Pokémon: Pawniard
Gender: Male
Type: Dark, Steel
Ability: Defiant (When its stats are lowered by an opponent, Attack increases by two stages)
Potential: Purple tier
Basic Moves: Scratch, Leer, Fury Cutter, Metal Claw, Taunt, Scary Face, Swords Dance, Brick Break
Egg Moves: Sucker Punch, Headbutt, Mean Look, Revenge
Auron glanced at his opponent's Pawniard and noticed its ability—Defiant. The more you try to lower its stats, the stronger its Attack becomes, unless you can drop its Attack two stages at once to balance things out.
The flag fell. The battle began.
Auron decided to take a gamble—he figured the other Trainer would try to boost Pawniard's stats against his slow-moving Munchlax, rather than attack right away.
After all, Munchlax had very few ranged moves in the early game, and most of those needed to be taught or learned through TMs. As for close combat, if it were a Fighting-type move, and Pawniard charged in first, it'd basically be running headlong into a brick wall—since Fighting moves deal quadruple damage to Pawniard. That wasn't something to take lightly.
"Munchlax—Earthquake!"
"Pawniard—Swords Dance!"
Just as Auron predicted, Pawniard chose to power up instead of going on the attack. Not that it would have mattered—Earthquake would have interrupted its move either way. The difference is, if Pawniard had rushed in, maybe it could have jumped and dodged.
"Munch—lax!"
Munchlax stomped the ground, sending shockwaves at Pawniard in the midst of its Swords Dance. The move was interrupted, and Munchlax, thinking ahead, took two steps forward, closing the gap between them.
After a few matches, Munchlax had figured out that failing to close the distance fast enough was why it struggled to end battles quickly. So this time, it tried inching closer with each attack—if it could keep that up, it could land a punch right in the opponent's face.
"Pawniard—Sucker Punch!"
"Munchlax, close in—Fire Punch!"
Even after taking super-effective Earthquake damage, Pawniard quickly regrouped and lunged forward, dark energy surrounding its body as it landed a Sucker Punch on Munchlax.
Munchlax braced with its arms, blocking most of the impact, then let Pawniard crash straight into its chest.
With both hands blazing, Munchlax started delivering one fiery punch after another. Pawniard tried blocking with its arms, but after just two punches, it was sent flying. Munchlax seized the chance to shuffle forward a couple more steps.
First the double-damage Earthquake, now a double-damage Fire Punch—Pawniard was barely standing, its stamina nearly gone.
"Pawniard—Swords Dance!"
"Munchlax—finish it! Fire Punch!"
The slick-haired kid in the oversized suit still wasn't ready to give up. He wanted to boost Pawniard's stats again, hoping to pull out a Brick Break for double damage against Munchlax.
If Sucker Punch hadn't been countered just now, Brick Break was definitely coming next. But that's the thing about battles—there are no ifs.
Munchlax charged forward, timing it perfectly for when Pawniard finished its Swords Dance. A devastating Fire Punch connected before Pawniard could react.
Despite the stat boost, Pawniard collapsed. It had been outmaneuvered by Munchlax's sneaky steps.
If Munchlax hadn't inched closer during each attack, Pawniard might've finished powering up and kept its distance, dragging the battle out with more twists and turns. As it was, Auron's quick thinking sealed the win.
"Pawniard is unable to battle! Munchlax wins!"
The referee announced the result. Auron recalled Munchlax and headed back to the lounge, half-expecting he'd be the last one there. But as he approached, the commentator's excited voice still echoed through the air.
At the door, Jace was waiting.
"Hey, whose match isn't over yet?" Auron asked.
Jace nodded toward the big screen.
"Look—it's Lilligant. The opponent's a Ferroseed. Both sides keep chipping away, then healing up with Giga Drain. It's just 'you bite me, I bite you'—neither can break through."
"But now Lilligant's Trainer is getting impatient. She's stacking Quiver Dance, probably looking to end things in one shot."
The commentator was practically screaming:
"That's the fourth Quiver Dance for Lilligant! Will she finish it now?"
"No—she's going for another Quiver Dance!"
You could hear the despair in the commentator's voice. The match had been live since the very beginning, and now, after all this time, these two were the only ones still battling.
"A fifth Quiver Dance—will she really go for all six? Ah! She's making her move—Solar Beam! It hits Ferroseed and ends the match!"
"With that, the morning rounds are over. Time for a break. The next round begins at 1:30 sharp!"
The commentator finally breathed a sigh of relief, ending his commentary for the morning. Time for a well-deserved break.
Auron pulled out his phone, planning to text his dad about lunch. But as soon as he unlocked it, he saw a message from Ashen:
"Nice job, son! Go grab lunch with your friends. Your mom, Grandpa Flint, and I are eating together. Good luck this afternoon!"
Auron grinned and replied,
"Sure thing, Dad."
Then he looked around at the others.
"So, where are we eating? Anyone have any food preferences?"
He was mostly asking Simon and Lena—he already knew Tim could eat just about anything.
Lena smiled. "I'm not picky, but Simon doesn't do spicy food. As long as there are some non-spicy dishes, he'll be fine."
Jace piped up, "How about hotpot? We can get a split pot, half spicy, half mild."
"Agreed!" came the chorus of four voices.
Even Simon quietly added, "That's fine."
Lena shot Simon a surprised look—he'd actually spoken up first. The others, noticing her glance, all turned to look at Simon too, until he grew a little embarrassed. Then everyone burst out laughing and left the lounge together. Lena linked arms with Simon, beaming as she pulled him along.
Sometimes, Lena really did seem more like Simon's big sister, always looking out for him, protecting him.
But deep down, she saw herself as his little sister—after all, she was actually a bit younger than him.
As for Simon, well, he already thought of Lena as his future wife.
(End of chapter)