Would a Meowscarada that no longer cared about winning or losing become weaker?
No. Once it let go of the pressure of victory and defeat, Meowscarada's eyes seemed calmer, almost free.
It stared at the huge Pokémon closing in on it, that walking wall of steel, with a cold, focused, even fierce look. To Meowscarada, the giant in front of it no longer felt like a mountain it had to climb. It felt more like a small, forgettable moment in its own brilliant life as a cat.
Leech Seed!
Meowscarada tossed a flower bud filled with tiny, wicked seeds onto Archaludon. The seeds took root at once, sinking into the flesh beneath its hard alloy shell and drawing out energy to heal Meowscarada.
The move made Archaludon deeply uncomfortable. For any large creature, the worst trouble often comes from the smallest pests.
Back in Nova's old world, even giant whales suffered because of barnacles, and thick old trees could slowly be strangled to death by climbing vines.
Leech Seed was far more annoying in practice than it looked in a simple battle log.
Archaludon was now both hurting and itching thanks to Meowscarada's sudden move, and it clearly showed. Seeing her prized Pokémon struggling, Diane wasted no time ordering its next attack.
"Big Darling, use Gyro Ball!"
Diane had clearly studied Archaludon's moveset closely. Gyro Ball's power wasn't fixed, but the slower the user was compared to its target, the harder the move hit.
Archaludon's Speed had already been dragged down to its lowest by several ability effects, and it had also been struck twice by Meowscarada's Low Sweep. It now stood as still as a mountain, needing a long time just to take one step.
Meowscarada, on the other hand, was among the fastest attackers around. With such a huge Speed gap, Gyro Ball's power could climb as high as 150!
The instant Nova sensed the danger, he gave a sharp, precise command.
"Meowscarada, use Chilling Water!"
Meowscarada raised a paw, and like a skilled magician's trick, a stream of cold water appeared from nowhere and slammed into the steel giant's head.
Chilling Water was a small move with only 50 Base Power. The damage wasn't much, but its effect was very useful: it could lower the target's physical Attack by one stage.
Since Gyro Ball was a physical move, Chilling Water helped limit the huge damage boost coming from the Speed gap.
Even better, before the attack landed, Protean activated again, changing Meowscarada into a Water-type. Water-types resist Steel-type moves, so this single move both weakened Archaludon's Attack and strengthened Meowscarada's own defense against what was coming.
Even so, Gyro Ball still landed with terrible force. Meowscarada was knocked to the ground and could barely stand.
Nova realized that in its current state, Meowscarada had no way to truly crack Archaludon's absurd, fortress-like defenses in a straight fight. He wasn't going to let it wear itself down any further.
"Meowscarada, you've done more than enough. Leave the rest to Nidoking!"
Meowscarada nodded and caught its breath. It rose to its feet, and then, right under Archaludon's dismissive gaze, it vanished!
Something was wrong.
Archaludon tried to turn and look, but its two front legs had already taken two hard hits from Low Sweep, and it simply couldn't twist its body around in time.
By then, Meowscarada had already swapped places with a small patch of yellow sand at the edge of the field.
It was now only five meters from Diane.
Meowscarada seemed to say, Watch closely, you crazy woman. This is how a real Pokémon battle is fought.
Petal Blizzard!
This was a Grass-type move that struck in every direction at once. Meowscarada's real target was Archaludon across the field, but the first to feel the attack would be Diane, standing right beside it.
Petals made of pure Grass-type energy burst into bright pink light the instant they touched anything.
Altaria immediately used Cotton Guard. A wall of soft fluff appeared between Diane and Meowscarada in an instant, catching the stray petals before they could reach her.
But Petal Blizzard wasn't a weak move, and Meowscarada's Double Magician triggered a second use right after. The blasts scattered the soft cotton in every direction.
Diane immediately protested. "Referee! He's attacking the Trainer! That's against the rules!"
But Gilbert ignored her complaint and waved his flag to signal that the match would continue.
Meowscarada was still standing inside the field, and even though its move struck in all directions, its actual target was Archaludon.
If the attack had truly hit Diane, Nova would have been disqualified for injuring an opposing Trainer.
But it hadn't touched her at all, so what was she shouting about?
Honestly, this whole match was strange from the start. What kind of Trainer brings two or three bodyguards to stand beside them during an official battle?
Nova was treating a battle without a proper stadium like a street fight with rules. He might as well have been inventing a whole new style.
In short, Nova's way of thinking was far ahead of the current rulebook. If the referee hadn't been his own martial uncle, Nova might have even found a way to use him strategically.
For instance, if Archaludon used Gyro Ball again, Nova could have stood in front of the referee and stepped aside at the last moment, letting the attack hit Gilbert instead.
Diane's protest changed nothing, and Meowscarada's next move was already ready.
Another Petal Blizzard!
This time, both Druddigon and Altaria used Protect to shield themselves.
That was exactly the opening Meowscarada needed. While both defenders were busy guarding against the attack, Meowscarada triggered Ally Switch again, swapping places with a small stone right in front of Diane.
Meowscarada now stood face to face with Diane, and it clearly wasn't in the mood to be polite.
A paw the size of a sandbag swung through the air and struck true.