Pokemon: Spiritual Master

Boom!!

The collapsing ground and exaggerated commotion caused the entire venue to fall silent.

Some who previously didn't believe Indeedee was the "Smiling Demon" couldn't help but swallow hard, hating themselves for their shallow understanding and wanting to slap themselves twice.

This psychic power's explosive force...

If they went up there, they'd be instantly reduced to dust, right?

"Hoenn Battle Frontier's Sixth Facility"?

Not going there even if killed!

This was also why Johan's café had fewer and fewer challengers nowadays.

Challenge?

Wasn't that purely delivering food to Indeedee?

However, Sister Indeedee's explosive power was indeed very strong. Under the enhancement of Psychic Terrain, Expanding Force also burst forth with tremendous power.

Moreover, after training and coaching from Mewtwo, Sister Indeedee's original weakness of insufficient control over her powerful psychic abilities had been greatly compensated, completely unleashing her own power.

But even so, her opponent was ultimately a Champion's ace Pokémon!

"Glow!"

From within the crater, Glimmora suddenly floated up, the air currents it stirred scattering the dust. Its flower-like body fully expanded, displaying a bone-chilling aura.

Even with a double weakness to Psychic-type moves.

Glimmora couldn't possibly be one-shot by Sister Indeedee.

"Glimmora, Toxic Spikes!"

Nemona was also surprised by Sister Indeedee's psychic explosive power.

But Glimmora wasn't a Pokémon known for frontal assault, and frontal combat wasn't Nemona's tactical arrangement or style either.

So even after being combo'd by Sister Indeedee, Glimmora still followed Nemona's instructions, fluttering the petals behind it and scattering starlike purple dust that transformed into particles falling down.

These particles immediately became toxic spikes covered in sharp barbs, spread across the entire field. Any opposing Pokémon that stepped on them would suffer poisoning from the toxic spikes.

Hazard-setting tactics, complete!

Boom!!

However, just as Glimmora finished scattering the Toxic Spikes, another powerful psychic force immediately pressed down on it.

The already collapsed crater, along with Glimmora's fall, collapsed again, erupting with considerable rumbling.

"So violent..."

"Who cares about your fancy tricks and gibberish, eat my Expanding Force!"

"Although President Nemona's Glimmora is very strong, possibly stronger than Teacher Johan's Indeedee, if it keeps taking hits like this, won't President Nemona's ace be defeated right after setting up tactics?"

Nemona frowned.

Just as some audience members said.

The psychic power unleashed by Indeedee was indeed too powerful. Even with Glimmora's obvious strength advantage, continuing like this...

It wouldn't be sustainable.

So.

Although in Nemona's original plan, Glimmora needed to scatter Toxic Spikes twice, or endure one attack from the opponent to trigger its "Toxic Debris" ability and scatter a second layer of Toxic Spikes, this plan had to be temporarily shelved.

"Toxic Debris" was an exclusive ability of Glimmora's species. When hit by physical attacks, it would scatter Toxic Spikes, very practical when combined with hazard-setting tactics.

Among Johan's Pokémon, Tinkaton, Dragonite, Urshifu, Ceruledge, and Tyranitar were all relatively typical Pokémon skilled in physical attacks.

Among them, only Steel-type Tinkaton and Water-type Urshifu posed relatively greater threats to Glimmora, but enduring one attack was completely acceptable.

As for Glimmora having a quadruple weakness to Ground-type, if Tyranitar came with an Earthquake to one-shot Glimmora, with Glimmora's own levitation ability, it could minimize damage from Earthquake, so it was also bearable.

Special attackers like Ice Ninetales and Serperior would have difficulty gaining much type advantage against Glimmora, also within acceptable range.

Especially since Nemona had learned that Teacher Johan's Ice Ninetales, while powerful, often focused on defense during battle with offense as secondary, allowing her to make judgments based on circumstances.

But she never expected.

Teacher Johan's first Pokémon would actually be an Indeedee that had never appeared before!

Did Teacher Johan even have an Indeedee?

Had it appeared in previous matches?

Nemona didn't know.

Just like Johan himself said:

Research me?

What's there to research? Baby Cup battle videos?

With Indeedee's appearance, Psychic Terrain combined with Expanding Force, plus Indeedee's exaggerated and powerful psychic abilities, the fact that Glimmora could withstand two Expanding Force attacks and still maintain some condition was already quite excellent.

No matter how much stronger it was, it couldn't withstand such punishment.

"President Nemona's Glimmora can't scatter a second layer of Toxic Spikes."

From the contestant viewing area, Steven couldn't help saying.

"More accurately, it can't afford to scatter more." N also rarely offered his opinion.

Flint looked at Steven, then at N.

These two students of Teacher Johan...

They understood these tactics so well?

Seeming to notice Flint's gaze, Steven smiled: "Teacher mentioned it to me once before - there's a fundamental difference between one layer of Toxic Spikes and two layers."

One layer of Toxic Spikes meant opposing Pokémon would just be poisoned when they entered.

But if there were two layers of Toxic Spikes, opposing Pokémon would be badly poisoned when they entered!

Although Steven wasn't afraid of Toxic Spikes tactics, it didn't prevent him from understanding and learning these strategies.

Flint gave a thumbs up.

All he could say was...

Worthy of being Teacher Johan's student.

"Scattering another layer isn't impossible, but if that happens, President Nemona's Glimmora's condition would make it difficult to return to battle later." N said again.

Everyone agreed with his words.

Indeed.

Taking another Expanding Force hit, Glimmora might still not lose its ability to battle, but...

If the "hazards" were cleared afterward, wouldn't this tactic become useless?

Just as N finished speaking, Nemona's voice came from the field.

"Come back, Glimmora."

She indeed took out a Premier Ball and recalled Glimmora.

The sudden appearance of Indeedee had caught her off guard.

Moreover.

It was well known that even in battle, Indeedee was more suited to serve as a support role in doubles, and Nemona was familiar with moves like Follow Me and Helping Hand.

But such an aggressive, violent Indeedee was something Nemona was seeing for the first time.

"Love~"

Sister Indeedee bowed slightly toward the returning Glimmora, expressing apology once again.

"She's really too polite and gentle, I'm crying."

"Gentle is gentle, but she doesn't hold back at all when attacking."

"However, President Nemona's tactics could be considered successful, right?"

Yes.

Although it wasn't two layers of Toxic Spikes.

But Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes were enough to give Teacher Johan's next switching Pokémon quite a hard time.

Nemona's black gloves complemented the black Premier Ball as she immediately summoned her second Pokémon.

"President Nemona's second Pokémon is—the pseudo-legendary Pokémon, Dragapult!!" the commentator shouted with some fervor.

Their Galar region's pseudo-legendary Pokémon, the "Little Hades Dragon" Dragapult!

"Pult—"

Dragapult's body seemed to exist between reality and illusion, with the front half visible while the back half appeared to be invisible.

Ghost-type Dragapult had a type advantage against Indeedee.

The battle continued!

"Dragapult, Dragon Dance!" Nemona called out in a low voice.

"Pult!!"

Floating in mid-air, Dragapult began dancing its body, rippling with a peculiar rhythm as its momentum rapidly climbed.

Johan chuckled, "Indeedee, Disarming Voice!"

"Love—"

Sister Indeedee immediately emitted a gentle but highly penetrating sound, sweeping toward Dragapult.

[Disarming Voice: When the opponent's abilities are enhanced, attack the opponent and inflict 'Confusion' status!]

But Nemona clearly anticipated such a move and immediately waved her hand, shouting:

"Dragapult, Clangorous Soul!"

"Pult!!"

Flying through the sky, Dragapult continued dancing its body to build momentum while its internal membranes vibrated, producing inspiring drum sounds.

The drum sounds collided with Indeedee's gentle voice in terms of sound waves on the field.

Sound waves clashing with sound waves immediately exploded in the arena.

Dragon Dance could be used together with Clangorous Soul?

The audience exclaimed in surprise.

Even Lance, called the "Dragon Master," couldn't help showing surprise.

From this move alone, it wasn't hard to see that President Nemona had considerable experience in training and raising Dragon-type Pokémon.

Johan was also somewhat surprised.

It seemed President Nemona had been communicating with Dragon Tamer families quite a bit...

Boom!!

Sound waves collided with sound waves.

"Dragapult!"

"Pult!!"

From the dust kicked up by the sound wave collision, Dragapult, having completed its Dragon Dance, rushed through the sound waves at extreme speed, charging straight toward Sister Indeedee.

However.

Not only did Dragapult take action, Sister Indeedee did the same.

When Dragapult was about to reach Sister Indeedee, her body also emanated an aura wave similar to Dragapult's earlier momentum.

Copycat!

Through self-suggestion, gaining the same ability enhancement as the opponent.

"Dragapult, Dragon Tail!"

Nemona shouted again.

Dragapult's invisible tail appeared for the first time, wrapped in thick blue-purple Dragon-type energy.

Encased in blue-purple Dragon-type energy, the thick tail swatted toward Indeedee.

But just as Dragon Tail was about to contact Indeedee, she transformed into a white light and automatically returned to the Poké Ball in Johan's hand.

Baton Pass!

Another key component of hazard-setting tactics: forcibly making the opponent switch Pokémon.

So when seeing Dragapult, and Nemona unhesitatingly having it use Dragon Dance to enhance speed and improve agility, Johan had already anticipated this move.

Setting aside other tactics.

Johan really understood hazard-setting tactics too well; he had used them plenty before.

So.

Rather than wait for Dragapult's Dragon Tail to force a switch, it was better to be proactive and still gain the same enhancement as Dragapult's Dragon Dance.

Seeing this, Nemona's eyes narrowed.

She felt... Teacher Johan seemed to really understand hazard-setting tactics, or more accurately, seemed very familiar with her personal tactical style and combat habits.

Not only Nemona herself felt this way, but also some discerning audience members with decent strength.

"Teacher Johan really understands these 'stall' tactics too well!"

"Otherwise, why do you think Teacher Johan has the title 'Master of Stall'? Is that title for nothing?"

"But regardless, Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock are both set. Even the Pokémon coming in with Baton Pass will suffer from these two traps."

On the field.

Johan said to Sister Indeedee: "Sister, you've worked hard. Rest for a bit."

The Poké Ball gently swayed.

Being able to participate in battle, Sister Indeedee was already very satisfied. Switching according to tactics and strategy was fine with her, of course she wouldn't have any objections.

Feeling Sister Indeedee's joy and happiness, Johan smiled slightly.

Going back to Hoenn and bringing Sister Indeedee to participate in the competition, letting her have some fun, was obviously the absolutely correct choice.

After putting away Sister Indeedee's Poké Ball, Johan quickly took out a second one.

He threw it out.

"Go, Tinkaton!"

Rainbow light flashed.

Tinkaton, carrying her hammer, appeared on the field.

More accurately, standing on her hammer.

Ding ding—

Upon entering, the spike-like Toxic Spikes under her hammer immediately made harsh, teeth-grinding scraping sounds.

"Cha?"

Tinkaton jumped down from her hammer, looking down at her feet to find all those Toxic Spikes had been flattened.

She scratched her head.

What the heck?

As a Steel-type Pokémon, Tinkaton wasn't afraid of these Toxic Spikes on the ground.

Moreover.

The Stealth Rocks scattered around also didn't deal very noticeable damage to Tinkaton due to her double resistance to Rock-type.

Of course.

If Tinkaton wanted to move flexibly and quickly, the Stealth Rocks floating in mid-air and these Toxic Spikes on the ground would still have considerable impact on her.

However, most importantly...

Dragapult's Dragon Tail couldn't deal much damage to Tinkaton as a Fairy-type Pokémon, so the forced switching effect attached to Dragon Tail naturally couldn't work either.

Additionally.

Tinkaton inherited Sister Indeedee's baton, immediately gaining Dragon Dance's enhancement upon entry, with both physical attack and speed boosted considerably!

Perfect counter, basically.

But Dragapult didn't only have Dragon-type moves.

"Dragapult, Will-O-Wisp!"

Puff puff puff—

One by one, ghostly blue flames formed around Dragapult, taking advantage of the Pokémon switching gap to launch the first attack.

"Cha!"

Bang—

"Cha!"

Ow!

Tinkaton instinctively tried to dodge but directly smacked her head into an invisible rock nearby. As the rock crumbled, Tinkaton quickly covered her head.

It hurt!

Johan's eye twitched as he shouted: "Tinkaton, use your hammer!"

"Cha!"

Got it!

Tinkaton quickly reacted, covering her head with one hand while gripping her hammer with the other, directly starting to spin like a windmill on the spot!

The huge, hard hammer continuously rang with "bang bang" sounds as those invisible rocks immediately crumbled to powder, forcibly creating a Stealth Rock-free zone around Tinkaton's body.

Even.

All the Will-O-Wisps shot by Dragapult were indiscriminately swept into scattered sparks by Tinkaton.

Witnessing this scene, the audience moved their lips and finally sighed:

"Indeedee, Tinkaton... are all the 'girls' in Teacher Johan's house like this?"

However, some people felt that although Tinkaton was violent and had type advantages, her body was surrounded by poisonous Toxic Spikes, which weren't as easily destroyed as Stealth Rock.

While Tinkaton was a Steel-type Pokémon, only her hammer was Steel-type. That pink body wasn't Steel-type and could still be poisoned.

This was quite different from games that simply dealt with types.

Moreover, Dragapult could not only fly but was extremely agile. It wouldn't be easy for ground-bound Tinkaton to hit airborne Dragapult.

But Tinkaton quickly demonstrated... what it meant to be one with the hammer.

"Cha!"

Tinkaton suddenly hurled her hammer at airborne Dragapult.

Whoosh—

The incredibly heavy hammer flew toward the sky at surprising speed.

"Dodge quickly, Dragapult!" Nemona waved her hand.

Dragapult was indeed very agile, moving in an extremely nimble way to precisely and skillfully avoid the incoming hammer.

But when Dragapult looked down to find Tinkaton after dodging...

She blinked.

Where was she?

"Above you!" Nemona's voice came again.

Above?

Wasn't that just the hammer that flew by?

"Cha!"

Tinkaton's voice indeed came from above.

Looking back.

She saw the hammer had already flown to the dome barrier, with Tinkaton holding onto it and flying up too. Her feet were even standing upside down on the upper barrier, waving cheerfully at the incredulous Dragapult.

The next second.

Tinkaton, practically hanging upside down from the barrier, suddenly kicked off with both feet. Combined with gravity's effect, she immediately swung her hammer down at Dragapult at extreme speed.

Play Rough!

Boom!!

Dragapult fell to the ground like a cannonball, causing the ground to shake continuously.

Tinkaton's hammer strike was even more violent than Sister Indeedee's psychic power.

Moreover, while Sister Indeedee was weaker than Glimmora, Tinkaton's strength... was superior to Dragapult's.

The live stream chat immediately exploded.

"Holy! Tinkaton nearly one-shot President Nemona's Dragapult with one hammer?!"

"It would be weird if she didn't nearly one-shot it, right?"

"Have you ever heard of a hammer technique that descends from heaven?"

"Want to learn?"

Dragapult wasn't directly one-shot thanks to its agile form avoiding the most direct impact. Otherwise, with enhanced physical attack, Tinkaton's hammer would definitely be too much for Dragapult to handle.

"U-turn!"

Nemona immediately shouted, no longer having Dragapult clash head-on with Tinkaton.

"Pult—"

Dragapult immediately became a pale green flash, striking just-landed Tinkaton before returning to Nemona's Premier Ball.

Another switch!

"Please, Altaria!"

Nemona's switch was extremely fast this time, immediately summoning her third Pokémon, the massive Ice-type Altaria.

"Cha?"

Tinkaton hadn't even fully stabilized when she heard...

"Altaria, Roar!"

"Roar—"

"Cha?"

Tinkaton immediately became a white light, flying back to Johan's Poké Ball with a confused expression.

After a brief moment of surprise, Johan quickly put Tinkaton's Poké Ball back on his belt.

"Then let's go, Urshifu!"

"Garruu!!"

Wide-eyed Urshifu appeared on the field. The poisonous Toxic Spikes underfoot and surrounding Stealth Rock immediately dealt considerable damage, causing his eyes to bulge like copper bells.

"Here we go, hazard-setting tactics are finally starting to take effect!"

"Besides Dragapult, President Nemona was actually hiding an Altaria that knows Roar!"

"Good gracious, it seems the 'stall master' Teacher Johan has encountered his first opponent who can match him in 'stall' tactics."

Nemona continued:

"Altaria, Roar again!"

As long as Roar or Dragon Tail worked once, hazard-setting tactics could operate.

At the same time, Johan spoke at rapid speed.

"Sucker Punch, Wicked Blow!"

"Roar—cough cough cough—"

Altaria was just about to roar when it saw a dark shadow at extreme speed appear before it, a strong, powerful palm firmly grasping its throat.

"Garruu..."

Urshifu slowly raised his head, facing Altaria's shocked gaze and revealing a "menacing" smile.

Go ahead and roar, keep roaring...

Heh, heh heh...

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Powerstones?

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