The battered Zapdos wobbled unsteadily in midair, and seeing this, Reggie's lips curled into a smile.
"A parting gift."
[Parting Shot: After using it, the user is left on the verge of fainting, but it sharply lowers the opponent's Attack and Special Attack.]
[666, we've even got Parting Shot now? Honestly, makes sense—your opponent is Zapdos. If you don't cut its stats, how are you supposed to fight it?]
[Come to think of it, that Ancient Power that landed just now might not have been full power, but it still had to deal a decent chunk to Zapdos, right?]
[That's what I think too. Zapdos might be a legendary Pokémon, but it's still part Flying. On top of that, it got hit by Parting Shot. There's actually a chance it might get toppled.]
[Does this mean that… ah, forget it. If I keep talking, I feel like the streamer's going to pull another comeback. Every time we think he's finally going down, he rises from the dead. Isn't that the real flag?]
[Facts. Let's just wait and see. We can celebrate after the dust settles.]
This time, the viewers truly didn't dare bet on whether Grey's Pokémon would go down or not.
No matter which one it was before—Machoke, or any of the dojo's three ace fighters—they had all been pushed to the brink at some point.
Every time that happened, the viewers thought Grey was finally going to lose one.
And yet?
Every single time had ended in a comeback victory.
It got to the point where they started wondering if they were the problem.
If they hadn't jinxed it every time with all those "flags," maybe Grey really would have lost once or twice.
Up to now, there hadn't been many situations where Grey had voluntarily switched his Pokémon out.
It seemed like only that one time with Machoke.
Aside from that, every other switch had been done via Baton Pass.
Which left them thinking: if Machoke could learn Baton Pass, Grey would've 100% had it pass the baton and exit that way too.
"Parting Shot? Zapdos, see if you can get away from it."
The moment Grey recognized the move, his heart gave a little jolt.
He knew all too well how disgusting this move could be.
A huge drop to both offenses—how was that any different from losing an arm?
There was no way it could fight at full power after that!
"Jiji!" (What's with this creepy little thing? Garlic-bird, Garlic-bird, time to scram!)
Zapdos's eyes caught the sinister black aura swirling around Gastrodon's body, and its golden crest feathers shot straight up in alarm.
This was definitely not a good sign.
One look was all it took to know the other side was up to no good.
Even before Grey's new command reached it, Zapdos had already begun beating its wings in a frantic retreat, trying to open up some distance.
By the time Grey shouted his order, it had already surged forward with a powerful flap, trying to escape the radius of that dark aura.
It didn't help at all.
The black light around Gastrodon burst outward, condensing into a bizarre, giftbox-shaped construct that clung to Zapdos like a shadow, chasing it relentlessly!
"Jiji!" (Crap, this thing really is locked onto me!)
Seeing the black "present" doggedly tailing it, Zapdos suddenly felt like retreating straight back into its Poké Ball.
You couldn't really blame it—that thing was downright creepy.
A pitch-black gift box—when had that ever been a good omen?
If this move hit, just how miserable was the rest of the fight going to be?
"Try Thunderbolt."
Watching the black gift draw closer and closer, Grey frowned, hoping Zapdos could disrupt it with another move.
"Jiji!" (Garlic-bird's got no choice but to try!)
Zapdos dove sharply, dropping toward low altitude, and its whole body exploded in dazzling lightning.
Faced with the black gift that simply refused to give up the chase, it unleashed a roaring Thunderbolt without hesitation!
RUMBLE!
Thunder shook the arena—but the spectacular blast vanished like a stone sinking into the sea.
Thunderbolt speared straight through the eerie gift box, leaving nothing but a charred mark on the protective wall behind it.
The power was tremendous.
But unfortunately, it had no effect.
Lightning and thunder, with no rain to show for it.
This Thunderbolt was terrifyingly strong, but sometimes, no matter how powerful the blow, there are some clinging curses you just can't blast away.
Parting Shot struck Zapdos dead-on, and as it sank into its body, a blue glow—symbolizing a drop in stats—washed across its frame.
"Jiji…" (What a weird feeling… why won't my power come out right…? My whole body feels weak…)
Hit by Parting Shot, Zapdos suddenly went limp, even its expression taking on the pitiful look of a tomcat on the operating table about to be neutered.
But a moment later, it forced itself upright again, stubbornly puffing out its chest as it glared down at Reggie with defiant eyes.
As for Gastrodon…
The moment it finished using Parting Shot, it plummeted straight down from the sky. Fortunately, Reggie reacted fast and recalled it to its Poké Ball before it hit the ground.
"Jiji." (Whatever. I can still fight at half my original strength. It's not like Zapdos has ever been afraid of anything. Hurry up and send out your next Pokémon!)
It was practically urging Reggie to throw out his next battler already.
"Drapion, one more time."
Watching Zapdos mutter and complain like that, Reggie pulled Drapion's Poké Ball from his belt once more and tossed it onto the field.
"Dronk!" (Ohoho~ so this is the high-and-mighty Zapdos from earlier? Why's your aura so weak now? Looks like I finally get to slay a god!)
From inside its Poké Ball, Drapion had seen the whole thing.
Having witnessed Zapdos's power sharply drop, it was convinced that today was its chance to kill a god.
To defeat a legendary Pokémon with the might of an ordinary Pokémon—that was the kind of achievement you could brag about for ages on your team.
With something like that under its belt, it might even get to challenge the team's main ace for the leader's spot.
Just thinking about it had Drapion feeling downright refreshed.
"Drapion, don't underestimate it."
Even though Parting Shot had sharply lowered both of Zapdos's offensive stats, the memory of its earlier dominance dragged Reggie's rekindled fighting spirit right back down.
"Dronk!" (I know, but I still think we can afford to have some confidence.)
Drapion threw its head back and let out a sky-shaking roar, crimson light flashing in its eyes.
Even with its power reduced, this was still the same Zapdos whose Thunder it had once split in half using Night Slash.
Now that Zapdos's combat power had fallen so far, didn't that put the advantage firmly in Drapion's claws?
The scales of this battle had clearly started to tilt in its favor.
Thinking that, Drapion started chuckling with a low "kakakaka" sound, convinced that Zapdos was nothing more than a paralyzed little fledgling now.
"Drapion, use Rock Slide!"
Taking advantage of the fact that Zapdos was still staying at low altitude, Reggie seized the moment and had Drapion use the mid-range Rock Slide.
"Dronk!"
Drapion slammed both pincers into the ground, sending a ring of dust rippling outward.
In an instant, the air directly above Zapdos twisted, and countless jagged chunks of stone condensed from nothing, screaming down toward its head!
If this hit, it would be more than enough to stop a Zapdos already in bad shape from staying airborne.
It might not knock it out outright, but turning it into a flightless chicken was definitely on the table.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810