Chapter 180: So-Called Predatory Nature
"Ash, give it another try!"
Natsume gave up his own turn and looked to Ash instead. Rotom's endurance was high, and its level exceeded Pidgeotto's. Even though Quick Attack landed a critical hit, it only shaved off a sliver of HP.
"Okay! We're not giving up. Pidgeotto, use Hurricane!"
[Pidgeotto's fighting spirit gathered again. Pidgeotto used Hurricane and landed a critical hit!]
Another critical hit?
Natsume blinked, then realized what was happening. Could this be the so-called effect of fighting spirit? If it's only that, it feels a bit underwhelming.
Natsume waved his hand. "Rotom, use Curse Ball!"
"Pidgeotto, dodge it!"
A violet beam shot out. Just as it neared Pidgeotto, the latter slipped past it.
[Pidgeotto was inspired and evaded the attack. Its fighting spirit is building.]
Natsume: "???"
He remembered this was a move with 100% accuracy, and this was a rules battlefield! There's even a "dodge the hit" effect? Natsume chalked it up to Ash's encouragement.
"Good! Pidgeotto, use Wing Attack!"
[Pidgeotto was inspired. Its fighting spirit is building. Wing Attack hit Rotom!]
"Curse Ball!"
This time, before Pidgeotto had gotten far, a violet beam struck it head-on.
"Not good!" Ash's face changed. "Pidgeotto, you have to hang in there!"
[Pidgeotto was inspired. Its fighting spirit has reached a peak. Something miraculous is happening.]
"What?" Natsume was completely baffled.
The Pidgeotto being dragged by the violet beam froze in midair. The next second, white evolutionary light bloomed across its body.
"Incredible! Ash's Pidgeotto was driven to the brink, yet turned crisis into opportunity and evolved!" Meisuke cried, his voice alight with excitement.
"Huh?" Natsume was still a little stunned.
There's nothing too surprising about this. In Pokémon battles, growth happens every second, and plenty of Pokémon evolve mid-fight. But this is a rules battlefield, the type where battle experience is tallied after the match—
Forget it. They said it was something miraculous. Things that can happen in real battles count as miraculous if they happen here. Natsume wordlessly looked at the newly evolved Pidgeot.
Although it had evolved, the evolution's glow only stalled Curse Ball for a brief instant. Once evolution finished, Pidgeot was still dragged into Mewtwo Ball Rotom without the slightest resistance.
"Pidgeot, you've got to hold on!" Ash shouted, urgent.
[Pidgeot's fighting spirit broke its limit!]
Natsume tensed for a moment, thinking something even sunnier awaited him.
[Mewtwo Ball Rotom plundered Pidgeot's HP. Mewtwo Ball Rotom recovered HP!] [Mewtwo Ball Rotom plundered Pidgeot's energy. Curse Ball PP +1!] [Mewtwo Ball Rotom attempted to plunder Pidgeot's stat boosts. Pidgeot has no boosts!] [Mewtwo Ball Rotom attempted to plunder Pidgeot's held item. Pidgeot is not holding an item!] [Mewtwo Ball Rotom plundered Pidgeot's fighting spirit. Mewtwo Ball Rotom entered a bond-empowered state!] [Pidgeot's fighting spirit dropped to zero. Pidgeot is unable to battle!]
A string of announcements rolled by. The next moment, a fainted Pidgeot was released in a flash of violet light by Mewtwo Ball Rotom.
"Pidgeot is unable to battle! Challenger Ash, please send out your next Pokémon!" the referee declared loudly.
Seeing this, Natsume wiped the nonexistent sweat from his brow. Whew—gave him a scare. Fortunately, his Mewtwo Ball Rotom was the sunnier one.
"Too strong!" Ash's gaze burned as he looked at Natsume. "Go, Squirtle!"
"Squirtle-squirtle!"
A Squirtle wearing downward-pointing triangle sunglasses struck a pose and appeared. But when it saw Rotom floating midair, Squirtle's cocky expression vanished without a trace. It slowly pushed up its sunglasses, revealing its now wide eyes. It sized up the silent, hovering Mewtwo Ball Rotom. Then Squirtle turned back to Ash, pointing at itself and then at Mewtwo Ball Rotom.
"Squirtle, squirtle." Squirtle shook its head vigorously.
"Don't be afraid, Squirtle! Show your fighting spirit!"
[Squirtle was inspired. Its fighting spirit is building.]
Natsume was dumbfounded. One second it had no will to fight, and the next it was like Ash had possessed it, suddenly fired up. Natsume made up his mind. His future academy would be called Sunshine Academy, and Ash would be the honorary dean.
"Curse Ball!" Natsume struck first.
"Squirtle, dodge it!"
[Squirtle's fighting spirit is building. Rotom's attack hit Squirtle!] [Rotom plundered—]
A moment later, a dazed Squirtle was released.
"Squirtle is unable to battle! Challenger Ash, please send out your next Pokémon!"
"Darn it! Go, Bulbasaur!"
[Bulbasaur's fighting spirit is building!]
Perhaps because Rotom had also plundered "fighting spirit," its aim improved. The next few Pokémon Ash sent out did not, at Ash's "Dodge it!", miraculously evade this 100% accurate Curse Ball.
After these rounds of move testing, Natsume roughly understood what made Mewtwo Ball more "predatory" than a normal Ultra Ball.
If the Pokémon confined within could be defeated outright, then Mewtwo Ball Rotom could plunder some of that Pokémon's HP, energy, held item, stat boosts, and other special states. As for the specifics, Natsume wasn't entirely sure—he only knew even the boost effects caused by the Bond Authority within Ash could be plundered by Mewtwo Ball Rotom.
So the performance really is on a different level!
If the Pokémon confined within could not be defeated outright, then Mewtwo Ball Rotom could only plunder held items and boosts. Take Charizard, for example.
"Charizard, don't give in! Seismic Toss!"
"Rooaaar—!"
Rotom was hoisted high, then slammed hard into the ground.
[Charizard used Seismic Toss. A critical hit!]
Unfortunately, because the previous Pokémon had all been defeated outright, Rotom's condition was superb, its HP exceedingly healthy.
"Extinction Ball!" Natsume switched moves.
Black-and-white light spilled out, stripping all color from the surroundings. In an instant, the beam that would have recalled Charizard snapped back and dragged it into Mewtwo Ball Rotom. At the same time, Mewtwo Ball Rotom's eyes shut tight. The golden tracery across its body dimmed, and it froze in midair like a system crash.
"Pikachu, you're our last hope." Across the field, Ash lowered his head and drew a deep breath.
"Pika!" Pikachu clenched its little fists and leaped into the arena.
"Looks like I should switch, too." Natsume felt that Mewtwo Ball Rotom's testing was about done.
However, before he could act, the announcement came first.
[Mewtwo Ball Rotom's fighting spirit has reached a peak. Something miraculous is happening!]
Hearing that, Natsume blinked. Clearly, Mewtwo Ball Rotom's plundering came with heavy losses. It had needed to absorb five of Ash's Pokémon just to build its fighting spirit to a peak. Now Natsume was very curious. With its fighting spirit at the peak, what would happen to Mewtwo Ball Rotom?
[Mewtwo Ball Rotom recovered mobility!]
The dim tracery lit up again. Mewtwo Ball Rotom shuddered, flashed a jet-black beam, and released the fainted Charizard.
"It can also clear certain negative effects inflicted by moves?" Natsume was taken aback.
He wondered if negative effects from Abilities could be cleared, or the fighting spirit Ash instilled. If it could, then at the very least he had to get Ash a Slaking.
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