Extra ch 'cause we finally made it to 10 reviews… better late than never!
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"Come out, Glalie!"
'What kind of name is Xander Bell?' Sato thought to himself. 'Red-and-green sounds better.'
"I'll give you a move. You go first!" Red-and-Green crossed his arms and said generously.
"Alright then. Ariados, Swords Dance!"
"Hiss! Glalie, use Ice Shard!"
Red-and-Green felt a little annoyed. His opponent had gone for a boost move right away, and it had to be the terrifying Swords Dance. He started to lose his composure.
"Agility, then Sticky Web!"
Sato took full advantage of his opponent's overconfidence and allowed Ariados to significantly raise its attack power.
Then, without hesitation, he had Ariados start crafting its battlefield.
With Agility, Glalie's linear Ice Shard attacks were easy to dodge. While dodging, Ariados weaved webs around the trees nearby.
When Glalie finally paused to catch its breath, it realized it was already surrounded by webs… including directly overhead!
As a Pokémon that didn't have Levitate but could still fly, Glalie's territory was the air. But that had already been sealed off right at the start.
"No way! Glalie, use Ice Shard to knock it down!"
Ice Shard was incredibly fast, but thanks to the Sticky Web, Ariados -having home advantage- dodged with a slick thread-sliding maneuver.
"Ariados, Electroweb!"
Thwip! Thwip!
Ariados launched two consecutive Electrowebs. Glalie barely avoided the first one, but was instantly caught in the second and slammed down onto the pre-woven web.
"Ariados, X-Scissor!"
Ariados didn't miss a beat. Sprinting across the sprawling webs, it appeared above Glalie in a blink. Its front legs crossed and slashed down hard!
"Glalie, Protect!"
Red-and-Green had already panicked. From the very beginning, his Glalie had been completely overwhelmed. This was his last desperate move.
"Ariados, Megahorn!" Sato's voice was cold and emotionless.
Ariados was knocked back by Protect but quickly regained its stance.
Then the white horn on its head suddenly grew longer, bursting forth with an even more terrifying aura, and rammed straight into Glalie!
Boom!
The electric webs and sticky threads in front of and behind Glalie were all torn apart. Its head was driven straight into the dirt, no longer moving.
"Glalie is unable to battle! Ariados wins!" Mark had somehow run between the two Trainers and was now cheerfully acting as referee.
Red-and-Green stared blankly at his collapsed Glalie. Ever since becoming an Elite Trainer, he had never lost so miserably.
Sato called back Mark and Ariados, ready to continue on their way.
The battle had been far too easy. It didn't give Ariados any meaningful pressure. Sato thought to himself that it would need more battles to break through.
"Wait!"
"What is it?"
"Let's have another match!" Red-and-Green's face was flushed. Thinking back on the battle, he was unsatisfied, he didn't feel like he'd really shown his strength.
"Sure. I'll still use Ariados." Sato accepted without hesitation, everything for Ariados's breakthrough.
"I'm going to send out my strongest Pokémon. You'd better switch, or you'll lose badly," Red-and-Green said angrily, already holding another Poké Ball.
"No need. I'll still use Ariados."
"Then so be it. Blaziken, battle!"
With a flash of red light, a sturdy Blaziken landed on the field. As one of Hoenn's popular starter evolutions, any Blaziken that reached its final form was bound to be powerful!
What's more, Blaziken had a strong type advantage over Ariados. No wonder the other Trainer had tried to get Sato to switch, it would feel unfair otherwise.
"So? Want to switch?"
"Nope. Let's begin."
"Hmph! Blaziken, use Flamethrower to burn away all the webs!"
"Ariados, Scary Face!"
Scary Face activated first. Ariados still had its speed boost from Agility, making it just barely faster than Blaziken.
Though its speed was reduced, Blaziken stayed focused on its mission. A wave of Flamethrower swept out, reducing the webs to ash.
"Charge in, Blaze Kick!"
"Intercept with Electroweb!"
Ariados was still the first to move. Two webs of electricity shot toward Blaziken from different angles, but as a skilled Fighting-type Pokémon, Blaziken forcefully dashed right through the gap between the two nets.
"Ariados, Protect!"
Bang!
At the critical moment, a green protective barrier expanded, and no matter how strong Blaze Kick was, it was still useless against the absolute defense of Protect.
"Keep the pressure on, Blaziken, continuous Blaze Kick!" Red-Green shouted loudly, the excitement in his voice barely concealed.
Sato frowned.
Blaziken had an overwhelming advantage over Ariados. Ariados specialized in Poison-, Bug-, Dark-, and some Ghost-type moves, but since it rarely used Poison-type moves, the other three types couldn't do much damage.
"Dos!"
Just as Blaze Kick came crashing in again and Sato was about to order a Substitute to avoid it… Ariados suddenly let out a fierce roar, its eyes glowing blue and purple.
Psychic!
A new move! Sato's eyes lit up. He watched as Blaziken, caught off guard, was hurled into the air by Psychic, and he was overjoyed.
He hadn't expected Ariados to suddenly learn such a powerful move at a critical moment. Now it finally had a means of resistance.
"Dos!"
Ariados's momentum surged, and it took two bold steps forward, taunting Blaziken.
"Damn it! Blaziken, Flamethrower!"
"Ariados, Electroweb!"
The orange-yellow web of electricity collided with the Flamethrower, creating a large cloud of smoke from the explosion.
Red-Green had Blaziken charge into the smoke. Sato, seeing this, didn't care what trick the opponent was up to and immediately ordered Ariados to climb a tree, leaving its previous spot.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a powerful Fire Blast burst from the smoke, sweeping directly through where Ariados had just been.
"Ariados, spam Electroweb!"
If the move works, who cares if it's the same one? The smoke only covered so much area, and up in the trees, Ariados clearly had the upper hand.
Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap!
Ariados was back in its element, like the time it had dominated the Tentacruel swarm. One Electroweb after another, launched without hesitation.
When the smoke cleared -no matter how agile Blaziken was- it had already been hit by two of the webs, pinned to the ground and unable to move.
"Ariados, Psychic!"
"Blaziken, Flame Charge, break free!"
Ariados's eyes once again turned a shimmering blue-violet. Psychic struck swiftly!
At the same time, Blaziken was cloaked in flames, trying to break free of the Electroweb's restraint.
Unfortunately, Psychic landed instantly, slamming into Blaziken before Flame Charge could hold out. The inertia sent Blaziken crashing to the ground!
"Blaziken is unable to battle! Ariados wins!"
The moment victory was declared, Ariados's aura flared violently, surging past Low Elite and instantly advancing to Mid Elite!