Tyson took back his unconscious Metagross. He thought for a long time. He was about to take out a new Poké Ball. Then, he saw that Natsui also took back his Dragonite.
Hmm? Was he also going to change his Pokémon?
This was the second time in this match that Natsui changed his Pokémon while he was winning.
Tyson did not know why Natsui did this, so he waited. He put the Poké Ball back into his bag and chose a different one.
His first choice was the best one to use against Dragonite. Now that Dragonite was gone, the battle was unknown again. There was no reason to use a Pokémon made to stop Dragonite until it came back.
The referee gave a signal. Both trainers released their Pokémon at the same time.
Two blue lights appeared. They showed the Pokémon for the third round.
Natsui used his Scizor. Tyson used a Shiftry.
Everyone knew Scizor very well. Ash and his friends only looked at it for a moment. Then they looked at the Shiftry.
Most of Shiftry's body was brown. A long, white mane covered most of its face. It had pointed ears, a long thin nose, and a large mouth. Its teeth looked like they were always closed tight. Its eyes were a cloudy yellow. It looked like a small old man with long white hair wearing wooden shoes.
Ash did not know much about it. He took out his Pokédex and pointed it at the Shiftry.
The Pokédex worked quickly. Misty, May, and the others looked at the device.
The Pokédex said, "Beep! Shiftry, the Wicked Pokémon. A Grass and Dark type. It is said that Shiftry lives quietly deep in forests where it is not disturbed by the outside world. It is a mysterious Pokémon. There is even a legend that it was originally a bird Pokémon, but because it did bad things, a god punished it by taking away its beak and wings. It has the ability to read the opponent's thoughts and act a step ahead. It is said to appear with cold winds and has been feared as a forest god since ancient times."
Ash was about to put the Pokédex away. Morrison stood nearby and asked, "Are you going to say again that Natsui has this battle in the bag?"
Ash shook his head. He wanted to disagree with him.
"I don't know about that. Natsui's Scizor is very strong, but according to the Pokédex, Shiftry is clearly very powerful too. I don't know who would win a fight between two Pokémon like these."
It was true. The Pokédex said a god punished this Pokémon. This made it sound very mysterious. It was smart to be careful of it.
Everyone thought Ash was right and they nodded. But one girl did not agree.
"Of course Natsui's Pokémon will win."
Her voice was very clear. Ash and the others looked at Misty immediately.
She was the only person in the stadium who trusted Natsui so much.
Misty did not care that they were surprised. She raised her head and spoke calmly.
"If it were one of the new Pokémon Natsui just caught, I might believe they could lose. But I don't believe his long-time partners will lose."
After she said this, everyone thought she was right. They looked at Ash again.
Misty had disagreed with him in front of everyone. Ash's face turned red.
He rarely gave an opinion, but Misty stopped him! She did not make him look good.
But then he thought about it. This was Misty, so it was not a surprise.
Ash wanted to be right this time, especially in front of Morrison. He argued with Misty.
"Scizor wasn't among Natsui's very first group of Pokémon. Its strength definitely isn't as high as Blastoise and the others. So, I think Shiftry has a better chance of winning this match."
Brock wanted to help Ash win an argument against Misty. But he touched his chin and spoke slowly.
"Well, Scizor is a Bug and Steel type, while Shiftry is a Grass and Dark type. In terms of type matchups, Scizor's Bug-type moves will deal four times the damage to Shiftry. Meanwhile, Shiftry's attacks will be resisted. The situation is actually very bad for Shiftry..."
"Huh?"
Ash was surprised by what Brock said. Then his expression changed. He realized he had made a mistake.
He had completely forgotten about type advantages.
His normal battle style was to just fight hard. He did not usually think about types. He had forgotten again.
"That... well..."
Ash tried to think of another reason to support Shiftry. But he could not find one. He remembered that Natsui rarely lost even when he had a disadvantage. Now he had the type advantage.
Ash felt embarrassed in front of Morrison. Morrison was making funny faces at him.
May watched them and sighed.
The battle had not even started, but there was already an argument next to her. It was like a small show. When they first started their journey, she was not used to this fighting. Now she could ignore it.
She and Max looked at the battlefield.
The third round of the battle between Natsui and Tyson began.
The audience knew Natsui was powerful. But Tyson had also done a good job before.
They thought Tyson would be a strong opponent and make Natsui fight hard.
They thought this battle would be a close fight that ended suddenly.
But they were wrong.
Natsui used heavy pressure. He showed everyone how to fight perfectly with a type advantage.
Shiftry was a "wicked" Pokémon. In battle, it used many tricks.
It used small movements to try and trick the opponent. It tried to mess with Scizor even without Tyson's help.
But Natsui saw through most of the tricks.
Scizor did exactly what Natsui said. It did not take easy chances. It just moved forward. This broke all of Shiftry's tricks.
If I ignore you completely, your tricks cannot work.
Only tricks that happened very close worked. These happened too fast to see, or the view was blocked. But Scizor's body was as strong as steel. Even if the tricks worked, they did not do much damage.
Instead, Scizor attacked and Shiftry had to run away. It ran between the rocks on the water.
The audience was surprised.
Tyson's performance this time was poor. He looked like a different person.
Tyson felt very bad.
He thought Natsui's Blastoise and Dragonite were hard to fight. He did not expect Scizor to be even harder.
Scizor was not stronger than the other two. But Shiftry could not break through its defense.
This was because of the type advantage. Tyson had no other choices.
Tyson had lost the gamble, just like Natsui did in the first two rounds.
He wished he had not changed his Pokémon.
His Pokémon were losing. He could not switch them again. If he showed more Pokémon and still lost to Scizor, it would be a very big loss.
Shiftry had to defeat Scizor before it lost.
Tyson looked at the water and made a plan.
He told Shiftry to stop running and get close to Scizor. He wanted to knock Scizor into the water. Scizor was heavy. Like Metagross, it would not be able to leave the pool. Even if Shiftry also lost, it was a good plan for Tyson.
This was the only way Tyson could think of.
He had to try it.
Natsui noticed Tyson's change in strategy quickly.
If Tyson won this way, the battle would change. But Natsui would not let that happen.
As Shiftry got closer, Scizor's attacks became too strong for it.
Shiftry tried to get close many times. It did not knock Scizor into the water. It almost lost the fight instead.
Tyson felt very worried.
The idea was good, but it was hard to do.
He was about to tell Shiftry to be careful. But Scizor found a chance first.
They crossed paths. Scizor ignored Shiftry's attack. It used X-Scissor and hit Shiftry. Shiftry fell into the water.
Splash.
Shiftry hit the water and sank. It floated back to the surface. Its eyes were rolled back and it did not move. It was unconscious.
The referee raised the flags.
"Shiftry is unable to battle! Scizor wins!"
The audience clapped, but they were not very excited.
They expected a lot after the Dragonite and Metagross fight. This third round was a one-sided fight. They did not think it was exciting.
They thought Tyson should have played better.
They did not know how Tyson felt. They were not in the fight. They did not know how helpless he felt against Natsui.
Natsui was like a giant mountain in his path.
This battle had crushed his spirit again.
He lost again.
He lost this round without a chance to fight back.
He wanted to blame the types. But Natsui won when he had the disadvantage. His excuse was not strong.
He was not skilled enough.
Most of his Pokémon were for land battles. They were best on solid ground. This Water Field was very bad for him.
He wanted to change the field.
To change the field, he had to defeat three of Natsui's Pokémon or lose one more of his own.
Defeating three of Natsui's Pokémon was very hard. Losing another was not good.
Tyson took back Shiftry and sent out Sceptile.
He hoped for a chance.
He saw that Natsui took back Scizor and used a new Poké Ball. Tyson was very nervous.
He was afraid Natsui would use Blastoise against Sceptile. A new Pokémon appeared instead. Tyson felt better.
Then he became nervous again.
He saw that Natsui was a very confident man.
Natsui changed his Pokémon even when he won easily. He sent out a new Pokémon without caring about types.
Only a very confident person would do that.
Tyson sent out Sceptile, and Natsui brought out a Jolteon. Tyson did not understand this.
Everyone knows that Electric-type moves only do half damage to Grass-type Pokémon. Sending out this Pokémon was only possible if Natsui was extremely confident in his strength.
Sceptile was not wet, so Electric moves would not have extra effects. That man was not thinking that way!
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