On the platforms, Reiji and Ejiro only exchanged polite smiles and small nods.
That was enough.
No one watching needed to know they had met before.
The referee finished explaining the rules, and both Trainers threw their Poké Balls at the same time.
"Go, Venusaur!"
"Go, Ludicolo!"
"Ludi?"
Ludicolo blinked the moment it appeared on the Ice Field, clearly surprised to be out here. It had only gone through a checkup last night. It had not expected to be thrown into a match today.
"Ludicolo?" Ejiro froze for half a beat.
Ejiro had tried to bait out a Ground type by leaning on his Electric-type background, then punish it with Venusaur. It was a neat little trap.
Reiji had seen it coming.
If Ejiro wanted to lure out a Ground type, then the counter would most likely be Water or Grass. Ice was possible, but much less likely.
Flying types were the first option Reiji ruled out. Electric crushed Flying, and Flying did nothing to Water. The only exception would be Zapdos.
And Zapdos was absolutely not something he could show here.
The moment people learned he had a Legendary Pokémon, the chasing, plotting, and ambushes would never end. Unless he became an Elite Four-tier Trainer, he could not protect it.
Pseudo-legendary and Legendary were not the same thing.
A pseudo-legendary was strong, but still just a Pokémon. For the sake of one, most people would think twice before attacking a League Gym Trainer who was not weak and might even force an Elite Four-tier Trainer to move personally.
A Legendary was different.
If offending the League meant getting a Legendary Pokémon in return, some people would sell the rope used to hang them. That was how insane greed could make them.
So Reiji picked the middle answer.
Ludicolo.
With its elemental punches, it could handle most situations.
Of course, now that Venusaur was actually in front of it, Reiji had to admit one problem.
Venusaur was also Poison type.
And Poison was exactly what Ludicolo did not want to see.
"Ludicolo, Rain Dance."
He did not know whether Venusaur had Chlorophyll. If it did, then under harsh sunlight, its speed would double just like Swift Swim in rain.
So the first fight was for weather.
Take the field. Take the pace.
"Venusaur, Sludge Bomb."
Ejiro knew he had the type advantage and went straight for it.
"Dodge it. Ice Beam."
Ludicolo slipped away from the dark purple sludge bombs without much trouble. Rain began falling across the field, and Swift Swim kicked in. Its speed jumped hard, leaving Venusaur looking slow by comparison.
The Ice Field made things even worse for Venusaur.
Cold air, frozen ground, rain falling on ice.
The whole place hated it.
"Venusaur, Energy Ball!"
Venusaur changed attacks. Green light gathered and fired across the field, crashing into Ludicolo's Ice Beam.
The impact burst between them.
Before the smoke had even cleared, snow began drifting down through the rain.
Ludicolo had switched into Blizzard.
Rain turned into wet snow, and the field leaned even harder in its favor.
Bad.
Ejiro felt the cold biting through the air and saw snow melting against his hand. If this kept going, Venusaur would be buried under the field itself before Ludicolo had to do much of anything.
"Venusaur, Sunny Day!"
"Stop it. Ice Beam!"
Ludicolo raised a hand, and a pale beam shot straight at Venusaur.
Venusaur was busy pushing the clouds apart. It had no room to dodge. Ice climbed over its body and locked it in place.
But it had bought enough time.
The clouds above the stadium opened.
Sunlight poured down onto the Ice Field.
"Ludicolo, Ice Punch!"
"Venusaur, break free!"
Both sides were racing now.
If Ludicolo reached Venusaur first, the hit would hurt. If Venusaur broke out first, it could recover the tempo.
Crack.
The ice around Venusaur shattered before Ludicolo got there.
Without the rain boosting it, Ludicolo had lost speed. Venusaur shook off the frozen stiffness and threw up Protect just in time.
Ice Punch slammed into the barrier.
"Venusaur, cover the field in poison fog!"
"Ludicolo, Thunder Punch the water!"
Venusaur's flower released a thick purple fog.
Ludicolo pulled its fist back, electricity crackling around it, then slammed the punch straight into a puddle.
Venusaur was standing in that same water.
It had barely moved since the start of the match. Its own body heat had melted a shallow dip into the ice, and the earlier rain had filled it. Now that puddle carried the current straight into it.
"Venu!"
Venusaur cried out as electricity locked through its body. The poison fog stopped, and Protect collapsed with it.
Electric attacks did not hit Venusaur hard. Grass resisted Electric, after all.
But Reiji was not trying to beat it with damage.
He only needed the paralysis chance.
"Ludicolo, hold your breath. Fire Punch."
Ludicolo reacted fast. It was already close. It held its breath, raised a burning fist, and rushed straight into the thinning poison fog.
The punch crashed into Venusaur.
The force of it tore the mist apart.
"Venu!"
Fire Punch landed clean. Venusaur roared, the sound tearing across the field as the flames burst against its body. Even with its bulk, taking a super-effective hit at that range was brutal.
"Venusaur, bite down and use Toxic!"
Venusaur heard Ejiro through the pain. It twisted back, caught Ludicolo in its jaws, and injected poison directly into it.
"Sludge Bomb!"
Venusaur released its bite and fired Sludge Bomb point-blank.
This time Ludicolo was ready.
At Reiji's command, it threw up Protect before the sludge could hit cleanly. The explosion still blasted it backward, but it avoided the worst of it.
"Ludicolo, Synthesis."
Ludicolo's lily pad glowed white. Sunlight spilled over its body, warm yellow light flashing across it as it healed itself.
Under this kind of sun, Synthesis could drag Ludicolo back from the edge.
But Ludicolo was still in trouble.
Toxic.
A normal poison would have been annoying.
Toxic was worse.
It did not just hurt. It got meaner the longer the battle went on. Switch out, and that pressure reset. Stay in, and every pulse bit deeper than the last.
That was the clean version of the rule.
Reality was messier.
Ludicolo was weak to Poison, had taken Toxic at close range, and was still fighting at full speed. On paper, it might have lasted a while.
Here?
Reiji doubted it had three clean exchanges left.
"Ludi…"
The glow from Synthesis had barely faded when a sickly purple shimmer rolled over Ludicolo's body.
Toxic was already working.
Across the field, Venusaur's presence suddenly sharpened.
"Venu…"
Its eyes locked onto Ludicolo. Every hit it had taken, every punch, every burn, all of it turned into a hard, furious glare.
Overgrow.
Reiji recognized it right away.
Venusaur's Grass-type moves had just gotten stronger.
Too bad Grass was not what Ludicolo needed to fear right now.
Still, it looked impressive. To anyone who did not understand the matchup, Venusaur probably looked like it had just found its second wind.
Reiji measured the field.
Ludicolo could keep fighting.
But forcing it to keep going now would be stupid. Toxic was easiest to deal with right after it landed. Let it dig in too deep, and Ludicolo might miss the later rounds entirely.
A Pecha Berry was out too. Unless there was some special case like Accelgor, Reiji's Pokémon did not usually carry Berries into battle. Ludicolo had a held item, not an emergency cure.
"Ludicolo, Rest."
That was the call.
Ludicolo's match ended here.
"Venusaur, Sludge Bomb! Finish it!"
"Come back, Ludicolo."
Ludicolo fell asleep, the poison cleared from its body, and Reiji recalled it before Sludge Bomb could land.
The attack burst through empty air.
Venusaur snapped its head toward Reiji, furious. It looked like it wanted to keep attacking, but even angry, it knew better than to fire on a Trainer.
"Reiji has recalled Ludicolo!" the host shouted, grabbing the moment with both hands. "Venusaur has forced the Indigo Champion to switch! Could last season's Indigo winner really be in trouble this early in the group stage?"
The man was enjoying himself way too much.
This was exactly the kind of noise he wanted. A hook. A headline. A reason for the crowd to lean forward.
If he made enough of a splash here, maybe he would get to stand beside Lillian at the Pummelo Stadium finals.
"Rai…"
Cissy's chest tightened.
She knew Reiji liked hiding cards, but there was hiding cards, and then there was getting himself knocked out in the group stage for no good reason.
"Rai-nii."
Shun was not worried at all.
He would not lose.
That was not hope to him. It was fact.
"Tch."
Reiji clicked his tongue.
The host was milking his name for every bit of drama he could squeeze out of it.
Venusaur was already running on fumes. Overgrow was a final push, not a miracle. Once the rush faded, all the damage from fighting Ludicolo would come crashing back.
But Reiji could not just stand there and stall.
If he dragged things out too obviously, the referee would notice. So would the crowd. And every Trainer he had beaten would have something to whisper about later.
Fine.
"Go, Ninetales."
He had already weighed the options.
Flying would work against Venusaur, but Ejiro still had Electric types waiting. Psychic was possible, but Reiji's Psychic types also carried Water typing, and throwing them into Grass was asking for trouble. Ice was not available.
That left Fire.
"Ninetales, Flamethrower."
Ninetales hit the field and fired immediately, a stream of flame tearing across the ice toward Venusaur.
"Venusaur, Energy Ball!"
The two attacks collided.
The explosion cracked the field beneath them. Ice split, steam burst upward, and broken shards skittered across the arena.
Ninetales kept pressing.
Venusaur answered again and again, but every clash stole more of the field from under it. Ice melted in sheets. Pillars collapsed. What had been a frozen arena slowly turned into a shallow pool.
Then one final blast shook the field.
When the steam cleared, Venusaur was down.
It had spent too much against Ludicolo. Ninetales had only forced the bill to come due. Under that pressure, there had been no room for Synthesis, and Ingrain was useless here anyway.
There was no soil.
Only ice.
Or what was left of it.
"Venusaur is unable to battle! Ejiro, recall Venusaur and send out your second Pokémon!"
The referee raised the flag, then paused as staff hurried toward the ruined field.
"Due to heavy damage to the Ice Field, both Trainers will receive a three-minute break while the field is replaced. The match will resume afterward."
Reiji recalled Ninetales and stepped down from the platform.
Cissy was waiting near the bench. She handed him water and a towel. He drank first, so she took the towel back and wiped the sweat from his face herself.
Reiji glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
When Cissy was not trying to leave bruises on him, she really could be sweet.
Shame about the flat chest.
Nobody was perfect.
"Why aren't you using your main team?" she asked while wiping his face.
"In the group stage?" Reiji smiled. "If I use them now, what am I supposed to do in the knockouts?"
He said it lightly, mostly because teasing her was fun.
"Hmph."
Cissy saw the look on his face and knew he had something planned. She just did not know he was using the group stage to drag weaker picks along behind stronger ones.
"If you lose here, I'd love to see how you explain that to Dad."
"I'll do my best not to."
The whistle blew before she could scold him further.
Three minutes were up.
Reiji returned to the platform and sent Ninetales back out.
Now it was Ejiro's turn to reveal his second Pokémon.
"Go, Swampert!"
Reiji stared.
This traitor.
The guy came from an Electric-type club and still raised a Swampert, one of the worst nightmares for Electric types. If that was not betrayal, what was?
Whatever. Complaining could wait.
Two fully evolved starters on one team. Rich kids really were disgusting once they started spending money.
And Swampert was a terrible matchup for Ninetales.
Water and Ground.
Both bad news for Fire.
Switching was tempting, but Reiji had already recalled Ludicolo once. If he switched again, Ejiro could switch too, and then Reiji would be the one losing control of the pace.
So Ninetales had to stay in and wear Swampert down.
"Ninetales, Solar Beam."
"Swampert, Ear—damn it! Protect!"
Ejiro had almost called Earthquake.
Then he heard Reiji's command.
Solar Beam.
The sun was still up.
No charge needed.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]