Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter One-hundred and ninety-five: The Lumiose Conference (part two)
"Go, Axantor!"
"Zapdos, I choose you!"
The battle between Ash and Ideku in the quarter finals of the Lumiose Conference kicked off by seeing Ideku send out his named Kleavor, while Ash sent out his Zapdos. The audience wehn wild with excitement over both Pokémon, one being an otherwise extinct alternate evolution of Scyther, and the other one being a legendary. From where they were sitting in the audience, the rest of the heroes were surprised that Ash was kicking things off against Ideku with one of his legendary birds, rather than save it as a counter for Ideku's Enamorus.
Dawn also noted with some worry that Ash was using a flying type that lacked a secondary typing that mitigated the weakness to rock against a partial rock type; legendary or no, if Zapdos takes a strong rock attack, it WILL hurt, and Kleavor looks like it could do some serious damage regardless of whether or not its opponent in a battle is commonly believed to exist only in lore. Dawn wondered what exactly Ash was thinking, not only opening with a legendary but with it against someone fielding a potential counter to said legendary.
Dawn and the rest of the heroes figured they'd have to see the three on three battle play out to see if it would be Ash or Ideku who would walk away the winner of things here. Gesturing forward, Ash called out, "Zapdos, use Air Slash!"
"Axantor, use Stealth Rock!" Ideku commanded.
Zapdos fired its Air Slash attack and was able to score some damage on the named Kleavor. But Axantor stuck through and was able to successfully set up its Stealth Rock. That alone meant that the trouble Ash could be in could be bad depending on his other two Pokémon, as when a Pokémon switches in and takes damage from Stealth Rock, it takes damage equal to a specific fraction of its maximum health depending on how vulnerable to rock it is, with the fractions getting bigger the weaker a Pokémon is to rock. Zapdos for example, with its times two weakness to rock, would take damage equal to one-fourth of its maximum health whenever it gets hit by Stealth Rock damage
Even so, Zadpos right now hasn't actually taken damage yet, so Dawn hoped Ash could potentially pull off a sweep with his Zapdos. Gesturing forward, Ash called out, "Zapdos, use Heat Wave!"
"Axantor, use Stone Axe!" Ideku commanded.
Zapdos fired its Heat Wave Attack and struck Axantor, also burning it in the process. And although it was able to power through the attack and deal a fair hit to Zapdos regardless of the burn it got, Axantor was still winded, and the pain from its burn did not help at all. Ash saw that he was on the verge of taking out one of Ideku's Pokémon, and as such he decided to go for broke. "Zapdos," Ash called out while punching the air before him in a gesture of excitedly wanting to wrap things up here, "Use Heat Wave!"
"Axantor, return!" Ideku said as he swapped his Pokémon around, "Go, Hundemon!" The burned and winded Kleavor was swapped out, and in its place came Ideku's named Houndoom. It was then bathed in the swamping blasted heat of Zapdos's Heat Wave attack, but it did absolutely nothing to harm Hundemon; in fact, it seemed to have powered Hundemon up instead. "Thanks for triggering Hundemon's Flash Fire ability," Ideku said to Ash as he raised his Mega Ring up and tapped the Key Stone set in it to link with the Houndoomite being held by Hundemon.
Ash watched it as the process of Mega Evolution went on, causing Hundemon to Mega Evolve into Mega Houndoom. After the process was done, Ideku called out, "Hundemon, use Flamethrower!"
"Zapdos, counter with Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered.
The two attacks flew at one another, with them exploding into a burst as a result. When the explosion died down, Ideku called out, "Hundemon, use Roar!"
The named Houndoom then gave a bellowing roar that flew at and wracked Zapdos, making it recall itself and forcing a random one of Ash's on hand Pokémon out into the battle in its place. Ash set his party up to ensure that tactics like an opponent using Roar wouldn't make him use a Pokémon he wasn't planning to use, even having Serena hold onto Pikachu to ensure it couldn't get dragged out. Ash had only three Pokémon on hand, as he felt those three would let him beat Ideku and not only get to avenge his loss back in the Vertress Conference, but also advance to the semifinals.
Zapdos, being one of those Pokémon, was forced out by Hundemon's Roar, and in its place Moltres was dragged out. The heroes, seeing that Ash had brought multiple legendary Pokémon against Ideku, wonder what exactly he was thinking; this was so out of character for Ash, was he that desperate to beat Ideku? What really worried Dawn was when Moltres was struck by the Stealth Rock that Ideku had his Kleavor set up earlier; due to its fire-flying typing giving it a times four weakness to rock, if Moltres is hurt by Stealth Rock, it will take damage equal to one-half of its maximum health. If Moltres is hurt twice by Stealth Rock, then legendary or no, it WILL end up going down.
"Hoo boy, I hope Ash's last Pokémon ain't Articuno or Talonflame," Kenny said as he sat in the audience with the others, "Otherwise he's in very deep doo-doo."
Back down on the battlefield, Ash saw what was going on and likewise became worried, but he gritted through and was determined all the more to beat Ideku before he had his Pokémon switched too many times. "Moltres, use Ancient Power!" Ash called out.
"Hundemon, counter with Dark Pulse!" Ideku called out, and the two Pokémon fired their attacks at one another, Hundemon's Mega Evolution letting it keep up to some extent with the power of a legendary Pokémon. After the explosion from the two attacks colliding settled down, Ideku called out, "Hundemon, use Roar!"
Once more, Hundemon loosed a roar that shook its opponent and forced it to recall itself, this time dragging out Ash's Articuno, confirming that Ash brought all three of his legendary bird to the table in order to battle Ideku. But this ploy on Ash's part was tripped up by Ideku having set up Stealth Rock, which activated and pained Articuno as much as it had done to Moltres; dual ice flying also has a time four rock weakness same as dual fire flying, meaning Articuno took damage equal to half of its maximum health just by being forced to switch in.
Ash was now getting really worried, but he still refused to back down from the battle. "Articuno, use Water Pulse!" Ash ordered.
"Hundemon, counter with Shadow Ball!" Ideku commanded. The two attacks flew at one another, and clipped a bit before going on to fly at their targets. Hundemon avoided the Water Pulse, and Articuno swerved somewhat jerkily out of the way to avoid the Shadow Ball. Seeing that Articuno was still trying to recover from having to jerk around to avoid Shadow Ball, Ideku called out, "Hundemon, use Roar!"
Once again, Hundemon used Roar, which shook its opponent into swapping itself out and one of its teammates in. Zapdos was dragged back out, and when it took the Steal Rock damage, it was hurt a lot but was still able to remain in the game. Seeing this, Dawn as she and the other heroes watched the battle while sitting up in the audience went wide-eyed with worry. "...Ash is in a LOT of trouble now," Dawn said, "Unless his Zapdos can defeat all three of Ideku's Pokémon before going down, then Ash WILL lose the battle."
"What do you mean, Dawn?" Serena asked, instantly worried to hear that Ash could potentially lose.
"The Stealth Rocks that Ideku had set up," Dawn said, "Stealth Rock is an entry hazard attack that will damage any Pokémon that swaps in when its set on their side. The amount of damage inflicted is equal to a fraction of the Pokémon maximum health, with what fraction is inflicted varying depending on the Pokémon's ability to take a rock type attack. The more resistant to rock a Pokémon is, the smaller the fraction of its health it loses to Stealth Rock is. The reverse is also true, with a Pokémon losing a greater fraction of its health to Stealth Rock damage the weaker it is to rock."
Serena, when this was explained to her, gulped nervously. "...Articuno and Moltres are dual ice flying and dual fire flying respectively. Either way, it's a dual type where both types in the pair are weak to rock."
Dawn nodded in agreement. "In that case, it's a times four weakness to rock. Articuno and Moltres will take damage equal to one-half of their maximum health if they are hurt by Stealth Rock. And both already took Stealth Rock damage."
Clemont's eyes widened with the realization. "...Articuno and Moltres will both be defeated automatically if either are sent out again." Indeed; if Zapdos goes down before all of Ideku's Pokémon do, then Ash will lose the battle. That being said, Zapdos has to pull off a miracle for Ash if the Kanto region native wants to advance to the semifinals of the Lumiose Conference.
Down on the battlefield, Ash called out, "Zapdos, use Thunderbolt!"
"Hundemon, use Flamethrower!" Ideku called out. The two attacks flew at each other, but got past and struck their respective targets, with Zapdos even being burned as a result of getting his by Flamethrower. But Hundemon wasn't paralyzed by Thunderbolt, so it could still move freely, which it needed to as it took some heavy damage from Zapdos's Thunderbolt anyway. From what Dawn was able to figure, Hundemon was only able to endure due to the power up it got from being Mega Evolved. The burn Zapdos had pained it before the next round of attacks were called.
"Zapdos, use Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered.
"Hundemon, use Dark Pulse!" Ideku commanded.
Once more, the two Pokémon fired attacks at one another, with Hundemon's Dark Pulse even managing to hit Zapdos on its burn and score a critical hit that made Zapdos land and pant with exhaustion. But Zapdos's Thunderbolt hit the named Mega Houndoom, and it wracked Hundemon enough to knock it out, taking it out of its Mega Evolution in the process. "Houndoom is unable to battle," the referee announced, "The winner is Zapdos!"
Ash let out a cheer that was more relieved than excited, although still excited all the same, when Zapdos was able to defeat Ideku's Houndoom. Ideku recalled his fainted Houndoom, muttered a quiet apology to it for letting it go down in the battle, then tossed up the ball that held his next Pokémon for the battle. "Go, Meganie!" Ideku said as he sent out his named Meganium.
The heroes, as they watched the battle, were surprised by Ideku sending his Meganium out; that made it three Pokémon for Ideku, meaning he's locked out of using any others, including Enamorus. If Ash can take out Meganium and Kleavor after that with just Zapdos, then he'll win. But it'll be a tall order, as Zapdos in addition to getting worn out was also burned. Ash had to wrap up things here, and wrap them up fast, if he wanted to stay in the Lumiose Conference. "Zapdos, use Heat Wave!" Ash said.
"Meganie, use Light Screen!" Ideku called out, prompting Meganie to conjured a barrier that nerfed damage from special attacks. That allowed Meganie to tank the Heat Wave from Zapdos, although Meganie looked to be at a little under half health left after it took damage from Heat Wave. Zapdos was hurt by its burn afterwards, and the heroes in the audience worried that Zapdos, if its hurt again, could go down. Ideku down on the battlefield saw that things were getting close, and he decided to push the rest of the way. "Meganie, use Ancient Power!"
"Zapdos, use Heat Wave again!" Ash commanded. Zapdos, being the quicker, was able to cast its attack and fire it at Meganie. However, and to Ash's worry, Heat Wave ended up missing its mark. Meganie's Ancient Power went on to hit Zapdos, and right on its burn mark no less, eliciting a pained cry that made it clear Zapdos had taken a critical hit. A critical hit that, to the feelings of sinking hearts among the heroes watching, ended up taking Zapdos out of the fight, making it fall over onto the ground where it laid in defeat.
"Zapdos is unable to battle," the referee announced, "The winner is Meganium!" The audience cheered excitedly, especially as they just saw a non legendary take out a legendary; you don't see that everyday. Ash recalled Zapdos and sent Articuno out, but when Articuno appeared it got hit by Stealth Rock, losing the rest of its health and going down automatically as it collapsed in defeat. "Articuno is unable to battle," the referee announced, "The winner is Meganium!" Ash was forced to call back his fainted Articuno and send Moltres out, but the same thing that happened to Articuno happened to Moltres; takng a second round of Stealth Rock damage that ended up leading to Moltres's defeat.
"Moltres is unable to battle," the referee announced, "The winner is Meganium!" Gesturing to Ideku, the referee declared, "Ideku advances to the semifinals!"
...
Kenny won his battle against his opponent, Trip won his battle, and the one with two NPCs ended well enough. The semifinals would be tomorrow, and it would see Kenny fight Ideku and Trip fight the remaining NPC. Although they made it into the semifinals, Ash did not. He indeed tried to 'pull a Tobias' as Kenny called it in a bid to defeat Ideku, but Ash lost because he didn't anticipate Ideku setting up Stealth Rock and constantly forcing his Pokémon to swap in and out by using Roar. Ash was right now feeling a number of things; embarrassed, frustrated, disappointed.
"I will avenge you, my good man," Kenny said to Ash who sat with a resigned look of disappointment on his face, "I shall avenge you because something else had also been taken from me."
Serena, who was arguably more upset Ash was eliminated than Ash himself (Serena didn't show it), turned to look at Kenny. "What was taken from you, Kenny?"
"The chance to battle Ash again in a League Conference setting and beat him," Kenny explained, "Sure, I got a lesser win against him a while ago, but I still have a need to properly avenge my loss against Ash in the Lily of the Valley Conference back in Sinnoh."
"You'd of have to have beaten me first to do it, Kenny," Trip said, "The line starts behind me!"
Kenny and Trip having a back and forth distracted the rest of the heroes, and got them laughing a bit. Even Ash was feeling a little better, his mood lightening up from how he had been defeated by Ideku earlier. Still, there was a lingering sense of frustration in the back of Ash's mind; this makes twice in a row that Ideku had eliminated Ash from a League Conference. To make things worse, both of Ash's losses could be chalked up to Ideku having or doing something that Ash couldn't have anticipated. It was as Ash was thinking about how to beat someone he had trouble anticipating that the very person he was thinking about came walking up to the heroes.
Ideku, holding a hand up to waive the heroes' group down, said, "Hey, I need to talk to Ash about something!" The heroes all turned to see Ideku, lowering his hand he was waving with in the process, come right up to them. The roaming trainer from Johto gave Ash a serious look. "There's one thing that I need to tell you," Ideku began, "Concerning the battle we had earlier."
Ash's interest was piqued by Ideku's serious expression, and the likewise tone Ideku was speaking with. "What is it?"
Gesturing to Ash, Ideku said, "Don't be surprised if your friend Iris suddenly shows up to accost you for having legendary Pokémon and not making it known before using them in a publicly televised battle. The last time that I checked, Iris is of the opinion that trainers aren't allowed to keep it secret if they capture a Pokémon thought to exist only in lore. She's made it clear that, should a trainer be able to pull it off, they have to make it public knowledge that everyone has access to."
"Oh yeah," Clemont remarked, "Dawn got it that Iris was fit to tear Serena a new one for having Zapdos and Moltres in the Champion's Favor Pokémon Showcase and not making her having them known until she was seen using them. Iris actually isn't aware that Zapdos and Moltres actually belong to Ash, and he was letting Serena use them for the Showcase."
Ideku nodded in understanding. "Given I had let Ochaco borrow some of my Pokémon for the showcase, it's only fair if others got to borrow Pokémon from their friends." Gesturing to Ash again, Ideku went on, "Anyway, you really took me by surprise in our battle, Ash. I was not expecting you to whip out a legendary Pokémon, much less having all three of the Pokémon you used being legendaries. I honestly was not expecting to win that one, especially as I don't have Cupidos on hand to try to even the odds for me. You won't believe how fast my heart was pounding during our battle, I was that nervous."
"Well now," Kenny said, getting Ideku to turn to face him, "It would seem that I have a tall order ahead of me, considering the fact that you and I will be battling tomorrow, and our battle will see both of us use a full party of six Pokémon each. I hope you will prove to be a worthy opponent, for I want our battle to be legendary." It went unspoken, but very strongly implied, that Kenny was planning to use his named Giratina Black against Ideku. Ideku's only legendary Pokémon is Enamorus and, although its fairy typing lets it trump Giratina's dragon typing, there was no inherent defense against Giratina's ghost typing. Additionally, Black knew Iron Head, a steel type move meaning that Black can hit Cupidos for super effective damage.
Even with his legendary having a type advantage against Kenny's, Ideku knew that he was facing a very uphill battle, one made all the more difficult due to the fact that his battle with Kenny tomorrow is going to be a full battle of six Pokémon per trainer. Ideku was going to have to give it his all, and he may even have to bust out his other secret weapon if the situation became dire enough for him. The roaming trainer from Johto wanted to get back in Kalos what had been unfairly taken away from him in Unova even though he worked hard to get it and earned it fairly (withholding of certain info notwithstanding).
Ideku was determined now more than ever to get and sit back down in a Champion's throne.
The next day featured the semifinals, with Trip's battle against the NPC going first. Predictably, Trip won the battle, surprisingly enough using only his named Empoleon Myde to do so as all six of the Pokémon that Trip's opponent used had dual typings that Myde, with his move pool of Surf, Flash Cannon, Ice Beam, and Grass Knot, was able to hit for times four super effective damage. As such, the finals will consist of Trip versus whoever between Kenny and Ideku won their fated battle, which was held shortly after Trip and his opponent had cleared out and the stadium was set up for it.
...
"This battle in the semifinals of the Lumiose Conference will see Kenny Harris battle Ideku Badorigo!" the referee announced as the battle between Kenny and Ideku was about to begin, "Each trainer may use their respective full team of six Pokémon, one Pokémon at a time, substitutions are allowed at any time, and the last trainer with any Pokémon still able to continue when the battle is over shall be declared the winner and move onto the finals! Now then..." Throwing his right hand up into the air, the referee called out, "BEGIN!"
"Go, Meganie!"
"Okay, Android 21! Let's make it cringe!"
The battle between Kenny and Ideku opened with Ideku's named Meganium and Kenny's named shiny Weavile. Gesturing forward, Ideku called out, "Meganie, use Reflect!"
"Android 21, use Ice Punch!" Kenny called out. Android 21, due to her speed, was able to rush in and slug Meganie with a fist cloaked in icy blue, icy cold energy, dealing a lot of damage. But the named Meganium wasn't down for the count yet, and it was able to get up a barrier that would dampen the impact of physical damage. Or so was Ideku expecting, up until Kenny called out, "Android 21, use Brick Break!"
"Meganie, use Ancient Power!" Ideku called out, prompting Meganie to conjure and cast its Ancient Power attack at Android 21; the named shiny Weavile took the blow, but it wasn't enough to defeat her. And as for Android 21's Brick Break, it shattered the Reflect and dealt solid damage to the named Meganium. It was clear that, due to the difference in speed between Meganie and Android 21, the former wouldn't be able to get up another Reflect in time to dampen damage from an Ice Punch that would be enough to defeat Meganie.
Kenny obviously knew that, as he called out, "Android 21, use Ice Punch!"
"Meganie return!" Ideku said as he swapped his Pokémon around, "Go, Blitzkrieg!" Coming out in Meganie's place was Blitzkrieg, Ideku's named shiny Raichu. Android 21's Ice Punch hit Blitzkrieg and deal some solid damage, but Blitzkrieg didn't go down, and what's more is that Blitzkrieg's Static ability triggered, paralyzing Android 21 and curbing her notable speed. Gesturing forward, Ideku called out, "Blitzkrieg, use Thunderbolt!"
"Android 21, return!" Kenny said, swapping his Pokémon as well, "Okay, Roshi! Let's make it cringe!" Coming out in Android 21's place was Roshi, Kenny's named Torterra. Despite his naughty nature lessening his special defence, Roshi wasn't harmed by the special attack Thunderbolt as it's an electric attack and Roshi has ground as one of his two typings. Gesturing forward, Kenny called out, "Roshi, use Rock Tomb!"
"Blitzkrieg, use Surf!" Ideku called out. Although Roshi's part ground typing protects him from electric attacks, it compromises the water resistance his grass typing gives him, meaning he took a fairly notable blow from Blitzkrieg's Surf. But Roshi was able to endure, and he retaliated with a powerful Rock Tomb that brought Blitzkrieg close to defeat and lowered its speed. Ideku figured that he might as well go for broke, so he called out, "Blitzkrieg, use Surf!"
"Roshi, use Seed Bomb!" Kenny commanded.
The speed drop on Blitzkrieg didn't change how it still outran Roshi, but Roshi was barely able to take the second surf and retaliate with Seed Bomb to knock the named shiny Raichu out. "Raichu is unable to battle," the referee announced, "The winner is Torterra!"
Kenny was not as excited for scoring first blood as he knew he should be; he could tell Ideku had sacced his Raichu to weaken Torterra for a revenge knock out. Ideku's next Pokémon was his Meganium Meganie, and Kenny immediately switched Android 21 back in despite her paralysis. Kenny was figuring that Ideku was going to try setting up Reflects and maybe Light Screens, and although Godzilla also knew Brick Break, Kenny was planning to Mega Evolve him so he didn't wanna send Godzilla out this early into the battle. Gesturing forward, Kenny called out, "Android 21, use Brick Break!"
"Meganie, use Reflect!" Ideku called out. Although with paralysis Android 21 was still faster that Meganie, paralysis kicked in and kept the named shiny Weavile from attacking, letting Meganie set up Reflect for free. Android 21 was paralyzed again on the next turn which allowed Meganie to set up a Light Screen for free, giving Ideku more solid defenses against Kenny's attacks. "Meganie, use Ancient Power!" Ideku called out.
"Android 21, use Brick Break!" Kenny called out. This time, Android 21 was able to fight through paralysis and rush in to strike at Meganie. But due to the distance between them, Meganie was able to conjure and cast its Ancient Power and strike Android 21, knocking her out.
"Weavile is unable to battle!" the referee announced, "The winner is Meganium!"
The audience cheered as the score was now even, both trainers had five Pokémon left. What made things tougher for Kenny was that Ideku had Reflect and Light Screen up, meaning any direct damage dealt would be curbed. Kenny figured that he'd have to take out Meganium while getting rid of the barriers if he were to come out on top against Ideku. Deciding to take the gamble, Kenny said as he sent out his next Pokémon, "Okay, Godzilla! Let's make it cringe!" Kenny's next Pokémon for the battle was his Tyranitar, and he immediately Mega Evolved it into Mega Tyranitar. "Use Brick Break!" Kenny called out.
"Meganie, use Giga Drain!" Ideku called out.
Due to distance, Meganie was able to hit Godzilla first and sap its health while restoring some of its own in the process. But that wouldn't be enough to defeat the named Mega Tyranitar, even with the typings in play. Godzilla got in and, with a mighty swing, shattered both Light Screen and Reflect and dealt Meganium a solid blow that mostly undid the healing Meganie was able to get off. "Godzilla, use Brick Break again!" Kenny called out, "Don't give them a chance to set their barriers up again!"
"Meganie, use Giga Drain!" Ideku called out. Once more, Meganie was able to heal itself by damaging Godzilla, and one more solid Giga Drain looked like it would do the job. But at the same time Godzilla was able to strike Meganie with another solid Brick Break, bringing it down to the absolute brink; Kenny from what he figured would say that Meganium had literally one hit point left. But that one hit point ended up making all the difference, as Ideku called out, "Meganie, use Giga Drain!"
"Godzilla, use Brick Break!" Kenny commanded. Meganie was slightly faster and, just before Godzilla was able to start swinging, Meganie drained the last of its health, knocking Godzilla both out of its Mega Evolution and out of the battle.
"Tyranitar is unable to battle," the referee announced, "The winner is Meganium!"
Recalling his fainted Tyranitar while the audience cheered due to Ideku taking the lead, Kenny muttered quietly to himself, "Well, at least this time it's not a fully evolved starter belonging to a Team Scorn Admin." Sending out his next Pokémon, Kenny called out, "Okay, Cell! Let's make it cringe!" Coming out into the battle was Kenny's named shiny Scizor Cell.
"Meganie," Ideku called out, "Use Reflect!"
"Cell, use Bullet Punch!" Kenny commanded.
Cell, due to using a priority move, was able to rush in and strike Meganie hard, hard enough to actually knock it out; although the named Meganium did heal off of Godzilla, it wasn't enough to let Meganium take the Bullet Punch from the named shiny Scizor. "Meganium is unable to battle," the referee announced, "The winner is Scizor!"
Ideku, recalling his fainted Meganium, looked at its ball with a somber and apologetic look before he put it away to send his next Pokémon out. "Go, Morlord!" Coming out into the battle was Ideku's named Quagsire. Seeing this, Kenny recalled Cell and sent Roshi back out. "Morlord," Ideku said, "Use Ice Punch!"
"Roshi, Seed Bomb!" Kenny called out quickly. Surprisingly enough, both Roshi and Morlord struck one another with their respective attacks; Morlord got hit with a times four super effective Seed Bomb, and Roshi got hit with a times four super effective Ice Punch. As a result, both Roshi and Morlord ended up going down against each other in battle.
"Both Quagsire and Torterra are unable to battle!" the referee announced, "This is a double knockout!"
The audience went wild with excited cheers as the battle between Kenny and Ideku got even more heated. Both trainers were now down to half of their remaining parties for the battle. Kenny, as he recalled Roshi while Ideku recalled Morlord, thought about what he was looking at right now; Kenny's remaining Pokémon were Cell, Zarbon, and Black, respectively his shiny Scizor, his Machamp, and his Giratina. He didn't know for sure what Ideku's other three Pokémon were, so things were going to get a bit more complicated as the battle raged on.
Kenny did, however, figure that one of Ideku's Pokémon would be his Houndoom which he can Mega Evolve, and was figuring that a second one would be his Enamorus. But Ideku's last Pokémon was a mystery to Kenny; he could only hope that it wouldn't be too big of a deal for him to cover, especially as Kenny was wanting to face off against Trip in the finals; if that ended up being the case, then either way the heroes would see a major win in Kalos, and potentially even add a second Champion to the heroes' group, giving them even more clout as they travel across the various regions.
Both Kenny and Ideku got some poké balls out and tossed them up to send out their respective next Pokémon, so as to continue their dance.
END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND NINETY-FIVE
Author's notes;
This chapter sees Ash and Ideku have their battle and Ash, despite bringing all three of the legendary birds with him, ends up losing to Ideku due to Ideku setting up Stealth Rocks and having his Houndoom spam Roar. This means that Ash was eliminated from the Lumiose Conference earlier than originally, although silver lining Ash DID last longer than Alain here. Then the semifinals takes place, and while Trip creams his NPC opponent well enough, the battle between Kenny and Ideku heats up as both take out three opposing Pokémon each before the chapter ends. The battle will continue in the next chapter, where Kenny will see exactly what Pokémon Ideku had brought to the table.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tobias (Darkrai), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), Zancrow (male Volcarona), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Godzilla (male Tyranitar), Android 21 (female Weavile; shiny), Zarbon (male Machamp), Black (Giratina; Origin Form)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Fourze (male Electivire), Veda (female Abomasnow), Myde (male Empoleon), Kululu (male Greninja), Deelia (Dialga), HedonismBot (Magnezone)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Articuno (gender unknown), Zapdos (gender unknown), Moltres (gender unknown), Greninja (male), Charizard (male)