion. It was already expected that the two would be part of the Freshman Team in the coming Inter-University Tournament.
There were still 3 minutes before the battle. Shinobu looked at the white-haired girl opposite her and had a sudden whim.
"Focalors, you wanna make this more interesting?"
"What do you have in mind?"
Focalors furrowed her eyebrows. Noticing Shinobu's casual tone, she suppressed the surge of irritation that welled up inside her.
She knew she was being irrational. Shinobu hadn't done anything wrong, quite the opposite in fact- she was nothing but friendly. However, because of her presence, she failed to seduce Dante before Furina learned the news.
Now, her sister insists on being the one to accomplish the task. And Focalors definitely wouldn't allow that. Therefore, for the past week, the two siblings had done nothing but interfere with each other's progress.
Shinobu didn't notice any abnormality in Focalors behavior. She smiled and raised her right hand, her index finger pointing upwards in a number 1 sign.
"Let's have a wager. The winner can order the loser to do one thing. Of course, it must not be something unreasonable. How about it?"
"…I agree. This would indeed make the battle more exciting."
Focalors tried not to let the eagerness show on her face. She was wrong. Shinobu is the perfect assistant! Although ordering Shinobu to accept her as Dante's second woman is a bit far-fetched, maybe she could make a small request to facilitate that outcome?
Of course, this was presuming she would win.
"Ding! The match between Rank 91 Focalors and Rank 92 Shinobu is set. Are both Trainers ready?"
Right on time, the Rotom Referee emerged, signaling the beginning of the match. Shinobu and Focalors nodded to indicate their preparedness, and simultaneously released their Pokemon.
"Let's win this, Dragonair."
"Shelly, let's show everything we've got!"
—
"Who do you think will win, Dan?"
"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be Shinobu."
"Eh?"
Taking this opportunity when Focalors and Shinobu weren't here, Furina approached and sat beside Dante. She asked that question just to start a conversation. However, she didn't expect him to answer so confidently.
Although she and Focalors recently had some differences in opinion, Furina still acknowledged her sister's strength, especially compared to her peers. What gave Dante the certainty she would lose?
"Why do you say so? There isn't any type advantage between their Pokemon. That should mean they have equal chances of winning, right?"
Dawn, Candice, and Kachina also stared curiously at Dante, wanting to know the basis for his statement.
"It's because of the speed. Their stats are very similar, but Accelgor massively overwhelms Dragonair in speed."
Mualani's peppy voice answered instead of Dante. The tanned girl is currently leaning on the railing with Candice and Kachina, planning to cheer for both sides when the match starts.
"But Dragonair has Extreme Speed! Surely, that would be enough to make up for the gap!"
"You're right. It's not certain who will lose or win in the end. After all, Pokemon battles contain many factors."
Dante smiled and placated the excited girl. However, Furina pouted when she heard his consoling tone. If the match wasn't about to start, she would have shown him a piece of her mind.
Come on, sis! Go prove how wrong they are!
…
"Shelly, Agility!"
"Use Safeguard, Dragonair!"
As the battle started, the two girls commanded at the same time.
Having watched Shinobu's previous battles, Focalors knew how much she relied on Accelgor using Yawn. Therefore, her first command was to ensure Dragonair wouldn't fall for such a status condition. And next, was to do something about the difference in speed.
"Use Thunder Wave!"
"Dra!"
Dragonair released a static current through his horn at the ninja-like Bug Pokemon. But as expected, such a straightforward attack was easily sidestepped by Accelgor, who then used her fast speed to rush forward.
However, Focalors had expected that.
"Now, Dragonair! Icy Wind!"
"Shelly, use Struggle Bug!"
Facing the bitter cold wall of air, Accelgor released a sound wave through her mouth, neutralizing the icy attack and creating a circular path for the Bug Pokemon to pass through.
"Get close and use Bug Buzz!"
"Meet him head on! Dragonair, use Flamethrower!"
Red and yellow-green energy clashed in the middle of the arena. Bug Buzz, being the same Bug-type as Accelgor, had a higher power than the Flamethrower released by Dragonair. Coupled with having a higher special attack, slowly, the yellow-green energy began to push back against the Fire-type move.
Focalors' eyebrows furrowed. She thought the type advantage of Flamethrower would have been enough to offset the difference in power, but it seems she miscalculated.
"Dragonair, charge through the attack with Extreme Speed! Wrap around Accelgor!"
"What?"
Shinobu stared at Focalors in bewilderment. How could Dragonair tank the attack with his defenses? He would be blown away instea- no, wait!
"Dragonair!"
Dragonair stopped using Flamethrower after hearing his Trainer's command. His face grimaced as Accelgor's attack landed on him. However, he endured the pain and stabilized his body. At the same time, white energy swiftly gathered around him.
Then, his body blurred.
He passed through the heavy sound waves, suffering countless internal injuries along the way. But in the end, he succeeded.
"Shelly, no! Get away from there!"
Unfortunately, even with Accelgor's high speed, it was useless. She was temporarily immobile after using Bug Buzz at full power for so long and needed a second to recover her movement, a second of vulnerability that the opponent seized.
With gritted teeth, Dragonair arrived in front of Accelgor. At this time, the energy he gathered to use Extreme Speed had petered out. Fortunately, its purpose had already been served.
Dragonair wrapped his snake-like body around Accelgor, squeezing the Bug Pokemon. Accelgor thrashed around in an attempt to slip away. However, it was no use.
Shinobu winced. With Shelly's lower attack and defense, escaping from this binding is almost impossible. Not to mention, Dragonair's defenses were most definitely boosted.
When she saw Dragonair plow through a full-powered Bug Buzz, Shinobu basically confirmed that the Dragon Pokemon was holding an Eviolite- a 10 million credits worth battle item that boosts the defenses of a Pokemon which can still evolve by 50%.
'I'm so stupid! Of course, Focalors, the daughter of a Champion, would have access to such an item!'
Shinobu facepalmed. She stared at the situation in the arena, grimacing as she knew it was only a matter of time before Accelgor fainted. And among her Pokemon's moveset, there's none that would allow her to escape the current situation.
In that case...
"I'm sorry, Focalors. I really don't like losing. Shelly, use Final Gambit!"
"...how despicable."
Hearing Shinobu's command, Focalors sighed. Final Gambit is a special attack Fighting-type move that links the user's energy with another Pokemon. Then, the user releases all the energy in their body, pushing the same amount of energy away from the linked Pokemon.
After using this move, there can only be two outcomes. One, both Pokemon end up having no more energy in their body and fainting. And two, only the user faints as there is still energy remaining in the other Pokemon.
In short, just like its name, Final Gambit is a move that results in either a draw or a loss for the user.
And she couldn't even command Dragonair to use Protect. After all, unlike Explosion, if there is no Pokemon to link with, nothing will happen to the Pokemon who used Final Gambit. Instead, the momentary weakness after using Protect could enable Accelgor to slip past the binding and make a comeback.
After all, in addition to Dragonair being weakened from taking on the earlier attack, Accelgor still hadn't used the Petaya Berry she was holding.
So, with a helpless expression, Focalors watched Accelgor and Dragonair fall to the ground at the same time.
A/N: I had planned for Dragonair to finally evolve and win this battle, but it seems fate had other plans. Anyway, a draw does seem to be a better outcome for the story's progression.