The moment Luke saw Swellow's deep blue wings and vermilion markings, he'd already mentally prepared his comfort speech for Gastly. Something along the lines of "Thanks for trying," or "It's not that we were weak, the opponent was just built different."
Because this Swellow's moveset was genuinely stacked — living up to its nickname, "the Bug Swallower," in every sense.
[Swellow. Normal / Flying. Ability: Guts.
Moves: Growl, Focus Energy, Quick Attack, Aerial Ace, Wing Attack, Agility.]
A physical attacker built entirely around mobility. It spread its dark wings and took off, diving down like an arrow loosed from a bow.
"And we're underway!" the commentator called. "Swellow opens aggressive with Aerial Ace!"
Its signature move — wings and beak lit with a razor-white glow.
Pfft—
Like a balloon popping, Gastly's Substitute tore apart instantly under Swellow's claws.
Up in the judges' box, Chairman Preston let out a soft "oh."
"Thought that one might end it in a single hit — didn't expect Gastly's reaction time to be this sharp."
Wesley Tanner nodded, impressed. "Calling Substitute that instantly says a lot about its battle instincts."
With the first strike wasted, Gastly had already repositioned beneath Swellow's belly. Jordan called out, "Keep going, Aerial Ace!"
Swellow pivoted instantly, beak spearing downward like a drill.
"Protect!" Luke's eyes narrowed. "Watch its wings!"
Gastly's mist shield condensed just in time, sparks scattering as Swellow's claws slammed into it uselessly. Aerial Ace missed clean — but Swellow didn't let up, wings snapping together like twin blades as it swung around for Wing Attack.
"There it is — the finishing blow, Wing Attack!" the commentator roared.
Except that guaranteed hit missed too. Warned in advance, Gastly dodged with startling speed, putting a full three meters between them almost instantly.
"Did I imagine that?" Preston murmured. "Was Gastly actually faster than Swellow just now?"
Wesley considered it. "That young man's clearly built Gastly around raw speed. In terms of stat distribution, its burst speed's already matching Swellow's outright."
Every Pokémon operated within fixed limits — how a Trainer chose to distribute that potential was practically its own discipline within breeding studies. In game terms, Gastly had clearly been built with everything poured into Speed. Swellow's base stat was faster on paper, but Luke's training had closed that gap entirely.
Jordan seemed to catch on at the same moment, his expression tightening. "Swellow, Agility!"
Gastly had nothing in its kit that could meaningfully threaten Swellow — if Swellow could out-speed it even slightly, the match had no real drama left in it.
"There's Agility." Luke sighed. "Someone's getting greedy."
Gastly didn't need to be told what came next — it clearly saw the opening too. A gasp rippled through the crowd.
"Wait, why's Swellow suddenly falling?"
"Gastly knows Hypnosis too?!"
Mid-loop in the air, Swellow caught a hazy beam of light square on — Hypnosis, fired straight from Gastly's eyes.
"Hiss-cha!"
Swellow dropped, crying out once before its eyelids sank shut.
The reversal stunned the entire stadium. Swellow had clearly had the upper hand seconds earlier — how had it flipped this fast?
"He had Hypnosis in his back pocket this whole time?!" Preston's eyes went wide.
"Never showed it once before the Top 8," Wesley said, shaking his head. "These kids really do love their tactics these days."
Hypnosis had landed, but Gastly's own window was closing fast. It turned to Luke, tilting its head, something hopeful in its expression.
"Go for it," Luke said, resigned. "You don't really have anything else useful anyway."
"Kojie!" Gastly's eyes lit up with pure delight — its first real shot at using Toxic since training began. It puffed its cheeks, drew a deep breath, and released a thick, sickly green mist from its mouth.
"Is that... Toxic?" Preston murmured, visibly unsettled.
Wesley's smile turned a little strained. "He might actually have a real shot at this."
Swellow, wrapped in the poison cloud, turned a pale, sickly green all over — before its eyes suddenly snapped open, something fierce and unshaken burning behind them.
Guts: activated.
"THAT'S IT, Swellow!" Jordan clenched his fists, shouting. "Aerial Ace!"
"Hiss-cha!"
The whole arena seemed to hold its breath as Swellow surged forward, wings glinting with cold, sharpened light, driven by pure conviction.
Luke stared, genuinely thrown. I am CLEARLY the underdog here.
"Gastly, Protect!"
Swellow slammed into the unyielding mist shield with a heavy thud — the crowd swore they could actually hear its wings crack on impact.
"Hypnosis again!"
Barely conscious, Swellow got hit right back to sleep the instant it stirred. Every time Hypnosis missed, Gastly simply stalled with Protect and tried again.
By the end, Swellow sat there fully purple, eyes glassy, foaming faintly at the mouth. Gastly crouched beside it, cackling quietly, looking every bit like it was ready to finish the job with a brick the second Swellow so much as blinked.
Even the referee couldn't stomach watching any further and called it early.
"Winner: Luke!"
The stadium went dead silent, the crowd's expressions somewhere between impressed and deeply unsettled. We paid to watch a passionate Pokémon battle, right? Swellow's effort was genuinely passionate, sure, but what is WRONG with this Gastly? Who tortures an opponent like this?
"That's disgustingly dirty."
"Refund. I want a refund."
"TEACHER LUKE IS A LEGEND."
Amid the chorus of complaints, Hannah — also through to the semifinals herself — was cheering at the top of her lungs. Elena, having watched the entire match, looked like she had about a dozen question marks floating over her head. There's a strategy like THAT?
Even Chairman Preston and Wesley Tanner exchanged a long look. Filthy as the playstyle clearly was, there was no arguing with the results.
"Is he actually Finance Department?" Preston said, baffled. "Feels more like I'm watching someone with five, six years of professional battling under his belt."
"No idea," Wesley said, shaking his head. "All I know is he just broke another record."
Riding Gastly the whole way, Luke had flipped a losing matchup and taken down Union Tech's Jordan — becoming the first non-Fighting-Department competitor in Piplup Cup history to reach the semifinals, breaking the tournament record yet again.