In that fight with Pawmi, Jason didn't exactly lose unjustly.
You could call it his first real Pokémon battle since coming to this world. Before that, all his battle knowledge came from games. He was used to thinking like a "trainer," issuing commands. At that moment, he forgot he was the Pokémon. That's why he kept making mistakes, lost the fight, and nearly got caught.
While cosplaying an Oran Berry in the burrow these last few days, besides observing the Tandemaus and maxing their Dex entry, he spent most of his time thinking this through. In his mind, he put himself into each form he'd unlocked and simulated battles over and over.
He stopped acting like a commander and tried to feel, to understand, to become the Pokémon. He kept studying how to squeeze the most out of a Ditto's strengths.
Now was the moment to test that closed-door training.
Watching the Talonflame dive at him, Jason—badly wounded—showed not a hint of panic. His yellow eyes were calm as still water, frighteningly composed.
With a thought—no extra motion—countless razor-edged stones condensed out of thin air around him, floating into a tight, seamless barrier.
Stealth Rock.
The female Talonflame hadn't expected this half-dead opponent to still have bite. Jason's timing was perfect, laying a net right across her dive path; she had no time to dodge. But she only sneered. In her fury-lit hawk eyes, the move was beneath contempt.
Just a few pebbles—how bad could it hurt? Compared to the death she was about to deliver, it was nothing.
I'll get a scratch; you'll be dead.
She needed to reclaim her dignity as sky's sovereign after being embarrassed in front of her chick.
With a piercing shriek, she slammed straight into the stone screen.
Crack! Thud-thud!
Shards punched through feathers and into flesh. Pain ripped a cry from her throat and stalled her dive. The hit from Stealth Rock hurt far more than she'd imagined.
She still gritted through it, smashing through with beak and talons, glaring murderously at Jason. Her voice was hoarse and vicious: "Parlor tricks. Let's see what you use to stop this one. I'll make you wish for a quick death!"
Jason only gave his body a slight wobble.
His faintly teasing voice carried cleanly to her: "Easy. We're not done yet."
"?"
That steady confidence in his tone made her blink. Strange—this Pokémon looked weak, its aura ragged from heavy wounds. Where did that confidence come from? Just because he tanked one Flare Blitz? So he got cocky—thought he could match the sky's monarch?
Ridiculous.
As she gathered strength for the finisher, the corner of her eye caught something behind the shattered stones: tiny purple caltrops venting poison, tucked out of sight.
Toxic Spikes?!
Her heart lurched. When—when did he set those?
Jason only chuckled. He certainly wasn't going to explain they weren't "set" at all—but came from Glimmet's ability, Toxic Debris: when hit by a physical move, it scatters Toxic Spikes around itself.
Right—when her earth-shattering Flare Blitz connected, the ability had already laced the area with hidden spikes. His Stealth Rock wasn't just for damage; it masked those tiny killers with visual clutter.
By the time she realized, it was too late. As she burst through the stones and exposed herself, the hidden spikes drove into her.
"Urgh!"
Paralyzing pain from the poison wracked her again. She could feel a cold toxin racing through her, draining her strength.
"I'll… I'll kill you!"
Humiliation plus poison burned away her reason. One thought remained: rip him apart now, then retreat and heal.
But as she lunged, a cluster of rounded stones whistled toward her—
Ancient Power.
Thud! Thud!
The hits staggered her and drew another cry. And then Jason felt a warm surge bloom at his core and flood his body—every stat jumped.
All his abilities rose at once.
He brightened. "Huh? The 10% full-stat boost procced on the first try? Guess my luck's cracked today."
That was Ancient Power's special effect: after dealing damage, a 10% chance to raise Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, and Speed by one stage.
With her poisoned and hurt and him amped across the board, the scales tipped decisively.
He looked at the female Talonflame—breath ragged from poison and wounds—and finally felt a bit of confidence. In a mild, advisory tone he said, "Like this, and you're still not running? Keep it up and it'll be too late."
She stared at him like he'd grown a second head and snorted. "I have the advantage, and you tell me to run? You're bluffing. I can see it—you're at your limit. One more hit and you're down."
"You can't talk a death-seeker out of it," Jason thought, giving up on reasoning.
His crystal petals slowly opened. Viscous purple toxin welled between them, gathering fast—then he unleashed it.
Venoshock.
A pressurized torrent of purple poison blasted toward her like a fire hose. Her arrogant cry cut off at once. For the first time, fear—real fear—flashed in her eyes. The instant it hit, the toxin already in her system detonated—a wave of agony ten times worse shredded her nerves.
Venoshock doubles in power against poisoned targets.
The last straw.
She panicked. Only now did she grasp that the "weakling" wasn't someone she could afford to provoke. She wheeled to flee, burning her last strength toward the breach and the open sky.
But as Jason had warned—too late.
She flapped a few times, lifted only a few meters; the light died in her eyes. She went limp like a cut kite and crashed to the ground in a puff of dust. The once-brilliant plumage had lost all luster.
Jason could feel it: her life force was gone.
He hadn't meant to meddle between them and the Maushold—but she'd opened with a kill move. He'd merely protected himself.
He let out a dry, mocking huff.
You had the advantage?
Buddy, I've got 105 base Sp. Atk, plus Ancient Power's +1 Sp. Atk, and I'm firing Venoshock for double damage against a poisoned target. You really thought you could survive after Flare Blitz recoil, a hit from Stealth Rock, getting poisoned, and eating an Ancient Power to the face?