Ichigo's battle against Shusuke continued on. They traded blows and powerful attacks with each other. In one last collision between Haxorus and Magmortar, Haxorus ended up being the winner with Ichigo earning his second victory. Now, his next opponent will be Muramasa. What kind of battle can we expect this time?
Each and next chapter, the ultimate goal
Ready for battle, brave and bold
I know we're gonna make it
We will find a way
Oh-oh
We've come so far
We fought so hard to get where we are
Oh-oh
We belong together
It's always you and me
Pokemon
(Ichigo's voice): One of Wonder
Ichigo may have defeated two members of the Elite Four, but his challenge isn't over yet. With Muramasa as his next opponent, he needs to be ready for it.
"Cacturne, Bullet Seed! Umbreon, Shadow Ball!" Ichigo said as he trained with the pokemon he was using. The two of them used their attacks and they were looking good. "Nice. Keep that up." The pokemon he trained with were Umbreon, Cacturne, Dusclops, and Scrafty. "With this team, we're sure to win."
"Hey, Ichigo." Rukia said as his friends came over. "Getting ready for your next battle?"
"Sure am. We're all ready to go. Right?" Ichigo said. His pokemon cheered with them ready to battle.
"I remember you had a small battle with Muramasa before." Chad said. "That was when you attempted to challenge Shirayuki for your seventh gym battle."
"Yeah. That didn't go so well, but we're ready for it this time." Ichigo said. "We're a lot stronger now than when we were back then."
"Are these the pokemon you're using in your next battle?" Orihime said. "That's quite a powerful team you have."
"Muramasa's specialty is with psychic-type pokemon." Ichigo said. "I'm sure to win with these guys."
"All of them are real strong against psychic-types. You have a real chance with them." Rukia said. Ichigo dropped down to Absol and petted his head.
"You okay not battling, Absol? I want to give the others a chance to shine." Ichigo said. Absol seemed okay with it. While Ichigo was getting ready, Muramasa kept himself hidden and made himself aware of what he was up against.
"It is a smart decision to battle me with dark-types and ghost-types, but he'll need more than that if he wants to win." Muramasa said as he has his own strategy set. Despite the fact that his pokemon have the type advantage, Muramasa is sure to have something planned for them.
...
The Battlefield
"We're back with the third battle of the Champion League!" Everyone was coming back to see the third battle take place. "The challenger, Ichigo Kurosaki, has done well. He has defeated both Shusuke and Kariya, but will his winning streak end with this next battle. His next opponent will be Muramasa, a psychic-type user that possibly sees all and possibly knows all!" Both of them came out with the crowd cheering for both sides.
"Before we begin, I wish to say that you have done well, Ichigo." Muramasa said. "You certainly are an interesting boy, but I'm afraid your little journey will end here."
"Don't be so sure." Ichigo said as he was ready for this battle.
"It looks like both trainers are ready to go. Let's see what they'll do. Brace yourselves for another great battle."
"Here's the pokemon I'll be starting with." Muramasa said as he got his first choice ready. "Arise, Sigilyph!"
"Sigi!" Ichigo was rather surprised by how that pokemon looked.
"What the heck kind of pokemon is that?!" Ichigo said as he thought that was the craziest looking pokemon he's ever seen. Rukia and Chad felt the same way.
"That really is one weird pokemon when it comes to apperances." Chad said.
"Wow! That pokemon looks amazing!" Orihime said as she actually loved it.
"We looking at the same thing?" Rukia questioned.
"Well, no matter how freaky it looks, a pokemon is a pokemon and a battle is a battle!" Ichigo said as he got his choice ready. "Dusclops, you're up!"
"Dusclops!"
"It's Sigilyph vs. Dusclops in the first match. Let's see how this battle is going to turn out."
"I think we'll start this off. Sigilyph, Ice Beam!" Muramasa said. Sigilyph started the battle out as it fired a cold beam. The attack hit, but Dusclops was able to endure the attack.
"You'll have to do better than that! Dusclops, Shadow Punch!" Ichigo said. Dusclops pushed through the attack and launched a couple shadowy fists. They both hit Sigilyph with it being blown back. Sigilyph was nearly knocked out from just that one attack. "This battle is already over! Shadow Punch again!"
"I don't think so! Whirlwind!" Muramasa said. Sigilyph acted before Dusclops could. Sigilyph flapped its wings and created a strong gust that blew against Dusclops. Dusclops was sent back to its pokeball with another one of Ichigo's pokemon coming out. That ended up being Scrafty.
"Scrafty?" Scrafty seemed a little confused as to why it was out already. It surely wasn't expecting to be called on so soon.
"Dusclops was just switched with Scrafty. It looks like neither it or its trainer was expecting something like that."
"What happened?!" Ichigo said.
"That's the power of Whirlwind. It switches out your pokemon." Muramasa said. "You won't have much of the time to counter. Now use Air Slash!" Sigilyph attacked with blades of wind. Scrafty and Ichigo weren't ready for the attack. Scrafty got hit and was knocked down with a lot of damage being dealt.
"This is bad! Scrafty might be immune to psychic-type attacks, but flying-type attacks will deal lots of damage!" Rukia said. Ichigo wasn't ready for a battle like that, but he has to push through it.
"Doesn't matter who is battling. We're still going to keep going. Scrafty, Focus Blast!" Ichigo said with Scrafty getting the attack ready.
"Solar Beam!" Muramasa said. Sigilyph started absorbing sunlight to get its own attack ready. They both unleashed their attacks. The two attacks collided, but the Solar Beam pushed through and blasted Scrafty. When the dust cleared away, it showed that Scrafty was defeated.
"Scrafty is unable to battle! Sigilyph is the winner!" The referee said.
"Muramasa takes the first win. What will Ichigo do next?" Ichigo brought Scrafty back to its pokeball, but was frustrated about what happened.
"I didn't expect things to go like that." Ichigo said. "That changes up my game a little."
"I don't want to call it early, but I think this battle is already mine." Muramasa said as he was pretty confident in his win.
"What do you mean?" Ichigo said.
"I saw your battle against Kariya and Shusuke. Not to mention I was there when you challenged Shirayuki." Muramasa said. "We even had a small battle ourselves. I have seen the way you battle. Therefor, I have a better idea of your battling style than the others do. I have an idea as to what you will do with your pokemon. You push through whatever your opponent throws at you and look for a way to counter or strike with a powerful attack. However, with moves like Sigilyph's Whirlwind, when you're not ready for something, it leaves plenty of openings. You're left wondering what you're going to do, but in a situation like this, you need to act fast. Being impatient and frustrated could lead you to make some foolish mistakes. Take that Focus Blast for example. Even if it hit, it would have done little damage against my Sigilyph."
"So what?" Ichigo said. "My pokemon can handle anything that is thrown at them. I'm not going to let small stuff stop me."
"Perhaps, but you're still left in a serious situation." Muramasa said. "While you're left wondering what to do with the sudden changes, it's going to leave you vulnerable. Your poor pokemon will be paying the price for you not reacting fast enough."
"I think I get it." Rukia said. "Muramasa is trying to get Ichigo to think fast with a sudden change. He's having Ichigo left wondering what to do while not giving him much time to counter. That gives Muramasa plenty of openings. On top of that, he messes up Ichigo's strategies and has him rethinking everything in the middle of the battle."
"In other words, Muramasa is trying to play with Ichigo's head." Chad said.
"You think you have me figured out? Think again!" Ichigo said as he was still willing to battle. "Dusclops, get back out there!"
"Dusclops!"
"Dusclops is back to finish what it started with Sigilyph."
"Dusclops, Will-O-Wisp!" Ichigo said. Dusclops fought back as it unleashed blue flames at Sigilyph.
"Dodge it!" Muramasa said. Sigilyph moved around and was avoiding the blue flames. "Now use Whirlwind again!" Sigilyph started flapping its wings and Dusclops got caught in it again with Dusclops being sent back to its pokeball.
"No! Not again!" Ichigo said as another one of his pokemon came out against his wishes. The one that came out was Cacturne this time.
"Cac?! Cacturne?!"
"Ichigo's pokemon is switched out again, against his wishes. This time, Cacturne is the one that is brought out. Not good when the opponent is a flying-type."
"Not good." Ichigo said as he could see he was in deep trouble with this.
"Sigilyph, Air Slash!" Muramasa said. Sigilyph unleashed the blades of air again with Cacturne getting hit by the attack.
"No! Cacturne is weak against flying-types!" Orihime said as she and the others could see how much trouble Ichigo is in. "Ichigo, switch out your pokemon!"
"He can't." Chad said. "It doesn't matter what pokemon he switches Cacturne out with. He'll still be at a big disadvantage."
"Muramasa can just switch them around again unless Ichigo can take Sigilyph down." Rukia said as they were all getting anxious and nervous for Ichigo. "Muramasa has complete control of this battle." Cacturne took a lot of damage as it was down on the ground. Down but not out. Cacturne was struggling to get back up.
"Come on, Cacturne! Get back up!" Ichigo said.
"I'm afraid you've lost this battle." Muramasa said. "Sigilyph, finish Cacturne with Ice Beam!" Sigilyph unleashed the attack and it was heading straight for Cacturne.
"Cacturne!" Ichigo called. He couldn't afford to lose another one of his pokemon, but it looks like that might what happen.
Ichigo is in a serious situation. Muramasa has taken control of this battle. Having Ichigo rethinking his entire battle strategy, Ichigo and his pokemon are completely at Muramasa's mercy. That could beam that he might actually lose this battle. The only way to see if he'll get out of this is to stay tune to find out.
To Be Continued...
Pokemon Question: Okay, all you trainers out there. The answer to the last question was...Flareon! Flareon has a flame chamber in its body and can breathe it out at degrees of three-thousand. Here's the next question. What pokemon has such a generous nature that it gives out food and presents to others, even if the presents have hidden traps in them?
