Seeing the appearance of Spiritomb, Flint looked at the projection of Axel with doubt.
The Poké Ball in his hand was even forgotten to be put back on his waist, clearly puzzled as to why Axel didn't use Garchomp but let Spiritomb battle.
"You're sure to let this guy fight against my Infernape?"
Flint didn't mean to look down on Spiritomb, it's just that this guy had too low a presence in Cynthia's team.
Although it had been trained quite well, with the level of a Champion-class Pokémon, this guy's base stats and speed were serious weaknesses.
Even if it was immune to Fighting-type, it was still hard to endure the attacks of his own Infernape.
Hearing Flint's words, Spiritomb lowered its head even more.
But right after, Axel's words gave Spiritomb the greatest encouragement.
["There are no weak Pokémon, only weak Trainers."]
["If there are no objections, let's begin then."]
Flint nodded thoughtfully, and in the gaze he directed at Axel, there was suddenly a trace more recognition, "A trainer of the Mind-Over-Matter school, huh? I used to be one too."
"In my view, Infernape is the strongest Pokémon!"
"In that case, let's battle!"
Accompanied by a dragon roar from Garchomp, the battle was declared to begin.
"Infernape, use Flamethrower, tear apart all the opponent's defenses!"
"Spiritomb, use Hypnosis!"
The speed at which the commands were given was almost the same, but Infernape's move execution speed was clearly much faster.
Almost the moment Flint's voice landed, Infernape had already opened its mouth, and the space in front of it was scorched and distorted by flames.
Flamethrower fired instantly, taking away a big chunk of Spiritomb's stamina.
If Axel's judgment wasn't wrong, the opponent's Pokémon should be holding Charcoal, which made the Fire-type move so powerful.
"Spiritomb, don't panic, hold through this move."
"Spiritomb!"
Spiritomb's expression looked somewhat pained, yet it still persisted and used the Hypnosis move.
A red light appeared in Spiritomb's eyes, and Infernape, who was looking at it, became dazed.
Hypnosis hit.
If nothing unexpected happened, Flint's Infernape would soon fall asleep.
But at that moment, a passionate and stirring voice suddenly rang into the battle center.
"Infernape, hold on, don't fall asleep!"
Even more outrageous, after hearing this sentence, Infernape gave itself a hard slap, forcefully shaking off the sleepiness brought by the Hypnosis move.
Axel: "???"
'You're freaking serious? This is really the Mind-Over-Matter style?'
Back when Axel played Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, he felt that Sinnoh's high-friendship Pokémon being able to shake off status conditions was a super cool thing.
After all, back then, the friendship system could burst out strong effects and often turn the tide of battle.
But now, he just wanted to curse...
But obviously, now wasn't the time to curse. If he wanted Flint to never challenge Cynthia again, he had to make Spiritomb take him down dirty.
["Spiritomb, use Confuse Ray."]
"Spiritomb!"
As a Champion-level Pokémon, Spiritomb was extremely proficient in using moves.
A dark black light emerged from Spiritomb's body, accurately hitting the just-awakened Infernape.
Infernape's high-pitched cry disappeared, and it looked at its trainer in confusion.
'I seem to have slept into a stupor...'
Flint clenched his fists, his gaze blankly fixed on Axel, as if doubting life itself.
'Bro, we're both well-known Champions, and you just have to start the battle with status moves?'
'Do you have some special obsession or something?'
After taking a deep breath, Flint raised his fist forcefully.
Right now, his Infernape still had full stamina, even if confused, it still had the advantage.
"Since it's already in a confused state, then use Raging Fury, tear apart the opponent's tactics!"
"At most two hits, and the opponent will lose the match!"
Axel raised his eyebrows, unlike Flint's frustration, he wore a faint smile.
["Then this is the chance, use Curse!"]
Spiritomb nodded, not knowing where it pulled out a set of pitch-black nails and a hammer.
The nails were placed on its head, and the hammer slammed down hard.
After repeating the actions several times, the nails filled with ghostly energy had already entered Spiritomb's body.
Infernape, who was using Raging Fury, suddenly felt a pain in its head, and at the same time its mind went into confusion. Raging Fury was instantly interrupted, and it punched itself in the head.
Under the effect of Curse and this punch, Infernape's stamina immediately dropped by nearly half.
Flint gritted his teeth, scratching his fiery red hair.
For the first time in his life, he felt pain during a battle.
'This guy's even more annoying than Volkner!'
"But it's okay, Infernape hold on, Spiritomb doesn't have much stamina left now either."
"As long as you hit once, the opponent will fall under your Iron Fist!"
Seeing Flint regaining his spirit, Axel grinned.
'If that's what you're thinking, then you're wrong.'
["Spiritomb, use Pain Split!"]
A translucent thread pierced through space, connecting Spiritomb and Infernape.
In the next moment, the life force of both sides began to equalize.
Both ended up with just under one-fourth of their stamina remaining.
"Ahhh! Infernape hold on!", Flint clutched his head, feeling like it was about to explode.
"If you can't use your move, I won't be able to sleep tonight!"
Under Flint's encouragement, Infernape finally managed to use Raging Fury.
An endless burst of flames erupted from its body, lighting up the entire courtyard like daytime.
Flint licked his lips hard, looking at Infernape with anticipation.
As long as it hits, he could win this battle.
At that moment, Spiritomb let out a creepy smile and swiftly retreated backward.
Although its speed couldn't match Infernape, it still managed to stall for some time.
Wisps of black mist began to rise from Infernape's body, Curse activated again, taking away Infernape's last sliver of stamina.
Thud!
With a dull sound, Infernape's confused eyes became clear, and it fell unconscious to the ground.
Flint's mouth twitched uncontrollably, his eyes dull.
He looked at Infernape helplessly, like someone abused by a Shiny female Machamp.
"I actually lost to a long-distance trainer... Infernape actually lost to Spiritomb..."
"So close... really just a little bit..."
Seeing Flint in a daze, Axel winked at Cynthia and gave an OK gesture, then said to Spiritomb, ["Spiritomb, don't stand there blankly, quickly feed the berry you're carrying to Infernape."]
"Spiritooomb~"
Spiritomb shook its big head, jumped to Infernape's side, and fed it a Wiki Berry.
Seeing Spiritomb's action, the unwillingness in Flint's eyes instantly faded.
Only at this moment did he realize something.
In the battle just now, the opponent didn't even use their held item.
The difference between himself and Spiritomb wasn't "a little", it was a gulf of hundreds of thousands of miles.