"Good job, you two!"
"Nicely done, Mualani!
"That was amazing, Focalors!"
When Mualani and Focalors returned, the other team members cheered for them. From that battle, it became clear. If Focalors hadn't only a single Pokemon, she could probably replace a member of the Main Team.
"Hehe, thanks!"
Mualani grinned and nodded, while Focalors only lowered her head in discomfort. No matter what anyone says, she lost that battle disgracefully. Even until the end, she hadn't been able to determine which was the real Sharpedo.
Her hands clenching the Pokeball tightened. She could barely accept losing to Dante. Father lost to him, after all. But being so thoroughly outclassed by another of her peers? She couldn't- wouldn't, allow that.
Fortunately, she didn't have to endure the attention for long as Professor Jomar called on the next duo for battle.
"Shinobu, Roman, you're up next."
"Good luck, babe."
"Thanks, Dan."
Shinobu took a deep breath and walked toward the arena. From the corner of her eye, she caught her opponent walking onto the opposite side, his glasses glinting with the fluorescent light.
When the battle began, Dante grimaced as he saw Roman's Pokemon.
With a head of red-orange feather, black-tipped wing, and sharp talons. One of the fastest Flying-type Pokemon, Talonflame.
"Oof, Shinobu's gonna have a hard time."
Candice winced. Talonflame is a Flying and Fire type Pokemon, making it 4 times resistant to Bug-type moves. Said typings are also both super-effective against Accelgor. Not to mention, it should have 'that' Ability.
Talonflame has two possible Abilities: Flame Body and Gale Wings.
Flame Body is more of a defensive Ability, causing a Pokemon who made physical contact with the holder of this Ability a chance to get burned.
Gale Wings, however, is a more offensive-oriented Ability. Possessing an uncanny affinity with Flying-type energy, Pokemon with this Ability have their Speed boosted by 50% whenever they use Flying-type moves. And most Trainers prefer their Talonflame to have this Ability.
It seems Shinobu thought the same, as right at the start, she directly let Accelgor use the Petaya Berry she was holding- increasing the Pokemon's Special Attack by 10% and doubling her speed. In this match, Shelly would need all the advantage she could get.
"Unfortunately, your Pokemon isn't the only one to be able to do that. Talonflame, Tailwind!"
Talonflame flapped his wings, causing air to surge around his body.
Tailwind is a Flying-type move which summons a gust of wind in the user's side of the field, temporarily doubling the speed of the Pokemon.
After that, what followed was purple and red blurs moving throughout the arena in a dazzling clash of speed. Both Pokemon's were able to dodge out of the way of the others' attack, only occasionally suffering some injuries.
Shinobu frowned when she saw this. Unlike Talonflame, her Shelly had lower defenses, not to mention Talonflame kept using Flying and Fire type attacks.
She wanted to use Yawn and break this situation, but Talonflame's Taunt disabled her from using status moves. She bit her lips. Her brain was running a mile a minute, trying to think of a solution. Even waiting for Roman to just make a mistake.
But Roman remained steady throughout the whole battle. He knows Talonflame has a great advantage in a head-on fight. Therefore, he just kept using Taunt, wanting to prevent Shinobu from making an upset by limiting her options.
In the end, Talonflame just has so much more advantage over Accelgor. Not to mention the Bug-type Pokemon still haven't reached her racial limit. After failing to dodge an Aerial Ace, Accelgor's body flew and rolled on the ground, remaining still.
"Accelgor is unable to battle! Roman wins!"
"It was a good fight."
Roman nodded to Shinobu, pushing up his glasses before returning to the sidelines. Shinobu took Accelgor back into her Pokeball. She silently stared at the Roman's back for a moment, before walking to Dante's side.
"You alright?"
"Yeah. It's given me lots to think about."
Shinobu leaned her head against Dante's back, closing her eyes to calm her emotions.
"Hey, don't worry your pretty little head over it, Shinobu. You had the odds stacked against you."
Candice came over from the side, patting Shinobu's back.
"Heh, worry about yourself. You're next."
"I'll bring the first victory to our team!"
Sure enough, not long later, Candice was called to the arena with the 4th place, Larry.
"Heya! Let's have a great match!"
"Same."
With Coach Jomar's signal, the two released their Pokemon.
"Dudunsparce, let's battle."
"I choose you, Abomasnow!"
At the start of the match, hail began to fall on the battlefield courtesy of Abomasnow. Unlike the first two fights, this time, both Pokemon don't rely on their speed, but instead on their bulk.
Using the hail, Candice made Abomasnow spam Blizzard. She intended to overwhelm Dudunsparce with the high base-powered move. Unfortunately, Abomasnow was still too weak.
It had only evolved two weeks ago, and she was too far off from reaching the racial limit. Dudunsparce charged towards Abomasnow, his head coated in white, Normal-type energy.
Although his body was inevitably hit by some of the large-scale ice attacks, the damage it was able to cause was minimal.
After getting close, Dudunsparce's segmented body spun like a drill, hitting his opponent in the stomach and causing huge damage. Abomasnow countered with Wood Hammer, but Dudunspace only bounced on the ground and winced, before getting back up.
In the end, after suffering two more attacks, Abomasnow lost combat effectiveness.
"As expected of the seniors. Even Focalors, Shinobu, and Candice were no match against them."
Nazar, the top 10 among the Freshmen, looked nervously at a purple-haired student nearby. Judging by the earlier pairings, it seems the coach wanted them to match against their same ranked senior.
And sure enough, the next one to be called on stage was Isa, the top 5 among the seniors. Her opponent was a brown-haired freshman wearing large-rimmed glasses. Her appearance was unremarkable, save for her eyes which seems to be in a constant glare.
Her name is Kathy, one of Dante's classmates.
She rarely spoke and prefers to avoid interacting with her classmates. Even though a month had passed, she still hasn't formed much of a connection with her classmates. Instead, she preferred to spend her free time with her Pokemon.
"Go Isa! Don't bring shame to us upperclassmen now!"
"Shut up! It's not you losers turn to say that!"
Isa glared at the guys, who just laughed at her in response. Meanwhile, on Kathy's side, there wasn't much cheering going on. The other Freshmen just watched silently from the side. Well, except for one…
"G-Go, Kathy!"
Kachina shouted. Kathy briefly glanced at her, before turning back to the battlefield.
"Both Trainers, release your Pokemon!"
"Xatu, please."
"Let's smash 'em, Incineroar!"
Incineroar is a Fire and Dark type Pokemon and is one of the highly recommended Starters by the Alliance. Its stats have a good spread, with decent speed, medium-high bulk, and high attack.
Its two Abilities, Blaze and Intimidate, are also suitable no matter which for Pokemon battles, though the latter is more preferred. And it seems Isa chose the same for hers.
Incineroar roared, the sound waves containing a type of energy that would lower the Attack of those who hear it. However, she chose to use it on the wrong opponent.
When the waves hit Xatu, they bounced back, catching Incineroar off guard as her Attack lowered instead.
"Stupid Isa! Did you forget Xatu has the Magic Bounce Ability!"
"S-shut up! It just slipped my mind for a bit!"
"Hahahaha"!
Magic Bounce is an Ability which makes a Pokemon immune to status-changing moves, instead reflecting them to the opponent. This means moves like Taunt, Thunder Wave, Yawn, etc. won't affect the user.
Dante watched with amusement the byplay between Isa and Liuai. He didn't expect someone who had been studying Pokemon for four years to make such a rookie mistake.
And while everyone was laughing at Isa, Kathy calmly took advantage of this opportunity while her opponent was distracted.
"Xatu, Air Slash."
Incineroar grimaced as a sudden wind pressure pushed against her body, her feet creating two, deep marks on the ground. But, that was all. With a wave of her hands, the Flying energy was dispersed and she growled at the humanoid bird Pokemon.
Coach Jomar glanced at Kathy, a frown on his face. Her taking advantage of the opportunity when Isa was distracted is worthy of praise. But the move she used…
Xatu is disadvantaged due to not yet reaching her racial limits. Instead of trying to launch an attack, the most sensible course action would have been to either boost her own stats, or lower the opponents' to equal the playing field.
Isa felt embarrassed at being caught off guard, especially by a younger student. She patted her cheeks, preparing to get serious.
"That's the last you'll ever get a free hit! Incineroar, Darkest Lariat!"
"Incineroar!"
Incineroar charged towards Xatu, her arms spread at both sides.
"Xatu, Teleport."
Kathy calmly commanded back, her eyes surveying the battlefield.
"Heh, me and Incineroar have dealt with you Psychic bitch types more than enough times. Teach her a lesson, Incineroar!"
"Incineroar!"
Suddenly, Incineroar's outstretched hands clapped together, causing Xatu who was about to teleport away to flinch. Taking this opportunity, the black-striped red tiger arrived in front of Xatu, her arms cloaked in Dark-type energy.
Under Xatu's helpless expression, Incineroar's arms dropped down on her head.
"Xatu is unable to battle. Isa wins!"