A trap?
That was Silas's first thought as he gave his command.
But no—that wasn't it. Wobbuffet's state just now hadn't looked fake at all.
As someone skilled in Pokémon breeding, Silas could immediately tell that the opponent's condition was genuinely poor. Or rather, if Serperior was in such a bad state, then there was no way Wobbuffet could be fine either.
Besides, he couldn't think of what kind of "trap" a Wobbuffet could even set up.
The blue-violet glow of Magical Leaf streaked toward the Wobbuffet, whose body was wrapped in green vines from Leech Seed.
There was no white flash of Mirror Coat.
Wobbuffet just stood there, motionless, taking the full brunt of the Magical Leaf attack as if it had lost the will to fight.
If it weren't for the faint green glow still pulsing along the Leech Seed vines—proof that Wobbuffet still had some strength left—the referee might have already stepped in to stop Serperior's assault.
"Trying to end it with Destiny Bond instead of dragging things out, huh…"
Silas frowned slightly.
When a Pokémon uses a Ghost-type move like Destiny Bond, if it faints from the opponent's attack within a very short window of time afterward, the opposing Pokémon will also faint.
And that effect is absolute—it cannot be avoided.
The key point, however, is that unlike most non-damaging moves—whose effects are affected by level differences—Destiny Bond's effect can trigger even across a full stage gap.
In other words, an Advance-level Pokémon could, in theory, use Destiny Bond to take down a quasi–Elite–level opponent.
But that kind of "broken" effect comes with an equally harsh drawback—the timing must be perfect.
If you use it too early, the damage you take won't be enough to trigger the fainting condition; use it too late, and you'll faint before the move can activate.
And after the first use, the success rate for Destiny Bond drops dramatically with each attempt—nearly to zero—whether it worked or not.
In that regard, it's even stricter than Protect.
At least Protect's success rate only drops to one-third with each consecutive use.
Destiny Bond, on the other hand, simply can't be used again at all in quick succession.
So even though, in theory, an Advance-tier Pokémon could trade one-for-one with a higher-level opponent using Destiny Bond, it's extremely difficult to pull off in practice.
A Pokémon of quasi–Elite Four rank has superior reaction time and move execution speed compared to an ordinary Advance-tier Pokémon, making it very hard for the latter to time Destiny Bond correctly.
However, when their levels are roughly equal, that concern disappears.
"Serperior—use Wrap!" Silas suddenly switched commands.
Across the field, Kane and his Wobbuffet remained silent as ever.
But instead of binding its opponent with vines as Silas had ordered, Serperior's body was once again surrounded by a flurry of blue-violet Magical Leaves.
It repeated the same move again.
"...A mistake," Silas muttered inwardly, annoyed.
The moment he realized his opponent was going for Destiny Bond, he should have switched to a low-damage, continuous move instead of using something mid-powered like Magical Leaf.
If he had used Wrap combined with Leech Seed's ongoing drain, the continuous damage would have thrown off Wobbuffet's timing—making it uncertain whether it had enough HP left to survive another attack.
That would've forced it into a defensive corner.
But Silas's instincts had made him choose wrong.
It couldn't be helped—he had a photographic memory, not superhuman intelligence.
This just showed that his battle experience wasn't seasoned enough yet.
He quickly steadied his thoughts and began considering which Pokémon to send out next.
"A relentless offensive!!
Under Silas's command, Serperior's barrage of Magical Leaves continues nonstop!
Wobbuffet, already weakened and sapped by Leech Seed, seems to have no strength left!
How will Kane respond to this?!"
The commentator's voice grew excited above the arena.
Of course, he already knew the answer but the crowd didn't, and building tension was key to the show.
As he expected, the atmosphere within the main stadium grew increasingly tense.
Seconds ticked by.
Then, at one moment, dark-purple mist began to spill from Wobbuffet's body.
"Destiny Bond! The most dreaded Ghost-type move!
Facing certain defeat, Kane's Wobbuffet is attempting to drag Serperior down with it!
Can it succeed?!"
The commentator's cry drew every eye to that cloud of black mist.
Even Silas and Kane, though aware of what was coming, couldn't help but focus on it.
"Wo–bbuffet!"
The black mist faded.
Wobbuffet let out a meaningless cry, its eyes swirling into spirals—it had fainted.
At that exact same moment, under the eyes of the entire crowd, Serperior—panting heavily was suddenly shrouded in the same black mist.
"It worked!!
Kane's Wobbuffet managed to use Destiny Bond just before fainting!
Silas's Serperior has gone down as well!"
Hearing the announcer's booming voice, Silas stared at the two Pokémon—both unconscious, both surrounded by fading shadows and finally understood why so many Trainers joked about wanting to punch the commentators.
Even if you were mentally prepared, the commentator's smug tone made it ten times worse.
It's like when you're playing a game and someone's watching beside you and not only do they comment constantly, but when your character dies, they go,
"See? I told you you'd lose."
That kind of smugness was absolutely infuriating.
"Both Serperior and Wobbuffet are unable to battle!
Trainers, please send out your next Pokémon!"
The referee, the calmest person on the field, inspected both Pokémon and then raised his flag to announce the result.
Silas took a deep breath and recalled Serperior.
Across from him, Kane did the same with Wobbuffet.
They locked eyes for a moment—then each selected a minimized Poké Ball from their belts.
They expanded them simultaneously and threw their movements almost perfectly mirrored.
"Strike fear into them—Togekiss!"
"Golduck, show them your spirit!"
Twin flashes of red light lit up the battlefield.
Golduck and Togekiss appeared, brimming with fighting spirit.
Both Trainers' faces remained calm.
It was clear they had each predicted the other's next choice.
Among Kane's main Pokémon were Swampert, a Water/Ground-type, and Nidoqueen, a Poison/Ground-type.
As long as those two weren't sent out, Silas would never risk using his Electric-type Ampharos.
As for his other Pokémon, it didn't make much difference who he chose
After all, Water and Ice often go hand in hand, and Flying-types, in a way, could even be considered weak to Water-types in certain conditions.
As for why Yezo had thought Silas had the advantage before the match — come on, Fire beats Water, isn't that common sense?
Silas was clearly starting off with his relatively weaker Togekiss.
Even though his other three quasi–Elite-level Pokémon might face type disadvantages, their sheer strength still outclassed Togekiss.
He was now the one in control — forcing his opponent to reveal more strategies was naturally the smart play.
Kane, on the other hand, had fewer considerations.
His ace, Feraligatr, wouldn't appear in the first half of a full 6v6 match. With two Pokémon already down, his remaining choices were limited.
Against Silas's team, Swampert and Nidoqueen wouldn't be as directly effective as Golduck.
Unless Kane wanted to trade three Pokémon just to enter the second half, there was no way he'd risk facing Ampharos with a Ground-type gamble.
"Golduck, use Screech!"
Kane made the first move.
"Gaaah—!"
Golduck released a sharp, grating cry, completely unlike its usual voice, making the audience instinctively want to cover their ears.
As the sound reached Togekiss's ears, it winced in pain, its expression twisting in discomfort.
"Togekiss, use Baby-Doll Eyes!" Silas commanded.
Togekiss demonstrated the true professionalism of a performing Pokémon.
In just a heartbeat, its pained expression melted into a bashful, charming one.
"Togekiss!"
With an adorably sweet coo, a pink heart-shaped aura shot forth, striking the yelling Golduck.
"Whoa—"
Golduck's screeching stopped at once.
Facing such a cute, obedient little one — wasn't that attack a bit too unhealthy?
Could be bad for the body, it thought blankly.
"Golduck, use Icy Wind!" Kage launched the first real offensive strike.
Luckily, Baby-Doll Eyes and Attract were different
Baby-Doll Eyes only lowered Attack and caused brief distraction; it didn't infatuate.
Meanwhile, Togekiss's Defense had already been lowered by Screech.
So, all in all, their stats now balanced out again.
Golduck quickly regained focus, remembering this was a battle, no time to get soft.
Its eyes sharpened as it opened its long bill, and a light-blue gust of frigid air roared forth.
"Fly!"
Silas chose to have Togekiss withdraw from range.
Spreading its triangular wings, Togekiss shot into the air in an instant its vertical takeoff speed possibly even exceeding that of Pidgeot itself.
"Whoosh!"
The Icy Wind swept beneath Togekiss, chilling the feathers on its tail enough to make them tremble.
"Your turn now — Air Slash, no holding back!" Silas waved his arm, adopting the so-called Lucky King strategy.
Why was it called that? Well, anyone who knows knows.
In simpler terms — with the Serene Grace ability and a King's Rock held item, it had nothing to do with "luck."
Unless you were really unlucky, the 50% flinch chance after a hit was enough to completely suppress most opponents.
As for whether Togekiss was "lucky" or not — that was a meaningless question.
"Togekiss~!"
Togekiss cried out confidently, spreading its wings as white blades of air slashed downward.
At that moment, Golduck had already reached the water pool in the center of the battlefield.
"Dive!"
Kane commanded.
Splash!
Golduck's blue body disappeared into the pool with barely a ripple.
The Air Slash blades struck the surface, sending up waves but Golduck had evaded every one.
It moved effortlessly within the limited pool area, gracefully dodging the aerial assaults raining from Togekiss above.
Though Air Slash was fast and difficult to evade the distance between them was wide enough for Golduck's strong psychic awareness to react in time.
That's one of Golduck's advantages as a pure Water-type
It had a psychic power unmatched by most Water Pokémon.
Once the red gem on its forehead glowed, it could momentarily rival true Psychic-types.
The only flaw? It couldn't sustain it for long.
"Wait for the right moment use Disable!"
Seeing Golduck dodge again, Kane's eyes flashed.
"Use Follow Me!" Silas instantly countered.
Just as Golduck surfaced, preparing to lock eyes on Togekiss with glowing red pupils, the light dimmed again.
Follow Me — a Normal-type move that redirects the opponent's attention.
In Double or Triple Battles, it drew attacks away from teammates.
But in Single Battles, it could briefly disrupt a foe's move execution.
Silas absolutely couldn't allow Disable to land.
The Psychic-type move could seal the last used attack — in this case, Air Slash.
That would completely ruin his Lucky King setup.
Thankfully, he reacted fast enough.
Kane didn't falter. "Golduck, use Muddy Water!"
If he couldn't seal the move, then he'd obscure Togekiss's vision
No way it could hit without seeing its target.
Golduck dove under once more.
A second later, murky water erupted upward, churning with mud.
"Whoa—! Incredible water control from Golduck!" the commentator shouted while dodging the spray.
"With the field flooded like this, how will Togekiss find its target?"
The audience watched, holding their breath.
The battle was perfectly balanced, nothing like the dull stall match earlier between Serperior and Wobbuffet.
"Use Magical Leaf," Silas commanded.
There was another reason Togekiss was chosen — this little Pokémon had learned far more moves than most.
Who knows how many tricks it picked up from its teammates?
Maybe not all mastered, but it knew them.
Two or three bluish-purple leaves floated beside Togekiss.
The little one looked shy, but still sent them whirling into the muddy storm.
Though the Muddy Water disrupted their flight, their direction remained clear —
Revealing Golduck's position.
Kane had no choice but to halt the attack.
Golduck surfaced once more in the now-clear pool, glaring upward.
One Pokémon in the air, one in the water — they faced each other across the field.
Kane clicked his tongue. Battling from the ground against a flying opponent was really troublesome.
"Golduck, use Rain Dance," he ordered.
If nothing else, the rain would slow down Togekiss's speed and in heavy rain, maintaining altitude would quickly drain its stamina.
.....
Hi For access to additional chapters of
Director in Hollywood (40 chpaters)
Made In Hollywood (60 Chapters)
Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)
Hollywood:From Razzie to Legend(40 Chapters)
The Great Ruler(30 Chapters)
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu