170: Hisoka vs Nate (2)

Dark Gym, Dark City.

Emboar stood in front of Nate with a determined expression on its face. It knew they would be in a hard fight. It could feel the powerful strength hidden inside the weasel-like Pokemon opposite it.

Nate clenched his fist tightly as he stared at the opponent intensely. This was his last chance to win this battle.

"Let's do this, Emboar. We are going to win this fight!"

Shouted Nate, trying to raise its fighting spirit.

"Roar!"

Emboar roared in response and smashed his fist together as the red flames around his neck burst out violently.

"Use Power-Up Punch!"

He yelled.

With a flaming grunt, Emboar rushed toward the opponent like a charging bull. Its right arm was raised and covered in a bright orange glow.

'Power-Up Punch? Is he trying to build up its strength? I won't let you do that.'

Hisoka thought.

As an experienced trainer, how could he not know what Nate was planning? However, he knew it wouldn't be easy for Weavile to block Emboar's attack, not to mention her weakness to Fighting-type skills.

"Weavile! Use Icicle Crash. Don't let it hit you!"

He immediately ordered Weavile after he quickly thought of a plan.

Weavile leapt into the air before he fired out a dozen icicles toward Emboar. The icicles continued on to hit Emboar, stopping its charge.

In return, Nate ordered Emboar to shoot a blast of Ember at the airborne Weavile.

Poof!

However, the Weavile burst into a cloud of smoke. It was a Substitute. In a flash, Weavile appeared next to Emboar and stunned it with a Fake Out.

"Great! Now use Rain Dance!"

Seeing the chance, Hisoka chose to use the Rain Dance after a thought. Rain Dance at least would weaken Emboar's Fire-type attacks rather than Hail.

Yes, his Weavile had mastered two weather-changing skills. She was just that amazing.

After she performed a bizarre yet captivating dance, a dark cloud formed above them. Then, it started raining.

By this time, Emboar had finally recovered from the stun. Feeling the rain pouring down its body, it shook its head in disgust. Being a Fire-type Pokemon, it did not go well with water.

"Damn!"

Cursed Nate after seeing the current situation.

"Forget about the rain, Emboar! Focus on the opponent."

At this time, Weavile was initiating her second round of attacks as she sent forth a powerful Blizzard at Emboar, using a large amount of water that had been collected in the ring. She couldn't use Water-type attacks, but it was easy for her to turn them into ice.

Struck by the Blizzard, Emboar let out a cry of pain as its body began to freeze. However, the ice quickly melted as fire surged out from its body.

Immediately, Nate ordered his Pokemon to charge at Weavile with a Flare Blitz, trying to play to its advantage. His Emboar's ability was Reckless, allowing it to deal powerful damage when using recoil-type skills in return for greater damage taken during the recoil.

(Recoil-type skills: Take Down, Jump Kick, Head Smash, etc.)

However, Weavile managed to slip away with a very clever use of Agility and countered it with a simple Slash.

The battle between the two Pokemon soon reached its peak, with Emboar charging at Weavile while she shuttled around the arena, dodging its attacks.

It soon became apparent that Emboar was losing his advantage. Its ability Reckless was quite powerful, but it also was a double-edged sword. No Pokemon could last for a long time after using a recoil-type skill, let alone several times.

With another Slash from Weavile, Emboar fell to the ground after letting out an unwilling cry.

Thump!

"Emboar has lost its ability to fight! The winner is Hisoka from Dark Gym!"

The referee's voice rang out, announcing the result of the match.

After Hisoka put away his Pokemon, he stepped off the ring and went to shake hands with Nate.

"It was a good battle."

He said.

"Yes. It was."

Replied Nate, a little bit letdown by the loss. However, he soon returned to his previous cheery self. He was not the kind of person who liked to dwell on the past.

Hisoka nodded secretly after seeing that Nate had managed to overcome the loss. Him, being able to reach the top eight in the League Conference wasn't a fluke, after all. He would be a powerful trainer in the future.

"Your Emboar is quite strong, but you depend too much on its ability. Try to build another set of tactics, or you'll be clueless if you meet another speedy Pokemon like my Weavile today."

He gave Nate a few pieces of advice.

"Thank you. I will come back to challenge you again."

Said Nate resolutely.

"Uh, you're welcome any time, but I probably won't be the gym leader of this gym in the future."

He replied with an awkward smile.

"Oh, are you leaving?"

Nate was curious after hearing Hisoka's reply. Gym leaders rarely stepped down except if they wanted to retire.

"Yes, soon. I'll be moving to Komoda City if I pass the gym leader qualification test."

He responded with a nod.

"Oh. I guess I won't be able to challenge you again. Bummer."

Said Nate with a disappointed look.

"Sorry about that."

He said in an apologetic tone.

"I guess this is goodbye then. Good luck in your gym leader test."

Said Nate.

"Thank you. Stay safe on the road."

After saying farewell to the pair of brothers and sisters, he went back inside the gym and handed over the gym to Ran while he went to take a break.

***

Komoda City, a city located in the southeastern part of Kanto, was the third largest city in Kanto. It was a sprawling city of a concrete jungle made from steel and glass.

True to its name, Komoda, or Commerce City, was the main trade center for the Kanto region. Every day, thousands of business dealings were conducted in the city.

At this time, as the sun shone softly on the city, a black sport bike was speeding on the highway toward the city.