Beta: Gerald_Of_Revea
If reading on , pictures are available on QQ. And in my channel on the SGO Discord.
Also yes, I'm aware of how Trick works in-game.
AN 2: Laptop died, it's back now, fixed grammar mistakes.
-Cloud-
My words were the catalyst for the crowd to speak their mind.
They didn't just cheer, that would be a disservice to them. They howled. They roared.
The noise they made during the entrance ceremony was nothing compared to this. It was an overwhelming wave of enthusiasm that spread throughout the stadium like wildfire.
It was exhilarating.
"And Cloud has taken the first round! With an-" I heard the announcer speak, but I immediately tuned out whatever he was going to ramble.
Smashing a fist against the palm of my hand, I sent a challenging look Geeta's way, which was not returned.
Instead, Geeta closed her eyes for a few moments, letting herself gather her thoughts before shifting back into a calm and composed state.
Slowly, her eyelids gently opened, her usually dull and lifeless blue and yellow eyes now had a small bit of fire in them.
Lifting up a Pokéball, a red laser shot from the Pokéball to Gogoat, encapsulating it and being returned safely out of the battlefield.
Geeta looked at the Pokéball in her hand for a moment, saying nothing as she put it back on one of the slots.
"Trainers!" The referee barked, eyeing the both of us. "Release your next Pokémon."
Despite the wording, it was an invitation more than a demand.
The ruleset on switching out Pokémon is a bit different to how I thought it would be. Especially since it's not really followed outside of official events like Gym Battles and such.
One of them is that Pokémon battles follow Switch/Shift rules, the difference being the opponent is not going to call out their next Pokémon and ask if I want to change.
But every time a Pokémon is switched out, the other trainer has the choice to switch as well. Which they usually do.
However, there are exceptions to the rule. It doesn't apply when a Pokémon is switched out because of another move, like Baton Pass or Roar. Or when there are other factors like the Emergency Exit ability or the Eject Button.
There are other factors at play as well, but not any to worry about at the moment.
Blinking three times, a small smile came onto my face, happy to see that Bayonetta had gone up a level after that encounter. She was still a few levels below most of my team but that wouldn't matter anyway.
If I kept Bayonetta in the match, Geeta would have to choose between 3 Pokémon
If she brought Espathra to the field, it would be an instant knockout. Even if she started the round with a Reflect (like she has for her last few matches), Bayonetta would beat her to the punch by using Shadow Sneak.
Veluza would fall to a similar fate, a single Shadow Sneak would knock it out, though it would probably be able to get off an Aqua Jet at the very least.
Glimmora would be able to knock out Banette. It might be even able to do it in a single hit, but not without being hit by a +6 Shadow Sneak.
It's a pity, she didn't start the match with Glimmora. If she did, I wouldn't have nearly as big of an advantage as I have now.
Glimmora's job should be as a set-up 'mon. Bayonetta would have gotten destroyed by Glimmora and I don't doubt that for a moment.
Glimmora has the ability Toxic Debris, where if it is hit by a physical attacking move (Like Shadow Sneak or Knock Off), toxic spikes will leave its body and scatter on the field. An Entry
Hazard that normally poisons any Pokémon sent out onto the field unless it is a Flying, Poison or Steel type.
None of my Pokémon have Heavy-Duty Boots either, which prevents a Pokémon from taking damage from any type of entry hazard.
Kingambit would be able to knock out Banette in a single hit. It has the type advantage, but it's painfully slow. Geeta's Kingambit doesn't have Sucker Punch either, so it wouldn't be able to take out Bayonetta without getting hit pretty badly as well.
That leads us to Avalugg. A Pokémon that has very high defense and a good chunk of health as well. Even while having a Times Four attack bonus, I doubted a single hit from Bayo would be able to do even a quarter of its damage.
I'm almost certain that if it used Crunch, it would knock out Bayonetta in one move.
"Times like this I wished Pokémon could learn more than 4 moves." I thought idly, wincing as Bayonetta gave me a teary-eyed look. I knew she was faking it, but I felt bad all the same.
If Destiny Bond was in her she would be able to take out Avalugg like it was nothing.
'How ironic', I shook my head with a smile. The Pokémon that was giving me the most difficulty was the one I was calling out as unviable.
Lifting up Bayonetta's Pokéball, I snorted when she let out a huff and kicked a bit of dirt in my direction, annoyed that she had to go so soon.
She had a job of taking down Espathra, and that became null and void the moment Gogoat took to the field. Paired with the fact the Trick Scarf is now null and void, it's best to just not use her for the rest of the match.
Beating Geeta would look cool, but if I did it without losing any Pokémon? That'd be the icing on the cake.
But I'd have to play smart to do that.
"What's this?! Cloud has returned his Banette?" The announcer spoke, but I didn't pay attention to him. Grabbing another Pokéball from the podium, I watched as Geeta did the same.
It seemed like we were going to be starting this from square one.
"Trainers, release your next Pokémon!"
"Espathra, I choose you!"
'Shit.'
"Raiden, don't kill them!"
-Geeta-
'Don't kill them?'
She couldn't help but momentarily pause, perplexed by the odd choice of words.
And here she was thinking "Unleash the Haunt" was a bit overdramatic.
A rather large yellow spider-like Pokémon took to the field, a Galvantula if she recalled correctly. As it made eye-contact with Espathra, it raised its head up in challenge, letting out a cute little battlecry.
She shook her head, annoyed that Cloud had gotten the type-advantage this round. But the outcome will remain the same.
She couldn't let Cloud humiliate her any further this battle, letting Cloud get the first point was bad enough, but to be humiliated by not taking a lick of damage and further switching out his Banette was infuriating.
It was then she realized what Cloud's strategy was. Surprise & infuriate. Surprise her by using a completely unorthodox strategy (such as the combination with Trick & a Choice Scarf) and attempt to rile her up for falling for it.
When Cloud first made comments calling her the weakest champion, she was not angry or irritated, she had just been prepared to publicly humiliate the boy and enjoy the onslaught that would come from that.
She admits, as they continued to pile up, it had started to get slightly over-excessive. Perhaps even annoying, but just because she was not going to get the 6-0 victory like she had hoped, doesn't mean she wouldn't be systematically crushing the boy. She had more than one trick in her book anyway.
Shaking her head, she focused back on the battle at hand, noticing that the Galvantula was seemingly…arguing with her Espathra?
'How odd.'
-Raiden-
"I POWDER MY COCKATIEL FOR THE RIBCAGE SLAUGHTER!"
"I beg your pardon?"
He looked towards his opponent, an Espa-Espy-Es, he gave up on trying to remember the name of the bird. It did not matter anyway.
Some called it a Pokémon. He called it Fresh Meat.
"Raiden!" His trainer called to him, giving him a stern look. "This is a battle, we need it alive"
"I CRAVE THE SPINE TO BE MY SKATEBOARD!"
"Glad you understand," his trainer nodded, understanding him completely.
"Of all Pokémon I have to battle," the bird sighed. "Why is it that I always fight the crazy ones?"
"SLICE YOUR EYELIDS TO WATCH TO THE END!" he cackled, the bird just blinking slowly, deciding to ignore whatever he was going to say.
It will learn.
"Round 2, begin!"
"Web!"
"Lumina Crash!"
The bird wasted no time to prepare for its attack, swiftly generating purple hexagons in front of itself, the start of an attack coming about.
It was not fast enough.
Raiden had once thought himself to be the quickest. The most agile, and most powerful of all.
Chargestone Cave was once his kingdom. Those that lived there were nothing but his servants. Their job was to serve him. However, despite being the strongest, none ever did.
That was fine, he preferred to hunt his prey.
He was the strongest of them all! With speed that was unmatched by any Pokémon! No Pokémon could run from him and no Pokémon could beat him!
That Joltik knew nothing of what true power was.
When the bird's attack landed, the battlefield was covered in webs. He felt pain flare through his body as the shards dug deep into his skin.
He felt his muscles become more lax, his guard becoming more open as he lot out a ferocious cackle.
How long had it been?! How long had it been since he felt such a thrill?!
"Volt Tackle!"
WHAT THE FUCK?!
"Crash, again!"
…He had just gotten to the battlefield, and to be replaced so quickly.
What a cruel twist of fate.
"RETRIBUTION WILL RETURN, MEAT TINGLER!" he hollered, electricity coursing through the body, preparing his next and final attack.
Lightning surrounded his entire body, before sharply focusing in front of him. Lightning danced within his eyes before sharply being sent in front of him.
Raiden let out one last cackle as his attack hit, watching the bird take a step back before aiming its own attack in his direction.
By then it was too late, his body was already engulfed in red light before Espathra's attack was halfway across the field.
Within his Pokéball, Raiden started to headbutt the ground, angry that he couldn't continue the battle.
He hated Volt Switch.
-Cloud-
Espathra was the exact opponent I didn't want Raiden to fight.
The single Lumina Crash that hit Galvantula dealt a heavy hit to him, even if he tried to hide it. If he got hit again, he would have been out for the count. It's why I made him use Volt Switch after getting the Sticky Web off.
Like Toxic Spikes, Sticky Web is an entry hazard that lowers the opposing Pokémon's speed when it enters the field. The only exception to this are flying-type Pokémon. Volt Switch is an interesting move because it causes the user the switch out when they use it, similar to U-turn or Baton Pass.
From this exchange, Galvantula is down a good chunk of health, but so is Espathra.
However, when a move like Volt Switch is used, the switch is instant. The referee doesn't give a few seconds to let people collect their thoughts, the second a Pokémon is back within their Pokéball, another must be replaced.
The show must go on!
My Chansey took the field, letting out a distinctive booming laugh as he took the Lumina Crash head-on. Barely doing any damage to her.
"Toxic!"
"Again!"
Chansey stood still, arms crossed as it manipulated its energy to form Toxic. In the meantime, another Lumina Crash went directly into Chansey but it barely even phased her.
"Calm Mind!"
It had fucking what?
Espathra stopped its onslaught of attacks, only to go into a meditative stance, closing its eyes and standing utterly still.
Calm Mind increases both the special defense and special attack of the Pokémon using it. Despite it
That…wasn't part of its moveset. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure Gogoat wasn't supposed to know Rock-.
She changed her moveset.
The battle went on pause for the slightest of moments as I processed that thought. If I wasn't in a high-stakes battle, I would have started banging my head on the closest wall.
I can't believe I could be so...stupid.
'I'm an idiot' I thought, ordering my Chansey to use Soft-Boiled.
'Lumina Crash, Calm Mind, Reflect-, it hasn't used Reflect yet.' I noted but understood why.
After all, Chansey had the lowest attack stat of any Pokémon.
But that made me pause for a moment, feeling a brief moment of dread.
...Does it have Roost?
"Toss it!" I snap, my heartbeat raising a couple of notches as Chansey rushed towards it on its stubby legs. The Espathra did not move from his spot, seemingly letting the Chansey do the move.
"Hyper Beam!" Geeta shouted, the crowd letting out an audible gasp, some ducking into their seats as the move got powered up.
'Oh thank-Ah fuck!' I shut my eyes, not expecting the Hyper Beam to be as bright as it was.
The power of a Hyper Beam can be measured by two things. It's size & its color. The brighter it is, the more condensed energy has been built up to release the attack.
And the fact my eyes were not hating me for looking directly at it, I didn't doubt it was powerful. Probably helped by the fact it had used Calm Mind.
As the Hyper Beam started to die down. Two figures remained on the battlefield. The only surprise was both were still standing.
Espathra was breathing hard. The combination of both Toxic & Hyper Beam did a number on the poor guy, and it was clear for all to see.
On the field, my Chansey stood tall. Arms crossed, a triumphant smirk, she did not move from his position as the final bit of Toxic took effect for Espathra.
Geeta looked at her Pokémon, a sad melancholic smile on her face as she raised her Pokéball. However, without her prompting, a see-through barrier appeared in front of Espathra. Geeta not even bothering to hide her shock.
A cry escaped the Espathra, stumbling forward as it did so. A howl filled with pain, sorrow & fear that called to everyone within the stadium. Then the last ounce of its strength left it, as it crashed into the dirt.
"Espathra is unable to battle, the second point goes to Cloud!"
-Lance-
[JasonWu: Thanks for the battle.]
[snakE: What is that Pokémon made of?! Holy mega crap, I've never seen a Pokémon last that long when poisoned. Not even including the fact it got hit by the super-effective Volt Switch.]
[InvadersMustPry: How did Chansey take that like it was nothing?]
[MinerAtWork: Why is it dressed like that? Is it a Contest Pokémon?]
[Everpeach: League of Legends.]
[MilesAhead: snakE, Espathra is a purely Psychic type.]
[Musa-Chii: :VeiREE:]
[Radiance: Is it weird I am kind of cheering for Geeta now?]
[Gerald_of_Revea: This match is cool and all, but I'm having an existential crisis.]
[ShishiroBotan: Gerald_of_Revea, Yo same]
[CurrentlyHuman: That Chansey…why hasn't Cloud evolved it? Does it not wish to?]
Reading the chat, Lance couldn't help but agree with Bill.
That Chansey was an absolute powerhouse of a Pokémon. It was able to take each of those attacks like they were nothing.
It was powerful as a Chansey, but as a Blissey?
"That was amazing!" Clair squealed, breaking Lance out of his inner thoughts as she practically bounced in her seat.
The rest of the audience was no different, erupting into a mix of cheers for both Geeta & Cloud.
Despite losing that round, the Espathra had put up a very good showing. If it hadn't been whittled down by the Galvantula then things might have been very different.
"I can't believe it took that attack head-on!" Clair gushed. "It's just standing there like it did nothing!"
"It used Protect," he rolled his eyes, drawing a blink from his cousin. "Cloud did not call it out, but the moment before the Hyper Beam hit, the Chansey used Protect."
"Then why didn't he use that on any of the previous moves?" Clair prodded to which he smiled.
"Maybe you can ask him later," he tussled her hair, making her squawk indignantly.
Because he certainly had a couple of questions to ask himself.
-Cloud-
I love my Pokémon.
Genuinely, I do. They have stuck by me through thick and thin and I will always appreciate having them at my side.
Something I do regret was allowing them access to my computer.
I didn't expect to be randomly going to the Pokémon world. I was expecting to be arriving at my 9am Anthropology class. So I came with my laptop, which had more than a few games downloaded.
Once my Porygon figured out how to make a charger for the damn thing, I spent the next few days doing nothing but playing video games.
My Pokémon had gotten interested as well, although out of the six I brought with me, Banette didn't find them to be much fun.
When I said my Banette was the sanest, that would imply the rest are crazy. They aren't.
Unlike the rest of my team, Bayonetta doesn't make a fool out of herself.
"I AM THE E.G.G.M.A.N.'' blared through the speakers for a brief moment, before quickly cutting off.
I scowled, looking towards the commentators' box for a brief moment, before shaking my head. Meowth was up to his tricks again.
I really shouldn't have named my Chansey Eggman in the first place. I was just tempting fate at that point. I just didn't think she would become so attached to her namesake.
Dressed in a Red overcoat and black trousers, she was almost dressed exactly like Eggman from the Sonic games. The only noticeable difference being the black jagged sunglasses on her face.
Eggman continued to smirk imperiously, though this time the look was aimed towards Geeta instead of any of her Pokémon. Her stubby arms raised in the air in open challenge.
Looking towards the woman herself, her demeanor was a sharp contrast to what she was at the start of this match.
But alas, even if she changed up her moveset, the end result is going to remain the same,
A clean victory for yours truly.
Shaking my head in amusement, I returned Eggman back into her Pokéball, bringing out my fourth Pokémon to the field while Geeta palmed her third.
I couldn't deny I was interested in what exactly she was thinking at that moment.
"Trainers, release your next Pokémon!"
"Let's go Rambo!"
"Finish this, Glimmora!"
'Are you fucking with me?'
I couldn't stop my disbelief from showing on my face as Glimmora appeared on the battlefield. As its petals spun in place, webs started to get caught within the petals, reducing its speed by a wide margin.
The Speed stat is unique from the other stats. It is misleading in its name, making you think "This is how fast a Pokémon can go." That is not correct.
The speed stat is how quickly a Pokémon uses a move.
That does not mean a Pokémon with a crazy speed stat wouldn't be able to spam moves like no tomorrow.
It is like inhaling and exhaling a deep breath. With a Pokémon move, you are preparing a large amount of energy and then exerting that energy at once. You cannot just continuously spam an attack over and over again. It needs to recharge first.
It's something I've considered talking on the podcast about, but I'm not completely sure of it. I mean, I do believe because of moves like Agility, the two have gotten conflated. But Geeta's Espathra was able to pull off a Reflect before it fainted.
It's not something I completely understand.
My Whimsicott didn't seem to care much about my inner monologue though, he was much more preoccupied with trying to moonwalk.
You think with a name like Rambo, he would be a serious warrior type of Pokémon. One that is stoic, has an intense focus with a traumatizing backstory.
Rambo is none of these things.
Standing on his hind legs, the first thought you would think upon seeing it is 'adorable.'
Dressed in a white suit, I had no doubt in my mind Rambo thought himself a ladies' man. He even held his hat tipped down slightly, to give himself a sense of mystery.
It was ruined by the big, wide smile that made him look even cuter.
I doubted it was going to last long though. Not with this bad matchup.
Whimsicott: Level 74
Glimmora: Level 93
The level difference didn't bother me. What bothered me was the X4 weakness to poison that Whimsicott had.
This is one of those times where the speed advantage doesn't matter. Whimsicotts have a base 115 speed on their own, a lot quicker than Glimmora. Mine also has the prankster ability, which makes status moves nearly always go first.
Rambo's moves are made up entirely of status moves. And nothing that would be able to take down a Glimmora.
"Let the match begin!"
"Sludge Wave!"
"Substitute!"
The best I can do is hope she made a mistake. If it used a move like Nasty Plot, then that's my win.
I grimaced, watching Rambo replace himself with an exact copy, taking on the attack head-on before it disappeared into the wave.
If Eggman knew Wish instead of Soft-Boiled, Rambo would have been able to heal a good chunk of health. However, no matter how you look at it, Soft-Boiled is a much better move than Wish in general.
Substitute creates a decoy for a Pokémon that is made up of a quarter of the user's max HP. It also costs a quarter of the user's max HP to make, and it was the only move that could guarantee Rambo's survival.
If I had the choice, I would have switched out my Pokémon the first chance I had. Sadly, it's not that simple.
The rule of two. A Pokémon must complete 2 moves before it is able to be switched out.
There are exceptions to this rule. For example, when hit by a status effect, it can be immediately switched out. And Pokémon that are under the effect of moves of a move like Outrage cannot be switched out.
So, all I could do was grimace as Rambo lost 50% thanks to the two substitutes taking on two Sludge Waves. Leftovers helped recover about 10% of it though.
I jumped in place slightly as the referee blew his whistle, raising a pair of flags into the air.
I froze for a moment when he gave me a look, making me wonder if I broke any rules I didn't know of. It was alleviated slightly when he sent a similar one to Geeta.
"Intermission," he nodded, making me blink in confusion.
The fuck did he mean intermission? We still have a battle going on here.
However, Geeta didn't seem to be raising a fuss, returning Glimmora back to her Pokéball and placing it into one of the slots on the Podium.
I stood still for a moment, hesitant on what to do exactly before following Geeta's example.
If I pretend like I know what I am doing, I won't make as big of a fool out of myself.
Walking back to the bunker I came from, I wondered if this was even normal.
I had seen a few conference battles before, even done a few post-battle analyses on them. Just not on-person.
Did shit like this really happen?
-Sonia-
[Ferack: Dafuk]
[DumDum: what they doin]
[Chojo: oh commercial break, brb gotta feed the cats]
[GardenOfIA: Man I really hoped to see more of that Whimsicott! Hopefully it doesn't have to fight Glimmora next round haha]
[Maple: Wait, are they seriously doing this? I mean yeah it's normal for Paldea, but I didn't think they would do it for an event like this.]
"It is kind of weird, isn't it?" Sonia said, scratching the back of her head.
Not even Galar had intermissions mid-battle. Even though it was a prime opportunity to fit in a bunch of ads, both Mustard & Leon downright refused the thought.
Like most of the world, both believed battles should be an uninterrupted spectacle from start to finish, with no time in between for a battle to get boring.
"Yeah well Greta needed the break," Meowth snorted, letting out a small yelp as she started to pull on his cheek.
"Just because Cloud hasn't lost any Pokémon yet doesn't mean he's in the clear yet. Three of Cloud's Pokémon have taken heavy damage," she noted, making Meowth let out a small cackle.
"Eggman healed 'emself up. Soft-Boiled is useful like that." Meowth commented offhandedly. "Cloud's got this in the bag."
"Even if that was the case, it's best not to celebrate too early!" she tried to reprimand but it fell on deaf ears.
She turned to Cyclone, hoping that he would give his own input, but it seemed like he wouldn't be available for comment.
If she had to guess where he was, it was probably in the bunker with Cloud.
She looked to Rotom, who had been silent the whole match, simply gazing outside the window.
She wasn't even sure if he was watching the match. He seemed laser-focused on something in the crowd.
"Is something on your mind, Rotom?" Sonia asks, trying to see what he was looking at. "I don't think you have said something since the stream started."
"Oh don't mind me," he said, waving her off. Something very out of character for the Pokémon. "I just didn't expect to see my previous employer in the crowd."
"You were someone else's butler?" Sonia inquired, drawing an amused look from the Rotom.
"You forget yourself, my dear. I am much older than everyone in this room combined. And I certainly didn't learn my manners from Cloud."
"Well go on," Sonia pressed. "Spill the tea, who is he? What is he like?"
However, before he could respond, the ground started to shake.
For a moment, she thought it was an Earthquake, but that was when she looked towards the field.
What was once a plain flat battlefield started to change drastically as ice slowly started to coat the field. Small icebergs slowly started to appear around the edges of the battlefield.
And then she saw what had happened to the webs covering the battlefield.
"Oh Cloud is not going to like that."
-Cloud-
'You have got to be fucking kidding me.'
Watching as ice started to come up out of the battlefield, at first I was in a half-kind of panic mode.
I mean, I basically left my Pokéballs on the podium. If an attack happened, I'd only really have Psyclone to have my back.
I only started to calm down when I realized it was that the ice going onto the field was controlled. Sure there were a few small icebergs, but it was mostly flat ice. It didn't leave the perimeter of the battlefield so I didn't have to worry about anyone getting hurt either.
Then I saw what had happened to the Sticky Web and had the sudden urge to punch something.
The ice had frozen over the web, making the Sticky Web worthless.
I sent an annoyed look Geeta's way for a moment before shaking my head.
It was my fault that I didn't read the rules…And Psyclone's fault for not telling me this one either.
"Trainers, send out your next Pokémon!"
After letting myself calm down a moment, I realized losing Sticky Web is not as bad as I originally thought. If anything, it's more the principle of the matter now.
Nearly all my Pokémon are faster than the ones Geeta has left. I was getting mad over nothing.
Now that that was out of my system I can let Raiden beat the shit out of whoever appears. If I had to guess, probably Avalugg.
"Go Raiden!"
"Go Kingambit!"
I stared.
Not because Kingambit was sent out onto the field, but because what was sent out onto my own.
Turning around, Bayonetta looked at me with confusion for a moment before it turned into a wide grin as she looked back to face her opponent.
'What the fuck?'
Looking at the pokéball in my hand, I noticed that it was indeed Bayonetta's. But her Pokéball was supposed to be on the far left of the podiums, where Raiden's now sits.
I looked back towards Bayonetta, wondering if she had switched the Pokéballs somehow. But quickly disregarded that thought. She seemed as confused as I was when I called out Raiden. She just seems to be going with the flow.
Despite Psyclone's general attitude, he wouldn't do this either. He hates the idea or being called a cheat.
I sent a look towards Geeta, trying to get a reading from her, but failed on that regard.
'Is she really that desperate?' I frowned, but I didn't have time to continue that thought.
"Let the battle begin!"
"Knock Off!"
Bayonetta wasted no time, dashing towards Kingambit. Kingambit however did not move from his position. Interestingly enough, Geeta decided to wait to call out his order, confusing me slightly.
Bayonetta isn't going to win this, I know that for a fact. There's literally nothing she can do in this case. What she does have is the speed advantage, so doing even a small bit of chip damage is all well and good. And if she can get rid of whatever item Kingambit was holding, all the better.
It wasn't until Bayonetta was only a few meters away from him did Geeta's demeanor change. A small smile gracing her lips.
"Sucker Punch."
Motherf-
Bayonetta didn't have any time to react as Kingambit appeared in front of it, driving a gauntlet directly into her lower body.
As the attack connected, Bayonetta let out a choked gasp, before being launched back towards me by the sheer power of the attack.
As gravity started to take hold, she took a tumble, somersaulting through the air before crashing onto the ice in a disoriented heap.
A few moments passed in silence. The audience was stunned that the Banette that was able to take down Gogoat without taking damage went down to a single hit.
I let out a sigh myself, annoyed that I didn't say anything about what I assumed to be foul play. My little wish of a 6-0 victory going down the drain.
And then a single eye opened and a grin was sent my way.
I was startled, but I did my best not to show it. However, the audience that was behind me was not as quiet. Geeta looked up at them, but I didn't give her any time to think about it.
"Bayonetta is-"
"Arséne!" I grinned, the referee blinking in surprise at being interrupted. However, he didn't say anything else as Bayonetta suddenly sprang up onto her feet.
Using Knock Off failed me, if I tried Shadow Sneak, I'd lose due to Sucker Punch being a move of higher priority, meaning it would attack first. Swords Dance would be worthless in this situation because Bayonetta will definitely be knocked out in one more hit.
Thus, leaving me with the only option I have left.
"Sucker-No Kowtow Cleave!" Geeta shouted, panic lacing her tone. But by then it was too late.
Trick. The ability to swap the held items of two moves.
Bayonetta would lose this round, but I wanted to take whatever item Kingambit had within it.
However, that's when problems started to occur.
Kingambit's item didn't just magically float over to Bayonetta, whatever it had, it started to drag Kingambit on the ground with it. Pulling it closer, head first.
"Don't lose it!" Geeta snapped, and Kingambit listened.
It tried digging its blade into the ground in an attempt to arrest its momentum, but it wasn't enough.
As the Trick finally took effect, I finally found out what item Gogoat had this whole time. And the reason why Bayonetta is still able to stand.
A Focus Band, a risker version of the Focus Sash, provides a roughly 10% chance to prevent a Pokémon from fainting when its HP is about to reach zero. Unlike the Focus Sash, the user doesn't need to be at full HP for it to take effect.
As the swap happened, Kingambit's Kowtow Cleave hit, knocking Banette out, ensuring the faint.
A small marble escaped Bayonetta's hand and on instinct, I caught it, crossing my arm in front of my face.
As the dust cleared, Kingambit glared at me with his lone eye, his face only centimeters away from my own.
His second eye was absent. What remained was an empty eye socket where the surrounding skin had irregular lines and discolored patches. And if I had to guess, where Kingambit's held item was.
Palming the item in my hand, I couldn't help my respect for Geeta grow by a notch.
She didn't respond to my bait when the opportunity to hang me on a hook was there. No, she wanted to go for the slap on the face on live television.
Sadly, things don't always work out the way we want.
"Well now," I grinned, drawing gasps from the audience as I presented the Mega-Stone within my fingers.
"Isn't that interesting?"