On Reiji's side, the first exchange alone flipped the battle—because the brute had misjudged his own team. When Breloom entered its Poison Heal state and tried to tank Poliwhirl's Ice Punch, it was launched into a tree so hard the trunk dented inward.
"Poliwhirl, press the advantage—Ice Punch again!"
"Poli!" Poliwhirl bent its knees, water welled underfoot, and it sprang like a shell from a cannon. White frost flared around its fist. The blow landed before Breloom could react, dropping it cold.
With Breloom down, Reiji snapped, "Poliwhirl, help Krabby—use Waterfall. Don't hold back!"
Machoke was pure Fighting-type; Ice Punch and Mega Punch STAB and wouldn't get a held-item boost. A single-strike Waterfall, though, did—STAB and item both.
Seeing his Breloom fall in the opening exchange, the brute finally realized his mistake. He'd intended for Breloom to stall a few turns while Machoke finished Krabby, then double-team Poliwhirl and pick Reiji's team apart.
But Poliwhirl's burst power was far beyond his expectations, and Breloom's fragility had wrecked the plan. It hadn't even gotten Leech Seed off—two Ice Punches and it was out.
It wasn't that Breloom was uniquely flimsy; Reiji had simply chosen the quickest breakpoint. Compared to strongest-vs-strongest, the gap at Krabby's lane was minor.
From the start, Reiji's goal was to use two big tanks to soak the brute's best. Rhyhorn could tie down Primeape—unafraid of Water and reasonably resistant to Ice-type hits. Four-times weak to Water yet still sturdy… an Ice Punch was just a scratch.
Krabby had Harden and a tough shell; with defenses stacked, if Machoke could still break through, Reiji would concede the lane.
And as for Poliwhirl, only the enemy Primeape could truly contest it—so Reiji sidestepped Primeape and hit their weakest link: Breloom.
Both Rhyhorn and Krabby were hard bodies. Primeape's Ice Punch thudded into Rhyhorn with no real effect, and Rhyhorn could even spear it upward with its horn.
Machoke's Thunder Punch scorched Krabby's shell black, but Krabby's counterstrokes didn't slow; those heavy claws forced Machoke to keep its arms up to guard.
The brute had underestimated Poliwhirl's burst, and also Krabby and Rhyhorn's sheer durability—and then…
"Damn that old tavern geezer. He must've sold my info—that's why they opened on Breloom…"
He thought of the barkeep and seethed. If only he'd silenced him sooner. A winning hand, and he'd played it to pieces.
He no longer wanted this fight. He reached for Breloom's Poké Ball to recall it and bolt with Primeape and Machoke—
—only for a Poison Sting to smack the ball from his hand. Silk shot after it, webbing the ball to the dirt.
He flicked his flashlight up. A Spinarak was perched above—one of Reiji's ten, just as his lackey had warned.
"Primeape, Machoke—we're leaving!"
Swish—swish—swish—
Pelipper dropped in front, wings gleaming white as a spray of wind blades slashed toward him. Primeape vaulted out to shield its trainer, taking the Flying-type punishment on both arms.
The brute cut sideways to flee—only for an electric net to drop from above and herd him back. He broke the other way—Spinarak's Poison Sting met him there.
Pelipper, Butterfree, and Spinarak pinned him. Reiji closed in with Poliwhirl, Krabby, and Rhyhorn, penning Primeape and Machoke inside a six-Pokémon ring.
Front, back, above, below—every exit was blocked. The brute's eyes went hard. The only way out was through the "kid" who'd set this ambush.
"Hit the human!" he roared.
Primeape's fists crackled as it charged Reiji—
—but Poliwhirl cut it off, crooking a finger in a wordless taunt. "Poli, poli…"
When the others moved to help, Poliwhirl threw an arm out, demanding a clean one-on-one.
"Careful of Thunder Punch—don't meet water to fist. Use Ice Punch," Reiji warned, then fell silent.
"Poli!" Poliwhirl surged in with Waterfall and the duel reignited.
Thunder lit Primeape's fists; frost sheeted Poliwhirl's. Their punches collided—
—BOOM!
Leaves blasted up in a ring. Both were hurled back.
"An explosion?" Reiji blinked, mind flashing to middle-school physics—the heating effect of current. If electricity super-heated the ice sheathing an Ice Punch on contact, the rapid expansion at the impact plane could blow the clash apart.
He wasn't here to lecture physics; the point was the phenomenon had tactical value—especially against Electric types. He filed it away as a promising derivative of Waterfall + Ice Punch synergy.
With Primeape tied up, the brute shoved Machoke forward, Thunder Punch blazing as he tried to break through to Reiji. He followed right behind it.
Spinarak hopped to Reiji's shoulder, his last line of defense—nothing would touch its trainer.
Thud—thud—thud—
Machoke slammed into Rhyhorn and actually drove it backward. Reiji couldn't help but respect the raw power—it could meet a tree-splitting charge head-on.
Out of Pokémon up close, the brute made one last play, whipping another Poké Ball from his pocket and hurling it at Reiji.
Reiji's pupils tightened. He slid back—he wasn't bare-handing anything that popped out of a ball. A knife didn't change that; in this world, people didn't beat Pokémon—Pokémon beat Pokémon.
Pop!
A shrill buzz filled the air.
"Beedrill—Poison Sting the human!"
"Spinarak—up the trunk! Return fire!" Reiji dove behind a tree as needles stitched the bark. He wasn't catching those head-on.
"Spinarak, web its flight path!"
"Brat, let's see who protects you now!" the brute snarled, snapping his flashlight off and lunging through the dark for the boy himself.
Reiji was already crouched, grip tight on the knife. The moment the shadow pounced around the trunk, he rolled past, ripping a vicious line across the man's calf as he slipped by, then widened the gap.
The brute gasped, flicked his light back on, and saw blood pouring from the torn muscle. He swung a long, wide machete; Reiji didn't contest, but sprang clear and sprinted toward his team.
"Butterfree, Pelipper—now! Drop him!" Reiji pointed. With the man's leg ruined, he wasn't running far.
"Peli!" Pelipper had been waiting; without Reiji's order, it had held its strike. Now its wings flashed white and a dozen razor wind blades hammered the trunk, forcing the brute to cover up and duck behind it.
"Butterfree—Sleep Powder and Stun Spore!" Reiji called. This was the advantage of numbers.
Poliwhirl had Primeape. Rhyhorn and Krabby had Machoke. Spinarak had Beedrill. That left Butterfree and Pelipper—more than enough to finish the man.
The brute knew he had to flee. With two of his Pokémon tied, he couldn't recall them. He dragged his bleeding leg, gritting against the pain, and bolted—abandoning Primeape, Machoke, even Breloom.
Live first; revenge later. Dead men spent no money.
But the farther he ran, the heavier his eyelids got—Butterfree's powder drifted from ahead. He cut to the side—more wind blades chased him.
He ducked behind another tree, mind flickering to his brother in the hospital, to the millions in his bank, to the pleasures he hadn't finished tasting. He didn't want to die…
Thud.
He tripped over a root and crashed into the leaf litter—and didn't rise again.
Pelipper and Butterfree perched above. Pelipper sent a few testing blades into his skull; the head dented inward. No response.
Pelipper swooped down, gripped the body, and hauled it back toward the main fight with Butterfree.
By then, the field had broken. Beedrill had slipped away; Spinarak couldn't catch it, and Reiji called off the chase.
Machoke, bound up by Rhyhorn and Krabby, had finally eaten a clean slam from Krabby's claw and lay unconscious.
Reiji reached Poliwhirl's clearing. Twigs and trunks lay shattered everywhere—the wreckage of two Elite-tier Pokémon going all out.
Poliwhirl's body was seared with black lightning marks; it had eaten plenty of Thunder Punches.
Primeape wasn't better—charred all over, its fists mangled by explosion backlash. Poliwhirl's own fists were battered too.
In the end, the berserking Primeape had been weathered down. Poliwhirl froze it with Ice Punch; when Primeape thawed itself out with Fire Punch, Poliwhirl's held-back strike landed and knocked it senseless. Now it lay under a tree, eyes spiraled into that Poliwhirl daze.
"You did it, Poliwhirl—beat a stronger foe alone," Reiji said, patting its shoulder—only to twitch as a jolt bit his fingers.
"Paralyzed? You've got paralysis?" He swung his light over the Pokémon. Poliwhirl hadn't moved, face tight with pain, bracing through it.
Reiji quickly poured a Paralyze Heal down its throat, then misted its injuries with a Potion spray—especially the fists, blackened by the blast. He doused them thoroughly.
A heavy thump sounded behind him.
"Peli, peli—"
"Pelipper? Butterfree?" Reiji turned his beam and saw the brute's crushed head. Very dead.
"Go help the kid," he ordered Pelipper, Butterfree, and Spinarak—the three with stamina left. "Don't let the other one get away."
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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