The duel between Brian and Misty commences with a splash, with both sides equally matched, but this isn't the case for very long, as Misty soon gains the upper hand! But, Brian has other ideas...he uses Toxic attack to turn Misty's Starmie into a poisonous time bomb: in three turns, it will be poisoned.
Misty, however, uses the countdown to her advantage, and defeats Brian! But the celebrations are short-lived; for Gary comes and challenges Ash!
Now, the two rivals stand ready to duel...can Ash gain the upper hand? Find out!
The Heart of the Cards, part 11: Game Not Quite Set
Ash glared at Gary as he shuffled his deck. "I can't believe Gary has to go as far as crashing the compitition...he didn't bother to sign up, and now he's bullying the other duelists as if he has every right to be here..." He sighed as he received his deck back and set up his cards.
Gary, meanwhile, paced on his platform, eager to begin the duel. "You gonna pick your cards or not?" he asked, gesturing to his stats: RUBY 3 3 53 4 270
"Taunt me all you like, but I'm not backing down!" Ash called back, putting his cards in place and updating his stats to SAPPHIRE 2 4 53 4 240
"You're just asking to be crushed, Pokedweeb!" Gary laughed. "I've got a strong deck and great cards to prove it!" Ash turned to answer the taunt but was soon interrupted by the ref's whistle, signalling the coin toss.
"Heads!" Gary called the toss.
"Ruby wins the toss!" the ref announced. "Good luck to both of you!"
"Eevee, go!" Gary called. An Eevee romped into the arena, eager to battle.
"Treecko, I choose you!" Ash countered, sticking his Treecko card in the arena.
"Ruby's turn!" the ref announced.
Gary attached a Grass Energy to Eevee, then commanded, "Eevee, Smash Kick!"
"EEEEEEE-VEEEE!" The Eevee charged at the Treecko and delivered a hard kick into its stomach, knocking it backwards. Ash's HP went down by ten.
"Sapphire's turn!"
"Treecko, Tail Slap!" Ash commanded.
"Treee!" Treecko slammed its tail into Eevee, making Gary's HP go down by ten.
"Ruby's turn!" the ref announced.
Gary snickered. "I bet you haven't seen THIS kind of Energy before!" he laughed as he displayed a Darkness Energy card to Ash.
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"What kind of card is that?" Brock asked Maya when he spotted the Darkness Energy card Gary was holding.
"Darkness Energy..." Maya explained. "Gary must be trying to evolve his Eevee into Umbreon. Umbreon has a powerful Faint Attack that can attack any of the opponent's Pokemon..and at 30 damage per use, it can really add up over time."
"So if Gary gets Umbreon out there...does this mean Ash is finished?" Misty asked, apparently worried.
"Ash needs to knock Eevee out as soon as possible." Maya explained. "However, if Gary succeeds in getting Umbreon out, he still needs a second Darkness Energy to activate Faint Attack...so Ash should take that opportunity to strike!"
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"What is that?" Ash asked, curious over the black Energy card.
"It's Darkness Energy, my dear Pokeblob!" Gary replied. "Once I show you Umbreon, you'll turn tail and run!" He turned his attention back to his Eevee. "Smash Kick'em again!" Ash watched as his Treecko went flying against his platform, knocking his HP down by ten.
"Sapphire's turn!"
Ash attached a second Grass Energy and a Pluspower to Treecko. "Treecko, Tail Slap with Pluspower!" he commanded. A red aura surrounded the Treecko as he swatted the Eevee against Gary's platorm, knocking Gary's HP down by 20.
"Ruby's turn!"
"Here's Umbreon!" Gary overlaid his Umbreon card on top of his Eevee, boosting his HP to 270 again. "Umbreon, Bite the Treecko!" he commanded. The Umbreon lunged at the Trecko and bit it in the shoulder, knocking Ash's HP to an even 200.
"Sapphire's turn!"
"You think your Umbreon's tough?" Ash asked, displaying his next card, Grovyle lv. 30, to the audience. "Let me introduce...Grovyle!" and he overlaid the card on top of the Treecko, making a Grovyle appear in its place. "Okay, Grovyle! Slash attack!"
"Grov!" Grovyle scratched the Umbreon in the face, defeating it!
"NOOOOOOO!!!!!" Gary cried as Ash picked one of his prizes. "You're gonna pay for that!"
"How so?" Ash asked. "Try me..."
"Ruby's turn!
"Time for you to meet...Scyther!" Gary announced, placing his Scyther card in the arena and attaching a Grass Energy. "Scyther, Swords Dance!" he commanded. The Scyther produced two blades and twirled around them, chanting a war cry as he danced.
"Scyther's attack is up!" the ref announced. "Sapphire's turn!"
"Grovyle, counter with your Slash!" Ash commanded. Grovyle reared over the Scyther's head and slashed it in the side, knocking Gary down to 210.
"Ruby's turn!"
"And you think you're so smart..." Gary laughed as he overlaid Scizor lv. 32 over the Scyther card. "Scizor, Slash the Grovyle and finish him off!"
"Sciz!" Ash watched in horror as the might of Scizor's claws caused his Grovyle to collapse, knocking his HP down to 170. He sighed as he placed Pikachu lv. 18 in the arena.
"Sapphire's turn!"
"Pikachu! Use Pikabolt!" Ash commanded.
"CHUUU!!!" The Pikachu unleashed a huge thunderbolt that stunned the Scizor so hard, it collapsed, defeated.
"Hmm...You're a lot more clever than I thought!" Gary mused as Ash again took a prize, then recalled his Pikachu for another Pokemon: Taillow. "But don't call it a day yet! I still have my heavy artillery! Let me introduce...Nidoran!" A male Nidoran skittered into the arena, cautiously studying the Taillow.
"THAT's your heavy artillery?" Ash asked, surprised.
"Ruby's turn!"
Gary calmly attached an Energy card to his Nidoran. "You'll wish you hadn't said that here in a minute!"
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"Now what's he doing?" Misty swallowed hard, anxious as to what Gary would do next.
"I think he's trying to evolve the Nidoran..." Maya explained. "Nidorino has a powerful Take Down attack, but it's the Nidoking Ash should be worried about."
"Why?" Brock was curious.
"Nidoking has the Giant Horn attack." Maya replied. "It can do up to 80 damage in one hit. If Gary can get Nidoking out there..." and she trailed off.
"Ash wouldn't be able to survive." Misty sighed. "Nidoking would be too powerful for any of his Pokemon to defeat."
"Maybe not..." Brock smiled as he looked up from marking his commentary sheet.
"Huh?" Both girls looked at Brock, eager for the answer.
"Ash has a good Psychic card he can use to counter Nidoking...Kadabra." Brock explained.
"That's right! Kadabra's Super Psy attack does 50 damage per use!" Maya agreed. Ash should be able to bulldoze Gary with that!"
"The only problem is..." Misty mused as Ash's Taillow fell, defeated, "Can Ash find Kadabra in time and use it quickly enough?"
Will Misty's hopes prove right? Stay tuned!