I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the 50 latest and advanced chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Free Members will get 10 Chapters Ahead of the schedule on Patreon!!!
Link: Patreon.com/AVRKingsTL
—------------------—
Gym-level Advanced Pokémon are considered among the top tiers at the Indigo Plateau Conference. So far, the only Pokémon stronger than Gym-level Advanced have been Ash's Pokémon and Paul's Torterra.
Aside from those two, no one else has brought out a Gym-level Advanced Pokémon. If not for Ash and Paul, Conway's trick room team, combined with Slowking's Gym-level Advanced status, would undoubtedly have won this year's Indigo Plateau Conference.
Gary would have no chance against Conway; he'd be done for the moment they met.
Who told Gary to travel for such a short time and not have Ash's plot armor?
However, Conway could only say he came at the wrong time, participating in this Indigo Plateau Conference and happening to meet Ash, and also Paul. If they had met in the semifinals, it would have been fine, but meeting in the round of 16, he could only accept his fate.
But Conway had no intention of accepting his fate yet. With Slowking's appearance, a confident expression returned to his face. This was the power of belief his ace Pokémon brought him.
Even if its level was inferior to the opponent's, even if its power was inferior, as long as Slowking was on the field, it gave him a sense of security.
"Let's go, Slowking! The opponent is a very powerful being. We need to restrict its movements first."
"Slow." Slowking nodded solemnly. With its intelligence, it could clearly sense how powerful the opposing Pokémon was. Frankly, this was the strongest opponent it had faced since evolving.
"Very good, use Disable first!" Conway waved his arm, instructing Slowking to use Disable to interfere with Gardevoir.
Gardevoir's last move was Moonblast. That instant Moonblast was truly terrifying. It needed to be sealed first, otherwise Slowking would have no chance to use Trick Room.
"Slow!" Slowking's eyes flashed with sharp blue light, which directly affected Gardevoir. A faint blue light shimmered on Gardevoir's dark body, indicating that Gardevoir's Moonblast had been sealed.
And Disable's effect wasn't just that; if it continued to output after hitting the opponent, it could even achieve its literal meaning: to Disable the opponent!
That effect was actually similar to Confusion, just restraining the opponent, but the restraining effect was stronger than Confusion, second only to Psychic.
Slowking desperately output its Psychic power, trying to fix Gardevoir in place and prevent her from moving. Gardevoir was very cooperative; she didn't even lift an arm or try to struggle, but quietly watched Slowking.
This scene was as if to say, 'I'll just quietly watch your performance.'
"Very good, Slowking, use Trick Room!" Conway finally saw an opportunity. With Gardevoir restrained, now was a golden opportunity to use Trick Room!
For Slowking, whose Psychic power greatly increased after evolution, using two moves simultaneously was nothing. While using Disable to fix Gardevoir's figure, it simultaneously opened up space!
As long as it could open the space, then he still had a chance to win!
A cube condensed in front of Slowking. The tiny cube contained extremely profound spatial power. At this time, Gardevoir still showed no signs of moving, and even Ash did not give any commands.
This made Conway feel a bit puzzled. If the opponent was immobilized by Disable, then not moving would be understandable, but now Gardevoir wasn't even struggling, and Ash wasn't giving commands. What was going on?
A trap?
What a joke, letting him open Trick Room is a trap? If this really was a trap, then he'd be eager to step on it!
How could anyone willingly allow a trick room team member to open Trick Room? Isn't that ridiculous?
As more and more spatial power condensed in Slowking's hands, time also passed little by little. About two seconds later, the Trick Room in Slowking's hands was already complete, and Gardevoir still made no move.
"Slow!" Slowking roared, and the spatial power in its hands spread, the power of Trick Room instantly enveloping the entire field!
Trick Room — Success!
"Hmph! Ash, I don't know what you're trying to do, but with Trick Room activated, the scales of victory are no longer on your side. Now, let me show you Slowking's power! Slowking, use Curse!"
Conway's face showed a joyful smile, and then he began to have Slowking power up.
If a Ghost-type Pokémon uses Curse, it will reduce half of its maximum HP to Curse the opponent, causing them to continuously lose HP, and this reduction will even double.
But if a non-Ghost-type Pokémon uses it, it will decrease its Speed by one stage and increase its Defense and Attack by one stage.
Slowking is not a Ghost-type Pokémon, so Curse will power it up.
If there was no Trick Room, and if Slowking was a fast Pokémon, then the effect of Curse would definitely be more detrimental than beneficial, because Speed is too important in Pokémon battles. Having the first move, in some sense, determines the outcome of the battle.
However, Slowking is inherently a very slow Pokémon, and now with Trick Room on the field, the slower it is, the faster it becomes.
This abstract inequality also came into play.
"Gardevoir, let's try it. Use Psystrike!" After Slowking used Curse, Ash finally spoke, and with his first command, he had Gardevoir use her ultimate move, Psystrike!
Gardevoir was not surprised, but nodded calmly. Then she held her hands in front of her, and a dazzling purple Energy Ball rapidly formed and expanded in front of her.
The power contained within it made Slowking and Conway on the opposite side tremble involuntarily.
"What's going on? Why does that move feel so terrifying to me... It's not a matter of power, but it carries a sense of oppression, it's almost like encountering..." like encountering a deity.
Conway's feeling reached this extent, let alone Slowking. As a Psychic-type Pokémon, upon seeing the opponent use that move, it felt as if it saw a Pokémon standing at the pinnacle of Psychic-types standing before it, like a deity incarnate.
The oppressive feeling carried by that move was unparalleled; just looking at it made one feel breathless. Slowking knew without thinking that if it was hit by that move, it would undoubtedly be a guaranteed KO!
"Slowking, stop her, use Disable!" Conway no longer cared about attacking; sealing the opponent's move was the most important thing. Regardless of whether that move could be used, at least Gardevoir couldn't use her next move.
Worst case, he would recall Slowking immediately after using Disable to avoid damage. While this tactic might seem a bit unreasonable, Pokémon battles are all about utilizing everything within the rules.
Recalling a Pokémon into its Poké Ball to avoid damage is also a normal part of the rules.
Upon receiving the command, Slowking's eyes once again flashed with a brilliant blue light. The light affected Gardevoir, but it couldn't stop Gardevoir from using Psystrike.
Disable's effect is to restrict the use of moves *after* a move has been used, not to directly seal the opponent's currently active move.
But Conway's goal had been achieved. He was about to take out a Poké Ball to recall Slowking, but Gardevoir made her move at that moment!
The Psystrike, which had expanded to the size of a person, was suddenly hurled by Gardevoir into the sky.
Seeing that the opponent's move didn't hit Slowking, Conway's action of holding the Poké Ball paused.
What were Ash and Gardevoir trying to do? Using a move not against the opponent, but throwing it into the sky? Were they implying that their strength difference was too great and actively holding back?
Not only Conway was puzzled, but the surrounding audience and commentator were also completely bewildered. What kind of move was throwing a skill into the sky?
Just as everyone was wondering, the Psystrike hurtling towards the sky suddenly exploded!
Brilliant purple light illuminated the entire sky, and a terrifying shockwave spread in the air, flying towards the surrounding audience.
The audience in the stands instinctively reached out to shield themselves, as if the shockwave was about to hit them the next second.
Lance and others also suddenly stood up from their seats, quickly pulling out Poké Balls, about to make a move.
Lorelei stopped Lance, pointing to her fair chin, signaling him to look at the arena.
Lance then put down the Poké Ball in his hand and focused his gaze on the field. He saw a transparent blue shield that had appeared around the field at some point, firmly locking the impact caused by Psystrike inside, preventing the audience from suffering any harm.
"Oh, I was too worried and almost forgot Ash had that." Lance put away his Poké Ball and let out a sigh of relief. If he had made a move just now, it might have been too late. Even with his fastest hand speed, he couldn't have stopped the shockwave before it spread.
But in reality, no matter what, Ash would not let the Pokémon's damage spread to the surrounding audience. Not to mention Mewtwo's presence, Ash himself is also good at deploying protective barriers, so the possibility of the surrounding audience being harmed was almost zero.
However, this time the barrier should have been deployed by Mewtwo. Lance did not sense Ash's unique power on it, but rather a Psychic-type sensation.
This was not considered interfering with the match. One couldn't just stand by and watch the surrounding audience be taken out by the lingering shockwaves, could they?
That's right, the shockwave from Gardevoir's attack could indeed take out the surrounding audience... With the appearance of the protective barrier, the surrounding audience were no longer in mortal danger, and Conway on the ground would also not be affected. It looked as if Gardevoir had set off fireworks for everyone to watch, with no effect other than being beautiful.
Actually, not... "Bang!!" A crisp sound appeared in the surrounding space, as if something had shattered.
Conway's eyes widened, looking at the scene in the sky in disbelief: "Trick Room... was shattered?!"
That's right, the power spread by Psystrike didn't harm the surrounding audience, but it directly shattered the activated Trick Room!
Psystrike is Mewtwo's signature move, which can materialize special attacks, causing physical attack effects.
In other words, it uses the power of special attack to inflict physical damage on the opponent. This has great strategic significance in battle, especially for Pokémon with strong special attacks.
But in addition to its strategic significance, this move also has another characteristic: it can shatter intangible moves, like Trick Room. Unless space is reversed, there is no way to turn off such a move; one can only wait for the time to expire.
However, Psystrike can directly shatter Trick Room. This is the power of a divine move!
Besides Trick Room being broken, what Conway didn't notice was that the Stealth Rock on the field was also swept and blasted by the power of Psystrike, directly shattering it.
All the preparations Conway had made earlier were rendered useless by this one Psystrike.
Gardevoir slowly lowered her raised arms, her gaze directed at Slowking opposite. At this moment, Slowking's eyes showed a stunned expression; with its intelligence, it couldn't understand how Trick Room had been shattered by the opponent.
Did the opponent let it activate Trick Room earlier because they believed they could break it?
"Mewtwo was right, Psystrike has the power to clear all environmental factors. It seems I can use this move to counter field disadvantages in the future..." Ash murmured.
The reason he let Slowking use Trick Room earlier was not because Gardevoir was immobilized by the opponent's Disable, but because Mewtwo suddenly told him to have Gardevoir try to use Psystrike to shatter Trick Room.
Theoretically, her move could achieve this, but that was just theory and had not been tested. Now that they encountered it in a real battle, it was a good time to try.
Even if it failed, it didn't matter; there were other Pokémon to back them up. They could just stall until Trick Room ended and then not let the opponent open Trick Room again.
Therefore, Ash chose to try it. If Psystrike could break Trick Room, then in the future, it could be used to counter space- and field-affecting moves, including Toxic Spikes, Stealth Rock, and so on.
And this attempt was undoubtedly successful. Not only was Trick Room broken, but even Stealth Rock was swept away.
"Then, the match should end now... Gardevoir, Moonblast!"
"Gardevoir!" The moment Ash's voice fell, Gardevoir used Teleport to disappear from her spot, reappearing in front of Slowking the next second, her dark palm aimed at Slowking.
Under Slowking's slightly terrified gaze, the power of Moonblast suddenly surged and exploded!
"Boom!!"
A zero-range Moonblast hit Slowking. Even though Slowking's Special Defense stat was very strong, it still couldn't withstand this blow in the face of an absolute level difference!