Since this was the finals, the number of referees had been increased to ensure faster and more accurate rulings.
Quite a few important people were in attendance: Chairman Charles Goodshow, who had announced his retirement; League officials from various regions; Kalos Champion Diantha; and many others.
At an occasion like this, professionalism mattered most.
The head referee for today had officiated all of Luther's matches throughout the main tournament. It was fair to say he knew Luther very well by now. The amount of suffering he'd experienced in the referee's seat during this Lily of the Valley Conference probably exceeded everything from the rest of his career combined.
The moment he saw Chansey start pulling out Egg Bombs one after another, he had a bad feeling that something exciting and dangerous was about to happen. As soon as he saw Chansey winding up for the throw, he immediately warned the nearby referees to take cover and called for his Aegislash to protect him.
The other referees, determined to display their professional standards, stood perfectly upright.
"Why won't you listen? This is a Luther match. Taking cover isn't embarrassing..."
Thanks to his wealth of experience, he avoided getting blasted by the flying dust and ice shards after the explosion. As for those dedicated referees... they were currently looking for towels to wipe their faces.
A huge crater had appeared in the middle of the battlefield. Snorlax, now completely blackened by the blast, was coughing violently.
Fortunately, Chansey's offensive power wasn't particularly high. Otherwise, Snorlax would already be out of the match. Even so, all the healing he'd gotten from sleeping had effectively gone to waste. His condition had deteriorated once again.
Taking five Egg Bombs at point-blank range was quite the experience. Even now, Snorlax's ears were still ringing.
When Ash saw Chansey running toward Snorlax despite panting heavily, his confidence suddenly wavered. He was genuinely worried that Chansey might be able to pull out another string of Egg Bombs like before.
"Snorlax, return!"
Looking at the Poké Ball in his hand, Ash let out a sigh of relief. "Get some more rest. I'll need your help again later."
After reviewing Chansey's offensive options in his mind, Ash sent out Charizard. Using the advantage of flight to suppress Chansey was the safest choice.
Brock also relaxed. For a moment there, he'd really been worried Ash had gotten carried away by that barrage of Egg Bombs and would try to have Snorlax brute-force his way through. If paralysis took effect and Chansey managed to stall Snorlax out, all the advantage Pikachu had fought so hard to gain earlier would be handed right back.
Once Charizard entered the field, Chansey was completely on the defensive.
Fire Blast was blocked by Protect. Chansey tried to dodge Flamethrower using the evasive techniques she'd trained so hard to master, only to discover that Charizard's Flamethrower was unbelievably sustained. The stream of fire chased her across the field relentlessly, scorching her from head to toe.
"Why isn't he switching?"
Mai, who almost never doubted Luther's judgment, was beginning to get anxious. Chansey was getting chased around by Charizard, yet Luther remained completely unmoved, only occasionally using Thunder Wave in an attempt to hit Charizard.
Candice frowned. "Most likely he's trying to wear down Charizard's stamina. That's usually Luther's favorite approach."
"But Chansey has always been the one responsible for controlling the pace of the match," said Misaki, who was sitting with the Elite Four. She looked equally confused. "If possible, Luther usually squeezes every bit of value out of Chansey before letting her go down. Right now... it feels like he's given up on Chansey."
Lucian, Flint, Aaron, and Bertha stared at the battlefield. All four of them wore faint smiles, saying nothing.
"Dragon Dance!"
Ash remembered the sparring match back in Veilstone City. He couldn't afford to wait any longer.
That battle had started the same way. Chansey and Jumpluff had relied on their incredible stamina to wear down his Pokémon. They hadn't dealt much direct damage, but they had exhausted his team until they could barely fight, allowing Marill to come in and pick them off one by one.
Empowered by Dragon Dance, Charizard charged at Chansey just as she was preparing to lay an egg and recover her stamina. He grabbed her and lifted her into the air.
This time, Ash wasn't making the same mistake. Since he'd boosted Charizard's physical attack, he'd use physical attacks to finish the job.
Seismic Toss was ready.
A panicked Chansey was carried high into the sky by Charizard. At this altitude, Luther's voice couldn't reach her anymore. But she could still see his lips move.
"Boom."
Chansey understood exactly what Luther meant.
As Charizard began plummeting toward the ground with Chansey in his grasp, he suddenly noticed that the egg Chansey had created for recovery hadn't dissolved into particles. Chansey grinned mischievously and pressed the egg directly against Charizard's belly.
A powerful sense of danger instantly surged through him.
Charizard immediately threw Chansey out toward the edge of the battlefield. Gritting his teeth in pain, Charizard stabilized himself in midair. Looking at the now-unable-to-battle Chansey, he let out a small puff of flame.
Darkrai, Azumarill, and now Chansey had all been eliminated. Meanwhile, Ash had only lost Muk, his lead Pokémon.
The crowd's cheers began shifting decisively toward Ash.
Back at Professor Rowan's laboratory, the staff watching on television were tense with anxiety. The Pokémon Luther had rescued looked ready to rush to the stadium and help him themselves. Lucario had Maylene locked in a restraining hold as she bounced around anxiously, signaling for her to calm down.
Resting her chin on one hand, Gardenia whistled. "Ash sent out Muk too early. What a waste."
Barry and Conway counted through Luther's remaining Pokémon, then reviewed the condition of Ash's team.
Luther still had two unrevealed Pokémon. His Gardevoir had been poisoned and injured.
On Ash's side, Snorlax had accumulated heavy damage from Chansey's Egg Bombs and was also paralyzed from Thunder Wave. Charizard had been severely injured by Darkrai once already.
Sceptile had taken a Blizzard head-on while eliminating Darkrai. The Water Guns that hit Pikachu weren't worth mentioning, but Azumarill's final slam definitely hurt. Tauros had also taken damage from Darkrai earlier.
After tallying everything up, even Brock and Dawn found themselves breathing a little faster.
Luther's first three Pokémon had successfully damaged Ash's entire team, drained their stamina, and inflicted status conditions.
Aaron was also explaining the situation to Misaki. "The reason Luther let Chansey go down so easily is that Chansey's value later in the match is lower than the value of squeezing out one more round of damage right now."
Mismagius floated onto the battlefield. It was Luther's fifth Pokémon to appear in this match.
Ash initially wanted to switch Charizard out, but Charizard shook his head. The determination in his eyes made Ash abandon the idea.
Charizard understood the situation Ash was facing. Snorlax and Tauros, both Normal-types, already had a difficult matchup against a Ghost-type like Mismagius. Their speed might not be enough to keep up, and neither of them was anywhere near peak condition. If he didn't step forward now, Ash would truly fall behind.
"I'm counting on you, Charizard."
Charizard nodded and turned to stare at Mismagius.
Mismagius understood her assignment just as clearly: take as little damage as possible, and defeat the opponent in front of her. Otherwise, she might not be able to contribute much to Luther's remaining battle plan.
(End of Chapter)
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