Chapter no.178 Against a Goliath part 1

"Either way, we cannot ignore the fact that it is your birthday."
Austin just shrugged. "Not a bloody big deal, really."
' Even though it's my birthday, it's not Ash's birthday.'
"It is for me." The Sinnoh girl countered softly. "And I did think a lot about what to give you as a gift. I wanted it to be special, something to remember me by, when you are off on your own journey."
"Well, I have your contact number. I guess we could call up and talk sometimes."
Cynthia smiled and walked to the other side of the beach.
Cynthia took out a pokeball as Garchomp appeared in a red flash.
( ~ Rwrr ~ )
" ~Austin~ if you want your gift then come get it."
Austin looked at Cynthia with disbelief.
' She isn't serious , is she ?'
" Come one , Austin show me the results of the training. All of your Pokémon against my Garchomp."
Austin opened his mouth before closing it as Pikachu and all his Pokéballs were teleported by Spiritomb.
Austin blinked before staring at the calm and cold Cynthia.
" Aren't you a little too confident even though you're at a numerical disadvantage."
" Austin when you're at my level , you'll understand that numbers don't matter to overwhelming strength."
Austin nodded as his face portrayed an absolute calm look.
The week of training with Cynthia revealed to Austin that his strategy of using a mask of arrogance to piss off his opponents was a niche that wouldn't work against the truly strong trainer hence he chose to wear a mask of absolute calmness similar to Cynthia's mask during battles.
" Is everyone ready ?"
" Pika !"
Pikachu exclaimed as he climbed up Austin's shoulder while all of Austin's Pokeballs shook.
Austin could practically see their determination to battle.
Taking out his pokeball , Austin took a deep breath.
He felt the coldness of the pokeball against his palm.
Austin knew that in a one on one battle his chances of beating Garchomp were zero but this wasn't a one on one .... no this was a one on twelve. Even then Austin didn't have much confidence in bringing down the Goliath known as Garchomp.
Bringing his PokeBall to his forehead , Austin whispered.
" Let's give it our all."
Throwing his pokeball , Austin thought.
' Watch over us , Raticate and I'll show you that your family is getting stronger and stronger.'
The PokeBall flashed open as Munna appeared in front of the ready Garchomp.
{ Trick Room }
Telepathically receiving her trainer's command , as her eyes glow red and a large light blue rectangle with light blue transparent walls and ceiling appear around the battlefield. Then, the light blue glow fades, and the walls and ceiling becomes invisible.
Cynthia immediately recognizes the move calls out," Sandstorm."
' If you think I am going to go easy on you , think again Austin.'
{ Reflecting Screen }
Austin telepathically commanded Munna to set up a combo of Light Screen and Reflect while Garchomp moved in a dancing motion causing a Sandstorm to erupt all around the beach.
Cynthia clapped her hands as Garchomp closed her eyes as she waited for her prey to arrive.
Just then a green glow formed behind Garchomp who was instantly alerted.
Garchomp tried to use the 20% evasion provided by its ability , sand veil to turn around mid-way as she tanked Energy Ball.
Munna's eyes widened as she saw Garchomp tank her energy ball and lunge at her with a Crunch.
With the telepathic connection, Austin knew what Munna was thinking as he quickly gave the command.
{ Energy ball directly into her mouth }
Receiving the telepathic command, Munna instantly formed her Energy ball due to Trick Room as she launched it into Garchomp's mouth which was covered by the dark aura of crunch.
( ~ Boom ~ )
Flinching from the surrounding sandstorm Munna's eyes widened as Garchomp emerged from the smoke with dark energy covering her mouth.
.....
Outside of the sandstorm , Austin's eyes widened as he felt the telepathic connection between him and Munna being cut off.
Taking out her pokeball , Austin pointed it forward as Munna returned with a red flash.
' You did great , Munna.'
Taking out another Pokeball , Austin whispered something to it before throwing it out.
In a flash , Bulbasaur appeared on the battlefield.
" Bulba !"
The Seed Pokemon's cry alerted Cynthia on her opponent's choice as she exclaimed.
" Fly in the sky and use Flame thrower."
Hearing the commands of her trainer , Garchomp tried to fly away but the walls of trick room glowed as the sandstorm in front of Garchomp parted with flashes of green as Bulbasaur leech seeds hit Garchomp's body.
Vines grew out of the seeds wrapping around Garchomp's body who immediately flew up.
Garchomp's maw erupted in fire , causing Austin's eyes to widen as he shouted.
" Flying Drain !"
The head of Garchomp's flamethrower hit the sandstorm causing a dust explosion.
Pikachu, Austin and Cynthia covered their ears as the shockwave caused everyone to fall.
Cynthia looked at the smoke cloud and thought.
' Maybe I went a little too far.'
" Rwrr "
The sound of Garchomp's roars caused Cynthia to look up as she saw Bulbasaur who had used Vine Whip and the explosion to launch himself into the sky , mid air Bulbasaur performed a Giga Drain as the leech seeds on Garchomp's body glowed with an intense emerald light causing green orb to fly towards Bulbasaur.
The green orbs entered into Bulbasaur's body healing him.
" Dragon Claw ! "
" Chemical Warfare!"
A light-green aura forms around each of Garchomp's fins and turns into a claw-like shape. Charging towards the falling Bulbasaur, Garchomp attacked without any remorse but the moment , Garchomp came within range , Bulbasaur released an improved version of Chemical Warfare with the amount of powders released being ten times more than before.
( ~ Boom ~ )
From within the Chemical Warfare cloud something shot out and crashed into the ground.
The dust cleared showing a knocked out Bulbasaur.
Austin returned Bulbasaur, there were clear hints of concern in his eyes but during the battlefield he promised that he will always try to maintain a level of calmness and never let his emotions cloud his judgement.
( ~ Rwrr ~ )
Garchomp stomped on the ground as a purple aura washed over it's entire body showing that Bulbasaur's last attack had landed.
Austin narrowed his eyes as he saw that Garchomp was a little drowsy.
Clenching Bulbasaur's pokeball, Austin whispered.
" Thank you for giving it your all."
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[ 𝐎𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡 ]
𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬.
𝐔𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐬 – 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 – 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤-𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬.
𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲𝐬, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐢-𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫.