"Then let's begin."
"Staraptor, Quick Attack!"
Barry wasted no words and struck first.
Gary hadn't expected Barry to be so disrespectful. There was nothing wrong with it according to the rules, but it showed no respect at all toward Gary, his senior.
Since that was how it was going to be, Gary figured that as the senior here, he might as well teach the kid a lesson.
Clang!!
Staraptor slammed head-on into Magnezone and immediately felt a sharp pain in its skull. This Magnezone was far too hard.
That was only natural—Magnezone's body was tough to begin with. It would have been strange if Staraptor could headbutt it without hurting itself.
"Lock On!" Gary ordered.
"Magnezone."
Magnezone locked onto its target at once, and a red targeting mark appeared over Staraptor.
"What?!"
Barry was shocked. He knew exactly what Lock On did. He quickly ordered, "Hurry, use Close Combat!"
"Staraptor~!"
Staraptor charged toward Magnezone.
"Zap Cannon!" Gary ordered.
"Magnezone."
Magnezone rapidly condensed an electric sphere and fired. With Lock On in effect, Zap Cannon would track its target automatically. Unless Staraptor forced its way straight through from the front, there was no dodging it.
"Staraptor!"
Staraptor was bold enough that it didn't even try to evade. It swung its wings and met the attack head-on.
Boom!!
Zap Cannon exploded.
Staraptor's whole body was engulfed in sparks. Stiffened by the electricity, it plummeted to the ground, crashing down and unable to rise again.
"What?!"
"My Staraptor was beaten in a single hit..."
Barry was stunned. He never imagined his invincible Staraptor would go down instantly.
"It seems you're not quite strong enough. Do you want me to send out something weaker to even things up?" Gary asked.
Barry: "Huh... (?~?)"
"No, my Pokémon aren't weak. I just haven't sent out my strongest ace yet," Barry said, unhappy.
"Fine, then keep sending them out. I'll stick with Magnezone the whole way. As long as you can beat it, you win," Gary said.
Barry's face flushed red.
He hadn't expected Gary to look down on him so much—trying to sweep his entire team with a single Pokémon. It was infuriating. He could put up with a lot of things, but this was not one of them.
"Hitmonlee, kick that Magnezone into the ground!" Barry sent out his next Pokémon.
Great!
[Lv. 45 Hitmonlee / Elite]
Gary studied Hitmonlee and remarked, "Good. At least you know to send out something with a type advantage."
"I'm not a rookie anymore." With that, Barry attacked at once. "Hitmonlee, use Jump Kick!"
"Hitmonlee!"
Hitmonlee sprang high into the air. With its spring-like legs, its jumping power was genuinely frightening—it soared through the air like a man in flight.
Unfortunately, going airborne in front of Magnezone was practically a death wish.
"Gravity."
The moment the word left Gary's mouth, Magnezone's body released a powerful magnetic force that warped the Gravity throughout the area. Hitmonlee, still mid-leap, suddenly felt a crushing weight bear down on its shoulders, and its body dropped like a stone. Jump Kick failed before it could ever land.
"Thunderbolt!" Gary ordered.
Electricity crackled outward from Magnezone's body, and a bolt of lightning shot forth, striking Hitmonlee. Yet Hitmonlee seemed to feel no numbness or pain at all.
"It seems to be immune to Thunderbolt."
"Limber Ability...!"
Gary quickly deduced Hitmonlee's Ability.
A Pokémon with Limber couldn't be paralyzed. On top of that, those with this kind of Ability didn't feel the numbing jolt of electric attacks, so they never seized up from a shock.
"Quick, use Blaze Kick!" Barry ordered.
"Hitmonlee!"
It couldn't jump, but it could still run. As a Fighting-type, Hitmonlee had tremendous physical strength, and merely increasing the Gravity wasn't enough to hold it down completely.
Hitmonlee closed in to attack range, and its spring-like legs burst into flames as it kicked out, covering several meters in an instant.
Clang!
Magnezone took the Blaze Kick and winced in pain, but the move didn't do much to it overall.
"Thunderbolt," Gary ordered calmly.
"Magnezone!"
Magnezone unleashed a Thunderbolt even thicker than the last, striking Hitmonlee instantly.
Hitmonlee still felt no numbness, but its body pitched forward against its will and it lost consciousness on the spot.
Limber may have kept Hitmonlee from being paralyzed, but it could still be damaged by Thunderbolt all the same.
"Hitmonlee..." Barry was speechless. He hadn't expected Hitmonlee to be no match for Magnezone either—two Pokémon down in a row.
"Do you want to consider giving up?" Gary suggested.
Although Gary wasn't certain which Pokémon Barry still had, he already knew Barry's ace was Empoleon.
Empoleon was a Water- and Steel-type, both of which put it at a disadvantage against Magnezone. On top of that, Steel-type Pokémon were natural lightning rods that practically invited Electric attacks.
Electric moves landed on Steel-types with terrifying accuracy.
"I won't give up."
"Roserade, please!"
Barry sent out his last Pokémon.
Great!
[Lv. 43 Roserade / Certified Elite]
When Gary saw Roserade appear, he was genuinely surprised. In his mind, the reckless Barry would surely have led with his strongest Pokémon, Empoleon.
Instead, Barry had calmed down and chosen a Pokémon whose typing at least kept the matchup balanced.
Magnezone held no type advantage here, but at least Roserade wasn't being hard-countered by it either.
"Roserade, use Stun Spore!" Barry attacked right away.
"Roserade!"
Roserade's flower hands scattered a thick cloud of Stun Spore, but the instant it appeared, every bit of it dropped straight to the ground.
"What! This is... Gravity!"
Barry was caught off guard. He hadn't realized Gravity could suppress powder-based moves as well.
"Flash Cannon," Gary ordered.
Biu!
A silver beam lanced out.
Roserade met Flash Cannon head-on and was blasted back several meters. With just that one move, it was already seriously hurt.
"Damn it, Roserade, use Solar Beam!" Barry countered.
Roserade began drawing in sunlight.
Seeing Barry's order, Gary understood that he intended to fight to the very end, regardless of whether Roserade would be struck while it charged.
Gary was in no hurry to give an order. He simply watched in silence as Roserade gathered its light.
Barry frowned. "What's this? You're not going to attack?"
"I'm just waiting for your Roserade to finish charging, so I can beat it head-on," Gary said.
"What?! Roserade and I aren't going to lose!"
"Roserade!"
Both Barry and Roserade looked indignant.
"Then let me see what you're made of," Gary said with a faint, mocking smile.
"Fine! Roserade, are you ready?"
"Roserade!"
Roserade nodded. The Solar Beam had already reached full charge.