Chapter 254: Trick Room
Although the Wildgrass Team that Arthur was currently facing had a poor record and a mixed bag of players, their doubles lineup, just looking at the Pokémon combination, was actually quite well-thought-out.
After all, these were starting players in the official pro league. No matter how weak they were, they wouldn't be worse than a youth training camp team.
The two Pokémon on the field right now were a Torkoal and a Hatterene.
Torkoal, as its name suggests, looked like a large tortoise.
Hatterene, on the other hand, had a more abstract appearance. It was tall and slender, resembling a pink and white mushroom. Its head featured a feminine human-like face, crowned with a blue, cap-like structure.
Hatterene's typing is Psychic/Fairy.
They are a female-only species, much like Nidorina and Nidoqueen, with their male counterpart being Grimmsnarl.
...Despite the fact that the two look nothing alike.
In official classifications, Hatterene is categorized as a Human-Like Pokémon, but its behavior is actually closer to that of a plant.
Once it takes root somewhere, it rarely moves, relying entirely on its psychic powers and allure to hunt for food in the wild.
It's not that they can't move, but rather that their movement speed is very, very, very slow.
This trait synergized perfectly with the tortoise-like pace of Torkoal.
Normally, such a combination would be ill-suited for arena battles, essentially making them living targets to be kited to death.
However, herein lies the magic of Pokémon—
One particular move saved this entire category of Pokémon, becoming their signature trump card.
That move was—
"Hatterene, use Trick Room!" (Note 1)
Right at the start of the match, the opponent gave the command for their famous signature move!
Trick Room: A Psychic-type move. Its effect is to create a bizarre space where all fast-moving creatures are met with immense resistance, while stationary Pokémon are surged with energy.
This is a power that, to this day, cannot be deconstructed by human science. No scholar has yet been able to crack the principles behind it.
It's as if it directly alters the rules within a small pocket of space, turning movement into a transgression and stillness into a virtue.
In the arena, this move is the bane of all high-agility, high-speed Pokémon.
This was another crucial reason why Arthur had adamantly refused the club's advice and chose not to use Greninja for this match.
The moment the opponent's Trick Room was activated, it enveloped more than half of the battlefield. If Greninja had been on the field, its only viable option would have been to stand still and throw shurikens.
At the same time, as soon as Torkoal appeared, it began spewing vast amounts of steam from its nostrils and the holes on its back. The steam gathered in the air, eventually condensing into a massive, artificial light source above everyone's heads.
Torkoal's ability: Drought!
Similar to the Drizzle ability of the Otter Team's Pelipper from their rain-and-thunder combo, this was a pseudo-weather ability. The light source it created was effectively the same as the move Sunny Day.
Under this light, the power of Water-type moves was suppressed, which neatly neutralized one of Torkoal's major weaknesses.
Then, remaining stationary, it took a deep breath and exhaled!
"Flamethrower!"
A scorching pillar of fire ripped through the air!
Fortunately, Little Lapras and Asher's Nidoking had both retreated at the very beginning of the match, having already anticipated this move from the opponent.
They were now positioned at the edge of their side of the field, just outside the range of Trick Room. The blazing column of fire had to cross most of the arena to reach them, giving them ample time to react.
Both Pokémon dodged the attack successfully.
The pillar of fire slammed into the protective barrier at the edge of the field, shattering into a shower of fiery rain. The spectacular display drew cheers from the crowd.
From this, the enemy team's strategy became clear—
Use Trick Room to lock down the enemy's speed, dragging them down to their own tortoise-like pace, and then defeat them using their extensive experience in stationary turret-style battles.
Torkoal's move range had clearly been a focus of its training. It was rare for a Fire-type Pokémon to be able to shoot a Flamethrower that far, spanning the entire arena from inside Trick Room to the outside.
Usually, their opponents' Pokémon lacked such long-range capabilities. They were left with two choices: either stay outside the field and dodge, unable to retaliate, or step inside for a true test of grit—a stationary slugfest!
Rushing them down was practically impossible. Under the suppression of Trick Room, even a move like Extreme Speed would struggle to build up momentum. The immense resistance was like swimming through gel; every movement required a hundred times the normal stamina.
Arthur and Asher exchanged a glance and quickly decided on their response.
"You go in first, Nidoking."
Asher gave the command without hesitation.
Although Arthur hadn't informed the team about using Lapras, he had discussed it with Asher beforehand. They had anticipated this exact situation and had a plan ready—
"Now, use Amnesia!"
Nidoking, stepping deliberately into the Trick Room's domain, stood its ground. It flexed its chest, spread its arms slightly, and let out a mighty roar!
The energy cloaking its muscles grew thicker, while its eyes took on a look of pure innocence.
Amnesia, a Psychic-type move: empty the mind, abandon all intellect. For the cost of zero intelligence during its cooldown, the user gains a buff that massively increases its resistance to special attacks for a period of time!
After that incredibly domineering roar, Nidoking was left with the intelligence of a drooling toddler…
Normally, this might be a huge problem, but in this particular matchup, it didn't matter.
With Trick Room active, both sides were destined to be stationary turrets. They couldn't get across, and the two inherently slow opponents on the other side definitely couldn't get across.
Nidoking maintained its philosophical chest-flexing pose, standing at the edge of the Trick Room with a "wise" expression, forming the perfect living shield.
And Little Lapras seized this opportunity!
"Use Ice Beam!"
At Arthur's command, Little Lapras unleashed a beam of crystalline ice straight at Hatterene!
As the opponent reeled in pain and prepared to retaliate, she used her water-gliding steps to deftly move behind Nidoking.
Throughout the entire exchange, Little Lapras never once entered the Trick Room's domain.
Her beam's range was just as impressive as Torkoal's Flamethrower, easily crossing the entire arena to hit her target.
Now, she hid in the small sliver of battlefield space left outside the Trick Room, constantly sliding left and right, using the "wise-looking" Nidoking as a meat shield while engaging in a long-range firefight with the two opposing Pokémon.
"Flamethrower!"
"Psyshock!"
"Ice Beam!"
During this exchange, Nidoking ultimately tanked all the hits, its eyes becoming clearer and more serene…
As if it had been purged of all worldly desires.
At this point, the commentators began to exclaim in awe and amazement.
"It seems Arthur from the Sea Carp Team has given us another surprise! No one could have predicted that his Lapras would be able to completely match the skill range of two veteran players from the Wildgrass Team!"
____________________________________
Author's Note (Ps: Regarding Note 1):
Trick Room is a classic and famous move. Any fan who has played or even watched a bit of competitive Pokémon has likely heard of it.
It was introduced in the fourth generation (Diamond and Pearl) and it's no exaggeration to say that it single-handedly changed the entire Pokémon battle landscape.
In the original games, the effect of this move is: for the next 5 turns, the turn order is reversed, allowing slower Pokémon to move first.
This move completely shattered the previous meta of mindlessly stacking speed to get the first hit, making it a generation-defining move.
Therefore, as a fanfiction that focuses heavily on battles, Trick Room absolutely had to make an appearance.
However, I've always struggled with how to adapt this move for a realistic, non-turn-based setting. After all, a real battle isn't turn-based, and speed isn't a fixed stat.
After much deliberation, I decided to make a major change, similar to what I did with "Mean Look." I've taken significant creative liberties, keeping only the core concept.
From now on in this book, "Trick Room" will operate based on this new interpretation. So please, don't worry about the "slow Pokémon move first" rule~
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 35 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you