Pokemon: Way of Life Chapter 33

Hi all,

The next chapter is here. I hope everyone has a happy New Year! In the next few days, I will be making a post detailing my goals for 2023 in terms of my Patreon.

It occurred to me today that I had dropped the Disclaimer at some point. 😒

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak.

21st October

Lucas stepped forward and hugged Maggie. The old grouch stiffened at the contact but bore with it gracefully for a few seconds before pulling away.

Today, Maggie was heading to Cinnabar Island with her first round of supplies for Nora. With the help of his family, she sold the land and store in no time and even made a tidy profit on her initial investment.

"Are you sure you have everything?" Lucas asked.

“Of course,” Maggie said. "Having a powerful family behind you helps move things along."

Lucas grinned, "I told you there was nothing to worry about. My mom investigated the incident, and she doesn't hold you accountable. Now, you are part of one big family. There is no turning back now.”

“I’m your employee, brat,” Maggie poked at his chest. “Which reminds me, don’t forget to pay me every week, boss.”

Lucas waved his hand dismissively. “It is sent automatically. If I can't pay my employees, I must be doing something wrong.”

“I hope you have a good time." Faith stepped up to hug her as well, causing the woman to sigh in annoyance. “Remember to call us if you need anything. Or to chat.”

“I don’t do small talk,” Maggie said dryly, then turned to Jason, whom she had just met. “If you dare hug me, I will punch you.”

Jason raised his hands. “I don’t hug people I just met. I may bend the rules for pretty girls.”

"Oh, what are you saying, brat?" Maggie approached the boy, looming over him. "Are you saying I'm not attractive?"

Jason waved his arms frantically. "Not at all. What I meant was that you're old—no! You're too old for me."

Lucas and Faith laughed at his predicament.

Maggie snorted before turning and stepping onto the barge. Suddenly, a girl appeared on the pier, pulling her luggage behind her.

“Eve,” Jason exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m heading to Cinnabar Island,” Eve said, stopping next to the trio. “I want to see Nora.”

There was an audible sigh from Lucas. "You don't think you could have told us a couple of days ago, do you? In the spirit of common courtesy, you know? ”

Eve stared at him blankly. “I’m telling you now.”

Maggie crossed her arms. “Who said that I was taking passengers with me? ”

“I’m sure your boss will allow it,” As Eve gazed into Lucas' eyes, she showed the first signs of emotion. "Nora has already been abandoned by me once. Definitely not again. It is imperative that I find a way to reverse her transformation."

"Aren't you too young?" Faith asked sceptically.

"I may only be young, but I already have a lot of experience, and I am a genius," Eve said bluntly.

She had a valid argument, and Lucas could not argue against it. Although Nora's plight had been in the back of his mind, he hadn't actively considered a solution since he couldn't think of one. If there was a chance that Eve could cure her, then he wouldn’t stand in her way.

“Do you need funds for research?" he finally asked.

“Eventually,” Eve nodded. “But I have some initial data I can work with for the time being.”

“What about the Pokemon League?” Jason protested although it was plain to see that he was arguing for a completely different reason.

Eve shrugged, "It was only a way to earn Pokedollars to fund my research. I want to be a scientist, not a trainer.”

Jason frowned but didn’t say anything. Lucas felt sorry for him; his potential love interest was sailing off, and he may not see her for a long time. Suddenly he was reminded of his quest, and he grinned.

Stepping up to Jason, he placed an arm around his shoulder and whispered in his ear. “Don’t worry; we can visit the island in the next couple of months, and you can dazzle her with your charm.”

Jason's eyes brightened, and he fist-bumped his friend. “My bro is the best.”

Lucas turned his attention to Eve. It appears that I will have to write another employee contract for my company. It will be my pleasure to pay you a salary for your research into curing Nora, although it will take me until next month before I can provide you with any funds you may need regarding resources for your research."

Eve nodded stoically. “That is fine.”

They exchanged phone numbers, and Jason took the opportunity to give her his number as well.

Maggie sighed heavily. "Well, then, you better get on board. I'd like to leave soon."

The trio watched as the tugboat and barge slowly left the beach before turning and leaving the area. Since he had already obtained the Rare Candy and the Poison Barb from the fishing spot, Lucas saw no reason why he would ever return here.

{0(((..)))0}

24th October

Lucas woke up on the tournament day pitching a tent after having had an exciting wet dream about Faith. It showed where his priorities lay at the moment, and it wasn’t the tournament. He slapped his cheeks to focus himself before leaving the bed to shower.

Trainer battles have been productive lately. He had defeated another fifteen trainers, which resulted in plenty of experience for his partners. Dante and Maximus levelled to level six. He spent their five AP on Defence and HP, respectively.

Lucas increased his level to thirteen and now had 420 trainer points, almost halfway to reaching the first requirement to increase his Trainer Level.

Because of his winning streak, he garnered even more attention. Jason started live-streaming his battles with the league's permission, and his channel has continued to experience explosive growth. It had gotten to the point that he couldn’t walk down the street without someone recognising him. Some girls were getting bolder with their advances, although most were polite and just wanted an autograph and a picture taken with him.

It was about to get even more ridiculous because today was the music video's release date. It was strange timing, as it was also his tournament debut.

The training was also going well, as he had taught his partners some new Moves. Due to their low mastery, their effectiveness in battle would be questionable, but it may surprise some trainers who have already studied his Pokemon.

Dante had learned two brand-new Moves. First, there was the TM, Calm Mind, that he had brought from the kid at the bazaar. He knew it was part of Dante’s inherent Move pool. However, the TM could help speed up the process of learning the Move, and with the tournament coming up, Lucas judged it was worth the Pokedollars spent. Calm Mind raised both Special Attack and Special Defence, which was overpowered.

He extracted the other Move from a crystal. Reflect halved the damage from physical attacks for a period of time. Since Dantes' physical defence was terrible, it was an excellent addition.

Maximus received two new Moves. First, there was Protect, which he had wanted since he saw Lickitung using it in battle. The other Move was a Fighting-Type Move, Rock Smash. It wasn’t the strongest attack, but it had a fifty per cent chance of lowering the Pokemon’s Defence by one stage, which was incredible.

For Imara, he wanted to focus a bit more on her Special Moves and add another Fire-Type Move to her arsenal. However, while browsing the catalogue, he came across a rare TM that caused him to drool. Weather Ball was usually a Normal-Type Move, but when you combined it with a weather effect, it changed its typing and increased its power. It was perfect in combination with Sunny Day. Furthermore, if there was another weather effect on the field, he gained access to different Type attacks, which was incredibly versatile.

Lucas didn’t hesitate to spend eleven thousand Pokedollars to obtain the TM, although he may have shed a tear or two at the cost.

However, he ran into a problem when he tried to teach it to Imara.

=====

Imara still needs to meet the requirements to learn Weather Ball.

Requirements: Sp Atk: 85; two Affinities levelled to 50.

=====

It was the first time he encountered a TM that his Pokemon could not learn immediately. He knew Moves had to have a certain level of affinity, but it was the first TM with a Stat requirement. Thankfully, there wasn't a requirement to learn the Normal-Type affinity.

Normal-Type were the most popular and numerous because they could be learned without an affinity requirement. Creating an Insight Type Essence for it would be almost pointless, but it was a small loss in the grand scheme of things.

So, Weather Ball was on hold for the moment until he could meet the requirements.

He taught Imarea Smokescreen, which could obscure the field and assist with avoiding attacks. Since Imara would be sacrificing her HP a lot to increase her offence, she needed to have Moves that helped her survive.

As soon as Lucas taught Duke Rain Dance, he noticed an improvement in his speed, even though the weather effect didn't last very long. In the Move Tutor, he purchased the Egg Move, Clear Smog. All status changes were removed from a target, and its power was not bad.

Due to Duke's low starting point, he had to work hard to develop his Dragon-Type affinity. Additionally, he had Duke work on his water manipulation to remove the speed restriction.

Lucas got out of the shower and dressed in his clothes. In the bedroom, his partners were waking up, and Imara was the first one to rise, with the Fire Stone clutched in her arms. Since it absorbed Fire-Type energy, he figured that leaving it in Imara’s hands would be the quickest way of filling it to capacity.

“Hurry up, today’s the big day,” Lucas cheered.

His Pokemon grumbled and rolled over, turning their backs on him. Lucas smirked before grabbing the edge of the duvet, pulling it off the bed with a single yank, causing the Pokemon to tumble to the ground with startled cries.

‘What was that for?’ Dante glared at Lucas, raising himself off the floor.

‘Lucas is a baddie.’ Maximus mumbled.

‘Off with your head, peasant!’ Duke rolled around on the floor like a turtle on his back before he realised he had to use water manipulation to raise himself.

‘My precious.’ Imara clutched the Fire Stone and looked at her trainer with fiery eyes.

“Sorry,” Lucas said insincerely. “I must be muddle-headed from sleep.”

‘You were always muddleheaded.’ Dante huffed before jumping back on the bed and pulling the duvet straight.

“You will make a fine husband one day,” Lucas praised.

‘Unfortunately, I don’t believe there is a female out there that will put up with an unwanted third wheel like you.’

Lucas was about to retort when his phone rang. “Hello?”

“Lucas, are you awake?” Ron asked, excitement in his voice.

“I was already up. How is the family?”

“Busy,” Ron replied. "We retrieved fifty-one fossils and sold them for over a million Pokedollars."

Lucas whistled. “That’s a nice haul for doing something so mundane as falling into a hole in the ground. Your luck amazes me.”

There was a slight hesitation on the other line. “There has been some argument in the family over whether we should hand the Pokedollars over to you since they wouldn’t have been found otherwise.”

Lucas hummed. “I wouldn’t have found it if you didn’t discover it first and invited me to join when you had no reason to. Besides, you and your friends have already decided on the split. You get half, and they get forty per cent, with the rest going to us three who joined in the exploration. Since I grabbed three fossils, I feel I got a fair compensation.”

“I thought you would say that,” Ron said. “Regardless, it doesn’t sit well with me, which is why I’m giving you twenty per cent of the Pokedollars we received from the sale.”

“You don’t need...”

“It's a done deal,” Ron interrupted. “You forget that there are still ores to be mined, which will generate even more Pokedollars, so I'm not losing out. The initial ten per cent will be split between Jason and Faith.”

“Fine,” Lucas said. “Have you petitioned the government for ownership of the mines? It should be no big deal, right? Any undiscovered resources in the wild are fair game.”

“Eh, I’m having trouble with a local government stooge,” Ron snorted. “He is trying to block my claim and grab it for himself.”

“What's his name?” Lucas demanded.

“Mark Rosenfield,” Ron supplied. “Why does that matter?”

“I will call you back in a few minutes,” Lucas hung up.

It was time to use his influence to help solve the problem. As he was only righting a wrong, he felt no guilt about using it for this particular purpose.

He opened his contact list and selected his Grandfather.

“You little brat,” Tobias shouted. “It’s about time you called. Although, I suspect that you want something from me?”

“Hi, Grandpa,” Lucas said sweetly. “Did I mention how much I love you?”

“Stop shovelling shit. What do you need?”

Lucas told him about the Weasley family situation.

“Eh, I will pass it on to Oliver. It shouldn’t take long to sort out.”

Oliver was the first name of the Prime Minister. Lucas couldn't lie; it was cool that he had a rapport with such an important person, even though it was mainly his Grandpa's influence.

“Thanks, Grandpa. Do you have an update on Giovanni?”

“As we suspected,” Tobias said. “He’s in Johto, where he has even more influence in the government than Kanto, as hard as that is to believe.”

“No wonder he was willing to take a risk in kidnapping me. He probably saw it as an acceptable risk. On the one hand, he gains control of a legendary, but if that fails, he can sail off to greener pastures.”

“Life is a bitch sometimes, but he will get his comeuppance one day.”

“I hope so,” Lucas said. “Look, I must go, but thanks for the help.”

“No problem, kid,” Tobias said gruffly. “Stay safe.”

Lucas hung up and called Jason back. “You shouldn't have any problems with the government going forward.”

“Wow,” Ron said. “I don’t know how you did that, but thank you.”

“No problem. Oh, did you find anything from the diary I gave you?”

“No, it was pretty mundane,” Ron laughed. “We think it's only the first in a series, so we will keep an eye out for more. Now, give me your bank account number, and I will wire the Pokedollars to you.”

Lucas did so, and Ron came back onto the phone. “It should show up shortly. I will return with my family to Pewter City, so look me up when you get there. I’m taking a break from the circuit until I get the mine sorted.”

“Sure.”

“Do you need any more blood from Eevee before I go?”

“I should be fine with the two extra vials you gave me. Take care of yourself.”

“Laters.”

Lucas hung up and looked at the bed where his Pokemon had returned to sleeping on the bed. Lazy sods.

{0(((..)))0}

Lucas entered the stadium with his team, but this time it was crowded with people, both trainers and the public alike. They made their way through the crowd and to the front desk, where a line of trainers checked in to confirm their participation.

“We are going to find some seats,” Faith hugged him. “Good luck.”

‘I don’t see why I can’t participate.’ Duke grumbled from beside him.

'Your time to shine will come.' Lucas patted his head.

“I’m streaming you live,” Jason waved around his camera. “So, don’t suck too badly.”

While waiting in line, Lucas checked his bank account and found two hundred and twenty thousand Pokedollars had topped up his wallet. After spending his money recklessly, it was reassuring to see he had a healthy amount of Pokedollars again.

A familiar song erupted from the giant screen mounted on the wall. Lucas looked up and saw himself singing with Yuna as they acted out a scene of a trainer travelling along the road and battling a wild Gyarados. It was a well-made video with a lot of Pokedollars thrown at its production.

Lucas felt his anonymity disappearing from the crowded room as people began to point at him, and soon the whole room was staring at him as they listened to the song. Before he could get swarmed, he quickly stepped up to the counter, registered his participation, and hurried into the waiting room.

Many trainers were already there, waiting for the tournament to start. Lucas didn't see anyone he knew, so he moved to the Pokemon area and synchronised his Pokeballs at the terminal. He could do it with his phone, but it was much faster doing it this way, considering it was an official location.

Lucas found a seat and sat down, checking out the screen on the wall where the tournament bracket was displayed. There were no names yet, as they would be randomised five minutes before the start of the tournament.

There were one hundred and seventeen participants who would compete in seven rounds of trainer battles. One lucky trainer will get a bye every round, but the others must defeat seven opponents to become the tournament champion. The top ten will receive prizes, but they haven't been revealed yet.

The tournament would take all day if necessary, as there were only eight stages to accommodate the matches.

"Lucas, it's good to see you," Benjamin sat down next to him.

"Hi, Ben. How has your training been going?" Lucas asked.

"It's been productive."

"Well, I sure hope you are ready for second place."

"I don't intend to lose to anyone," Benjamin raised a single eyebrow arrogantly. Man, that looked cool. He wished he could pull off a facial animation like that.

"Well, I don't intend to lose either," Lucas grinned. "Better hope you don't meet me before the finals."

"We shall see," Benjamin smirked. Both rivals locked eyes, their competitive spirits rising to the surface. The spell broke when a trainer almost tripped over Benjamins' feet, who hurriedly apologised before walking away.

Lucas received another notification on his phone.

=====

New Quest Received!

Place well in the tournament.

Description: The player is participating in his first tournament, with a lot of prestige and some enticing prizes up for grabs. If the player reaches the final eight, then the system will reward them with a reward based on his final ranking in the tournament.

Objective: Place in the top eight.

Bonus Objective: Achieve 3rd place or higher.

Bonus Objective 2: Achieve 2nd place or higher.

Bonus Objective 3: Come in 1st place.

Time Limit: -----

=====

Within ten minutes, trainers flooded the waiting room until it was packed to the rafters. It looked like all the participants were there, which was confirmed a moment later when a voice came over the intercom. "Trainers, the first matchups have been decided. After we display your first opponents, head into the stadium for the opening ceremony."

"Opening ceremony? Is that really necessary?" Lucas asked incredulously. "It's only a local tournament. Granted, one with many trainers competing, but it still seems like overkill."

"I heard that the mayor's son is taking part," Benjamin said, his eyes on the screen. "He probably wants all the pomp and ceremony to set a stage for his son to gain renown."

"So, the rewards must be good?"

"He is counting on his son to come in first place. I bet it will be a far better prize than the rest."

"Can he pull any shenanigans to help his son win?" Lucas frowned.

"No, it is still an official tournament, which means there is oversight from the Pokemon League."

The names appeared on the screen, and everyone looked up to see their opponent and the stage they would be competing on. Lucas found his opponent, a trainer by the name of Grace Walters, and their match would be on stage two.

An explosion of noise and colour greeted him as he entered the stadium with the other trainers. The officials directed them to stand on one of the stages, where an older man in a suit was waiting with a microphone.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I am Mayor Trevon Stokes, and I will be your host for today's glorious event. Welcome to the Terracotta Road to Glory Tournament."

Lucas almost laughed out loud at the pretentious name. Was this also for the benefit of his son? He sure sounded like he was setting the stage for his son's rise, but what would happen if he fell short? The Mayor would be embarrassed. It wasn't wrong to want his son to succeed, so he tried not to judge the man too harshly.

The Mayor continued. "Take a look, folks. Here are the one hundred and seventeen trainers vying for the champion title, including my son, Nathan. Give them a round of applause."

The crowd cheered, and Lucas searched for Faith, which was not easy as the stands looked filled to capacity. He increased his Sight, and now he could see every individual in vivid detail. As he searched, he came across a group of individuals dressed in orange sweatshirts and white trousers or skirts. There were letters printed on the tops: OLWF.

What caught his attention was that they were all holding banners with either his face or name printed on them. The most prominent banner declared that it was the Official Lucas Walker Fanclub.

"What the hell?" Lucas ignored the reality of him having a Fanclub for now and continued his search for Faith while the Mayor droned on about something. He found her a minute later, high up in the stands with Duke sitting in her lap. Next to her, Jason has his camera pressed to his face as he records the event.

Lucas returned his attention to the mayor, who was wrapping up his speech.

"Before we start, I will announce the prizes on the line for the top ten contestants. Thanks to a generous benefactor, who does not wish to be named, the rewards are undoubtedly compelling.

The contestants who reach the top ten will receive ten thousand Pokedollars each. Additionally, the top five will receive a TM of their choice from my extensive collection.

Third place will receive an Ultra Ball, second place will receive an Evolution Stone, and the first-place winner will receive.....a Jaw Fossil, which can be revived into Tyrunt!"

The crowd roared in excitement, which is what the Mayor was going for, judging by his beaming smile.

Lucas's eyebrows raised in surprise. Did the Mayor buy it from the Weasleys? He saw the fossil in the cavern and even considered obtaining it for himself, but since he already had Duke, who would gain the Dragon typing when he evolved into Kingdra, he decided to pass on it. The cost of the first-place prize outstripped the second and third-place rewards by a fair margin.

"Trainers, make your way to the stages for your first match."

The trainers dispersed, and Lucas made his way over to stage two. He would have to wait for his turn, as his match was the fifth match. The first round would take a while as the eight stages would have to host fourteen to fifteen matches each.

When it was his turn, Lucas stepped onto the stage and faced his opponent standing on the red platform. The girl, Grace, waved at him enthusiastically, and Lucas waved back. Was she another fan? He sure hoped that she didn't hold back.

The referee stepped up and made the usual speech, with the only things of note being that there were no substitutions and trainers were not required to make a wager, although they could if they wanted to.

They decided on five hundred Pokedollars as the wager. The coin toss went in his favour, so the girl summoned her Pokemon to the stage. It was a Spearow.

Spearow ~ Level 7 ~ HP: 120 ~ Aura: 160

Immediately, he tried to remember the specific details of the Pokemon from memory. Spearow was a Normal-Flying type; its highest stats were Speed and Attack. It had the special ability—Keen Eye, and the hidden ability—Sniper. The former was a non-issue, but the latter increased the power of critical attacks, which could be a problem. Maximus would be the most advantageous matchup, as Spearow was weak to electricity.

Lucas took out Max's Pokeball and summoned him to the stage.

'Yes, I get to go first.' Max cheered before pointing at his opponent. 'Baddie number one is going down.'

"Match....begin!" The referee brought his flag down.

'Max, use Charge.' Lucas ordered.

The Spearow in the air made its first move— it reared back, and a violet-coloured beam erupted from its beak and blasted through the air towards Max.

Lucas scanned the Move—Astonish—and made a snap decision. 'Max, cancel Charge; dodge with Quick Attack.

Astonish was effective at the beginning of the battle, which had a guaranteed chance of causing the target to flinch as long as they had not moved yet.

Max barely avoided the attack as he shot sideways, turning before hitting the edge of the stage and began running in a circle around the Spearow —slowing down as Quick Attack faded.

Meanwhile, as Max began running around it, Spearow swooped down with alarming speed—its talons gleaming a scintillating white—Fury Attack and swiped at Max.

Too late, Lucas realised that Spearow was faster than Max. Its smaller body boosted its Speed Stat due to the body mass modifier, which increased or decreased Stats depending on their utility.

Max dodged the first swing, then leant back as the second came through, almost clawing his face. However, the third attack in the chain connected, scratching Max's arm as he raised it to defend himself.

Maximus has taken 14 damage.

HP: 112/126

Max cried out and took a step backwards. The next attack came, and he was struck again as the chain continued.

Maximus has taken 13 damage.

HP: 99/126

Static has activated; Spearow is paralysed.

Spearow screeched as it dropped from the air.

"Spearow," Grace cried.

The girl got in a couple of good hits, but her inexperience showed. She should have known that Static was one of Elekid's special abilities. He would have cancelled the Fury Attack and used a stronger Move if he was in the same situation to eliminate the chances of Static triggering.

'Max, use Charge.'

Max executed Charge, and his whole body radiated yellow, with arcs of electricity running around his body.

Maximus has used Charge.

Special Defence is raised by one stage. The following Electric attack will deal double damage.

'Now use Thundershock.'

The three arcs of lightning didn't have far to travel and hit the Spearow almost instantaneously.

Spearow takes 131 damage. It's super effective!

Spearow has fainted.

It was a one-hit KO. Lucas was pleased that the fight went well, despite Max taking a few licks.

The crowd cheered for him, but he could hear music playing that rose above the crowd's noise. They were instruments, specifically a bass drum and some trumpets. Without even thinking, he turned to the Fanclub in the stands, who had obtained the musical instruments from somewhere and enthusiastically played to celebrate his first battle. It took a moment for him to realise that they were playing an instrumental version of his song.

"Spearow is unable to continue," the referee raised his flag. "The winner is Elekid. Trainer on the red platform, please bring out your next Pokemon."

Grace retrieved her Spearow and summoned another Pokemon to the field. A Nidoran♀.

Nidoran♀ ~ Level: 7 ~ HP: 120 ~ Aura: 170

From what he could recall, the Nidoran species had fairly balanced Stats, but it depended on where the trainer focused their training. Their Move pool was primarily Poison, Normal and Dark Type. If her Special ability was Poison Point, which may poison the opponent on contact, then he couldn't rely on Max using physical attacks.

'We need to avoid physical attacks, Max.'

'Aww, okay.'

Nidoran and Max stepped into assigned positions and waited for the referee to lower the flag.

When it did, Lucas instantly relayed an order. 'Quick attack to the edge of the stage, then Charge.

Max retreated to the edge of the stage nearest Lucas and executed Charge. Meanwhile, Nidoran glowed a deep purple as numerous spikes manifested—Toxic Spikes— that fell to the stage around her, creating a barrier.

'Max, get closer, but don't touch the spikes.'

Nidoran didn't move from the spot, seemingly content to be passive in the fight.

'Max, Thundershock.'

Lucas suspected it was a trap, but there was only one way to find out.

The arcs of lightning converged on the stationary Nidoran—then it activated Protect, and the attack failed.

Nidoran, however, wasn't finished. Her eyes shone, Lucas instantly recognised the Move, and he cursed.

Maximus' Thundershock has been disabled for forty seconds.

Lucas did not hesitate with his following command. He wasn't going to be passive. Forget about the possibility of getting poisoned; he didn't want to draw this match out too long.

'Max, use Faint Attack.'

Max vanished from sight and reappeared on Nidorans right side, slamming into the Pokemon forcefully. Nidoran cried out and tumbled onto the Toxic Spikes scattered on the floor.

Nidoran has taken 28 Damage.

HP: 92;120

Unfortunately, the Toxic Spikes don't affect the Poison-Type Pokemon. Some were left scattered on the floor, but Max would be fine if he were careful.

'Use Thunder Wave.'

Max shot out a single bolt of lightning, but Nidoran recovered, dodged the attack, and retaliated with Poison Sting— and the purple needles pierced through the air towards Max.

Max stepped to the side to avoid the attack but accidentally stepped on a spike. Max cried out as it pierced his foot.

Maximus has been poisoned.

Maximus has taken 12 damage due to the poison status effect.

HP: 87/126

Lucas had eaten his words. He needed to be more patient as Max was injured due to his mistake. Why was he so worried about ending the fight so quickly? Now he was on borrowed time, and he would have to judge if and when to withdraw Max from the fight.

Nidoran pounced as Max pulled the spike out of his foot and threw it away. Her claws gleamed sharply, and she raked across Max's belly, causing him to stumble back in pain.

Max has taken 32 damage.

Hp: 55/126

'Use Quick Attack to escape,' Lucas ordered.

Max followed his command, launching off his uninjured foot and rushing to the side, avoiding the spikes. Nidoran didn't attack again, as she didn't need to. As long as Max was poisoned, she only had to wait for his HP to drop to zero.

Lucas decided that Max was finished with this fight. If he continues, his foot may incur a worse injury, which may keep him from competing in the rest of the tournament.

He raised his hand to the referee to signal that he was withdrawing Max, and the referee blew his whistle and raised his flag.

"Trainer on the Blue Platform has withdrawn his Elekid. Victory goes to Nidoran. Blue Trainer, please release your next Pokemon."

"You were amazing, Max. Now, go and get treated because I will need you later."

Max was transported to the treatment centre. Lucas took out Dante's Pokeball and released him onto the stage.

“Hey, buddy. You’re up next.”

So, what do you think? The tournament will last for a few chapters, so there are plenty of battles coming up.

Thanks for reading.