Chapitre 17: Sneasel vs Rhydon
From Hisoka's point of view, the man's previous action is considered extremely stupid. He has never been a regular trainer. He is a bounty hunter. In his eyes, as long as he can win and complete the task, he will do it by any means necessary, provided they didn't cross his bottom line.
The man just now revealed his Pokemon first without even waiting for the referee's announcement.
Usually, the referee will let the trainers reveal their Pokemon first before starting the match.
That's why Hisoka thought the man was stupid because he just gave up his advantages to his opponent.
During a Gym battle, the Gym Leader must reveal their Pokemon first because of the Gym Challenge's rules. This is to allow the trainer who came to challenge the Gym the chance to come up with a Pokemon that restrain the other party's Pokemon.
Most of the time, the Pokemon used by the Gym Leader is much stronger than the challenger. But the duty of a Gym Leader is never to just defeat the challenger.
They'll need to evaluate the trainer's potential while adjusting their Pokemon strength correspondingly to match the other party. If the Gym Leader is satisfied with the trainer, they'll gift the Gym's badge to the trainer in question as proof of their successful challenge.
Well, not everyone is suited to be a Gym Leader. It's a hard job. And it took a certain amount of dedication and patience as they'll be facing many novice trainers looking to earn a Gym badge from them. It's rare for a Gym to run into a strong trainer looking for a challenge, as most of them are battling in the league conference or other tournaments.
Unlike the man's brazen performance, Hisoka calmly took a shrunken Pokeball from his belt and pressed the middle button. The shrunken Ultra Ball became bigger instantly as he threw it upward.
"Let's go, Sneasel."
The Pokeball popped open, and Sneasel appeared in a flash of red. She soon landed on the ground as she raised her claws in readiness.
"Sneasel!"
Facing an opponent who was much bigger than herself, she didn't show any fear or hesitation. Instead, she let out a loud cry and beckoned to her opponent as she bent her claws inward several times. It's her iconic provocation routine by now.
'Phew! Luckily it's only a Sneasel,'
The man sighed in relief after seeing Hisoka's Pokemon. He then laughed loudly and said, "Boy, are you kidding me? Just her? Hehe. There's no way that little Pokemon can defeat my big Rhydon."
"..."
Is this man a first-grader? The man's taunts look more like a little kid's squabble in his eyes. How did this man grow up? And is the strength of a determined by their size alone? Moreover, how did this man make it to the top eight of the Kanto League Conference?
Hisoka shook his head clear of distracting thoughts and began to assess the opponent's Rhydon.
Rhydon is a Ground/Rock-type Pokemon, well-known for their impressive physical power as well as their armor-like hide. It might be hard for Sneasel to deal with it if it was before, but she had already mastered Ice Punch, and Brick Break moves back then. Those two moves are able to deal a lot of damage to Rhydon.
"Boy, I'll let you have the first move for the sake of this beautiful referee," the man said and crossed his arms as he tried to show off in front of Lily.
The corner of Hisoka's mouth twitched after hearing the man's words. He then replied with a smile, "Thank you! I'll do my best."
"Sneasel, Swords Dance," He ordered calmly.
"Sneasel!"
Sneasel responded with a loud cry as she raised her claws and slashed them around. Next, multiple light-blue swords circle around it. The swords then stop and point toward her before disappearing. A yellow aura then goes upwards along her body, boosting Sneasel's attack power.
Hisoka had found out that Swords Dance usually boosted a Pokemon's attack by 20% after comparing many research data released by major research institutes on their official website.
According to them, the Swords Dance move will quickly stimulate the Pokemon's muscle tissue to increase its strength, thereby boosting their physical attack greatly.
Among the many research results, one paper caught his attention. It was written by an unknown Pokemon researcher. It stated that the number of Swords Dance that can be performed varies according to the physical fitness of the Pokemon. They can only perform the move once or twice within a certain period.
The researcher also noted that there are only a few powerful Pokemon that can go beyond the limit of two swords dance as the move put a heavy burden on the user.
Therefore, this move is not particularly suited for a Pokemon with weak physical fitness, such as Kirlia. Furthermore, Ghost-type Pokemon with no tangible body cannot learn Swords Dance for obvious reasons.
At this moment, the big man felt a slight threat coming from the Sneasel in front of him. And he's starting to regret what he said previously. He can only pray that the Sneasel couldn't do much damage to his Rhydon.
"Ice Punch," Hisoka said instantly.
"Sneasel!"
Sneasel was staring at the restless Rhydon in front of her carefully. The moment she heard Hisoka's order, she ran to her opponent with blinding speed. A few seconds later, she reached her opponent and landed a straight punch at Rhydon's abdomen just below its rocky chest plate.
The Rhydon only felt a slight chill at first, followed by severe pain. He then stumbled for a few steps before falling on its back heavily.
Since Rhydon's trainer dared to let the opponent have the first move without knowing the strength of the two sides, Hisoka won't be polite at all. He started with an Ice Punch, which is a super effective move against it. And when combined with Sneasel's Swords Dance, her punch was enough to down the Rhydon instantly.
"Rhydon has lost the ability to fight. The winner is Hisoka and Sneasel from Viridian City!" Lily announced the result loudly.
She was overjoyed to see the handsome Hisoka winning the match rather than the other. She even thought the man on the opposite side was an overbearing, ill-tempered brute.
The man seemed unable to believe the result of the match as he stood unmoving with his dumbfounded eyes and his mouth gaping like a fish.
...
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone