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When Ash mentioned Hypnosis, Erika's expression instantly turned extremely grim.
Hypnosis is a move that requires preparation time and is extremely difficult to land, so it needs many preconditions to be used.
But now, the preconditions seemed to have been met.
Vileplume was hit by Solar Beam, falling into a brief stiff state, and was also suffering from the energy backlash after the Solar Beam move was interrupted.
Furthermore, Kirlia used Psychic, directly controlling Vileplume, preventing it from taking the opportunity to leave after recovering.
Under these circumstances, it was the best time to use Hypnosis.
"Kirli!" Kirlia's eyes flashed with blue light, and a strange wave flew towards Vileplume, which was under multiple debuffs at this time and could not dodge at all.
"Vileplume, Energy Ball!!" Erika tried to put up a final resistance. She commanded Vileplume to use Energy Ball, attempting to interrupt Kirlia's Hypnosis.
Vileplume forcibly suppressed the chaotic energy within its body, condensed a dark green Energy Ball in front of it, and then shot it out fiercely!
The Energy Ball rushed towards Kirlia like an arrow from a bowstring. The distance between them was not far, and Kirlia was simultaneously using Hypnosis and Psychic. To dodge the Energy Ball, it would have to abandon both moves.
Ash did not give an order, and Kirlia's eyes showed a determined look—they would not dodge!
"Boom!!"
The Energy Ball arrived in front of Kirlia, but hit a transparent wall, producing a violent roar.
However, no explosion occurred; the Energy Ball was blocked by the transparent wall for about a few seconds.
This was Reflect, one of the dual screens Kirlia had used earlier!
Under Reflect's obstruction, the Energy Ball did not directly hit Kirlia. Instead, after difficultly passing through, its size was reduced by half before it finally hit Kirlia!
The damage caused by the halved Energy Ball was acceptable to Kirlia. At the same time, Hypnosis also hit Vileplume, putting it directly into a sleep state.
Vileplume was finally hypnotized. Now it was time for Kirlia to do as it pleased!
"Kirlia, use Psybeam!"
A strange, confusing beam of light shot out from Kirlia's eyes! It directly hit Vileplume, which was in a sleep state.
First sleep, then confusion. Even if the opponent woke up from sleep, they would still be in a confused state. This was the best strategy in battle, as guided by Tactician Ash—apply debuffs!
As long as there are enough debuffs, even if the opponent has immense strength, it will be cut in half!
Erika saw her Vileplume covered in various debuffs and felt numb. She once again deeply realized how disgusting Psychic Pokémon were!
Actually, her Vileplume could also be this annoying. Although it didn't have Compound Eyes, the accuracy of its Sleep Powder was relatively low, but it was still a very annoying move.
However, before she could use these moves, Vileplume was already dazed and sound asleep from the negative statuses.
"Well done, Kirlia, use Dream Eater!"
"Kirli!" Kirlia cried out, a phantom appeared on its body and floated through the air, then directly passed through Vileplume's body. Vileplume's originally calm and peaceful face showed an extremely painful expression!
Dream Eater is one of the most powerful Psychic-type moves, its strength second only to a major move like Hydro Pump. However, the conditions for using it are a bit strict, but once used, it is definitely a move that can turn the tide.
This move can not only cause a lot of damage to the opponent, but also restore the user's HP, killing two birds with one stone.
As Dream Eater hit, a surge of energy also gushed from Vileplume and flew onto Kirlia.
Kirlia's HP, which was consumed by being hit by the Energy Ball and using multiple moves, was directly recovered by more than half in this Dream Eater!
At the same time, Grassy Terrain not only restored Vileplume's HP, but also Kirlia's HP. With both combined, Kirlia was almost at full health.
"Where did you learn such a disgusting move combination?" Erika couldn't help but ask. This move set was too disgusting: Ally Switch, Psychic, Hypnosis, Dream Eater. Am I even allowed to play?
"Psychic Pokémon are like this, Ms. Erika, is this your first day realizing it? When I battled Sabrina, she was much more disgusting than I am," Ash said with a smile on his face.
When he battled Sabrina back then, all debuffs were useless, which thoroughly disgusted him.
That was the first time a strategy he learned from Tactician Ash was so unreasonably countered. The reason was that Sabrina, as a Trainer, was a Psychic, so she could forcibly remove any debuffs applied to the mind.
That battle could only be fought head-on, but thankfully, his Aura was still Superior.
But now it's different. Now he can finally return to his original intention and bring smiles through battle!
Look at him now, how happy he is smiling.
When Kirlia used Hypnosis, one thing was destined—you're not allowed to play Pokémon!
Next, it's my turn, my turn, and still my turn!
"Kirlia, continue using Dream Eater!"
"Kirli!" A phantom once again flew from Kirlia, causing severe damage to Vileplume once more. Even though Vileplume had multiple recovery methods, after two Dream Eaters, its HP dropped to rock bottom!
Don't let Kirlia's strength seem weaker than Vileplume's, but its Special Attack stat is now a solid A-rank, and it also has a Psychic Spoon given by Sabrina, which can further boost Psychic-type damage by twenty-five percent.
If Vileplume hadn't recovered some HP with Grassy Terrain and Ingrain, it would have already fainted by now!
However, during this Dream Eater, Vileplume finally woke up. Seeing this, Erika quickly shouted, "Vileplume, quickly use Synthesis!"
Synthesis under Sunny Day can restore a huge amount of HP to the user. If Vileplume were to use it, Kirlia's efforts just now would have been in vain.
However, Ash believed in his luck, and he also believed in Kirlia: "Give it the final blow, Kirlia, use Psychic!"
Azure light bloomed, and powerful psychokinesis transformed into a tangible impact, striking Vileplume.
Psychic has two uses: one is for control, and the other is for attack!
Kirlia was using the latter now.
At the same time, Vileplume's eyes were seeing stars, vaguely hearing Erika's shouts, but soon drowned out by its chaotic thoughts.
In the end, Vileplume failed to use Synthesis. Instead, a emerald green energy bomb exploded on its petals!
The energy bomb flew into the air, then fell down, targeting Vileplume itself.
"Boom!"
Psychic and Seed Bomb simultaneously hit Vileplume, causing a thick cloud of black smoke to erupt on the field.
Erika's face was as black as the smoke now, no, it should be said even blacker than the smoke!
As the smoke dissipated, as expected, Vileplume had lost its ability to battle.
In the end, Vileplume not only failed to recover, but also knocked itself out!
In a confused state, there is a 30% chance of not hearing the Trainer's commands, leading to using moves randomly and causing damage to oneself.
It was clear that Vileplume triggered that 30% chance... what terrible luck, Erika thought to herself.
With a two-thirds chance, it still didn't hit. If it had used Synthesis, maybe it could have continued the battle.
But what Erika didn't know was that trying to compete with Ash in luck could only be described as finding the wrong person... When it comes to luck, Ash has never been afraid of anyone. Even in countless parallel universes, this world's Ash has the strongest luck. What could possibly be used to compete with this world's Ash in luck?
After Vileplume lost its ability to battle, Erika recalled it, but she didn't immediately take out her next Poké Ball. Instead, she looked at Ash with a strange gaze and said, "Honestly, I'm a bit curious, you weren't disgusted by Sabrina from the Psychic Gym, and now you're using her methods to disgust me, are you?"
Sabrina's reputation was being harmed!
"Not really. Sabrina's way of annoying people is a bit different from mine. For this level of sleep and confusion, she can directly remove them with her Psychic abilities, meaning her Pokémon won't be affected by status conditions."
Upon hearing this, Erika actually breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing that the person who annoyed her had also been annoyed by others made her feel much better.
People's happiness is usually built upon the suffering of others. Ash is like this, and so is she!
Mainly, if she didn't find a way to let out some steam, her lady-like image would collapse. As a Gym Leader, when had she ever fought such a disgusting battle?
She had always been the one to annoy others; never had anyone annoyed her.
After calming down a bit, Erika took out her second Pokémon. As the Poké Ball arced through the air, light flashed, and a Pokémon much smaller than Vileplume appeared on the field.
It had a green body, rounded eyes like sapphires, two red markings on its cheeks, and two vibrant red flowers on its head. Below was a green leaf resembling a grass skirt.
This was Vileplume's other evolved form, Bellossom.
"My second Pokémon is her. This time, it won't be as simple as before!"
As Erika called out, Ash glanced at Bellossom's data. Its level was one higher than Vileplume's, already at Elite Level Advanced, and its ability was also Chlorophyll.
Now, sunlight was pouring down on the field, and green energy was constantly rising from the ground.
Compared to the previous Vileplume, Bellossom was not only higher level, but the field was already set up for her. She only needed to attack.
"Kirlia, prepare... Hmm?" Ash was about to say Kirlia, prepare to battle, but before he finished speaking, Kirlia's body suddenly burst into dazzling light!
Ash paused for a moment, then his eyes focused as Kirlia's status appeared in his mind.
Level—Elite Level Beginner!
The previous battle had caused Kirlia to level up, and upon reaching the Elite Level, it had already met the criteria for evolution. Now, Kirlia was entering its evolution moment!
When Erika saw the light shining from Kirlia, her intended attack stopped. As a Gym Leader, she naturally knew this was the light of evolution.
If a Pokémon is attacked during evolution, it will be interrupted and may even suffer irreversible damage. Therefore, generally, when a Pokémon evolves, unless the two sides are completely hostile, they will usually stop attacking.
Not to mention that this was currently a Gym battle.
(PS: According to game levels, Elite Level is equivalent to level 40+, so evolving at this point is considered relatively late.)
After a few seconds, the light slowly dissipated, revealing Kirlia's true form after evolution.
Its physique was slender and graceful. The main color of its body was pure white, with a touch of Indifferent blue as an embellishment.
Its lower body resembled a trailing gown, with the inner skirt being light blue and the outer white part draping like a formal dress, creating a layered effect. If one didn't know it was a Pokémon, they might think it was a queen from some royal court.
"It actually evolved. It seems Kirlia was already on the verge of evolution," Ash said. Seeing Kirlia's new form, even Erika had to admit that its appearance was truly beautiful. Among humanoid Pokémon, Gardevoir is the most beautiful, without a doubt.
Not to mention this Gardevoir was Shinny, its blue variant coloring making it look even more special. If she could, Erika would really want a Pokémon like this. Who cares about Grass-type specialization when you have a Gardevoir (not really).
"So this is Gardevoir, it looks much more mature than Kirlia!" Ash couldn't help but exclaim as he looked at Gardevoir's figure.
If Ralts was a loli and Kirlia was a maiden, then Gardevoir was a fully matured woman, its figure like a queen from some country.
The three evolutionary forms represented the growth of a young human girl through three stages. The little one who used to sit on his shoulder had grown to this extent in just a short month. Ash truly felt a sense of having lived through an age.
"Gardevoir." Gardevoir turned its head slightly, its orange eyes showing a gentle gaze towards Ash. Having evolved into its final form, it finally had some capital to help Ash share his burden.
"Congratulations, Gardevoir!"
"Gardevoir."
"Shall we start the battle? Alright, let me see your newly acquired power!" Ash originally wanted Kirlia to set up the field and then switch out, since Bellossom was not only higher level, but Kirlia no longer had a type advantage over it.
Bellossom's type is pure Grass, and it is not weak to Psychic-type moves.
But since Kirlia had evolved into Gardevoir, things were different now.
After evolving, its level increased again, directly reaching Elite Level Intermediate, only one level below the opponent. This difference was almost negligible.
So, for the second battle, let Gardevoir continue on the field!