Chapter 9 Winning Strategy

Compared to Professor Rowan's silence, Roy seemed very excited.

"Your remaining Pokémon must not have many ways to deal with Steel types, right?" Professor Rowan looked at the fallen Aggron, feeling quite pleased.

Regardless of the outcome of this battle, he was about to witness a rising star among trainers.

"No way at all," Roy chuckled bitterly. "So even though Forretress is in good shape, I dare not risk letting Aggron continue to stand on the field. It's all or nothing, we go out together."

"You're betting that my Aggron is in bad shape and will be blown out directly, and you're also betting that I don't have any Steel types in my remaining Pokémon," Professor Rowan rubbed his chin. "But what if I do?"

Roy shrugged. "Then I guess I'm out of luck. But Professor, you've been so lucky, getting four evolved Pokémon with good attributes. Luck should be on my side for once, right? If all else fails, I can at least tell myself that I tried my best, but fate was against me."

"And I just saw in your Breeding House, most of the Pokémon are Grass and Bug types. I can definitely take a gamble on that. I bet your remaining two are the two most abundant types in the lab."

Professor Rowan burst into heartfelt laughter, a laughter that the researchers behind him had never seen from the Professor.

After a while, Professor Rowan stopped laughing. "You guessed it right."

Professor Rowan's Poké Ball rolled onto the field, and out came Ariados. The newly entered Ariados was already injured from Forretress' spikes before the battle even began.

Finally, Roy sent out his two key Pokémon, Clefairy appeared on the battlefield.

"Is this your winning Pokémon?"

"More precisely, one of them," Roy replied, then glanced down at Jumpluff, who had recovered and was bouncing around beside him, enthusiastically cheering for Clefairy. Looking at Clefairy's confused expression, it seemed Jumpluff had said something that made Clefairy very uncomfortable.

Knowing Jumpluff's personality, Roy figured it was probably something about Clefairy punch Ariadoss face.

"Ariados, use Pin Missile."

With the type advantage for Bug and Poison against Clefairy, Roy chose to keep Clefairy in despite the damage from the spikes. Even if there might have been better options, he didn't want to switch out again.

Professor Rowan decided to let Ariados use a high-fault-tolerance move to chip away at Clefairy's health.

"Run, dodge the Pin Missile," Roy didn't give a specific command for a move. Normally, Clefairy would be the slowest in the team, but according to the Pokédex, this Clefairy had astonishing speed, so Roy gave her a move that can potentially sweep out the entire team. Now, what Roy needed to do was to find the right moment to use this move.

Frowning, Professor Rowan sensed that the situation seemed to be going according to Roy's plan. Ariados' Pin Missile damage wasn't high for Clefairy, especially considering Clefairy's impressive agility. Amidst the dense Pin Missile barrage, Clefairy dodged effortlessly, as if she was taking a leisurely stroll in her own backyard.

Professor Rowan suspected Roy had a trick up his sleeve.

However, Professor Rowan couldn't discern Roy's intention to not attack but just dodge. Nevertheless, regardless of how Clefairy used her move, she would have to get close to Ariados. Clefairy's movement to stop and release the move while running was too obvious, allowing Professor Rowan to predict Ariados' moves perfectly.

As long as Clefairy was within Ariados' effective attack range, Professor Rowan could use Spider Web to lower Clefairy's speed and then use Toxic to ensure steady damage.

Before that, they just needed to keep pressuring with Pin Missile.

Ariados launched wave after wave of Pin Missile, while Clefairy performed various high-difficulty maneuvers to dodge them within the barrage.

Roy seemed to have the idea of letting Clefairy unleash her move as soon as she appeared, constantly keeping her moving at high speed to evade Ariados' barrage entirely.

In the silence, amidst Ariados' relentless Pin Missile assault, Clefairy elegantly danced, dodging every attack effortlessly.

Professor Rowan couldn't resist any longer. Ariados' continuous focus on Pin Missile would undoubtedly consume a considerable amount of energy. He began to suspect that Roy intentionally wanted to exhaust Ariados, perhaps to secure a victory without any harm.

It was time for a change!

"Ariados, use Toxic!"

The dense barrage of Pin Missiles from Ariados halted, replaced by a jet of purple venom spraying into the air.

In a way, Professor Rowan was baiting Roy. If Roy was wary of the barrage of Pin Missiles Ariados had constructed, then by removing it, Roy might attempt to have Clefairy use her move.

"Charge in, use Fire Punch!"

Roy finally gave his first command for Clefairy since her appearance, and Fire Punch was exactly the close-range move Professor Rowan hoped for.

"Dodge the Fire Punch, then entangle Clefairy with String."

Ariados leaped lightly to the side, the Fire Punch barely grazing its leg. In one fluid motion, Ariados then spat out a white silk thread, wrapping it around Clefairy.

A murmur of surprise rippled through the audience. Clefairy's nimble movements, seemingly toying with Ariados, had everyone thinking she had the upper hand. However, at that moment, Clefairy's pride, her speed, was completely nullified by Ariados.

Professor Rowan didn't hear the cheering from the audience for himself. His heart sank as Roy lightly announced the name of the move.

"Encore."

Encore, a move that would lock the target into using the same move for a set amount of time.

Ariados had previously used String, and now, after being hit with Encore, the infuriated Ariados continued to bind Clefairy with the white silk threads.

"Settle down, Ariados, use Toxic!"

"Good job, Ariados, keep spinning that string." Roy looked at Clefairy, "It's time to end this, Clefairy, use Calm Mind!"

Finally, Professor Rowan realized he had been played. Roy had only been having Clefairy dodge all this time to lead up to this moment when he could call out the non-damaging move.

He finally understood Roy's entire strategy for this battle.

Jumpluff and Skuntank were not just about gathering information; Jumpluff's Stun Spore was to disrupt the rhythm of my team's attacks, while Skuntank's Memento was to put my powerful Pokémon in a state where they couldn't easily clear out Roy's Pokémon.

Forretress didn't come out first to set up Spikes, it was all part of the deception! Everyone was fooled by Roy's plan.

When the Spikes were set, even Professor Rowan himself thought Roy's next Pokémon would use negative effect moves along with consuming tactics to exhaust the remaining of his Pokémon.

It was a misunderstanding, everyone thought the same with the two waves of Spikes.

But everyone naturally overlooked Forretress's Sturdy ability, why not send it out in the first round?

Professor Rowan's first Pokémon was the Grass-type Roserade, a perfect setup for laying down Spikes. Afraid of having moves to clear the Spikes? Remember, this was a blind selection, who could guess what Pokémon the opponent could have, making predictions and countermeasures?

So Professor Rowan was led step by step by the Spikes on the field.

Because of the fear of the damage caused by switching Pokémon, he persisted in having Ariados on the field against Clefairy in an unfavorable matchup, because Clefairy never attacked, wearing down Ariados's energy and Professor Rowan's patience, leading him to seek change.

Finally, he was tricked into revealing his non-damaging move, and then Roy sealed the deal with Encore, executing his entire strategy.

"Ariados, use Pin Missile!"

"Continue using Calm Mind."

Ariados aggressively fired off String, completely ignoring Professor Rowan's shouts.

Clefairy paid no mind to the sticky white webbing clinging to its body, lost in a serene state.

Calm Mind would boost Clefairy's Special Attack and Special Defense.

"Ariados, snap out of it and attack with Pin Missile!" Professor Rowan continued trying to calm the enraged Ariados, but to no avail. At this moment, Ariados's eyes were filled with nothing but anger.

After Clefariy completed its fourth Calm Mind, Ariados finally calmed down, while Clefairy had become completely overpowered.

"Use Toxic!"

Professor Rowan knew Ariados was done for, hoping it could at least give an advantage to the following Pokémon.

The slowed Clefairy was directly hit by Toxic, yet it remained silent as it gently shattered the white silk cocoon surrounding it, casting a sinister glance at Ariados.

If Clefairy could talk, I bet it would be asking Ariados, "What's up, little bro?"

Ariados hesitated for a moment, unable to help but step back, feeling that the situation was extremely unfavorable.

"Shadow Ball."

A dark purple energy ball condensed in front of Clefairy, while Ariados, under Professor Rowan's command, launched a barrage of pin missiles. However, the Shadow Ball was also prepared, carrying immense destructive power as it tore through the barrage of pin missiles and slammed directly into Ariados's face.

The Shadow Ball dragged Ariados's body and furrowed a deep trench on the battlefield, its momentum carrying it towards the audience stands. A researcher quickly released their own Marill, blocking Ariados just before it was about to fly out of the battle arena.

Sachiko was stunned for a moment before raising the flag.

"Ariados is unable to battle."

As the flag was raised, Jumpluff excitedly cheered at Clefairy, who proudly turned its head, too lazy to pay attention to Jumpluff's chatter.

Roy's deception successfully fooled everyone, and the tactics hidden behind the deception also proved to be successful.

Professor Rowan didn't immediately send out another Pokémon.

The skeptical voices from the audience vanished, replaced by thunderous applause and cheers echoing in response to Roy's tactics.

Roy kept his eyes closed, seemingly reveling in something.

Professor Rowan held the Poké Ball tightly, a smile of satisfaction on his serious face. He had witnessed yet another rising star among the new Trainers, and this Trainer seemed to need more confidence. Professor Rowan didn't want to interrupt this moment of enjoying the applause and cheers.

He hoped that amidst these praises, the Trainer could gather more confidence to go even further.