Chapter 138: An Easy Victory
At the referee's signal, both trainers sent out their Pokémon.
Basalt, of course, chose Drilbur. Across the field, Gus released a sleek, blue Pokémon.
A Vaporeon, huh? Basalt thought, raising an eyebrow.
Vaporeon, the evolved form of Eevee when exposed to a Water Stone. It had a white ruff around its neck, two fin-like ears, and dark blue markings that ran down its back to its fish-like tail fin. As a Water-type, it had a clear type advantage over Drilbur.
"Another fully evolved Pokémon!" Seeing the Vaporeon, the members of the Metro City think tank all frowned.
"Is Kyanite City's strategy this year to use Evolution Stones to rapidly power-level their Pokémon and secure a higher ranking?"
"It seems so. That Nidoking from the last match clearly hadn't fully tapped into its potential. It was a rushed evolution, which is detrimental to a Pokémon's long-term growth."
While forcing an early evolution with a stone was an unfriendly and short-sighted move for the Pokémon, it was an undeniably effective strategy for certain trainers. For those with the resources, securing a high rank and the accompanying rewards was the priority. If the Pokémon's future growth was stunted, they could just keep it as a pet.
"Let's see how this Vaporeon performs. The battle will reveal everything." The Metro City advisors exchanged glances and turned their full attention to the field.
As for the possibility of Basalt losing? Unthinkable.
"Let's go, Basalt!"
"You got this, Gus!"
The teams cheered for their respective trainers.
"Both trainers, take your positions! Let the battle begin!"
The moment the referee gave the command, Gus's face lit up with excitement. "Surf!"
After evolving, his Vaporeon's stats had taken a massive leap. The Water Pulse it once knew had naturally progressed into the much more powerful Surf. A single hit from a move like that should be enough to take out its opponent, right? And if his opponent really was the captain of the Metro City team, this victory would be a huge personal win for him. Taking down a seeded competitor? This is going to be sweet!
"Vapooore~" At its trainer's command, Vaporeon began to gather a massive amount of Water-type energy. A wave materialized out of thin air at its feet and began to swell, growing larger and larger.
The only problem was that Surf, as a high-level move, was difficult to master and execute. While this Vaporeon could use it, it was clearly not proficient, and the move took a long time to charge up.
"Sand Tomb!" Basalt wasn't about to let his opponent set up peacefully—not that he was worried even if it did.
Rumble!
The ground beneath Vaporeon's feet dissolved into a swirling vortex of sand, covering a ten-meter radius. The water from its burgeoning Surf was immediately absorbed by the dry sand. Instead of growing larger, the wave began to shrink, until it was no more powerful than a simple Water Pulse.
Wham!
With a single Drill Run, Drilbur easily pierced through the weakened wave. But as it burst through the other side, it found nothing there.
Vaporeon… was gone.
"Chaa?" Drilbur looked around, surprised. It hadn't detected any unusual vibrations from the ground. The only thing left on the field was a large, wet puddle where the wave had been.
What's going on? Can Vaporeon fly? Drilbur tilted its head up, but the sky was empty.
Seeing Drilbur's confusion, Gus smirked. Vaporeon's cellular structure was similar to that of water molecules, allowing it to dissolve into water. At that moment, his Vaporeon was hidden within the puddle, slowly maneuvering behind Drilbur.
Splash!
Vaporeon rematerialized and fired a thick jet of water from its mouth with surprising force. While high-level moves like Surf were powerful, they were slow. For a sneak attack, a fast, low-tier move like Water Gun was far more effective.
However, the instant Vaporeon solidified, Drilbur detected the vibration through the ground. It leaped into the air, not only dodging the Water Gun with ease but also closing the distance to Vaporeon at an incredible speed.
"How is that Drilbur so fast?!" the Kyanite City team exclaimed in shock.
A faint smile touched Basalt's lips. Drilbur had changed a lot over the past month. As its physical conditioning had improved, its control over Sandstorm had become more and more refined. It could now maintain a micro-sandstorm that clung only to its body, just enough to activate its Sand Rush ability without anyone else even noticing. It was a self-sealing technique that didn't provide the full sixty percent speed boost of a regular Sand Rush, but the twenty or thirty percent increase it did provide was more than enough to deal with a slow Pokémon like Vaporeon.
WHACK!
Drilbur was too fast. Vaporeon, assuming its sneak attack would catch its opponent unprepared, was caught completely off guard. A single claw sent it flying.
Crush Claw!
Vrrrooom!
Not letting up for a second, Drilbur spun its body, transforming into a living drill and rocketing towards the airborne Vaporeon.
"Chaa!" With a graceful flip, Drilbur landed perfectly, striking a cool pose.
Vaporeon, on the other hand, crashed to the ground, its eyes swirling. It was knocked out.
"Chaa!" Drilbur raised its claws as if to cheer, but the crowd was silent. No one on the Metro City side had ever thought it would lose. Winning was the expected outcome.
"Vaporeon is unable to battle! The winner is... Basalt from Metro City!"
With the referee's decision, Metro City had finally won a round. But watching Basalt and Drilbur's performance, Director Falcone couldn't help but twitch. Drilbur had won far too easily. Basalt and Gus were not on the same level at all.
"Director Sterling, my friend, this Basalt of yours is quite interesting. Is he your team's captain?" Director Falcone asked, taking a sip of his tea and feigning nonchalance.
Sterling simply nodded. There was no point in hiding it; the list of seeded competitors would be made public once the tournament officially began.
"No wonder," Falcone grunted. For a seeded competitor, that level of strength was to be expected. "But this exhibition is still our win!" His gaze sharpened as he looked at Heath, who was now walking onto the field. Heath was Kyanite City's own seeded competitor, their captain. His strength was formidable. A regular member of the Metro City team wouldn't stand a chance.
"Haaaunter!"
"Kadabraaa~"
The fourth match began, and both trainers released their Pokémon.
Heath's Pokémon was a yellow, bipedal creature. It had a red star on its forehead, a fox-like face, and two long, mustache-like tufts of fur. Its torso was sectioned into brown, armor-like pieces on its shoulders and chest, and it held a silver spoon in its right hand. It was the Psychic-type Pokémon—Kadabra.
"Well, well. Talk about a classic rivalry," Basalt commented from the sidelines.
Kadabra and the Gastly line were some of the most popular Pokémon from the first generation. Both were high-speed, high-offense glass cannons with similar roles. Add in the fact that they were super-effective against each other, and you had a rivalry for the ages.
The match began with Gastly turning invisible, as usual. Kadabra's psychic power immediately swept the field, quickly pinpointing its opponent's location. This Kadabra's psychic strength was clearly on par with Bronzor's.
Forced into a direct confrontation, Gastly fired off a series of Shadow Balls. But with a flash of light, Kadabra vanished.
Teleport!
Warp!
Kadabra reappeared, not at a distance, but directly behind Gastly, its fist crackling with electricity as it threw a punch.
Thunder Punch!
"A physical-attacking Kadabra?" everyone muttered in confusion. A Kadabra with Thunder Punch was beyond rare; it was an unorthodox, almost unheard-of build.
"No," Mr. Shane's keen eyes pierced through the strategy. "That Kadabra's body is still frail. It's a special attacker. But a move like Thunder Punch is relatively fast to execute. Combined with Teleport, it makes for a highly effective surprise attack."
But Gastly was no pushover. Without waiting for a command from Waylon, a dark, purplish light flared around its body as a toxic mist began to spread. If Kadabra wanted to land that punch, it would have to go through the poison.
Warp!
Seeing the plan was foiled, Kadabra teleported away. It clearly wasn't interested in trading blows. But Gastly's Smog didn't dissipate; it grew thicker, quickly covering a large portion of the field.
"Kadabra, Barrier!" To protect itself from the encroaching poison, Kadabra tried to erect a psychic shield.
But Waylon had anticipated this. "Taunt!" he shouted.
A wave of dark energy, accompanied by Gastly making a menacing face, washed over Kadabra, disrupting its focus and preventing it from using any status moves.
"This is bad!" Director Falcone's face changed. The strength of Psychic and Ghost-types relied heavily on their status moves. With those sealed away, their effectiveness was cut by more than half. For Kadabra, without moves like Teleport, Recover, Imprison, Reflect, Barrier, Trick, Thunder Wave, or Double Team... what could it even do? It was completely crippled.
"Isn't that kid just a regular team member? How is he so strong?" Director Falcone was floored. He could accept his regular member being crushed by Metro City's captain. But his own captain being dominated by a regular member from their team? What was going on?
With Kadabra's options limited and the poisonous Smog spreading, the outcome of the battle was becoming clear. Soon, Kadabra was poisoned. Trapped in the mist, its position was completely exposed to Gastly. It launched a final, desperate psychic assault, but Waylon's Gastly was just as strong, if not stronger, and far faster.
Boom!
A final Shadow Ball struck home, and Kadabra collapsed in defeat.
"Haaaunt~"
Watching its rival fall, Gastly recalled the Smog back into its body. Its eyes were alight with excitement, a triumphant release of all its pent-up frustration. Losing to Drilbur had been a hard pill to swallow. Losing to Bronzor had nearly sent it into a depression. But now, after so long, Gastly had finally tasted victory again.
"HAAAAAAUNTER!"
With a fierce, exultant cry, Gastly's body was suddenly enveloped in a brilliant white light.
"Is it... evolving?" Everyone in the arena stared in shock.
Within the light, Gastly's round body began to change, sprouting a pair of disembodied, three-fingered hands that floated before it.
"Geng-geh!"
A moment later, the light faded, revealing a Haunter. It now had triangular white eyes with black pupils and a mouth full of sharp, purple teeth. The sides of its face were now flanked by jagged, spiky tufts of fur.
"Excellent!"
The most excited person in the room was Director Sterling. He had always had high hopes for Gastly's evolution. With its newfound power, its psychic and stealth abilities would be enhanced even further. Its strength was about to skyrocket.
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