"Electivire?" Satoshi forced himself to stay calm.
Raichu versus Electivire—what an awkward matchup.
[Motor Drive]:Pokémon with this Ability aren't affected by Electric-type moves. If hit by an Electric-type move, their Speed rises by one stage.
Raichu's Ability, Lightning Rod, draws in Electric-type moves; it takes no damage and instead raises its Special Attack.
Which meant… neither of them could use Electric-type moves!
Blowing it up with a 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt. was out of the question, too.
Can I switch Pokémon? Please?
This battle was going to get weird.
"Yeah. Electivire. I've always wanted to battle you, Satoshi. Our first battle was like this too—but this time it won't be like before, where we traded wins and losses. This time, I'm taking a complete victory."
Uika thought it over, and decided there was no point hiding her identity.
There was no way a philosophy-department-level mask like that could actually conceal her. So she just said it outright.
Except…
Satoshi genuinely had no idea.
Why are you saying all these cryptic things? Can we just have a normal battle?
You know me too?!
Cold sweat trickled down Satoshi's spine. His urge to battle was dropping fast.
Like he'd entered sage mode—suddenly, he had this strong impulse to go back to Soyo and Anon.
[If you look closely, Satocchi, this girl really resembles that idol—Uika-san~]
Huh? Now that you mention it…
Satoshi froze for a beat.
Golden, mid-length hair. Purple eyes. And a figure that leaned more mature—yeah, she did look a lot like Misumi Uika from TV.
Back then, Misumi Uika had been battling Yuuki Setsuna with an Electric Mouse, Morpeko, so Satoshi's impression had stuck.
"Furiko, you're actually useful for once!"
Praising Furiko in his head, Satoshi focused on Uika and studied her more carefully.
[Nng—don't praise me, Satocchi~ Furiko will get all shy? I like it~]
That look… it's intense…
Is Satoshi checking how I've developed these past few years?
Uika stared at him with a burning gaze, slowly lifting her eyes.
Even an idol as used to attention as Uika couldn't help being bashful when a boy looked at her with that kind of curiosity.
Especially when it was a childhood friend—it mattered even more.
"It's really her," Satoshi concluded after a quick assessment.
[It's really her!]
"I'm not who I used to be. I've become one of the School Elite Four, so please—fight me at full strength." Uika gathered her courage and told him what she felt.
Can we stop talking so much before we battle?
Whatever. I'll encourage her first.
Satoshi nodded lightly, forcing a small smile.
"That's amazing."
Now quit the awkward small talk and let's battle already!
Hearing that, Uika beamed.
"Mm. But this time, I'm going all out. No holding back!"
"Electivire—use [FLAMETHROWER]!"
"Ele—!"
Suddenly, Electivire blasted a stream of scorching fire from its mouth, surging forward like a storm.
Satoshi blinked, stunned.
Flamethrower? Your moveset is bizarre.
Too bad—my moveset is even more bizarre than yours!
"Raichu, use [SURF] and hit it back!" Satoshi thrust his hand forward.
"Rai—Raichu!" Raichu used Surf. A powerful wave swelled beneath it, water roaring forward, washing over Electivire's flames and evaporating them in an instant.
Normally, Raichu's Surf was meant for Ground-types.
With Electric moves useless, Raichu's options were basically just Quick Attack and Iron Tail, so it had specifically learned Surf to counter Ground-types.
Satoshi hadn't expected to use it like this.
"[QUICK ATTACK]!"
"Rai!"
Raichu streaked across the field like a bolt of lightning, closing the distance fast.
"Use [STOMP]!"
Uika didn't panic at all. Electivire slammed down with shocking force and speed—Stomp—making the ground quake violently.
The sudden tremor caught Raichu off guard. Its footing vanished, and it bounced up from the shock.
"Now—[BRICK BREAK]!"
"Ele!" Electivire seized the opening, swinging its left hand like a blade. In the instant Raichu was off-balance, it slashed in.
Fast reaction time—no… she's investigated everything about me.
Satoshi brushed the brim of his cap, suddenly finding this troublesome.
"Counter with [IRON TAIL]!"
"Rai!" Facing the abrupt attack, Raichu snapped its iron-hard tail out to meet it. Iron Tail collided with Brick Break, bursting into a flash of light.
Satoshi had seen this kind of exchange plenty of times—wasn't this basically Paul's Electivire fighting Pikachu?
Which meant…
"Raichu, fall back—now!"
"Electivire—use [ICE PUNCH] with your other hand!"
Cold air condensed into a fist as Electivire drove it at Raichu. Raichu, relying on agility and superior speed, barely slipped away as the chill swept past.
In the end, speed was about the only edge Raichu had over Electivire.
"Mmm~ You've gotten smarter, Satoshi. I thought you'd walk right into it."
So I can't mess with him as much anymore. In terms of strength, he's about on par with Saki now.
Uika tilted her head, amused.
I'm being targeted!
Can I rotate? Can I pivot?
Satoshi felt an inexplicable, smothered frustration he couldn't put into words.
The gap in movesets was just too big.
Worst of all, he only really had Surf, Iron Tail, and Quick Attack to work with. Iron Tail was resisted by Electivire, leaving basically Surf and Quick Attack. Even long-range Surf could get cut apart by Brick Break—so the only reliable pressure he had left was Quick Attack, leveraging speed.
Meanwhile, Electivire's moves were clearly chosen with purpose.
Ice Punch + Brick Break + Stomp—sure, an Electivire could learn those through training, but most of the time you needed TMs for all three.
And TMs weren't cheap.
This Uika-san might have a bit of a dark streak in her head!
Satoshi had originally planned to use Raichu to grind levels, but now he was already thinking about bringing out Rillaboom and Combusken.
"Back on my island, you used to battle me like this all the time, Satoshi. I miss it… I picked my moves after thinking carefully—just for you."
"And I always read the messages you sent me. Every time, I worked up the courage… so why haven't you messaged me lately? It's been about two months, right? Two months and twelve days. Why?"
Uika tilted her head, puzzled, her words carrying a certain heavy gravity.
Satoshi was starting to suspect every girl around him automatically learned Gravity.
I seriously don't know~~ What is this, you're kind of a creep…