When Ash mentioned Hypnosis, Erika's expression instantly turned grim.
That move, simple in concept, but excruciatingly hard to land, required near-perfect setup. Normally, it demanded precise timing, a distracted opponent, and absolute control.
And now, all those preconditions had fallen neatly into place.
Vileplume had just suffered the backlash of a disrupted Solar Beam, leaving it momentarily stiff. It was also pinned down by Kirlia's powerful Psychic, unable to retreat or shield itself.
Everything was aligned. This was the perfect chance.
"Kirlia!"
Her eyes flashed a deep blue, and a wave of dreamlike psychic energy rippled forward, straight toward the immobilized Vileplume.
"Vileplume, Energy Ball!" Erika countered quickly, desperate to interrupt the spell before it landed.
Vileplume groaned, forcing its unstable energy under control. A dark-green orb of condensed life force flared to life between its petals, then shot forward like an arrow.
The Energy Ball hurtled toward Kirlia at frightening speed. But Kirlia didn't dodge. Her eyes never wavered from Vileplume's form.
"Boom!!"
The projectile struck something unseen and detonated against a transparent barrier, one of the protective walls Kirlia had established earlier.
Reflect.
The shield held firm for several seconds before shattering. The Energy Ball's power diminished by half as it slipped through, the remaining impact washing harmlessly over Kirlia.
She flinched, but stayed standing, completely unbroken.
And at that exact instant, the rippling waves of Hypnosis washed over Vileplume.
Erika's eyes widened.
"Vileplume!"
It was too late. The flower Pokémon's eyelids fluttered once, twice… and then closed.
Vileplume fell into a deep, helpless sleep.
Ash clenched his fist. "All right, Kirlia, Psybeam!"
Kirlia's eyes shone like twin prisms, firing a dazzling, spiraling beam of multicolored light. It struck the sleeping Vileplume squarely, bathing it in a shimmering haze.
First sleep, then confusion.
Even if Vileplume woke up, it would awaken dazed and disoriented.
That was Tactician Ash's philosophy: pile on the debuffs until the opponent couldn't move.
No matter how strong the enemy, enough status effects could cut their power in half.
Erika could only stare, expression twitching, as her Vileplume lay twitching under layers of mental interference. "Psychic-types are such a nightmare to fight…" she muttered under her breath.
Her own Pokémon knew similar tactics, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Poison Powder, but before she'd even had the chance to use them, Kirlia had already buried her Vileplume under status after status.
Ash's voice rang out again.
"Well done, Kirlia, use Dream Eater!"
"Kirli~~aa!"
A translucent phantom rose from Kirlia's body, floating toward the slumbering Vileplume. It passed silently through the flower Pokémon, whose peaceful face suddenly twisted in pain.
Dream Eater, a fearsome Psychic-type move, second only to major powers like Hydro Pump in raw strength. Difficult to use, but devastating once it connected. It didn't just deal heavy damage, it drained the opponent's vitality and restored the user's health in return.
As Vileplume whimpered in its sleep, waves of pale energy flowed out of its body and back into Kirlia.
Her earlier exhaustion faded; her breathing steadied.
Her HP, worn down by Energy Ball and constant exertion, shot back up to nearly full. Combined with Grassy Terrain's passive recovery, Kirlia was practically glowing with renewed strength.
Erika exhaled sharply. "Where did you even learn such a disgusting move set?" she blurted. "Ally Switch, Psychic, Hypnosis, Dream Eater, is that even fair?!"
Ash laughed. "Psychic-types are like that, Ms. Erika. Is this your first time realizing it? When I fought Sabrina, she made me look like an amateur."
He grinned at the memory. During that battle, no amount of debuffs worked, Sabrina, being a Psychic herself, could dispel mental effects at will. That had been the first time his carefully constructed strategy failed so completely.
He'd only won back then by sheer will, and a little help from his Aura.
But this time was different. Now, he could finally fight on his own terms, and enjoy every moment of it.
When Kirlia's Hypnosis had connected, one thing had already been decided:
You're not allowed to play Pokémon anymore.
Now it was his turn. His turn, and his turn alone.
"Kirlia, again, Dream Eater!"
Kirlia's phantom spirit rose once more, plunging into the sleeping Vileplume. Another pulse of psychic force rippled outward, draining its energy a second time.
Even with the healing effects of Ingrain and Grassy Terrain, Vileplume's strength plummeted to critical levels.
Kirlia's psychic power was nothing to scoff at, her Special Attack ranked among Ash's best. And with the Psychic Spoon gifted by Sabrina amplifying her moves by twenty-five percent, her Dream Eater was monstrous.
If not for Vileplume's constant regeneration, it would have fainted already.
But during the second strike, Erika saw Vileplume's eyes twitch open.
The hypnosis had worn off.
"Vileplume, quick, Synthesis!"
Synthesis under Sunny Day could restore a tremendous amount of health.
If Vileplume managed to pull it off, everything Kirlia had worked for would be undone in an instant.
But Ash didn't waver. He trusted his instincts, and more than that, he trusted Kirlia.
"Give it the final blow, Kirlia, Psychic!"
A brilliant azure light flared from Kirlia's eyes, the psychic force solidifying into a visible shockwave that rippled through the air and slammed directly into Vileplume.
Psychic could be used to control or to attack.
And this time, Kirlia poured every ounce of power into attack.
Vileplume's vision swam; stars burst across its sight. Erika's voice echoed faintly in its mind, but the confusion muddled everything into meaningless noise.
Instead of gathering the healing light for Synthesis, Vileplume reflexively channeled its chaotic energy elsewhere, and a glowing green orb suddenly detonated atop its petals.
Seed Bomb.
The sphere burst upward, spinning through the air before crashing back down onto Vileplume itself.
BOOM!
The explosion of Psychic and Seed Bomb merged into a single blast, engulfing the battlefield in dense black smoke.
As the smoke cleared, the outcome was obvious: Vileplume lay sprawled across the grass, unconscious. It hadn't just failed to recover, it had knocked itself out.
In a confused state, there was a thirty-percent chance that a Pokémon wouldn't hear its Trainer's command and might attack at random, or even hurt itself.
Apparently, Vileplume had hit that miserable thirty-percent roll.What rotten luck.
If it had only managed to use Synthesis, maybe the fight could've continued.
But luck was one battlefield Erika could never win against Ash.When it came to luck, no Trainer alive, or in any parallel world, could match this world's Ash Ketchum. Fate itself seemed to grin in his favor.
Erika sighed, retrieving Vileplume's Poké Ball. The beam of red light drew the fainted Pokémon back inside. She didn't send out another right away, instead giving Ash a strange look.
"Honestly," she said, "I'm curious. You weren't disgusted enough by Sabrina from Saffron City's Psychic Gym, and now you're using her exact methods to disgust me?"
Ash chuckled. "Not exactly. Sabrina's tricks were way worse than mine. She could use her own psychic power to purge status conditions, sleep, confusion, everything. None of her Pokémon were affected at all."
"Ah." Erika's shoulders relaxed, a small smile tugging at her lips.Somehow, knowing that he had been on the receiving end of that frustration made her feel a bit better.
After all, people often found comfort in knowing others had suffered the same fate.
Ash was like that. So was she.
Still, she had to maintain her composure. As the Celadon Gym Leader, she prided herself on her grace and elegance. Losing her temper in front of a challenger would be unthinkable.
But this battle, this irritating, status-stacking, trick-heavy match, had pushed her to the edge.
She was always the one who frustrated others. Never the other way around.
Taking a calming breath, Erika tossed her next Poké Ball.
With a flash of light, a smaller Pokémon materialized on the field, a graceful dancer draped in green leaves and crowned with two vivid red flowers.
Her round sapphire eyes sparkled; her cheeks were marked with two crimson spots like petals.
A leafy skirt swayed lightly beneath her.
It was Vileplume's other evolutionary form, Bellossom.
"My second Pokémon is her," Erika said softly, pride flickering in her tone. "This time, it won't be that simple."
As Erika called out, Ash glanced at Bellossom's data. Its level was one higher than Vileplume's, already at Elite Level Advanced, and its ability was also Chlorophyll.
The sunlight blazing overhead intensified, and the Grassy Terrain continued to pulse with rejuvenating life.
Compared to the earlier battle, this Bellossom had every advantage, higher level, perfect weather, and a fully charged field beneath her feet.
"Kirlia, prepare..."
But before Ash could even finish his command, a dazzling light erupted from Kirlia's body.
"What!?" Ash blinked, eyes widening as the glow enveloped her.
Then it hit him: Her energy signature was changing, her aura evolving.
Level: Elite.
The fierce battle had pushed Kirlia past her limits. She had broken through to the next rank…and now, she was evolving.
When Erika saw the radiant light bloom from Kirlia's body, she immediately halted her command.
As a Gym Leader, she knew exactly what that glow meant.
The light of evolution.
During evolution, a Pokémon's essence was in flux, vulnerable, defenseless. If struck mid-transformation, the process could fail, or worse, cause lasting harm.
No true Trainer would ever attack at such a moment, not in a sanctioned Gym match.
So, even in the heat of battle, Erika lowered her hand.
The dazzling light rippled for several seconds before slowly fading.When it did, the figure standing in the center of the arena was no longer Kirlia.
Slender, poised, and radiant, the Pokémon's body gleamed white like polished marble, accented by traces of soft, tranquil blue.
Her gown-like lower body flowed elegantly, the inner skirt a serene blue beneath an outer layer of white that spread like a ballroom train.
If one didn't know better, they might have mistaken her for a queen descending from some ethereal court.
"She really evolved…" Ash breathed, eyes wide with wonder. "Looks like Kirlia was already at the brink."
Even Erika, composed as she was, couldn't hide her admiration.Gardevoir was famous among humanoid Pokémon for its beauty, and this one was even rarer, her shimmering blue tones marking her as a Shiny.
Erika smiled despite herself. "How exquisite… if I didn't specialize in Grass-types, I'd be tempted to catch one myself."
Ash grinned, still awestruck. "So this is Gardevoir… she's so much more graceful than before."
If Ralts was like a child and Kirlia like a young maiden, then Gardevoir was a full-grown queen, serene, radiant, dignified.
The little Pokémon who once perched on his shoulder had grown into this magnificent partner in barely a month.
Ash felt a rush of pride and nostalgia swell in his chest.
"Gardevoir," she murmured softly, turning her head toward him. Her orange eyes glowed with quiet warmth.
Now that she had reached her final form, she could finally fight at his side as an equal, no longer the one needing protection, but the one offering it.
"Congratulations, Gardevoir."
"Voir," she replied, her tone melodic and gentle.
Ash smiled. "All right, let's see your new strength!"
Originally, his plan had been to let Kirlia set up the field, then switch her out. Bellossom was a higher level and, being pure Grass-type, no longer weak to Psychic moves.
But things had changed.
Now, Gardevoir's aura pulsed brighter than ever, her power surging, refined, mature.
Her evolution had elevated her to Elite Level: Intermediate, just one step below Bellossom.
The difference was negligible.
This time, Ash decided, she would stay in the fight.
...
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