After a short day of rest, the second stage of the preliminary round, the Ranking Tournament, officially began.
As the opening match of Group D, the battle between Conway and Luther had extremely high popularity.
During the three rounds of the preliminary stage, Conway had already built up a group of fans. This was largely related to his battle style; every match, he could use his Pokémon to completely seal the strength of one of the opponent's Pokémon.
Luther's popularity, however, only exploded after his battle with Hayata. With Darkrai's appearance, along with the Pokémon Luther had been hiding, finally being revealed together, Luther, who had previously been lurking unnoticed in the corner, suddenly entered the public spotlight.
Even though this wasn't the main tournament, Luther's Houndoom had already become a symbol of perseverance.
As for Marill, she had become the face of countless meme images. Her match against Dragalge had already been clipped into all sorts of ridiculous animated GIFs.
Because of this, whenever Marill went to the restaurant to eat, she would always be surrounded by crowds watching her. Even when leaving the restaurant, people gathered asking for hugs and photos.
After entering the arena, the audience behind Luther erupted like a tidal wave, shouting the names of Luther and Marill. Many spectators were waving Marill signs wildly.
"Such incredible popularity," Conway said with a sigh as he pushed up his glasses. "At first, I thought the audience would prefer Darkrai more. After all, another contestant in this tournament has already shown off a powerful Darkrai."
Seeing that the referee was still checking the equipment, Luther casually started chatting with Conway.
"So what kind of battle plan did you prepare specifically for my team lineup?"
"I can't tell you that," Conway replied. "But I think it should bring you a little surprise."
Both Conway and Luther took out their Poké Balls at the same time. Conway noticed the referee had already raised the flag.
After the three-second countdown, the two released their Pokémon.
Luther once again kept Marill as his lead Pokémon, while Conway sent out Gengar.
Seeing Marill appear, Conway revealed a barely noticeable smile.
"First move, Trainer Conway! The battle begins!"
"Let's start by greeting Marill… Shadow Ball."
Conway chose the most stable opening. Gengar grinned wickedly as it launched a Shadow Ball toward Marill.
Under Luther's command, Marill smashed the Shadow Ball apart with Ice Punch. Just as Luther was thinking about the next move, Gengar suddenly used its speed to rush right in front of Marill. Its body stretched out into a bizarre noodle-like shape!
"Will-O-Wisp."
A cluster of ghostly blue flames slipped straight into Marill's body. At such close range, Marill had no time to react and was instantly afflicted with the burn.
"Hydro Pump on Gengar, create distance!"
Burned, Marill cried out in pain. Hearing Luther's command, she quickly responded.
First, she fired a powerful Hydro Pump, blasting the Gengar that was trying to close in again. Then, using the recoil force from the attack, she jumped backward to create some distance.
After being blasted in the face by Hydro Pump, Gengar didn't pursue aggressively. Under Conway's command, it retreated slightly, maintaining a distance where it could launch a Sucker Punch at Marill at any moment while keeping its eyes fixed on her.
Seeing Marill's narrowed eyes and the gradually weakening power of her Hydro Pump earlier, Luther couldn't help but look up at Conway.
Conway was smiling.
Luther's judgment really was sharp, he had immediately sensed something abnormal. If it had taken a little longer, Conway might have been able to seize an opening for another attack.
Gengar's Ability, Cursed Body.
After being hit by an attack, there is a chance that the opponent will be temporarily unable to use the move they just used.
After sealing Hydro Pump and using Will-O-Wisp to neutralize Marill's physical attacks, Gengar happily launched the next round of offense.
A Shadow Ball successfully struck Marill. This time, Marill's Ice Punch could no longer stop the Shadow Ball, the difference in power had already become clear.
Something was wrong. Luther decided to switch Pokémon.
"Mean Look!" Conway shouted first.
Gengar moved almost at the same moment the Poké Ball's recall beam shot out. Mean Look enveloped Marill, who was trying to retreat, and the beam from the Poké Ball was deflected away.
"I finally trapped your Marill, there's no way I'm letting it escape so easily. Shadow Ball!"
This entire strategy had been tailor-made specifically for Marill. Conway executed it perfectly, and luck was also on his side.
"Blizzard."
There was no way to escape now. At the very least, Gengar had to pay a price.
Marill also realized her situation, this entire setup had been designed specifically to counter her.
Knowing that her room to maneuver was already extremely limited, Marill held nothing back. She didn't bother conserving stamina and unleashed Blizzard at full power.
To avoid Shadow Ball colliding directly with Blizzard and being canceled out, Gengar shifted its position, moving to Marill's rear side.
Once Marill started using Blizzard, she wouldn't be able to make large directional adjustments, so Gengar had chosen what seemed to be a very safe position.
"Get away from that spot!"
By the time Conway shouted the warning, Gengar had already released Shadow Ball. Completely confused, it had no idea why it needed to dodge.
Marill's body indeed couldn't move, but her spring-like tail was extremely flexible.
With her excellent sense of direction, Marill used her tail to rotate her body halfway around, facing Gengar directly. The powerful Blizzard instantly swallowed Gengar whole.
Conway sighed.
After collecting so much information from Luther's previous battles, he already understood Marill's combat style very well.
Even if Marill's entire body was immobilized, as long as her tail could still move, she was capable of launching a counterattack.
Shadow Ball slammed into Marill's belly. The damage from Will-O-Wisp's burn triggered at the same time, exploding together with the Shadow Ball's impact.
Marill staggered twice before collapsing onto the ground.
Gengar didn't come out much better. Marill's final Blizzard had been astonishingly powerful, it had frozen Gengar solid.
"Trainer Luther's Marill has appeared many times during this tournament, but this is the first time she has lost the ability to battle!"
The commentator's words made Luther sigh as he raised his hand and recalled Marill.
Conway's targeting had been comprehensive.
He hadn't used Will-O-Wisp immediately because he wanted to bait out a move. Based on Marill's usual battle style, the likelihood of responding with Ice Punch was very high, and that was exactly what Luther did.
After forcing Luther to waste one move slot, Will-O-Wisp disabled Marill's physical offense. Then, with Cursed Body's immobilization chance, Conway gambled on sealing the special attack Luther tried to retaliate with.
Under these conditions, Luther effectively had two moves rendered useless, leaving switching as the only real option.
But Conway's Mean Look had forcibly trapped Marill on the field, preventing the switch.
The entire sequence flowed incredibly smoothly, and based on Marill's previous performances, Conway had perfectly predicted how Luther would respond during battle.
Earlier, when Conway said he had a way to counter Darkrai, Luther hadn't fully believed him. After all, Darkrai's strength spoke for itself.
But after seeing Conway's strategy against Marill, Luther believed it.
For someone who had pushed Ash into such a desperate struggle, where Ash would have nearly lost if Gible hadn't performed like it was cheating, Conway's ability was beyond doubt.
(End of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395