Chapter 359: Easy Pickings
"Go, Shiftry!" Frank recalled Ursaring and sent out his Grass-type Shiftry. Ground/Water Marshtomp was 4x weak to Grass. Frank would not be Frank if he didn't exploit this type advantage.
The battle resumed quickly.
"Shiftry, Magical Leaf!" Frank was determined. If his Shiftry knew Leaf Storm, he would have opened with that. He had lost the first round too quickly. If he couldn't win this round cleanly, he would be thoroughly humiliated. Although his opponent was Basalt, Basalt had sent out Marshtomp, a newly trained Pokémon, and the type advantage was massive. If he lost this, he might as well go ram his head into a block of tofu.
"Dro-teh!" Shiftry screeched. It quickly swung its leafy arms, and a green storm of leaves surged forward with immense power. If this hit, Marshtomp would surely be one-hit KO'd. The 4x weakness was brutal.
But Marshtomp was not about to lose so easily. Precisely because of this weakness, Basalt had trained Marshtomp specifically to deal with it.
"Icy Wind!" Basalt waved his hand.
Whoosh!
An icy-cold blast of wind shot out from Marshtomp's mouth, meeting the leaf storm. As the wind passed, the emerald-green leaves were instantly frozen and shattered, falling to the ground as ice fragments.
"Such pure Ice-type energy! It's rare to see a Water-type Pokémon master Ice moves to this degree," someone in the crowd remarked. "I bet Basalt used Icy Rock to purify Marshtomp's Ice-type energy. Otherwise, the move couldn't be that powerful. I'd wager when this Marshtomp evolves, mastering Ice Beam will be a certainty."
"Huh? Icy Rock? I don't have that," Basalt thought, bewildered. He was currently focused on developing Marshtomp's STAB moves. In his plan, Marshtomp would eventually be capable of creating a swamp domain—an organic combination of Water and Ground moves. The swamp would weaken and swallow opponents, allowing Marshtomp to finish them off in close combat. This was the strategy he truly envisioned.
"Shiftry, Double Team and get closer!" Frank commanded again. Since a ranged attack was useless, he decided to use speed to close the distance, while using Double Team to confuse the opponent, waiting for a chance to strike.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Dozens of clones formed, charging forward menacingly.
"Double Team? Are you serious?" Basalt chuckled. His Marshtomp had practically made a name for itself with its Foresight counter. But realizing Marshtomp had never revealed its trick at school, Basalt relaxed.
"Well then, let's show everyone what my Marshtomp can do today."
Basalt focused his gaze. He didn't even have to give a command. As the Shiftry clones spread out, Marshtomp narrowed its eyes, sensing everything. Its gills and fins twitched, taking in the environment. It found the Shiftry's true body immediately. Target locked!
Then, a light flashed over Marshtomp's body, boosting its defense. Defense Curl! At the same time, Ice-type energy gathered, forming a thin layer of ice around its body.
The now-emotionless Marshtomp, its eyes flashing with light, suddenly moved with lightning speed.
"Marsh-tomp!"
It transformed into an Ice Ball and slammed into the real Shiftry.
BOOM!
The Ice Ball connected. The stunned Shiftry was sent flying, its body covered in frost, its limbs stiffening.
"He... he hit it!" The crowd was astonished. Frank's famed Double Team technique was instantly broken by Marshtomp. And after the initial hit, Marshtomp relentlessly followed up with a second Ice Ball, taking Shiftry out immediately.
"Shiftry is unable to battle! The winner is... Basalt!" the referee quickly announced.
One sweep! Two rounds! The first match ended in three moves, and everyone thought it was fast. But the second, where Frank was prepared, was even quicker, ending in two moves.
"Basalt is just unstoppable!"
The students of Battle Class 1 sighed, humbled. They knew Basalt's aces were Excadrill, Bronzong, and Cradily. Yet, he was easily defeating the top students with just one "small fry" like Marshtomp, securing a two-win lead. They had to admit his strength.
"Basalt, I thought you were going to go easy on me?" Frank approached him, looking utterly dejected.
"Wasn't I easy on you?" Basalt said, a little confused. "If I had sent out Excadrill, your Ursaring and Shiftry wouldn't have lasted one round."
Frank was speechless.
After the first match, Basalt rested and watched the others. It was a long story. His second opponent was not even Advanced-rank yet, easily falling to Marshtomp. Marshtomp needed to use its full arsenal to win the final round, though.
Marshtomp's "Foresight +" tactic was too devastating. Unless an opponent completely overwhelmed Marshtomp, they would be helpless.
With that, Basalt easily qualified for the next stage.
"This Marshtomp is being raised well. Once it evolves, it will definitely be an ace!" Mr. Burton's eyes shone with approval. But inwardly, he was worried. Marshtomp was improving so fast, clearly showing Basalt's intense focus. But this might mean he was neglecting his three main powerhouses. This internal competition meant nothing to Mr. Burton. He needed Basalt to focus on the grade-wide ranking match. He still hadn't seen Basalt's aces, which made him feel uneasy.
☆☆☆
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(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