Alex sat in a seat on the edge of the arena battlefield and watched the fight with an examining look.
The fight that Alex was watching was the fight of participant no.1 Misty v/s participant no.4 Roberta. Grass-type trainer v/s Water-type trainer.
Although competitor Roberta had a type advantage, Alex didn't think she could win. As long as she didn't show any particular strategy, she was likely to be easily defeated by Misty's high-level Pokémon.
Alex just hoped that she was strong enough Misty to use all 3 of her Pokémon so he could observe them.
The fight finished faster than Alex predicted. Participants Roberta's Pokémon were not only several levels under Misty's Pokémon but also poorly trained. None of their Pokémon showed a move on the Expert rank. And no Pokémon showed physical superiority, such as participant no.2 Junichi's Pokémon, who have an above-average physical performance.
Misty only used her two weakest Pokémon to defeat all three of Roberta's Pokémon.
Alex showed a funny expression when he saw how Misty had to defeat such easy opponents to get into the final. Well, the match is decided in such a way that it is easy for the top players. While Alex's benefit ended after entering the top 8, Misty will have that benefit until the final. The stronger you are, the more benefits you get.
...
1 hour later, Alex and Junichi were standing on the battlefield with a referee. The winner of this round will officially fight against Misty in the final tomorrow.
The referee repeated the rules for both participants again, even though he noticed that none of them was listening.
After the referee completed the protocol of speaking the rules, he showed a signal indicating that both participants had to summon their first Pokémon.
A Scizor and a Hitmonlee were called onto the battlefield simultaneously. Junichi had, of course, watched Alex's last fight and didn't want to make the mistake that Mason made.
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Pokémon: Hitmonlee
LV: 40
Type: Fighting
Abilities: Limber
Gender: Male
Potential: Shallow Gold
Moves:
- Rolling Kick, Meditate, Double Kick, Feint, Brick Break, Facade, Jump Kick, Focus Energy, Mega Kick
- (Innate Talent) Headbutt [E], (Innate Talent) Poison Jab [E], (Innate Talent) Helping Hand
- (TM) Protect, (TM) Rock Slide
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Alex, who saw his opponent choosing his strongest Pokémon first, as expected, showed a slight smile. His assessment of Junichi was that he probably won't try to put too much thought into choosing the first Pokémon. So Alex could easily predict which Pokémon Junichi would choose first. Although this is not a great advantage, one cannot underestimate this advantage.
"Are both participants ready? Ok. 3,2,1, GO!"
Alex gave a smile when he said, "Scizor, Hyper Beam."
Junichi said at the same time, "Hitmonlee, use Medita... Meditate. You can save your tricks. I won't fall for it."
Alex smiled when he heard this. Junichi didn't understand the smile at first. But when he saw Scizor not using Focus Energy but Toxic, his face went dark.
Hitmonlee, who was using Meditate, couldn't avoid Scizor's move and was poisoned.
Although his Pokémon was poisoned, Junichi didn't panic because he knows that the Toxic from a non-Poison-type Pokémon would be less effective. Especially if the targeted Pokémon has a higher level. Although Hitmonlee was slowly starting to take damage, Junichi didn't see it as a significant disadvantage.
"Hitmonlee, use Meditate once more."
Junichi wanted to repeat Alex's tactics in the last round and strengthen his Pokémon a lot before defeating all three of Alex's Pokémon. Although his Pokémon are stronger, Junichi didn't want to take the chance.
"Scizor, use Sandstorm."
When the moderator heard the move that Alex said to use, he made a startled expression on his face. "Participant Alex appears to be very rich to be able to buy the TM Sandstorm. Although most trainers rate the TM Sandstorm as not very strong, one should not underestimate the damage that a Pokémon suffers if it stays in this sandstorm for a long time."
Alex used almost all of his money yesterday to buy TMs for Scizor. Even though he spent a lot of money on this one move, Alex had no reason to hesitate. Save money or make his Pokémon stronger? It's a no brainer for Alex.
Scizor who heard this created a small area where a strong sandstorm was raging. This sandstorm stretched across the whole battlefield and made it very difficult to get in the middle of the arena. Although the visibility was reduced, it wasn't so bad that the Pokémon and trainers can't see each other.
As Junichi was about to give his next command, Alex said with a pressing voice, "Scizor, use plan 5."
Junichi, who heard this, looked briefly at Scizor to find out what Scizor wanted to do. Although he wanted to attack, he didn't risk attack Alex just like that.
Scizor who heard this was using Razor Wind on the solid ground of the arena. The surface was damaged by the move and formed a small dust cloud that was kept in the air by the sandstorm.
Alex let Scizor practice the move Sandstorm for a whole day to keep dust in the sandstorm in the air. Although Alex doesn't know how exactly Scizor does it, he was happy that his request was easier for Scizor to implement than he had initially thought. This very small change in this move allows Alex to implement his plan flawlessly.
Junichi, who saw Scizor showing more and more gaudiness in the arena, made a grave face.
For other trainers, Alex's strategy would be completely useless because they only have to use a Flying-type move to destroy this sandstorm. The second possibility is to have a Pokémon that can perceive the opponent's Pokémon even without his eyes. Only Junichi, who was the Fighting-Type trainer, had neither of these two options.
There is also another way. Like Maria, you can attack the arena with a high attack surface move. This option are available to most trainers.
"Hitmonlee, use Rock Slide." Alex knew that Junichi would use this move.
Junichi had no choice but to hope that luck was on his side and that Rock Slide will hit Scizor.
He thought that Alex had executed his plan completed, which was not the case.
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