novelraw Chapter 424: 424. June
Chapter 424: 424. June
Inside the Training Grounds, bright lights shone.
Zade leaned against the silver-gray railing, watching the two people on the battlefield with great interest.
Youth is truly wonderful.
Full of fighting spirit, burning with passion.
June, the Champion of the previous High School Cup National Finals, and she won it with almost crushing dominance.
Jacob, the current High School Cup National Finals Champion, a genius scientist. Although he relied on the help of Mega Evolution on his path to victory, his Drakloak, which debuted on the finals stage, showed astonishing strength.
Both of them were the strongest among their peers, possessing incredible strength. A match between the strongest and the strongest—even if it's just a training battle—was exciting to imagine.
Zade smiled and looked at the two, asking, "Are you two going to have a training battle? How about I be your referee?"
"Alright," June responded with a sweet smile.
"Are we really going to battle?" Jacob's face was full of reluctance as he looked at June and Zade.
"Of course." June nodded. She seemed to notice the reluctance in Jacob's eyes, then turned to him and said, "It's just a 1v1 battle—it won't take much time. And don't worry, even though I'm one grade above you, I won't take advantage of you. I promise not to send out my ace Pokémon."
Listening to June, Jacob sighed, his face filled with helplessness. But thinking that the two of them would be teammates in the same squad for a long time in the future, he reluctantly nodded and agreed. "Fine, but it's only one battle, no more."
"Mm-hmm," June responded with a smile.
"Don't cry and ask me for another battle if you lose."
Jacob's words made the smile on June's face freeze, then slowly fade. Looking at Jacob, she said seriously, "As long as you defeat me, I promise I won't make you battle me again."
June's almond-shaped eyes stared at Jacob. She took a deep breath, her gaze fixed on Jacob's infuriating face, determined to teach the arrogant Jacob a profound lesson.
"That's good. Let's begin." Jacob nodded.
The two walked to opposite ends of the battlefield, each taking out a Poké Ball from their waist, ready to start the training battle at any moment.
Zade stood in the referee's position in the center, holding up the referee's flag, and asked the two, "Are you both ready?"
"Ready."
"Mm-hmm."
"Battle begin!"
As Zade waved his flag downward, both of them simultaneously took out their Poké Balls and threw them.
"Go, Sceptile!" Jacob sent out his old partner, Sceptile.
After the High School Cup, Sceptile had several months to grow and finally broke through to Gym Leader level half a month ago.
This training battle could be considered Sceptile's first battle after reaching Gym Leader level.
"Go, Togekiss!" June, dressed in a white dress, gently tossed a Luxury Ball. Accompanied by a flash of red light, the Gym Leader-level Togekiss appeared.
Many people might not be particularly familiar with Togekiss, but most people know Togepi.
Togekiss evolves from Togepi through high friendship into Togetic, and then by using a Shiny Stone on Togetic.
Togekiss retains Togepi's cute appearance but possesses even greater strength, making it an essential Pokémon for Fairy-type Trainers.
Seeing the Gym Leader-level Togekiss appear, Jacob also began to get serious. His gaze fell on Togekiss, and he used his system to check Togekiss's information.
Togekiss has three abilities: Hustle, Serene Grace, and Super Luck.
Among them, Togekiss with the Serene Grace ability is the most mainstream and also the most widely used. This type of Togekiss can act as a tank due to its excellent base stats and also serve as a special attacker thanks to the Serene Grace ability, making it the most versatile option.
Secondly, Togekiss with the Super Luck ability is a Hidden Ability, and its practicality is not high, so it is rarely used. This type of Togekiss typically carries the Scope Lens item for offense.
As for Togekiss with the Hustle ability... what kind of terrible choice is this? No one uses it at all.
This is also because Togekiss's physical Attack is extremely low, and the Attack boost from the Hustle ability is almost useless for Togekiss.
June's Togekiss has the most mainstream Serene Grace ability, and it carries the S-rank item Leftovers, which can continuously restore HP.
Its move pool is also extremely rich, with a comprehensive array of moves, indicating that this Togekiss has learned all the core moves it can learn.
It's clear that June comes from a good family. Even a non-main Pokémon can learn so many moves and carry an S-rank item.
"Togekiss, Thunder Wave!" June waved her hand, commanding Togekiss to attack first.
Electric-type energy surged from Togekiss's body, and a faint current flew toward Sceptile at an extremely fast speed.
The moment June gave the command, Jacob guessed June's strategy.
This is also the most common strategy for Togekiss with the Serene Grace ability: first paralyze the opponent with Thunder Wave, and then endlessly torment them with Air Slash.
Under paralysis, there is a certain chance that a move will fail, and when Air Slash hits an enemy, there is a certain chance to make the enemy flinch.
The effect of the Serene Grace ability is that the chance of a move's additional effect occurring is doubled. For example, in the game, when Air Slash hits an enemy, there's a 30% chance to make the enemy flinch, but with Serene Grace, that 30% chance becomes 60%. Plus, there's a 25% chance of being unable to move due to paralysis.
With both stacked, the probability of the enemy acting is only 15%. As long as they're not extremely unlucky, the enemy will have great difficulty moving and could very well be tormented to defeat by Togekiss's Air Slash.
Although reality is not a game, the combination of paralysis and Air Slash is still quite troublesome.
Jacob frowned as he watched the incoming current.
Actually, at this moment, if it were a real battle, the best way to deal with it would be to directly have Sceptile Mega Evolve. Its ability would change to Lightning Rod, not only making it immune to Electric-type moves but also boosting its Special Attack by one stage when targeted by an Electric-type move like Thunder Wave.
However, Jacob thought about it and decided against it. A normal training battle didn't require such intensity. It would be better to think about other ways to break through, as he might encounter such an opponent one day.
"Sceptile, use Worry Seed!"
Jacob made a decision in an instant.
Facing Togekiss's attack, Jacob chose to have Sceptile directly use Worry Seed to replace Togekiss's ability!
Sceptile could accept entering a paralyzed state, but Togekiss's ability also had to be replaced!