"Sleep Talk!"
Within the ice whirlwind, the slumbering Barioth used the move. It randomly selected one of its known attacks to perform.
Pounce!
The sleeping Barioth moved, flying high into the air and rushing towards Slowking.
"It seems Barioth's luck is bad," Zhang sighed, a little speechless as he watched his Pokémon fly out of its defensive vortex. He had finally established a defensive position, and now Barioth had abandoned it.
Fortunately, Pokémonized monsters had a special trait: unlike normal Pokémon, they would awaken the moment they were attacked, a holdover from the cruel wilds of their home world where sleeping too soundly meant not waking up at all. Even under the influence of Yawn, Barioth was not in a deep sleep.
This was a key difference. Pokémon put to sleep by a move would not wake up when hit. Bella thought victory was at hand, but her plan was about to go awry. The moment her attack landed, Barioth would wake up and counterattack.
Barioth is holding a Focus Sash, so it won't be knocked out by the next hit, Zhang thought, planning to give Bella a big surprise.
Under the effects of Trick Room, Barioth's flight was agonizingly slow.
"It seems luck is on my side," Bella smiled. "Slowking, Nasty Plot."
"Slooow!" Slowking's eyes glowed with dark energy, and its power surged. Its Special Attack rose by two stages. By the time it finished, the snail-paced Barioth had only just reached it.
"Roar!" Barioth dove at Slowking.
Swish!
Slowking effortlessly sidestepped the attack. In Trick Room, Barioth's melee attacks were useless.
"Slooow!" Slowking raised its hand and used Nasty Plot again as Barioth used Sleep Talk a second time.
Dragon Dance!
This time, its luck was better. Barioth's Attack and Speed rose by one stage, while Slowking's Special Attack rose another two stages, now at +4.
"Slooow!" Slowking used Nasty Plot a third time. Bella was planning to boost her Pokémon to its absolute limit and sweep Zhang's remaining team. It was a classic Elite-level strategy: seize a small advantage and snowball it into an overwhelming victory.
Sleep Talk!
Barioth glowed with golden light, unleashing the Dragon-type ultimate move, Draco Meteor. Unfortunately, Barioth was a physical attacker with a pitifully low Special Attack stat of 40. The move was incredibly weak. Flaming meteorites rained down, but Slowking stood its ground, continuing to use Nasty Plot. Bella trusted her judgment that the attack was no threat.
Boom!
A meteor struck Slowking, causing it to stumble, but it was nowhere near enough for a knockout. Draco Meteor's drawback lowered Barioth's Special Attack by two stages, but this was irrelevant for a physical attacker.
"Now, it's time to end this," Bella declared. "Slowking, Focus Blast! Finish it!"
Simultaneously, Barioth's Sleep Talk triggered again.
Ice Tornado!
This was a good roll.
"Slooow!" Slowking raised its hand and fired a huge sphere of energy.
RUMBLE!
The Focus Blast and the Ice Tornado collided, perfectly matched.
"Such a powerful Barioth," Bella sighed. "It only has a +2 Attack boost, yet it can match my Slowking's +6 Special Attack."
Tactics were important, but sometimes, raw power was what mattered most. Barioth's base Attack of 160 was immense compared to Slowking's base Special Attack of 100. Combined with its two 50% damage bonuses (STAB and its unique ability), it could match the fully boosted Slowking. Focus Blast, while powerful at 120 base power, was a Fighting-type move and received no STAB bonus from the Water/Psychic-type Slowking.
"That monster is terrifying. Its base stats must be on par with a pseudo-legendary to be this strong," a veteran dojo master in the crowd remarked. "Don't be fooled because Slowking has the upper hand. That's the Battle Queen, a psychic, commanding her Pokémon. A normal challenger would have been swept long ago."
"What? A pseudo-legendary?!" The crowd gasped, their gazes turning from awe to greed. But the thought was fleeting. Zhang had already proven himself to be a powerful quasi-Elite Fourtrainer. Trying to steal his Pokémon would be suicide.
Boom!
The two attacks shattered.
"Slowking, do it again," Bella commanded. "Barioth's luck can't last forever."
As she predicted, the next Sleep Talk resulted in Pounce. As the slow-moving Barioth spread its wings, Bella's brow relaxed.
"Slooow! Focus Punch!" Slowking launched another energy sphere.
BOOM!
The moment the blast hit, Barioth's golden eyes snapped open. It was awake. And thanks to its Focus Sash, it was completely unharmed.
"What? It's awake?" Bella's pupils shrank. Rest was supposed to last 20 seconds. It was impossible to wake up early unless it had an ability like Early Bird.
"Now it's my turn!" Zhang roared, raising his left hand. The Tera Orb on his wrist blazed to life. "Let's go, Barioth! Terastallize! Use Icicle Crash!"
A brilliant light enveloped Barioth. Like Mega Evolution, Terastallization was instantaneous in the real world. A crystal crown of ice appeared above Barioth's head. It was now a pure Ice-type, and its STAB bonus increased from 50% to 100%.
"I can't lose!" Bella gritted her teeth, raising her own right hand, a Tera Orb of her own glowing. An Elite Four trainer of her caliber had access to all four power-ups: a Key Stone, a Dynamax Band, a Z-Ring, and a Tera Orb.
"Slowking! Psystrike!" Her eyes glowed with fierce pink energy. Slowking, in turn, Terastallized into a pure Psychic-type.
"Roar!" Barioth flapped its wings, and a colossal icicle materialized above, plunging towards Slowking. At the same time, Slowking unleashed a wave of raw psychic power.
RUMBLE!
The icicle and the psychic energy collided. Slowly, Slowking's attack began to push the icicle back. It had the upper hand.
But in the next second, Barioth stomped down hard on top of the icicle. The weight of the multi-ton monster was the last straw.
CRASH!
The icicle shattered Slowking's psychic assault and slammed down upon it. Though resistant to Ice, Slowking was already injured, and the power of the Terastallized Icicle Crash was far greater than the previous Ice Tornado. It wasn't enough. Slowking was knocked out.
"Slowking is unable to battle!" the referee announced. "Miss Bella, please select your next Pokémon!"
"He won! Barioth actually won! He was being completely suppressed just a moment ago!"
"This young man's Ice-type is too strong! He won through sheer power!" a fan of Bella said with pity. "If their base stats were equal, Slowking would have won easily with its +6 boost."
"Your Barioth is very clever, using its weight advantage like that. Not bad at all," Bella praised as she recalled her Pokémon. "If not for that last move, I would have won."
"Thank you. Barioth has always been smart and powerful," Zhang replied with a faint smile.
"Still not a shred of modesty in you, I see," Bella laughed. "Now you only have three Pokémon left. Why not admit defeat and save us some time? It's 5 to 3. You can't win."
"That's not necessarily true," Zhang countered with a smile. "Psychological warfare is useless against me." He was happy to chat and stall for time. The Trick Room had to end soon.
"I know you're stalling," Bella said calmly. "But it doesn't matter. Gigantamax!"
The Dynamax Band on her wrist glowed red, and the energy shot into the Poké Ball in her hand. The ball grew to an immense size.
"Please, Blastoise!" She heaved the giant ball onto the field.
RUMBLE!
The earth shook as a 25-meter-tall Gigantamax Blastoise appeared, dwarfing even Barioth.
This is a problem, Zhang thought. Gigantamax is buggy. Ice is not very effective against Water, so I can't one-shot it. She'll definitely use Max Steelspike to raise its defense. Blastoise also has Leftovers to heal. If I drag this out, it will become an unbeatable tank. I have to trade.
"Barioth, Dragon Rush—Type III!" he ordered. It was their code word: grab the opponent and throw both of you out of the ring.
Barioth glanced at him, confused. It had a +2 Attack boost; why resort to a suicide tactic? But it trusted its trainer.
"Blastoise, Max Steelspike!" Bella commanded, just as Zhang predicted.
Blastoise fired a beam of silver light. The move would boost its Defense by one stage. Barioth charged forward, meeting the beam head-on. With its boosted attack, it powered through the Max Steelspike and slammed into the colossal Blastoise. Using the momentum, Barioth wrapped its claws around the giant turtle and, with a heave of immense strength, dragged them both over the edge of the battlefield.
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(145 chapters available now!)