178: Humiliating Defeat

AN: I forgot to update yesterday, my apologies.

Pokemon Academy, Komoda City.

In the next round, the match went almost the same as in the previous round. Brad chose a Nidoking, which Gardevoir defeated in no time at all.

"Nidoking is unable to battle! The winner is Gardevoir!"

The referee declared.

Then, he put his flags down and said.

"The third match will begin in one minute. You can take a break."

After the referee left the ring, Gardevoir returned to Hisoka's side.

"How about you, Gardevoir? Do you want to continue? Or should I replace you?"

He asked Gardevoir, who was panting slightly, concerned about her current condition. It was not easy to fight against two opponents in a row.

"I can still hold on."

Gardevoir replied, waving off his concern.

"Alright."

He nodded and stopped talking. Gardevoir would ignore everything he said if she had already set her mind on something.

After the short break, Hisoka and his opponent, Brad, went back to their position and faced each other. While Hisoka's face was calm, Brad didn't look so good; he knew this round would be his last chance, or he'll be eliminated.

Shortly after they entered the ring, the referee returned to the ring and asked Hisoka if he wanted to replace his Pokemon, which he turned down.

Nodding, the referee then turned to Brad and requested him to send out his next Pokemon.

"Are you both ready?"

The referee asked Hisoka and Jimmy, to which they replied with a single nod.

"Let the match begin!"

With the referee's announcement, Brad immediately ordered his Pokemon to attack.

"Rush 'em with Sludge Bomb!"

The Pokemon Brad chose in the third round, or possibly the final round, was a Crobat.

The large purple bat Pokemon immediately perked up its ears at the command and seemed to grin before it lunged forward. Opening its mouth, a revolting purple liquid was expelled toward Gardevoir.

"Light Screen!"

Seeing the Toxic spreading out toward them, Hisoka chose to block it.

In a flash, a bright purple cubic shield formed around Gardevoir. The Toxic burst into a cloud of purple gas on impact, with Gardevoir barely feeling the poison.

Brad frowned as Crobat snarled in annoyance.

Hisoka just grinned.

'Not an Infiltrator, huh? Great.'

He thought.

And with Light Screen in play, Brad would be hard-pressed to attack unless it was in close quarters. Gardevoir's Teleport speed was fast enough to outmatch Crobat's speed.

To his surprise, though, Brad just smirked.

"Crobat, Tailwind."

With that, Crobat summoned forth a wind from behind to speed it up as it plunged down at Gardevoir at blinding speed.

"Cross Poison!"

Brad's voice rang out.

Crobat's wings crossed together, forming an X and glowing in dark purple.

Faced with Crobat's sudden boost in speed, Hisoka didn't manage to react in time. Gardevoir could only prop up a simple barrier, which instantly broke as the Cross Poison continued on to hit her.

Gardevoir contorted in pain, and she felt his legs buckle underneath her. Another wave of pain seared through her when the poison began to take effect.

"Gardevoir!"

Hisoka shouted in worry, watching Gardevoir get up shakily.

"Alright!"

Cheered Brad.

"Now go for a Venoshock!"

Hisoka hurried to protect Gardevoir from further harm.

"Gardevoir, use Protect!"

In an instant, Crobat fired a stream of poisonous liquid at Gardevoir. Thankfully, Gardevoir reacted in time as she raised a blue barrier in front of her.

"Tch!"

Brad clicked his tongue at this.

"So close. We would have already won if that hit."

While Brad was in his own world, Gardevoir's eyes crossed with Hisoka's in what seemed to be a long time but, in reality, was only a few seconds.

Then and there, he knew Gardevoir wanted to continue to fight, which he allowed her to do so, reluctantly.

"You've got this, Crobat! His Gardevoir is on its last leg. We only need to land a single to take it out!"

Brad yelled excitedly.

Crobat cried out as if it agreed with what Brad said. Even the audience thought so too.

Only Hisoka knew Gardevoir still had a lot left in her. Just poison alone could not take her out. Even so, he had to do something about that soon, or her condition would only get worse.

"Pray for the stars, Gardevoir! Use Wish!"

Suddenly, the whole ring became dark as Gardevoir let out a murmur of prayer that sounded like a song. An image of a shooting star appeared behind Gardevoir, and her whole body glowed white like an angel.

Then, the light returned. Slowly but surely, Gardevoir's condition was getting better even though the poison was still there.

"What?"

Brad bawled, his voice trembling with outrage.

"Is that a Wish? Damn! Crobat! Take her down quick! Poison Fang!"

He yelled out his command, and Crobat flew at Gardevoir with its poisonous fangs glinting in the sun.

"Oh no, you don't!"

Hisoka interrupted.

"Gardevoir! Use Psybeam!"

Facing the threatening Psybeam, Crobat had to stop its attack and move away from the incoming blow.

"Venoshock!"

Brad ordered again.

However, he soon would realize that his plan failed yet again because Gardevoir easily dodged the Venoshock with her Teleport; the purple glob went on to hit nothing but empty air.

"Nice Gardevoir! Now use Psychic!"

Brad widened his eyes as his Crobat couldn't do anything to stop Gardevoir's Psychic. Gardevoir lifted it into the air using her telekinetic power and flung it to the wall. It crunched against the concrete barriers that protected the audience, leaving behind a Crobat-shaped mark on the wall when it slid down.

The referee didn't even bother to check if Crobat was knocked out; he had seen many Pokemon that suffered the same, and not one of them survived.

"Crobat is unable to battle. The winner of this match is Hisoka!"

Hisoka fist-pumped as the crowd erupted into cheers and applause.

On the other hand, Brad stood rooted to the spot, his mind in a whirl of confusion. He couldn't believe he had lost. Worst, he lost to the person he scorned.

"Crobat... return."

Said Brad before he hurriedly walked off the ring, feeling humiliated because of his defeat under Hisoka's hand.