Chapter 172

Author Note:

This chapter took significantly longer than expected, so changes to Chapters 165 and 166 will be released tomorrow instead of today.

In the meantime, Chapter 168 has been updated! The focus was on improving quality and framing, so no major events have changed. It’s just written better than it was before. You can read it here, but the changes don’t necessitate any re-reading.

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Screens slid out from underneath Porygon in all directions. The blue ellipsoids at the sides of its body vibrated with power, and it thrust its beak into the air as it built the room.

Reality warped. A breeze slowed, and the cheers of the audience became distorted. The Porygon2 sped up without speeding up, and Trevenant’s eye flicked around. His roots were already in the ground; there was no point in trying to stop this.

No, this benefited Sam. Though Porygon would be sped up, it had opened itself to the perfect attack.

“Leech Seed,” Sam ordered.

Redi clicked her tongue as Trevenant swung an arm to fling rapidly growing seeds straight at where Porygon floated. Porygon, occupied, did not move, and though the flight of Trevenant’s attack slowed, vines still stretched out and wrapped around their target before Porygon was back to an actionable state.

Sam grinned. Now under the effects of Leech Seed, no matter how hard Porygon fought, Trevenant was going to passively heal himself while also draining his foe.

“Ice Beam,” Redi quickly ordered.

“A new move?” Sam asked.

“Yup!” Redi replied. “And we saved it just for you!”

Blue, crackling energy left Porygon’s beak and snapped to Trevenant in an instant. The tree Pokémon hunkered down with his roots firmly in the field, taking that super effective move without even blinking.

Porygon then zipped to the side almost as fast as Mismagius could move, and ice crept across Trevenant’s body. He withstood the effects, but frost built on him. The super effective damage ate at his leaves until Porygon let its attack drop.

Then, Ingrain healed him. Leech Seed healed him. A crunch, and a rapidly regrowing Sitrus Berry saw most of that damage be undone.

“Again!” Redi shouted.

Two back-to-back Ice Beams could take Trevenant out. However, Sam had no plans to ever let that happen.

“Protect,” he ordered next.

This time, when the Ice Beam hit, the frost slipped off Trevenant’s body like water rolling off glass. Ingrain continued to grant him energy, and green light from Leech Seed sapped energy from Porygon and brought it to him in return.

With a growl, Redi ordered another Ice Beam, but Trevenant disappeared from where he stood. Sam grinned as Trevenant appeared right behind his opponent a few moments later, but his use of Horn Leech to deal damage missed completely. Porygon shot up straight over him with a reflexive use of Magnet Rise.

“Wow. Protect and Phantom Force?” Redi said. “I think I actually hate fighting your Trevenant.”

Stalling out Porygon’s attacks, Trevenant had waited just long enough to be back at full health. Even if he took another Ice Beam, he would never take that critical, second attack too soon after. He could give himself plenty of time to heal thanks to both Protect and Phantom Force giving him “breaks” between every instance of damage.

“All of our set-up, and it’s like we can’t do anything,” Redi said, shaking her head in disappointment. “It sucks, but it's also fine. This was never going to be more than a test, anyway. With how Trick Room is going...”

It was a temporary effect. Even upon being formed, the panels that surrounded the field almost immediately started to fade. There were only seconds left to the reality-warping change, and Redi calmly leaned back.

Another Ice Beam was blocked by another Protect, and Leech Seed meant Porygon started to flag.

“Recover,” Redi ordered.

All of Porygon’s lost health was returned.

“Now, use Trick Room again.”

Despite the long battle so far, the field had returned to the same state after the first turn. The Trick Room was back. Leech Seed was in place. Both Pokémon were at full health—almost.

Over that period, Leech Seed had drained more energy from Porygon than Recover had restored, and Recover was a highly energy-intensive move. Porygon was due to tire out first.

But Redi just grinned and met Sam’s eyes.

“You’ve put me in a tough position, Sam,” she said to him, and her voice came out as warbles thanks to the freshly warped field. “With how this is going, I can keep Porygon out and lose, or I go back on what I said earlier and actually give you a proper fight.”

She tapped her chin.

“Hm. Choices, choices...”

She raised a single eyebrow before quickly grabbing a new Pokéball. Porygon disappeared in a hard return, and a replacement Pokémon hit the field.

“Thing is, all of this was just a test!” she shouted. “I know how annoying Trevenant is—and I don’t want to deal with that! And, besides, I never promised that I wouldn’t swap. I just bragged about my strategy, and it worked to start off the match!”

On Sam’s team, Typhlosion served as both his lead and finisher. With her Blast Burn, he considered her the strongest attack he had. Meanwhile, Redi had an ace Pokémon of her own, and she almost always saved them for last.

But that was not going to be the case here.

Only halfway through the battle, Ursaluna appeared, the behemoth of a Pokémon landing and accelerating into charge. Claw over foot, he hurtled toward Trevenant, and Trevenant was barely able to throw up a Protect fast enough to block the earth-shattering blow.

“Seed it!” Sam yelled.

“Fire Punch!” Redi roared.

The massive bear reared up, and Trevenant’s mouth broke open to let him spit out a barrage of seeds. Vines extended out like tendrils, wrapping around an arm Ursaluna brought up for a defense, but Redi’s Pokémon just grabbed the vines and tore them away.

Fire erupted to incinerate what remained.

Under the effects of Trick Room, Ursaluna was faster than Trevenant, and his usually slow slashes came out as a flurry. For all the acceleration Trevenant also experienced, he was unable to stop the super effective assault that left scorch marks on his bark.

But it could have been worse.

He still had his freshly grown Sitrus Berry.

A devastating crunch echoed out from his chest, and everywhere that the juice dripped out of his mouth, his bark knit itself back together.

“You’ve made a mistake, Redi!” Sam yelled. “Ursaluna is a Ground Type, and means that Trevenant is the perfect counter!”

Redi merely watched in silence as Trevenant’s claws slid right across Ursaluna’s earth-brown fur. The Trick Room started to fade, but it was still present enough to mean the speed of his attack was that much better. As a Ground Type, Ursaluna took super effective damage from this move, and the increased power meant Trevenant was back at full. Ursaluna looked terrible.

But Redi.

Redi.

It was like she suddenly slid into view from behind Ursaluna’s bulky body.

“A perfect counter, huh?” she muttered.

Ursaluna had taken that blow head-on and was still reeling back from the damage. However, his eyes suddenly snapped up to lock with Trevenant’s own, and a nasty, fanged grin appeared on his face.

All of the damage he had just taken was used to fuel this move. Pure, raw, Dark Type energy was channeled straight into his claws. His full weight was thrown right into Trevenant.

For all Ingrain did to help with healing, it also rooted Trevenant in place. He remained firmly lodged in the ground, and, like a punching bag, Ursaluna’s attack sent his upper half violently bending back.

“Phantom Force! Reposition! Only appear with Protect!” Sam yelled.

“Earthquake and hunt them down!” Redi shouted to her Pokémon.

Phantom Force saw Trevenant disappear from where he stood in front of Ursaluna, and while hidden within the shadows, he crunched down on his Sitrus Berry once again. As he appeared, a field-wild Earthquake locked him in place by forcing him to use Protect, and then Ursaluna was right there on top of him yet again.

“Phantom Force!” Sam yelled.

Except, Ursaluna had one more chance to use another move, and he wasn’t going to hold back.

Shadows, extending from his claws, stretched out as he brought himself back up. Trevenant started to fade away, but Ursaluna swiped, and his attack tore right through Trevenant’s attempt at escape.

But Trevenant still hadn’t fainted. Sam had trained his Pokémon to be tough for a reason. That, and Trevenant looked like he wanted to make up for his loss to Honchkrow. He was pushing himself. He refused to fall here.

Unfortunately, there was only so much he could do. Bark broken, he looked up with raw anger in his eyes. This was not the same hatred that had once possessed him north of Mahogany Town, but it was dangerously close.

However, he channeled all of that raw emotion into something brand new.

Rather than allow Ursaluna to finish him off, dark flames burst across Trevenant’s body. Pouring the last of his energy into one last utterance, he channeled everything he had into a Curse inflicted on Ursaluna.

Then, with a proud smile, he fell to the ground.

“Return, Trevenant,” Sam said solemnly. “Come out, Gengar.”

He moved quickly; he didn’t want Redi to switch.

But Gengar never got to use Mean Look. Immediately, before either Pokémon moved, Redi returned Ursaring before Gengar could even think about landing that glare.

Sam frowned.

“Weren’t you the one to tell me that my team’s great at finishing off injured Pokémon?” he asked.

“Huh? Who said Ursaluna is injured?”

“Trevenant did. Just now.”

Redi cocked her head to the side.

“Yeah? And do you think you’re the only one who can use berries? Did you not see what we have hidden under Ursaluna’s fur?”

Sam didn’t understand her smirk—even a Sitrus berry wouldn’t heal that much. Sitrus berries worked well for Trevenant because he could eat them repeatedly, but a single berry would never bring Ursaluna back to full.

But then, a memory tickled the back of his mind. There was one thing he had witnessed in Redi’s match against Morty.

“...Your Sleep Talk strategy,” Sam realized.

“Yup!” Redi answered happily. “It’s too obvious, so can’t use that here, but we can at least turn it around to have it help us for this fight!”

Ursaluna didn’t have a healing berry. Ursaluna had a Chesto berry. He could quickly slam that into his mouth, use Rest, and then in an instant, he would be woken back up.

“And now, because you returned Ursaluna, Curse won’t be in effect,” Sam said slowly.

Trevenant had done all of that work only to have gained nothing in the end.

Except, is that really the case? Porygon has used Trick Room twice now, and Ursaluna is seriously wounded. Next time Ursaluna is sent out, he’ll have to use Rest, and he’ll only be able to eat his Chesto Berry once.

If everything else lines up right—

Sam looked over Redi. She didn’t look bothered.

There’s a chance that Trevenant won us the fight.

“Kangaskhan,” Redi said, replacing Ursaluna on the field. At this point, the Trick Room was gone, so the field was back to its standard. However, she still had her Porygon left, so Sam was distinctly aware that it could come at back any time.

“Gengar. We’ve already talked about this. Kangaskhan is your perfect counter, so be wary. But keep our plans in mind.”

As soon as the match resumed, Kangaskhan charged across the field, and it was surprisingly speedy for a Pokémon of its size. However, Sam had already seen this charge once before, so he was more prepared to call for Gengar’s first attack.

“Acid Spray!”

With how well Kangaskhan could shut down most of Gengar’s, his best strategy would be to be to set up Kangaskhan to be fainted later. Acid Spray would deal little damage, but it would at least eat away at a Pokémon’s special defense.

But it didn’t work; as Gengar flew backwards across the shadows of the floor, Kangaskhan gave chase. For some reason, the massive Normal Type seemed to flag for a second, and when Gengar slowed just to laugh, it lashed out unexpectedly.

Though normally ineffective, Kangaskhan’s Scrappy ability lets its Fake Out hit Gengar.

Acid Spray failed; Gengar flinched.

“Now Dizzy Punch!” Redi yelled.

Unable to escape the Normal Type capable of hitting him, Gengar pressed acid through his teeth to spray it across Kangaskhan’s thick hide. But for all that his move ate away at it, Kangaskhan retaliated by clipping him in the shoulder, and he was spent spinning back across the field.

“Good, Gengar!” Sam called out.

Gegnar was not great at defense, so this was probably the best outcome they could have hoped for. Though he had taken damage, his practice with Annihilape let him move with the impact to minimize the damage and allow himself to be sent flying back, and Dizzy Punch thankfully did not leave him confused.

Although, I guess we don’t have to worry about that anymore. Gengar isn’t sturdy. Next time Dizzy Punch hits, he won’t get confused—he’ll just faint.

“Acid Spray. Keep it up,” Sam said. “You’re aware of its Fake Out. It can’t use that again.”

Just like he had against Xavier’s Noctowl, Gengar slid back across the ground, and he stayed out of range just to spray even more acid out from between the gaps in his teeth.

Kangaskhan, of course, gave chase, but the limited space of the field meant it was slowly able to corral him into letting it catch up. Still, even though Acid Spray dealt negligible damage, Kangakshan was becoming more and more vulnerable to special moves over time.

But at this rate, Kangaskhan was going to land another attack before that could matter.

As much as he hated it, Sam had a risky play here that he decided was worth the gamble.

“Will-O-Wisp!”

As soon as he heard the shout, Gengar threw his arms out wide to conjure a Will-O-Wisp, stopping any further uses of his previous Poison Type attack. Mimicking Mismagius, flames washed out in a wave, and they caught the incoming Kangaskhan to sear its hide.

However, the very moment that happened, Redi’s grin grew manic with excitement. The eagerness in her voice was obvious as she immediately gave the counter-command Sam was worried about.

“Facade!”

Knew it.

Normally, Sam wouldn’t need to worry about this move if his Pokémon were immune, but Kangaskhan could damage Ghosts, and Facade was all about leaning into status conditions. It dealt more damage when suffering from a condition, and it would even allow Kangaskhan to ignore how a burn lowered a physical attack’s power.

Sam was forced to adapt on the fly. As fast as he could, he shouted for a last-ditch, hopefully win-win scenario.

“Make it stop,” he told Gengar.

Gengar knew what he meant.

Kangaskhan’s charge was half a lumber, half a dash. Facade made it look like it was more injured than it was. It was intending to use that unsure stature to let it strike with an unexpected attack, and Gengar slowed as it neared.

As it arrived, Kangaskhan’s form blotted out the sun above him. He was cast into the shade of the Pokémon’s shadow.

There, it looked as though Gengar was due to faint, but Kangaskhan’s eyes suddenly widened. Before ever finishing its Facade, it abruptly leaped back, having recognized what was going on.

Likely having been warned by Redi, it had realized their shadows had overlapped. Now that there was a distance between them, a dark line connected the shade under Gengar and Kangaskhan’s feet.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to use Destiny Bond!” Redi shouted out.

“And I thought you said you weren’t going to switch!” Sam shouted right back. “Besides, who said I was actually not going to use Destiny Bond, anyway? I just needed a way to get your Kangaskhan to back off, and this worked!”

With the sudden drop of aggression, Gengar had free rein to launch himself backward across the field. He smiled, a massive amount of distance being created between him and his foe, and the shadowy string snapped as the Destiny Bond wore off.

Annoyed, Redi gave a new command.

“Hyper Beam.”

“Hah. Really? You taught another Pokémon that?”

Gengar was forced into the floor, entering a shadow like he was so prone to do. Except, that wasn’t enough to dodge. Kangaskhan dragged its laser downward, and all the darkness burned away.

The Hyper Beam lasted a while, and when it stopped, Kangaskhan was painted. Sam knew that move was strong enough to faint Gengar. However, there was no sign of him, even now. Kangaskhan was forced to go quiet to listen in even as it stayed in place for the needed recharge.

To that, Sam smiled.

“Good. That’s the opening we needed.”

“...What are you planning?”

“Gengar’s specialty, of course.”

Hearing that phrase, Gengar exploded out of the earth, having had to use his Ghostly nature to phase straight into the floor. Kangaskhan was surprised but was still willing to lash out, except Gengar’s eyes flashed, and his opponent immediately fell.

“But Early Bird—”

“Dream Eater!” Sam interrupted.

There was no time for banter—Early Bird was a threat. While it didn’t render Kangaskhan immune, it did make it fall asleep right away.

Gengar only had time for this one more.

Gripping his hands, Sam could only watch as Gengar dove. The Kangaskhan’s child was already rustling in its pouch and getting ready to squeak. However, between the two of them, Gengar was much faster, and all of that reduction from Acid Spray gave him plenty of leeway to swoop down and pluck something glowing from Kangaskhan’s head.

His opponent let out a long exhale of a groan, and he merrily popped that glowing object into his mouth and chewed.

“Kangaskhan is unable to battle. Trainer Redi, send out your next Pokémon!” the referee called out.

The baby Kangaskhan’s head poked out, and it cried its name only for no reaction. Panicking, it pushed against its mother for no response, and tears welled in its eyes before Redi quickly returned the two of them.

“That was cruel, Sam.”

“It’s on you for sending them out.”

“I can’t believe it! And now you’re trying to shrug off the blame!”

She laughed as he rolled his eyes, and some members of the audience booed at him for making a young Pokémon cry.

But this was the Conference. Things like this happened. Both Sam and Gengar waved. And, knowing Redi, Sam was pretty sure she was going to load up that child with treats later to make up for the battle.

“Porygon,” Redi named next, and her Porygon2 reappeared on the field.

Yeah, that’s expected. There was no way she was going to send out Ursaluna with Gengar still capable of Mean Look.

Redi gave the expected order for Trick Room, but so focused on everything else, she failed to realize that she was using an extremely energy-intensive move while Gengar was still on the field.

Honestly, Sam had so many tricks in his bag that it was hard to remember them all.

“Spite!” he shouted. He had the benefit of being the one to constantly train his team.

“Come on!” Redi said as Porygon's energy was sapped away. “How many tricks do you even have?!”

Trick Room was set up, but this would be the last time it would ever appear over the field. All of Gengar’s movement slowed to a crawl, but he was still able to send a sharp glare and a few specially worded taunts.

Ghostly energy caressed Porygon, and it sapped away the energy reserved for this move. Trick Room could no longer be used, and Redi was now forced to make a choice—send out Ursaluna here to make use of that speed, or leave Porygon out to not risk her best team member against Gengar?

“Alright, fine,” she groaned. “Whatever. You’ve made a mistake doing that, Sam.”

“Yeah? How so?”

Gengar couldn’t move that quickly, but he could still float. Even if Porygon zipped around in the air, he could attack from range, and the moment he got close, he’d be in perfect range for a—

“Psybeam,” Redi ordered.

With Trick Room up, Porygon released its attack in a flash, and Gengar did not have his usual speed to dodge. The move struck him straight in the chest, his secondary Poison Type making him especially vulnerable, and he fell right away.

“...Sometimes, it’s easy to forget just how scary your Pokémon’s attacks are,” Sam mumbled.

Redi stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed.

At least, Gengar had done his job. So many of Sam’s Pokémon could move quickly that Trick Room was great at shutting down some of the best members of his team.

But with it up, Sam had one potential answer to Porygon here. It was such an unusual choice that he doubted Redi had many counters in mind.

“Annihilape,” Sam named.

Redi took one look at the ape Pokémon and looked like she wanted to spit.

“Sam, do you even remember how Porygon likes to fight? Are you sure you’re thinking wisely?”

“I am. But let me ask you a question—Porygon might be a Normal Type that can float, but what moves does Annihilape know to let him attack from range?”

His Pokémon dug at the field.

“Shadow Punch,” Redi answered immediately. “Unless you’re talking about—”

Her eyes went wide.

With a grin, Sam pointed forward. There was one thing about Porygon’s Magnet Rise that Redi had failed to notice. Though the levitation could shoot Porygon high into the air, it tended to never move around on its own after that.

“Rock Slide, Annihilape!” Sam shouted. “Batter it as much as you can!”

“Teleport! Into Lock-On! And start spamming Psybeams!”

Thanks to Trick Room, this exchange became one of rapid attacks. Porygon tracked Annihilape, unleashing bright pink beams. Annihilape was slow when compared to Sam’s other Pokémon, but he was fast compared to Porygon. Hands in the ground, he dug up the field to throw a swarm of sharpened stones into the air. They were chucked straight into the path of the beam, giving Annihilape the chance to shift to the side and turn a direct blow into a glancing one, and then Porygon was forced to stop attacking to dodge with Teleport.

Honestly, it was a very strange exchange.

Porygon wasn’t taking much damage, but Annihilape was getting better at his timing. More and more Rock Slides battered his opponent, and Porygon couldn’t use Teleport that fast as a Normal Type.

Though Porygon was winning right now, there was also a constant pressure to its actions. As much as Annihilape was taking damage, he was speeding up.

Trick Room was wearing off.

Sam could see just how much Redi was gritting her teeth. It pained her, but she seemed to recognize how that shift would affect her chances.

“We need to take it out now. Use Conversion. Speed up your Teleports.”

Sam forced back his grin as pixels flipped across Porygon’s body to turn it a deep shade of pink. Its Psybeams came out more powerful, and its Teleports became significantly faster, but as much as a threat it now posed, there was a problem.

Redi had just given up her immunity.

“Shift to Shadow Punch!”

“Psybeam! Break it apart!”

Annihilape threw a punch, and he launched a copy of his fist made of shadows. A Psybeam pierced through it, Annihilape cartwheeled to the side to dodge at the very last second, and the shadows seemed to reconstitute themselves in the air.

This was not like any physical move.

“Ugh, you— Teleport, quick!”

Porygon flashed away before the Shadow Punch hit it, but then Annihilape’s arm twitched, and the fist changed directions in the air. It used Teleport again to make more distance, but the move just continued.

Shadow Punch didn’t miss. Annihilape could guide it to his target.

“Recover!” Redi ordered quickly.

Porygon was hit, and it healed health.

Annihilape drew back an arm, but Sam quickly called out, “Wait!”

Redi, as fast as she could, gave the shout of “Conversion!”

Porygon was back to the Normal Type again.

But now, it no longer had the benefit of quick uses of Teleport.

“Rock Slide,” Sam said flatly.

High up where it levitated, the stones jabbed into Porygon’s body, and it was almost knocked straight out of the air. Redi called for another Psybeam, and Annihilape charged while drawing back a fist.

Instead of just taking the attack, he punched it.

His arm broke straight through.

The previous use of Rock Slide had forced it downwards, and now, Porygon was within leaping range—Annihilape was a monkey, after all.

With a single grab, he latched onto Porygon and used all of his strength to dunk it straight into the ground.

“Porygon2 is unable to battle. Trainer Redi, send out your next Pokémon!”

Annihilape stumbled as he landed back on the field. He had taken a lot of damage in the fight. He forced himself to clench his arms and fought to stay standing up.

It took a second for Redi to do anything. She stared at her fainted Porygon, and she stayed silent for what felt like ages.

A few seconds passed.

“...Ha,” she let out. “Ha. Haha. Ha ha ha!”

Her laughter continued for a while.

“So you’re telling me, that even after everything we did, even after trying to figure out every Pokémon on your team, you still have three Pokémon conscious while I’m at my last? That we focused so much on offense, but you’re winning because you have Pokémon that can withstand that?”

She shook her head.

“That’s... unfair, Sam. You can’t even send out one of your other Pokémon, just for me?”

“And let Ursaluna knockout Mismagius? Let his Earthquake faint Typhlosion?” he countered. “No. We’re in this position for a reason. I’m not going to underestimate you. It’s the same as how you’re not going to underestimate me.”

Redi looked at Sam, and she laughed once more as a smile appeared on her face. As much as she only had one Pokémon left, her final Pokémon was her Ursaluna.

The same Ursaluna who had gone blow-to-blow against Annihilape, who was now so injured on the field.

The same Ursaluna who had managed to take out the defensive Trevenant so handily.

The same Ursaluna who had trained with Typhlosion since the beginning and had at least an equivalent level of strength.

...The same Ursaluna who would be forced to use Rest upon being sent out.

With that opening, Sam planned to show Redi the utmost respect and faint her Pokémon in the most Ghost Type way possible.

Redi quickly returned Porygon, and when Ursaluna was sent out, he plucked a small object out of his chest fur. As soon as he popped it into his mouth, his entire body hit the ground.

His Rest healed him, and that same impact saw his jaw slam shut. The motion caused him to bite down, and the dry flavor saw his eyes snap open, awake.

Even with his awakening, the healing energies of Rest were still infused into him, and he was reinvigorated to continue the fight. However, doing so had given Annihilape time to act, and he didn’t need to do anything special. Shadows coated an arm, but this was not for a Shadow Punch.

This time, there was no charge to meet in the center. They had already talked about this idea beforehand, and by having that spar at the start, Sam had already secured his win. After all, Annihilape was satisfied with that initial chance to test himself, so he had no complaints when Sam called for this move here.

“Curse,” he ordered.

The very first Ghost Type move that Annihilape had ever learned, the very same Ghost Type move that had first taught Annihilape how to enhance himself, finished him off here. His shadowy arm dug into his chest, and hateful embers flicked across Ursaluna’s body where he stared.

Those embers would only ever grow over time.

“You—” The curse that left Redi’s mouth could not be aired on television. She had no Pokémon left to switch into, and Ursaluna was now subjected to an ever-growing Curse. “We have to do this fast! Get to Sam’s side of the field!”

Ursaluna charged, rushing straight ahead. With Annihilape fainted, Sam swapped him out for Mismagius, not wanting to give Redi the pleasure of using the field-wide Earthquake to attack from range.

(Mismagius had Levitate as her ability, after all.)

With such a lumbering beast charging her, Mismagius immediately darted backwards to make as much distance as possible. She was already bringing her arms out to be ready for whatever attack Sam called for.

“Will-O-Wisp. Burn it,” he ordered.

“Tear it to pieces with Shadow Claw, Ursaluna!”

Fueled by pain and desperation, Ursaluna was on Mismagius in moments. He didn’t bother to dodge the incoming wisps, having been trained to lean into them to give himself the enhancement from Guts. However, though the adrenaline was there because of the condition, that same condition limited his time on the field even further alongside Curse.

Redi didn’t care. She was betting on Guts to end this match faster. It was the same as how Sam was betting on Ursaluna’s burn to ensure that the bear Pokémon fainted sooner than it otherwise would.

Ursaluna caught up.

Mismagius tried to flee with Shadow Sneak.

A darkened claw tore her move apart, and she collapsed from the massive damage she had just suffered.

“Looks like Ursaluna is feeling the heat,” Sam said.

Both Redi and the audience groaned.

...That moment was going to go straight into the nightmare bin.

Across Ursaluna’s body, the fires from Will-O-Wisp seemed to mix with the energies of Curse, and the Pokémon looked to be alight with dark flames.

Sam laughed even as he returned Mismagius, and he didn’t hesitate to send out Typhlosion next, even with Ursaluna being right there on his side of the field. He didn’t have a choice but to send her out here; Typhlosion was his last Pokémon. But this wasn’t like the Xavier fight. He might have only had one Pokémon left, but that was intentional. Right now, he was in complete control.

This was Sam’s victory.

“Detect!” he ordered.

“Shadow Claw!” Redi yelled.

Typhlosion nimbly hopped back, and then she dashed to circle around.

“Smoke Screen!” Sam shouted.

“Earthquake!” Redi countered.

An exhale, and an entire half of the field turned black.

Underneath it, the earth rumbled, but no shouts of pain came from Typhlosion.

Growling, Redi rapidly gave another command.

“Destroy it all with Hyper Beam!”

Hyper Beam was useless for damaging Typhlosion, but it was powerful enough to slice right through the smoke. Additionally, Hyper Beam should have made Ursaluna require time to rest, but far too much adrenaline was coursing through him. He made full use of his Guts to bypass that recharge time—but he would suffer from a massive crash later in return.

Ursaluna’s pure white beam divided the beam in two, and even with the immunity of the Ghost Type, that Hyper Beam was strong enough that the force alone would have hurt Typhlosion. 

But just like the Earthquake, the move never hit.

Typhlosion wasn’t on the ground. It was crazy what a single, hidden jump could do.

“Look up! Above you!” Redi yelled.

Barely standing from the ongoing effects, Ursaluna brought his head back.

Typhlosion was falling as a shadow in front of the sun. She hurtled downwards even as Redi’s Pokémon prepared itself for a special move, but Typhlosion had no intention to attack from range.

Flames wrapped around her body. She tucked in her head and spun.

Her entire body became an instrument of fiery punishment, and Sam whispered this attack’s name.

“Flame Wheel.”

As she hurtled toward the earth, Ursaluna tried to rear back to get ready to knock her away, but Typhlosion’s control over her flames was far too extreme. Wisps wrapped the flaming wheel her body had become, and mid-air, they jerked her to the side.

The defensive swipe only clawed at the air.

Typhlosion curved down and slammed right into Ursaluna’s chest.

Through all the pain, he roared a horrible roar, and Redi let out a single laugh.

“All of this and... All of this, and you’re repeating what you did in the Beginner’s Tournament,” Redi mumbled. “Except, this time around, I can’t order Ursaluna to push through and punch you in the face when he’s already so close to a faint.”

Bouncing off her target, Typhlosion landed on the ground. All of her fire, all of her wisps, the burn, and the Curse ate right into Ursaluna’s body.

But still, he did not fall. He had as much willpower as Annihilape—more, given the amount of punishment he was taking. His entire body was poised for a lunge as his eyes met Typhlosion’s.

He glared at her, but that’s all he did. The only thing he could muster was a sharp grin, and then he no longer had any energy left to keep standing up.

He fell.

“Ursaluna is no longer able to battle! Trainer Redi is out of usable Pokémon!” the referee yelled. “With this, the battle is over!”

A pause.

“Trainer Samuel is the winner!”

Immediately, the world became consumed by roars. The audience’s cheers were deafening, and Sam was used to deafening roars. Ursaluna laid motionless on the ground while Typhlosion towered over him.

She nodded at her opponent before drawing back her head.

Her cry seemed to shake the very sky itself.

The referee’s announcement had been meaningless to Sam, but this shout from Typhlosion had said it all.

Because, after so long, this battle had concluded. Only Typhlosion remained. Against Redi, against his friend, against his traveling partner, against someone who he would consider a rival, Sam had finally, actually, utterly, completely—

Sam had won.

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Author Note:

Next chapter does not end with a cliffhanger, but it does end with something that directly leads into the next chapter. My question is: would you prefer to receive Chapter 173 on Friday, or would you prefer to wait until it comes out as a double post alongside Chapter 174 on Monday?

Chapter 174 will come out on Monday (not Tuesday), no matter the decision made.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Porygon2
Kangaskhan
Ursaluna

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