169 169: Hisoka vs Nate

Dark City.

'Hmmm? Somehow they look familiar.'

Thought Hisoka, watching the boy and the girl walking toward him.

"Hello, we're from Unova. Is the Gym open today?"

Said the young boy with a red visor that kept his messy hair out of his face.

The girl beside him was wearing the same except that it was white with pink stripes. They bore a resemblance to each other. Perhaps they were siblings?

"Unova?"

He was slightly taken aback by that.

"Why did you come all the way to Kanto?"

He asked in a puzzled manner.

The Unova region was located in the western hemisphere, while the Kanto region was located in the eastern hemisphere. The two regions were almost half a world away. It would take nearly a week to get here on an airplane.

Dark Gym usually received most of the challengers from Kanto. Aside from that, there were also a few trainers from Johto and the occasional ones from Hoenn.

As for the trainers from Sinnoh, he had yet to meet one. He didn't expect to meet one from Unova today. What a surprise.

"Uh, it was a spur of the moment thing."

Said the young boy while rubbing his head sheepishly.

Hisoka: ...

The girl looked embarrassed too.

"Okay. Follow me."

He turned around while beckoning them to follow him.

While he was leading them to the arena, he asked them a couple of questions. It turned out that the boy, Nate, had been a trainer for almost a year now and was now traveling around the world with his sister.

They also talked about how they managed to enter the top eight in the Unova League Conference, a very good achievement for a trainer who had just debuted for a year.

He then finally remembered where he had seen them. Weren't they the main characters in the Pokemon game? No wonder they looked so familiar.

When they reached the arena, Hisoka told Nate to wait while he went to call the referee. A minute later, he returned with the referee and entered the arena.

"This a 1vs1 battle. You are only allowed to use two Pokemon. Are you ready?"

The referee briefly announced the rules of battle while standing in the ring.

"Yes. Let's start now."

Nate, who was standing on the opposite side, held a Pokeball in his hand. His fighting spirit was soaring up. He couldn't wait to face off against Hisoka.

As soon as the referee told them to release their Pokemon, he immediately threw his Pokeball out, full of confidence.

"Come out, Scrafty!"

An orange Pokemon that looked like a lizard appeared in front of everyone. It sported a red mohawk hairstyle and was wearing some kind of baggy yellow pants.

"Scrafty?"

Hisoka observed the Pokemon curiously. If he wasn't mistaken, this Pokemon should be Dark/Fighting-type Pokemon, who had a powerful resistance against Dark-type attacks.

'This is going to be tough.'

He thought and released a Mightyena. (Not Ran's Mightyena)

After doing so, he took out a device that was disguised as a Pokedex and asked Friday to send him some other information about Scrafty. He rarely fought against a Pokemon from another region. This was his first time facing a Scrafty.

Beep!

"Scrafty, a Dark/Fighting-type Pokemon. Scrafty is powerful enough to kick through concrete blocks and can also spit acidic liquid from its mouth. It can also protect itself while attacking by pulling up or folding the loose skin around its waist."

Friday replied.

'Spit out acid and nice protection. Great.'

He thought sarcastically while putting the Friday Pokedex back in his pocket.

"The battle starts now!"

The referee announced while swinging down his flags.

"Scrafty! Use Headbutt!"

After the referee started the match, Nate immediately ordered his Pokemon.

Seeing the Scrafty charging wildly like a bull, Hisoka knew he couldn't fight it head-on.

"Use Mud-Slap, Mightyena!"

He shouted.

Mightyena turned around and, using its hind legs, it kicked up clumps of mud at Scrafty, causing it to miss its charges.

"Nice! Now follow it up with a Take Down."

He ordered quickly.

"It's not over yet! Fake Out Scrafty!"

Nate hastily countered.

Despite Mightyena moving first, Scrafty was the first one to gain the upper hand in the battle. Scrafty punched Mightyena directly in the face, sending it flying away.

Mightyena shook its head and tried to bring itself up, but before it could, it suddenly heard Hisoka's voice shouting to get away.

"Watch out Mightyena!"

From above, Scrafty thrust its leg down at Mightyena, who was still disoriented by the Fake Out.

Bang!

The High Jump Kick struck Mightyena so hard that even the ground was crushed by the powerful kick. After a moment, it became apparent that Mightyena had passed out after not seeing any kind of movement from it.

"Nice job Mightyena. You can rest now."

Said Hisoka while recalling it. He then turned to look at Nate on the opposite side. He had to admit that the boy was strong.

"You're a strong opponent, but this is not over yet."

After he said that, another Pokeball appeared in his hand as he threw it out.

The Pokeball opened wide, and Weavile appeared.

"Let's do this, Weavile!"

He yelled, getting serious.

"Weavile!"

She cried out in reply, ready and raring to go.

"Start with Screech!"

Hearing that, she took a deep breath and let out a piercing scream, distorting the air. Scrafty was struck by the shockwaves and was now holding its ears in pain.

"Now use Brick Break!"

He ordered immediately, not giving his opponent any chance to fight back. Scrafty was weak against Fighting-type attacks. This was the reason he chose Brick Break.

With a loud cry, she leaped to Scrafty and delivered a powerful blow on its head.

Shortly after that, Scrafty fell to the ground with a loud thump.

Aside from Hisoka, the others took a deep breath.

'What a powerful Pokemon.'

They thought. Such a strong Scrafty was easily beaten by Weavile in just two moves.

"That's a strong Pokemon you have there."

Said Nate as he recalled the downed Scrafty.

"Thank you. We work hard to get here. Do your best in the next round. I won't go easy on you, you know?"

He replied.

Nate chuckled at that.

"Don't worry. I will show you my strength from now on. Go, Emboar!"

A bulky Pokemon with pig-like features appeared in the ring. Burning hot flames were spouting out of its neck. Most of its body was black, along with some red around its hips. Golden markings ran across its chest in a swirl pattern.

'An Emboar, huh? Troublesome.'

Hisoka thought. Different from the previous Scrafty, he was more familiar with this Pokemon.

Emboar, a Fire/Fighting-type Pokemon, one of the three starter Pokemon in Unova. It was known to be very tough and relentless when fighting. What's worst was that it could use its speed and strength skillfully to deal powerful blows - a master at Fighting-type skills.