"Julian, I retly got a new partner. Are you ied in having a battle?"
Acacia stepped up to Julian. She still hadn’t e to terms with her Artio losing to Julian’s Metagross back then.
Even now, she couldn’t let it go. Sure, her high-level Pokémon might not match his, but surely her mid- or low-level ones could.
There was no way all his Pokémon were as ridiculously strong as that Metagross!
"Julian, accept her challenge!"
Before Julian could respond, Ian eagerly spoke up from the side. He kly what Acacia was thinking.
'Foolish woman your pn has already been tried by everyone in the Special Recruitment Css'
He wao see Acacia make a fool of herself, though he kept that thought to himself.
Julian actually wao dee. After spending many days in the Dragon’s Den, all he wanted was to rest a Slowking help him climb the ranks.
"What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you’re scared?"
Acacia raised an eyebrow, her tone challenging as she looked at Julian.
"Scared? I’ll accept for him"
Ian cut in again. He couldn’t stand Acacia’s smug attitude, which was even worse when she had beaten him in the past.
"Fine"
Julian he versation had already gohis far; so he might as well do it.
The three of them headed to one of the Drake family’s battle arenas.
With so many family members, there were plenty of arenas oate.
On a few of the fields, children around ten years old were practig battles, shouting ands to their Pokémon.
Though the Drakorian Trainer Association mahat only those aged 17 or older could officially receive a starter Pokémon, big families had ways around the rule.
If the w said no starter Pokémon before 17, then fihey would just train their children’s battle instincts early using Pokémon owned by the adults in the family.
This loophole ehe gap between big family trainers and civilian trainers remained signifit, despite the regution’s iion te it.
As Ian approached, several children paused their battles and ran over.
"Ian, are you battling that Willow girl again?"
"Ian’s going to lose again!"
"Don’t say that! Ian told me it’s because that girl always fights dirty."
The kids chattered away, their voices overpping.
Acacia’s expression darkened as she gred at Ian. 'This guy really has no shame!'
Ian flushed slightly. The person they were talking about was standing right there.
"Ahem. That’s enough! Go back to your battles. It’s not me fightihis time—it’s my friend."
He said, gesturing to Julian.
Soon, Julian and Acacia stood at opposite ends of the battle arena.
With plenty of children gathered to watch, the protective barrier was activated to ensure safety.
As Acacia tossed out her Poké Ball, a light blue Pokémon appeared on the field.
Pokémon: G (Ice)
Level: 32
Potential:
Ability: Snow Cloak
Held Item: Never-Melt Ice
Gender: Female
Moves: Icy Wind, Tackle, Tail Whip, Swift, Take Down, Growl, Double-Edge, Quick Attack, Agility, Ice Shard, Bite, Ice Fang
TM Moves: Protect, Iron Tail, Shadow Ball, Blizzard, Charm, Dig, Hyper Beam
Egg Moves: Ice Beam, Avanche, Icicle Spear, Double Kick
---
A -potential G. Ian was bound to suffer in future battles.
Even standing still, G’s icy aura created a faint mist around her.
Eevee and its evolutionary forms were highly popur among trainers for their versatility a base stats.
Currently, no Steel-type Eevee evolution had been discovered, but Julian would definitely sider catg one if it existed.
"Level 32, huh? Perfect, you’re up"
Julian said, tossing his own Poké Ball.
Pokémon: Gastly (Ghost/Poison)
Level: 30
Potential: Purple
Ability: Levitate
Held Item: Toxic Orb
Gender: Male
Moves: fuse Ray, Lick, Hypnosis, Mean Look, Imprison, Payback, Curse
TM Moves: Screech, Spite, Venoshock, Sludge Bomb, Sleep Talk, Protect, Thunderbolt
Egg Moves: Skill S, Dark Pulse, Disable, Perish Song, Peist, Will-O-Wisp
---
A white-castly appeared, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
"That Gastly looks so cool!"
One of the kids murmured, captivated by its unusual appearance.
The shiny Gastly exuded a unique charm.
Ihe battlefield, Gastly tried floating toward Julian but was stopped by the protective barrier.
'Hah, trying to lick me again,' Julian thought with a smug grin.
Acacia, meanwhile, was starting to feel like she’d made a mistake. Especially wheiced Ian’s smug, gloating expression—she kly what he was thinking.
"G, Blizzard!"
'So what if it’s shiny? My G isn’t any weaker than your Pokémon!'
A frigid gale, ced with snow, surged across the battlefield, plummeting the temperature by dozens of degrees.
But Gastly let out a mischievous ugh before vanishing into thin air.
The Blizzard missed pletely. G’s ears perked up, sing the area for any signs of movement.
One of the toughest aspects of battling Ghost-types was their knabush tactics.
Standing still would only leave them open to Gastly’s move.
"G, Agility!"
The ground in front of G had already frozen over from the earlier Blizzard, giving her ara boost in speed as she darted around the field.
Acacia was hoping that this rapid movement would disrupt Gastly’s pns and make its attack harder to nd.
Julian could have chosen to wait. Let G tire itself out running around—the oppo had no way to locate Gastly anyway.
But such a tactic felt too stupid. Even if it led to victory, it would be disgraceful.
“Gastly, Venoshock!”
Gastly’s figure materialized in front of the speeding G.
“Ice Beam!”
The purple venomous bst cshed with the icy blue beam mid-air. There was no test—the Venoshobsp;tore through the Ice Beam like paper.
“Gcee!”
G let out a pained cry as the corrosive energy of the Venoshobsp;seared her pristine fur, leaving ugly, patchy scars.
“Will-O-Wisp!”
Several ghostly blue fmes appeared around Gastly, cirg it ominously. With a sinister chuckle, Gastly sent the fmes oer a.
Each hit scorched her further, and by the time the Will-O-Wisp barrage ended, G was lying motionless on the ground.
The battle was over.
“Yes!”
Ian ched his fist triumphantly, his expression filled with satisfa as he watched Acacia’s stunned disbelief.
'That’s right—pletely crush this clueless woman'
As the protective barrier dissipated, Gastly flew straight toward Julian at full speed.
Julian’s fastantly paled.
“Gast—”
Before he could finish, Gastly’s crimson toouched against his cheek.
A wave of numbness shot through Julian’s body, cutting off his words mid-sentence.
The paralysis effect of Libsp;wasn’t particurly high—just around 20%. But for someone like Julian, whose luck always seemed terrible, 20% might as well have been a guaranteed 100%.
“Julian, are you—uh—okay?”
Ian g him, trying not to ugh at the sight of Gastly floating around Julian, ughing mischievously. A part of him couldn’t help but pity his friend.
*****
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