Without hesitation, Luther sent Darkrai back onto the field, forcing Ash into a difficult position. Either Ash could switch out and give up the initiative, or he could let Darkrai use Dream Eater to steal energy and recover from its injuries.
"Sleep Talk," Ash commanded. That was his answer.
Tauros immediately sprang into action, charging straight at Darkrai with incredible speed despite still being asleep.
The move selected by 'Sleep Talk' was 'Iron Head'. Normally, it wasn't a move that posed a major threat to Darkrai. Based on Tauros's previous attacks, Luther chose not to cancel 'Dream Eater'.
Darkrai happily drained some energy from Tauros, feeling its wounds begin to heal before turning its attention to the incoming attack. There wasn't enough time to dodge, so Darkrai could only cross its arms in front of its chest in a defensive stance.
The moment Tauros crashed into him, however, Darkrai nearly blacked out. A wave of dizziness hit him, and he almost lost the ability to continue fighting. The arms protecting his chest were throbbing with pain and had already gone numb. If Dream Eater hadn't restored some health moments earlier, that hit would have knocked Darkrai flat.
Luther immediately realized something was wrong; that damage was far too high.
"One more time! Sleep Talk!" Ash shouted, seeing that Tauros still hadn't woken up.
This time, Luther didn't underestimate it. He ordered Darkrai to focus entirely on avoiding Tauros's charge before firing an Ice Beam in return.
Tauros's horns slammed into the battlefield, ripping up a large section of the ground after missing its target. At that moment, Luther understood: Anger Point. When struck by a critical hit, Tauros's ferocity exploded, massively increasing its Attack power.
'So Chansey's Egg Bomb ended up giving Ash an opportunity instead?' Luther clicked his tongue.
Battles were like that; no one could control the flow forever. Sometimes the strangest things disrupted your plans, and that unpredictability was exactly what made battling so dramatic.
"Come back, Tauros!"
Seeing Luther preparing a potentially fatal attack against the recently awakened Tauros, Ash immediately switched it out.
The last time he fought Luther, he'd lost because Luther had perfectly controlled the timing of his switches. After learning that lesson, Ash had become much more careful. So far, every one of his switches had come at exactly the right moment.
Noticing that Luther had no intention of recalling Darkrai, Ash threw out his fifth Pokémon: Sceptile.
Snorlax was asleep. Charizard had taken an Ice Beam and then been slammed down by Azumarill, so it was probably still recovering. Tauros had just healed itself with Rest, but had immediately eaten another Ice Beam from Darkrai. That meant Ash's final two choices were obvious: either Pikachu or his last unrevealed Pokémon would come out to finish the battle.
The moment Luther saw Sceptile, he froze briefly before letting out a self-mocking smile.
Snorlax, Charizard, Muk, Tauros, and now Sceptile. That made the final Pokémon obvious without even thinking: Pikachu. Putting aside the strength of the lineup itself, Ash still hadn't learned how to hide information about his team.
Compared to Luther, whose team was almost completely exposed, Ash should have been able to make far better use of the information advantage to create more opportunities. But he never did. Maybe it was simply his preferred style of battling.
Still, Luther felt Ash could be smarter about this. Darkrai's role in this match wasn't just to deal damage; it was gathering information as well. That was the real reason Luther hadn't switched Darkrai out earlier. The heavily injured Darkrai was acting like bait, waiting for Ash to reveal his final cards.
And just as Luther expected, Sceptile appeared. The moment it stepped onto the field, Luther felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
"Blizzard. Full power."
There was no way Luther was going to use Dark Void and give Ash a chance to show off one of his trademark comebacks. The safest option was simple: hit Sceptile in the face with Blizzard.
Sceptile charged straight through the raging snowstorm, leaping forward while pushing an Energy Ball toward Darkrai.
Darkrai never received an order to dodge. Instead, Luther told him to continue using Blizzard. With no choice, Darkrai took the Energy Ball head-on and endured the explosion. The experience Darkrai had accumulated over time told him exactly what Luther wanted: Luther wanted him to inflict as much damage on Sceptile as possible. Ideally, they would take each other down.
In that case, there was nothing left to discuss. Darkrai abandoned all thoughts of defense or evasion and used his speed to charge directly at Sceptile.
Sceptile hesitated for a split second as it watched the black figure rushing toward it in what looked almost like a suicidal attack. Then it raised its Leaf Blade, spun, and slashed.
Before the glow of Leaf Blade had even faded, Blizzard burst out at point-blank range. Sceptile struck down Darkrai, but its entire body was instantly coated in frost, leaving it shivering uncontrollably.
After enduring Snorlax's Giga Impact, Charizard's Flamethrower, a devastating Iron Head from an Anger Point-boosted Tauros, and then taking both an Energy Ball and a Leaf Blade head-on, Darkrai had finally been brought down. By rotating his Pokémon and spreading out the damage, Ash had successfully taken Darkrai off the board.
Dawn, Brock, Barry, Conway, and even Paul, sitting quietly in an inconspicuous seat, all applauded.
Everyone understood how important Darkrai was to Luther's team. Against Dakota, Darkrai's contribution had rivaled Gardevoir's. A Legendary Pokémon like this, one that was steadily gaining battle experience, could create far too many variables in a match.
Luther watched as Sceptile, a twig hanging from its mouth, accepted Ash's praise. Silently, he recalled Darkrai.
"You did well. Ash's entire lineup is exposed now, and that final charge was a smart move. Otherwise, Sceptile might have finished you off too cleanly." Luther gently touched Darkrai's Poké Ball and smiled. Because of his own decisions and preparations before the match, Sceptile had once again recreated the scene of defeating Darkrai. The coincidence made Luther marvel at fate all over again.
Taking advantage of Darkrai's defeat, Ash switched Sceptile out to give it time to rest. When Luther sent Azumarill back onto the field, Pikachu finally jumped down from Ash's shoulder.
Electric sparks crackled from Pikachu's cheeks. The message was obvious: I've been waiting for you.
Ash grinned. "I won't make the same mistake I made during our last practice battle. This time, your Azumarill won't get another chance to interfere with my other Pokémon."
Pikachu was fast, agile, and had a type advantage over Azumarill. The threat it posed was obvious.
"So this is your anti-Azumarill setup?" Luther asked with a smile. "Do you remember what you told us back in the restaurant courtyard?"
Ash paused. "You taught me this yourself."
Luther pointed toward the battlefield. "Blizzard!"
Darkrai had already used Blizzard repeatedly against Sceptile earlier. As a result, most of Ash's side of the battlefield had become a sheet of ice.
Aside from a few uneven areas damaged during the battle, the surface was extremely slippery. Now, Azumarill unleashed another massively powerful Blizzard, freezing even more of the field beneath her feet.
Pikachu cautiously tested the icy ground with a paw, quickly discovering that finding proper footing was difficult.
Luther was very satisfied with the battlefield's current condition. Pikachu had looked incredible when fighting Regice, but that didn't mean Luther would allow the same thing to happen against him.
He had no intention of giving Pikachu a chance to build up speed and launch a lightning-fast offense, nor would he allow ice pillars, ice walls, or other terrain features that would let Pikachu exploit its small size and agility.
(End of Chapter)
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