Fake Out was just too quick—Munchlax had no way to counter it and had to take the hit, flinching from the move's priority.
"Litten, Double Kick!"
"Munchlax, Thunder Punch! Knock him away!"
Munchlax braced himself and absorbed Litten's Double Kick, then his fist crackled with golden electricity as he sent Litten flying with a solid Thunder Punch.
"Litten, rush him again—Double Kick!"
"Munchlax, Earthquake!"
Earthquake's doubled power slammed into the charging Litten, making him stumble, but somehow, the fiery kitten gritted his teeth and kept coming.
Auron could tell—this Litten and his trainer were both reckless, all offense and no strategy. Fine, he thought, if they're just going to rush in, I'll drop the tactics, too.
"Munchlax, another Earthquake!"
Litten's Double Kick struck, but at such close range, Earthquake hit back just as hard. Litten's body flashed red—its Blaze ability kicked in.
"Munchlax, Thunder Punch and finish it!"
"Litten, Double Kick!"
His opponent wasn't giving up, determined to trade blows and see who would last. But Litten wasn't Huge Power Diggersby—Munchlax could tank two or three Double Kicks easily. Unfortunately, Litten didn't have the stamina to keep up and was finally taken out by a last Thunder Punch.
"Litten is unable to battle—Munchlax wins!"
Auron called back Munchlax and gave his opponent a polite nod before leaving the field. That was win number eight—just two more to make the finals.
He took Munchlax to the recovery area, then found a quiet corner to share a snack. He popped open a box of Pokéblocks for Munchlax, letting him recharge for the last stretch.
When the big guy finished eating, Munchlax patted his belly with a satisfied grin. Auron smiled, got up, and gave him a hand to stand. Trainer and Pokémon shared a look.
"Alright, Munchlax, let's give it everything for the last battles!"
"Munch!"
They bumped fists, then made their way to the next arena for round nine.
"Both sides ready—send out your Pokémon!"
Munchlax marched onto the field. Across from him, a girl in a frilly princess dress released—
Pokémon: Sobble
Female
Type: Water
Ability: Sniper (critical hits deal extra damage)
Talent: Purple
Basic Moves: Bind, Pound, Water Gun, Growl, Water Pulse, Baby-Doll Eyes, Sucker Punch
Egg Moves: Aqua Jet, Ice Shard, Mist
Water-type. Aqua Jet and Ice Shard—both are priority, physical, ranged attacks. Munchlax only had Thunder Punch as a super-effective move, and Sobble's speed made him easy to kite.
The flag dropped.
"Sobble, Ice Shard!"
"Munchlax, Curse!"
Trainer's Note:
Curse is a unique Pokémon move that has different effects depending on whether the user is a Ghost-type or not. For non-Ghost types, it boosts Attack and Defense while lowering Speed. For Ghost-types, it causes the user to lose half of its HP and inflict a status condition that damages the target each turn. While not always optimal, Curse can be a viable strategy in certain situations.
Sobble's Ice Shard struck first, but the damage was low—it couldn't interrupt Munchlax's Curse.
"Munchlax, Curse again!"
"Sobble, Aqua Jet!"
The princess-dressed girl realized something was off. Ice Shard wasn't doing as much damage as expected—maybe Munchlax had Thick Fat. She switched to Aqua Jet, another priority Water move, but it still wasn't strong enough. With each Curse, Munchlax's attack and defense climbed, while his speed dropped—soon he was a true tank, slow but unstoppable.
The girl grew discouraged but kept commanding Sobble to attack.
"Sobble, Aqua Jet!"
"Munchlax, Rest!"
Aqua Jet hit, but Munchlax lay down and fell asleep, restoring himself to full health.
The princess was exasperated.
"Sobble, hit him again—keep going!"
"Munchlax, Sleep Talk!"
Sleeping, Munchlax rolled over and mumbled in his sleep. Suddenly, a ghostly purple glow lit up his body—Sleep Talk landed on Curse again, maxing his attack and defense.
The girl was about to lose it, sending Sobble in for Sucker Punch—a high-damage move—figuring at least it'd do more than nothing while Munchlax slept.
"Munchlax, Sleep Talk!"
Sobble's claws shone black as she lashed out, but Munchlax's Sleep Talk randomly called up Fire Punch. His fist blazed as he swung from his dreams, nearly KO'ing Sobble in one shot—even though Fire Punch wasn't super-effective against Water-types, his maxed attack made up for it.
The princess-dressed girl looked at her dazed, nearly-out Sobble, tears welling up.
"We give up, we give up!"
"Opponent forfeits—Munchlax wins."
The judge raised the flag. Munchlax blinked awake, confused by the sight of the crying girl and her wounded Sobble.
Auron knelt, patting his Pokémon's head.
"You did great, Munchlax. We've won again."
"Munch!"
He gave Munchlax a thorough massage—even though Rest restored his health, it didn't fix his fatigue. The big guy closed his eyes, loving every second.
While they rested, Auron spotted Serena Elm skipping over, with Jace Rowan trailing behind, looking dejected.
Auron waved. "What's up with you two?"
Serena beamed, "Jace got matched against me for round seven, right here at this arena."
Jace just grumbled, "Yeah…"
Jace never felt great about it. They'd battled plenty during training, but his Dratini's win rate against Serena's Shellder was only about thirty percent. Now that Serena knew all of Dratini's tricks, he didn't even have that. Shellder hadn't learned Shell Smash yet, but her widespread use of Whirlpool to trap, then relentless Icicle Spears, left Dratini battered. Sometimes she even read his Thunder Wave, countering with a priority Ice Shard. On top of that, Shellder could recover with Aqua Ring and Life Dew. Dratini had no chance.
When their names came up, Jace just surrendered immediately. Serena claimed her sixth win without breaking a sweat.
The trio chatted a bit as the ten-minute break wound down. Auron was up next, heading to his assigned field for the final match to make the finals. Serena went off to check her own bracket. Jace, meanwhile, was left to hunt down more opponents, hoping to finish his own ten-win streak.
Auron entered his arena. Soon, his next challenger—a boy about his age—arrived. They faced each other.
"Both sides ready—send out your Pokémon!"
Munchlax ambled out. His opponent released a Swoobat.
Pokémon: Swoobat
Male
Type: Psychic / Flying
Ability: Simple (any stat changes—up or down—are doubled in effect)
Talent: Purple
Basic Moves: Gust, Attract, Confusion, Endeavor, Air Cutter, Imprison
Egg Moves: Knock Off, Simple Beam, Roost
Auron tensed at the sight of Swoobat with Simple. But after glancing over its move pool, he relaxed a bit.
Trainer's Note:
Simple is a double-edged sword: any stat boost or reduction is doubled. For example, Nasty Plot usually gives +2 Special Attack; with Simple, Swoobat gets +4! But the same is true for negative effects—Growl would drop its Attack by two stages instead of one. Only a handful of Pokémon can have Simple, and Swoobat is the most famous. (Fun fact: Numel loses Simple when it evolves.)
The flag dropped.
"Swoobat, Endeavor!"
"Munchlax, Metronome!"
A wave of purple energy hit Munchlax, dropping his HP down to match Swoobat's. (Endeavor: makes the target's HP equal to the user's, if the target's HP is higher.) Munchlax winced, but managed to get off Metronome—he yawned, then wailed, and… Metronome rolled Fake Tears. Swoobat's special defense plummeted by four stages, thanks to Simple.
"Nice one!" Auron pumped his fist. He'd expected Swoobat to open with Endeavor—he had no Protect or any ranged attack that could interrupt. Munchlax was too slow to dodge. But Fake Tears was a lucky roll—if Metronome could now roll a super-effective special attack, even Munchlax's low Special Attack might be enough to end it.
To be continued…
Trainer's Note:
Rest & Sleep Talk: A classic combo—Rest restores all HP by putting the user to sleep, and Sleep Talk lets them attack while snoozing. Unpredictable, but effective for tanks like Munchlax.
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