Luther was finally receiving the treatment reserved for renowned competitors.
Ever since his Ranking Tournament battle against Conway, every opponent had mimicked and amplified Conway's strategy for the subsequent fifteen rounds: forcing a one-for-one exchange with Luther's first Pokémon.
Every competitor adopted this tactic, executing it with a decisiveness that astonished Luther. They exhausted every possible method to prevent Luther from recalling his first Pokémon and forcing the exchange.
Even if the initial exchange failed, they wouldn't consider other tactics. Instead, they relentlessly repeated the same strategy until Luther's Pokémon was defeated.
This relentless strategy placed immense pressure on Luther.
Firstly, his glaring weakness in team rotation could no longer be concealed.
His plan had been clever; if he could maintain the facade, perhaps his opponents wouldn't discover his weakness until the Main Tournament.
By this stage, however, few competitors were anything less than shrewd.
After Marill was repeatedly targeted in several consecutive matches and Luther continued to cycle through the same limited set of Pokémon, every trainer knew the extent of Luther's roster.
Knowing this, all the trainers in Luther's group adopted a one-for-one strategy. Given Luther's formidable ability, he was guaranteed to advance. They gambled that he wouldn't fight at full strength, that he would hold back his main Pokémon, or that he would use less experienced Pokémon to practice.
In a later conversation, Conway quipped that everyone was mimicking him, but lacking originality, which, he said, explained their defeats.
Seeing Conway's sinister grin, Luther suspected that Conway had devised another strategy to counter him. However, it seemed he would have to wait until the Main Tournament to experience Conway's true strength again.
Conway and Luther dominated Group D, securing the top two spots. Luther currently has a perfect record, and it seems highly probable that he will maintain his undefeated streak, as his remaining two matches are against mid-ranked trainers.
Conway mirrors this success, having lost only to Luther.
In Group A, Dakota is in the lead with an unchallenged perfect record. He disregards Darkrai's depleted stamina, ignoring opponents' strategies and forcing Darkrai to repeatedly battle.
However, he can no longer secure instant knockouts.
Someone posted an in-depth guide online explaining how to counter Darkrai, which made Dakota's subsequent matches significantly more challenging.
When Luther asked Conway who might have posted the guide, Conway smiled faintly.
"No one wants their strongest opponent's Pokémon to breeze into the Main Tournament on a Tailwind. Especially when that trainer is so arrogant and stubbornly refuses to rotate his team, forcing Darkrai into a grueling gauntlet of matches."
"I didn't post it, but someone will eventually. It doesn't break any rules, after all. Dakota has rotations, but he refuses to use them."
The relentless tournament schedule finally made Luther understand why Ash faced such overwhelming challenges in his earlier competitions when his Pokémon resources were limited.
No matter how powerful a Pokémon is, it still needs sustenance to recover.
Even legendary Pokémon like the Space-Time Trio and Giratina need to rest after battles to regain their stamina. Arceus itself retreats to rest after unleashing a few Judgment attacks.
Luther couldn't fathom what Dakota was stubbornly clinging to. Even Darkrai, as formidable as it is, would be utterly drained by competing in two or three matches a day. The stamina and energy expended in battle alone would be staggering.
After consecutive battles, Marill and Mismagius showed signs of exhaustion, requiring extensive feeding and rest to recuperate. Was Darkrai somehow exempt from this basic principle?
"No matter how ferocious Darkrai is, it can't ignore these limitations!"
The Ranking Tournament was clearly designed to test each Pokémon Trainer's team lineup, but Dakota insisted on treating it like a dungeon crawl. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that Darkrai was single-handedly clearing a hundred floors.
When the four trainers met, they all expressed their concerns, but Dakota simply smiled, showing no intention of changing his approach.
"It feels like he's deliberately going against something," Ash remarked. Luther and Etorre wholeheartedly agreed.
Ash was leading Group E, having finally assembled his full team for the tournament.
Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Tauros, Corphish, Totodile, Swellow, Torkoal, and Glalie had subsequently been transferred to his roster. This was the advantage of having vast resources: the ability to switch Pokémon at will. The pressure of the grueling Ranking Tournament schedule? Nonexistent.
Ash's fans jokingly called him the "No-Evolution Pokémon League Leader" because of the number of powerful unevolved Pokémon on his team.
Another nickname he earned was "Type Reversal Master."
Bulbasaur defeated Camerupt despite the type disadvantage; Squirtle triumphed over Roserade; and Charizard overwhelmed Rhyperior.
Throughout Ash's battles, he seemed to possess an uncanny ability to turn type disadvantages into victories.
In Group C, Etorre was like the God of War. Every Pokémon he summoned was immediately put into action, gaining experience.
Etorre's fighting style was utterly devoid of spectacle. His Pokémon would endure a relentless barrage of attacks before suddenly delivering a seemingly harmless blow that would instantly disable their opponent.
Alternatively, a seemingly weak counterattack from Etorre's Pokémon could abruptly end the match mid-battle.
This led the commentators to realize that Etorre's matches were even more grueling than Luther's. They became hesitant to make any bold predictions.
However, Luther benefited greatly from the commentators' attention. As he continued to battle, he discovered that he had acquired a peculiar new "type."
A natural meme generator.
It started with a GIF of Dragalge being dragged to the ground by Marill, accompanied by various captions that spread like wildfire.
Then came the Shadow Ball duel between Mismagius and Mimikyu.
But the highlight was undoubtedly Luther's battle against Conway. Afterward, meme templates and hilarious edits exploded across the internet.
One screenshot of Mismagius in action was captioned, "I'm waiting for Calm Mind to recharge. What are you waiting for?"
Facing her were Conway's three Pokémon.
A frame capturing Mismagius's ability change was cropped and paired with the triumphant declaration, "Who else can stop me now?!"
A frozen Gengar faced Mismagius's Shadow Ball, accompanied by the caption, "Smiling in the face of danger."
…
After that, a bunch of internet meme-makers camped out at Luther's matches, eagerly waiting to grab fresh screenshots for their latest creations.
Eventually, even the commentators started using lines from the memes to describe Luther's battles.
The latest meme sensation was "Kindergarten Principal Darkrai."
In the sixteenth round, Luther sent out Larvitar for its first real battle.
Having grown rapidly thanks to ample nutrition and proper training, the energetic Larvitar was eager to test its combat skills.
As expected, Larvitar proved to be strong and resilient but lacked experience. It was defeated by Medicham in its debut match.
For his second Pokémon, Luther unexpectedly unleashed Darkrai, a Pokémon he rarely used.
His opponent, assuming Luther would give him an easy win since he was already guaranteed a spot in the Main Tournament, was overjoyed at seeing Larvitar. Little did he know, Darkrai would proceed to absolutely crush him.
This led to the now-iconic image of Darkrai posing with Larvitar, accompanied by the line:
"So, you're the one bullying our kindergarten baby?"
Take it easy?
Not a chance.
Every victory in the Ranking Tournament came with a cash prize, and Luther was desperately short on money.
(End of Chapter)
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