"Squirtle, use Skull Bash again!" Gary Oak commanded. His easy victory in the first round had bolstered his natural arrogance, making him believe the rest of the match would be just as simple. His directives had become noticeably lax.
"Squirtle! Squirtle!"
Filled with fighting spirit, Squirtle nodded. Its smooth, rounded head instantly retracted into its hard shell before launching from the water like a jet-propelled rocket. It hurtled straight toward the floating platform where Sneasel stood.
"Sneasel, block it!"
Sneasel wasn't exactly a power-type Pokémon, but with her current strength, stopping a low-level Squirtle was well within her capabilities. She crossed her arms in an X-shape just as Squirtle's Skull Bash collided with her. Sneasel felt her arms sink slightly under the significant momentum transferred from the little turtle's head.
With a slight step back with her right leg, she used her left hand to hoop around Squirtle's neck in an upward arc, easily neutralizing the impact.
As mentioned before, Hisoka's Sneasel was a southpaw. Her left arm was significantly stronger than her right; once she had Squirtle's neck in her grip, the little turtle couldn't move an inch.
Squirtle hung there, dangling comically from Sneasel's hand. The sight caused Gary's previously dismissive expression to vanish, his eyes widening in shock.
"Smash its head in! Use Metal Claw!" Hisoka ordered, giving his opponent no time to react.
Sneasel's right claw rose slowly, a silver metallic luster coating the sharp talons. The claws swung down with a heavy thud, striking Squirtle square on the head. Because its neck was pinned, Squirtle couldn't even retract into its shell to defend itself.
"Squirtle..."
With a cry of pain, Squirtle was tossed into the water by Sneasel. Completely unable to continue, it began to sink slowly, trailing bubbles.
"Damn it!" Gary spat, clenching his fist. He quickly pulled out his Poké Ball and recalled the unconscious little guy.
This sudden loss forced Gary to stop underestimating his opponent. He pulled out the Pokédex his grandfather had given him and aimed the camera at the Pokémon he had never seen before.
[Sneasel, the Sharp Claw Pokémon. A Dark and Ice type. It has a mean personality and loves playing pranks. They mainly live near Mt. Silver in the Johto region and are social Pokémon that live in groups. They are skilled at using their sharp claws to attack enemies.]
The Pokédex recited the data in a mechanical male voice. Although Sneasel was a Pokémon from Johto, the two regions were connected, and it wasn't uncommon for them to migrate to Kanto. Hisoka wasn't surprised at all that Gary's Pokédex could read the data.
"So it's a Dark and Ice type?" Gary began to cycle through his remaining core team members, looking for a type advantage. In Pokémon battles, switching to a Pokémon that countered the opponent's attributes was a fundamental and vital tactic. Unless there was a massive disparity in raw power, type advantages were almost always the key to victory.
"Graveler? No!" Gary shook his head. While Rock-type moves countered Ice, using a Graveler in a pool-based arena was practically asking for a loss.
"Nidorino? Also no. Too slow, and it doesn't have the right moves to counter it."
"Got it!" Gary's eyes lit up. He remembered a powerful Pokémon he had captured recently in the Viridian Forest. Bug-type moves were exactly what he needed to counter a Dark-type.
"It's one to one. The match is far from over!" Gary's confidence returned. He reached into his waist pouch and solemnly pulled out a strange Poké Ball covered in a silk-like webbing.
It was a Net Ball, specifically designed to make capturing Water and Bug-type Pokémon easier. Of course, Poké Balls with special effects like this weren't cheap; ordinary trainers could rarely afford them.
"It's your time to shine, my warrior!"
"Scy-ther!"
The hum of wings filled the air as a vibrant green, mantis-like Pokémon with two massive scythes appeared on a floating board. Its four wings were spread at a forty-five-degree angle, and it crouched low, looking every bit like a samurai poised for battle.
A Scyther! A faint smile touched the corner of Hisoka's mouth. It was an excellent Pokémon, easily one of the top-tier Bug types. Back when Hisoka was considering a fast attacker for his own team, Scyther had been on his shortlist.
Scyther was incredibly fast and capable of short glides. The water-based arena provided no benefit to it, but it wouldn't hinder its movements either.
"Scyther, use Quick Attack!" Gary opened with a blitz, clearly intending to match Sneasel's speed.
"Scy-ther!"
With a piercing cry, Scyther lunged forward. Its wings blurred as it vanished from the board. The recoil from its high-speed launch sent the floating platform drifting away.
"Sneasel, watch your left!"
Standing on the high command platform, Hisoka had a clear view of the entire field. He could see a green blur closing in rapidly on Sneasel's left side.
After over a month of training together, Sneasel and Hisoka were perfectly in sync. The moment the command left his lips, Sneasel leapt high into the air. A split second later, a sharp whoosh echoed through the gymthe sound of a blade cutting through the air at high speed.
Crack!
The floating board Sneasel had just occupied was sliced clean in two by the appearing Scyther. The Bug-type landed on one of the severed halves, while Sneasel performed a series of mid-air flips to stabilize herself before landing on the other piece.
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