PWT Arc: The Incalculable One

Laslow gave Jacky a warm smile. "All right, Grovyle! Let's start with Agility!" Grovyle's body lit up. Very briefly, Jacky's legs went soft as pudding again. 'Get a grip... All is well...' she thought. "Okay, Medicham... Psycho Cut!" Medicham nodded, closed a hand around a blade of psychotic energy it had created, and took the offensive. Grovyle dodged the attack. "Now Leaf Blade! Infuse it with Toxic!" Grovyle's blades lit up and a purple liquid formed on them. It leapt forward and struck Medicham in the side. The attack left a thin, clean cut. It gasped. "Oh no... It's poisoned!" Jacky gritted her teeth and Medicham held its side.
"X-Scissor!" Grovyle followed up, but Medicham fought back with Psycho Cut.
"Agility again, Grovyle", Laslow commanded. The Pokémon glowed again and then swung up a tree before pushing off a branch and attacking with Leaf Blade. Medicham jumped back and Grovyle's attack hit the ground. "Brick Break!" Medicham struck, but Grovyle repelled the attack with lightning speed. "Force it into close combat! It must not escape!" Medicham nodded and kept striking with Brick Break, but Grovyle seemed to have no problem standing its ground in melee combat. It blocked every blow Medicham dealt and then lunged to counter-attack. Its X-Scissor hit Medicham in the chest. Medicham backed away and the poison was already eating away at it. Its strength was already diminishing more and more. Grovyle used this moment of weakness to attack with Leaf Blade. Medicham created a shield and blocked the attack. "Can you still go on, Medicham?" Jacky asked. The fighting-type Pokémon nodded doggedly. Grovyle followed up with X-Scissor, shattering Medicham' shield and striking at it, however, Medicham managed to dodge. "Shadow Shard, quick!" Medicham destroyed a Shadow Ball in front of it and let the shards shoot at Grovyle. It backed away after getting hit. Laslow was really quite strong. He might not have shown it in the tournament, but he was clever and quite unpredictable. "Shadow Shard, eh? Never heard of that attack before. Did you invent it?",
"Somewhat." Jacky nodded. "It's a Shadow Ball attack used in a different manner.",
"I see... So you've experimented with movesets. Interesting. And unusual, but not bad. Okay, use the trees, Grovyle", Laslow instructed. Grovyle swung back up a tree and leaped across the branches from one to the other. Medicham dropped to one knee as the poison took effect again. Grovyle pushed itself off one of the trees and its Leaf Blade struck Medicham's back. It cried out. "Medicham, you have to hang on! Get back up!" Medicham gasped and picked itself back up. Grovyle jumped back and against a tree trunk, swinging up again and pushing off to gain more momentum.

"X-Scissor!",
"Psycho Cut!" Both Pokémon came face to face and both attacks met. Another melee fight erupted as blade met blade. "Keep it up, Medicham!" Jacky shouted encouragingly to her Pokémon. "Grovyle, raise your speed to the third level! Agility!" Grovyle lit up, and it blocked Medicham's tiring blows with surprising ease. Medicham lunged for the final blow, Grovyle crossed its arms and blocked with X-Scissor. "Let's finish this! Leaf Blade!" Grovyle struck with lightning speed. Its glowing blade struck Medicham's shoulder and it fell to its knees. It toppled to the side. "Medicham!" Grovyle also looked a bit tired, but had suffered little damage. Jacky withdrew Medicham.

"Absol, you go on ahead!" Absol growled, landing lightly on the field. "Get started right away! Razor Wind!" Absol sent a swarm of blades at Grovyle, who deflected the blades as if they were rubber balls. "His Grovyle is amazing..." Jacky muttered. "It's insane with how much precision it can fight... Okay, Double Team!" Absol nodded and created illusions of itself before charging off with them, encircling Grovyle. "Razor Wind!" Laslow eyed the scene with extreme attention, and then shouted: "The one on the left is real! Focus on that one!" Grovyle fought back against the blades, completely ignoring the illusions. Jacky was flabbergasted. How did he figure out so fast which one was real? "Slash!" Absol jumped forward and managed to hit Grovyle, which backed off in an instant. Absol kept attacking, and Grovyle kept fending it off. "Use Psycho Cut!" Jacky shouted and Absol's blade crashed against Grovyle's knee, breaking its balance. "Now finish it with Razor Wind!" A multitude of blades hailed against the grass-type Pokémon and eventually forced it down onto its knees. Soon after, it collapsed. "Way to go, Grovyle." Laslow withdrew it.
"Whew..." Jacky sighed. "I wasn't so sure I could win... How did you know which one was real so fast?",
"Oh, it's not the first time I've dealt with Double Team... Once you understand how it works, it really isn't hard to figure out which one is real. The illusions do not cast shadows, nor can they touch things. They are projections, which serve the distraction and confusion. It's hard to keep track from the outside if you don't know what to look for. It works for some, but you can't always rely on it 100%. Double Team works best in cloudy weather, because shadows won't be so treacherous then. Rain, however, would interfere with it because the real Pokémon would get wet, while the illusions... obviously don't.",
"Wow... it's amazing how much you know!",
"It's merely a logical conclusion." He shook his head. "Alright... Houndoom, we're moving on." Roaring, a black dog with curved horns landed on the ground.
"You have a Houndoom?!" Jacky's mouth dropped open. This was a whole different facet of Laslow she was meeting. Laslow nodded. "As you can see... Yes."

Laslow was a mysterious person. He seemed to be one of the few trainers who didn't want to demonstrate his strength. The way he vigilantly followed the fights and silently thought to himself... What was his goal? Why was he devaluing himself so much? This wasn't just a form of modesty... he was actively talking himself down.
"Absol, we'll start with Psycho Cut." Absol fired an attack that smashed ineffectively against Houndoom's shoulder. Dark type. Oops.
"Flamethrower, Houndoom!" Houndoom spat fire at his opponent. Absol dodged out of the way. It still had its illusion surrounding the enemy. "Use Razor Wind!",
"Jump, Houndoom! And then Flamethrower!" Houndoom pushed off the ground and incinerated everything in its vicinity. "Another thing to note is that those illusions aren't steady. They will disintegrade when being hit by any attack! Now Fire Fang!" Houndoom growled as it landed and ran towards Absol. "Slash!" Absol came toward it. Its attack hit Houndoom's shoulder while Houndoom's teeth dug into Absol's collar fur. It didn't let up and Absol growled. Houndoom knocked its opponent to the ground and followed up with Flamethrower. Absol rolled around and jumped away. "Dark Pulse, Houndoom!" Houndoom barked, sending out shadows that hit Absol this time. Jacky startled as an abrupt pain throbbed in her chest. "...!" Absol growled and dashed off. It charged straight at Houndoom. "What are you doing, Absol!? Way to make yourself an easy target!" Houndoom tilted its head to the side before attacking with Flamethrower and Absol was engulfed by the fire. Jacky was shocked. "?!"

At that moment, Absol burst out shining brightly and rammed himself with full force against Houndoom. The hellhound backed away in surprise. "Hm... Double Edge", Laslow remarked. "A strong attack indeed... but the recoil damage will be problematic in the long run."
Jacky looked at Absol. "Double Edge...?" She was caught off-guard. Houndoom didn't put up with it and snapped at Absol's horn. It cried out and the side of Jacky's head was hit with a brief wave of pain. "Ngh..." Houndoom flung Absol away with a snarl and Absol landed awkwardly on his paws. "Razor Wind!" Absol attacked, but Houndoom destroyed the blades with Dark Pulse. Absol jumped forward and attacked again with Double Edge, but Houndoom dodged. Absol growled and jumped into the air before landing on Houndoom's back, snarling darkly. Houndoom roared and tried to shake Absol off. Absol jumped off and shot another storm of blades at Houndoom which hit its back. It was hit and staggered dangerously. "Thank you, Houndoom, that's enough. Take a break for now." Laslow withdrew Houndoom. A tactical retreat of sorts. "Mismagius, you go ahead!" A ghost-type Pokémon replaced Houndoom on the battlefield. Jacky scanned Mismagius with her Pokédex. "Okay... Absol, Psycho Cut!" Absol fired, but Mismagius simply vanished into thin air and reappeared in a different spot. "Magical Leaf", Laslow commanded, and blades thundered against Absol's side. Absol landed knocked out on its side.
"What was that just now?" Jacky asked, puzzled. Laslow crossed his arms. "Ghost-type Pokémon are remarkable. Solid walls don't stop them... They can also materialize and dematerialize as they please. It's hard to hit them."

Jacky was amazed. "... Absol, you were fabulous. I win for you." She withdrew it. "Okay... Noivern, you're next!" The dragon reared up in front of Mismagius, roaring. Laslow looked at Mismagius. "Perish Song, Mismagius." A ghastly melody filled the air. Jacky covered her ears and looked at Noivern, who, however, seemed to be completely fine. "Strange... Noivern, are you all right?" The dragon nodded. "Huh...",
"Three", Laslow said.
"Three?" Jacky stared at him in confusion. "Three... A countdown?" She had a sinking feeling. "Noivern, Mismagius must be defeated quickly! Iron Tail, go!" Noivern roared and attacked. However, Mismagius dissolved again and the attack hit nothing. "Two.",
"Dragon Pulse!" Noivern whirled around to where Mismagius had reappeared and sent an attack at it. "Magical Leaf!" Mismagius returned an attack and they cancelled each other out. "One. Mismagius, return!" Laslow withdrew it and his Houndoom reappeared on the field. Jacky frowned. She didn't understand the whole concept. What in the world was Laslow doing? "Noivern, Iron Tail!" Noivern roared and attacked Houndoom. The latter jumped to the side and Noivern's Iron Tail hit the ground. "Zero." At that moment, all strength left Noivern and it collapsed. "What?!" Jacky screamed in horror. "Noivern didn't take a single hit, so why...?",
"Perish Song results in an immediate knockout for every Pokémon who heard it after the countdown is over," Laslow enlightened her. Jacky stared at him, stunned. "..." Laslow really was a cunning person. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he didn't take any risks. He was really dangerous... There was no way Jacky could anticipate anything he was about to do at this point. He was utterly incalculable and obscure. She had always vaunted herself to be able to anticipate her opponent's moves or come up with techniques to turn the battle into her favor, but she could apply none of this against him. She met her match here. And it worried her.