The Ghost Specialist

The annoying fact of this battle was how little Sam knew about Franklin's team. Sure, the freshly evolved Alakazam had extensively revealed its moveset in the previous rounds, but there were no hints to the identities of the rest of Franklin’s team members outside of a vague connection to Kanto's Psychic Type Gym.

In a way, Sam wouldn't be able to rely on the New Pokédex here. There had been no building up an advantage or developing a true plan beforehand. It was just Sam, his Pokémon, and the strategies they'd built together that could be used to win this battle.

What do I know about his Alakazam? Sam thought to himself.

Quilava crouched in front of him, and both of them carefully watched the Alakazam rip a chunk of earth out from the field, practicing the control that came with its new form.

Effectively, it only knows three moves: Recover, Teleport, and Psychic. It’s weirdly bad at true ranged attacks, but it can definitely grab things from a few feet away. How far? Probably longer than it could as a Kadabra. No, what we really need to worry about is—

“Teleport,” Franklin ordered calmly.

“Smokescreen, everywhere! Cover the field!”

Quilava was only saved by a brief flash of light that came from behind her. Teleport wasn't truly instantaneous; in most cases, there was a short build-up time and a wind down. The flash of light that came from the instant transportation forewarned her of Alakazam's sudden lurch to her side. She was able to cough up inky black smoke into its face and run away without suffering its telekinesis.

The Pokémon stumbled as it appeared, coughing and trying to wave the gas away. Quilava dashed off, furiously letting smoke pour out of her mouth and the flames on her head and back. Her Smokescreen filled the space around her. Soon, a growing portion of the field became utterly obscured.

“I'm returning my Pokémon!” Sam then shouted.

Alakazam lowered its one spoon from where it had been aiming it at the cloud. Thankfully, its evolution hadn't automatically given it a second spoon. While seemingly mundane, spoons were weirdly effective as focuses for the Psychic Type.

Quilava quickly ran out of her smoke, and Sam returned her as soon as he saw her. Alakazam might have been burned, but Sam refused to pull an Edgar. He sent out Misdreavus the moment he was able to bring her Friend Ball into his hand.

“Simple goals: hide, and use Shadow Ball. All you need to do, Misdreavus,” Sam said.

The battle resumed, and she dived into the ground. Dirt was thrown into the air thanks to Alakazam's Psychic, but thanks to the speed of her Shadow Sneak, Misdreavus was able to freely dash off into the cloud.

And Sam was finally able to breathe out in relief.

Alakazam’s burn marred its flesh, its skin scorched black from where it had been struck by Will-O-Wisp before. The Pokémon was functional but limited. Too extreme of a movement, and it’d suffer pain. Even when it didn’t move, the lingering heat ate at its energy.

It was on a time limit.

Psychic pressed down on the cloud, but the Telekinesis slipped around it like oil on water. Quilava had pumped enough smoke into the area that whenever Alakazam tried to tear the cloud away, more of it came in to fill the space up via ambient drift.

Of course, the Smokescreen wouldn't last forever, but it wouldn't need to.

Alakazam dodged a Shadow Ball.

It appeared elsewhere thanks to Teleport.

After a moment of trying to steady itself, an arm with a blackened burn across it tensed.

Alakazam winced.

“Interesting strategy. Young Samuel seems to be relying on Quilava's burn to put a timer on this match. Alakazam is liable to faint if it's unable to find that Misdreavus—and all the while, it’s forced to expend its energy just to avoid its opponent’s Shadow Balls!”

Alakazam stopped to use Recover, but a Shadow Ball was launched at it and forced it away. The Smokescreen was slowly reducing in height as natural wind ate at it, but the moment Sam was waiting for soon occurred.

“Return, Alakazam,” Franklin said.

Sam did not call for a Mean Look. Trapping it in this state would likely cause it to get desperate, and Sam didn’t want to risk Misdreavus’s health so early in the match.

“Hm. No one has forced me to switch before you,” Franklin said.

“No one’s fought you in the finals before me, too!” Sam pointed out.

Franklin chuckled and clipped the Pokéball back to his belt. He waited a few seconds, and the Smokescreen continued to decrease in height. Misdreavus could have still fit inside, but she popped out of the gas, shaking herself to get any lingering ash off of her.

“Mr. Mime,” Franklin said.

Sam hid a happy, clenched fist in his pocket.

I knew it! He is a Psychic Type specialist!

...The question is, do I want to use the second of my three switches here?

Being able to switch Pokémon was a precious commodity in this match. Switching let trainers exchange team members to either reset momentum or give themselves an advantage. For Sam's team, it let him play more into his Pokémon's synergies.

However, being aware of Mr. Mime's capabilities, Sam also knew a switch would give him a very easy win.

Sam waited to let Franklin move first. Given he had a Mr. Mime, the expected occurred. The opposing trainer whispered something to his Pokémon, and the Mr. Mime started to press its hands against a wall that wasn't there.

A Shadow Ball was launched out from above the lingering smoke, pushing what remained towards the ground as it sailed towards the Mr. Mime. It did nothing, the attack dissipated against an unseen wall in front of its target.

Mr. Mime were experts at forming invisible barriers. Misdreavus could potentially slip under one with Shadow Sneak, but that posed the risk of being unable to leave her shadow if Mr. Mime trapped her with an invisible lid.

“Ugh. Screw it. Come back, Misdreavus.”

He couldn’t give up an easy knock-out like this.

“Primeape,” he said.

Fueled by a half an hour's nap, Primeape was bouncing on his toes, raring to go. He didn't even resemble his previously exhausted state.

“Maze,” Franklin ordered.

“Move in,” Sam said.

Two different commands came out, Franklin calling for Mr. Mime to begin creating an invisible labyrinth, but Sam just called for Primeape to charge forward.

The ape Pokémon bounded across the field, long footsteps almost causing him to hop with each step. His arms raised up, but Mr. Mime barely spared him a glance.

A mistake.

“Brick Break!” Sam shouted when Primeape got close.

Franklin let out a gasp as a chop downwards utterly shattered through Mr. Mime’s barrier. The ringing sound of breaking glass filled the air as Primeape snapped a hand forward to grab the bewildered Pokémon. By its neck, the Mr. Mime was slammed into the ground, and a stomp—a Low Kick—kicked the air out of it. Caught off guard, it wasn’t able to put up a fight in the face of a bruiser like Primeape.

Fist chilled over, an Ice Punch slammed into its chin to finish it off.

Mr. Mime was the first faint of the match, and the crowd was going wild, almost bloodthirsty at that brutal display. Franklin was silent as he returned his Pokémon, and Sam gained a grin.

That was the first knock-out of the battle and the first knock-out on Franklin's team for the entire tournament so far.

“How about that? Looks like we're fighting with even teams now,” Sam said.

Actually, maybe Redi has a point. Being arrogant is kind of fun.

Franklin frowned ever so slightly.

“Not for long,” he said, tossing forward a new Pokéball.

As Franklin revealed his third team member, a vein on Primeape’s head throbbed out of annoyance. Falkner’s voice immediately spoke up, echoing throughout the arena.

“That's a new capture, likely from the Ruins of Alph. I don’t get it. Why would he send out an untrained Natu here?”

The green, fist-sized bird didn’t resemble a difficult opponent in the slightest. Primeape’s whole purpose in these battles was to take out the opponents the rest of Sam’s team couldn’t handle—and he enjoyed that. This was just... a bird. A pathetically weak one, at that.

“Do it,” Sam said once the battle continued.

Primeape jabbed, fist covered with ice. One strike would have been enough to take it out, but when he pulled back his arm from the Ice Punch, he blinked.

Natu wasn't there.

“Tu-tu.”

From behind Primeape, Natu let out an emotionless chirp. It wasn't a laugh or even a mocking comment, it was just a straight statement.

Primeape went still, turning around. He glared at his opponent and jabbed once more.

Sam could see what happened this time. Natu used Teleport. As a Pokémon so small, it barely had any mass to move. For it, Teleport was used in an instant.

“Watch your anger, Primeape,” Sam warned.

Primeape nodded with a snort, somewhat acknowledging Sam's comment but not truly settling down.

Another Ice Punch, and another miss. To make matters worse, Natu wasn't even looking at him. It stared up at the arena's walls, staring at exactly where the sun would have otherwise sat. With every punch, it flashed away. No matter how many times he attacked, his moves never landed. His anger grew and grew until...

“How cute! Natu is on Primeape's head,” Nurse Joy said.

A silence fell over the field. Natu hadn't attacked even once, but here it was, perched right on top of Primeape. At first, he didn't display any emotions—he wasn’t able to. But, as the truth of the situation settled in, his body grew red with rage so hot that steam looked to leave his body.

“Fire Punch!” Sam shouted, trying to give Primeape a method to vent.

A flaming fist curved through the air. Heat seared around Primeape as he aimed his fist right above him. Natu didn’t move, and it really seemed that he would finally land an attack.

It chirped, jumping in place once. Eyes suddenly glowing blue, Primeape’s arm was pushed down, and his Fire Punch smashed into his face.

“Ouch,” Mr. Pokémon said sympathetically.

Franklin’s Pokémon hopped off of Primeape. It fluttered down to the field’s floor, untouched by the move.

“...Return,” Sam said.

Primeape wasn’t fainted, but Sam was willing to use his final switch to spare his Pokémon of the embarrassment. He had been wobbling where he stood, teetering in place after that borderline cartoonish show against the Natu.

And Franklin looked amused. The other trainer chuckled softly under his breath.

Annoyed, Sam quickly went over what Pokémon he had. He was out of switches, meaning that whoever came out would need to remain until they fainted. He had to choose his next team member carefully, and given that Franklin was a Psychic Type trainer and would have a more difficult time with Ghost Types...

“Haunter!” Sam shouted, sending out the first Ghost Type he’d ever caught. “Mean Look! Into Ominous Wind!”

Natu was normally an unflappable Pokémon, but in the case of Haunter’s Mean Look, it shook its feathers as if trying to get the effects of the move off of it. However, Mean Look still worked to prevent it from escaping, and Haunter raised his hands to let a chilling breeze blow from behind him.

Teleport wouldn’t matter here; Ominous Wind was a breeze that covered practically the entire battlefield. The Smokescreen had all but faded away while Primeape was sent out, but with the wind Haunter summoned, the last of its traces dissipated under his control.

Sam called for Ominous wind both to counter Natu’s Teleport and in hopes of the move’s secondary effects. There was a chance, a small one, albeit, that the wind gave Haunter the energy to move with increased effectiveness in every way, but that didn’t happen here.

At least, Natu was caught in the wind and shivered. It tried to resist the otherworldly chill, but like water freezing over, it stiffened and eventually fell to the ground. The one move was enough; like Falkner said, it was a new capture and relatively untrained.

“Return,” Franklin said.

The Pokémon that replaced Natu was another Psychic Type, Franklin’s fourth team member now revealed. It stood at roughly half of Franklin’s height, and it had a large nose, white fluff around its neck, and a stone pendulum that it let swing from one hand. The Hypno’s mouth was hidden due to its snout-like nose, but Sam could somehow tell it had a grin. It was already looking at Haunter, and when the battle resumed, both trainers gave similar commands.

“Hypnosis.”

“Confuse Ray!”

For once, it wasn’t Haunter using Hypnosis. Sam didn’t even need the New Pokédex to know why that’d be a bad idea. Hypno was a rather infamous Pokémon able to control sleep without being able to fall asleep itself. Enough scary stories about it had been mixed in with the Ghost Type stories online that Sam was fully aware of what it could do.

It was for that reason he called for Confuse Ray. Either they’d take it out quickly, or Haunter would be put to sleep, unable to fight back.

This was a contest of speed, or at least Sam thought it would be. He wanted to disrupt Hypno’s Hypnosis before the move came into its full effect. However, this was instead a contest of skill. Hypno didn’t need to be all there to use a move its species excelled at.

Its pendulum swung, and rings of energy left it to reach Haunter before either he or Sam realized what was going on. The Ghost Type tried to forcibly hold open his eyes with his fingers, but he slowly drifted towards the floor. The moment he touched it, there was no further reaction from him. It was as if he had laid onto a comfortable bed after a long day of work.

Franklin’s simple call of Hypno’s name allowed it to refocus itself after that Confuse Ray. Sam tried the same for the sleeping Haunter to no avail.

He closed his eyes as the Hypno casually walked over and began to use Dream Eater. Motes of energy left Haunter’s unconscious form. He tossed and turned in his sleep before ultimately being finished off.

At least it was quick.

“...Return,” Sam said, bringing Haunter back into a Pokéball.

Sam was down to three, but so was Franklin. However, Franklin had only lost a Mr. Mime and a Natu. The Mr. Mime would have been a hassle to faint, but that Natu wasn’t a difficult opponent. The biggest issue was that Primeape had been led to injure himself.

Sam’s team had all been revealed so far, but he had to hope they still had a few more viable tricks to end this fight.

He palmed Primeape’s Pokéball and took a deep breath.

We’re halfway through.

The ape Pokémon reappeared on the field, showing up where he had disappeared from moments before.

“Stay calm and stay focused. We’re fighting at a disadvantage, but we can’t let it get to us.”

There was a mark on Primeape’s face from where he had punched himself. A few members in the audience snickered. However, he thankfully didn’t care about those laughs.

Natu might have fainted, but Hypno would serve just as good a target for his revenge.

“Resume,” the referee called out.

Hypno once more let its pendulum swing, and Sam had to force back a confused expression on his face.

Wait, why use Hypnosis when Primeape’s ability is Vital Spirit?

He breathed out when he realized why; abilities were still becoming known. His eyes widened as he suddenly understood that Franklin was fighting with even less information than him.

“Get in close, quick!” Sam shouted.

He had sent Primeape out to stop Hypnosis in general, but he had never dreamed that Franklin would make the mistake of letting his Pokémon use it.

He needed to capitalize on this situation before Franklin changed strategies.

Primeape ran in much the same way he had done against the Mr. Mime. It was a dash of reckless abandon, but while his opponent was caught off guard, it was much more prepared to respond.

“Confusion!” Franklin said, his voice tinged with surprise.

The super effective move didn’t stop him. Primeape howled in his dash but kept running.

Fearfully, the Hypno took a step back, but that didn’t save it from Primeape’s punch. A flaming Fire Punch seared through the air to catch it in its chest.

“Assurance!”

And a follow-up shoulder check, infused with Dark Type energy, sent it right to the ground.

If Fire Punch had left a burn, Assurance would have been more effective, but at least it's still a super effective attack.

Hypno shakily tried to raise up its pendulum once more, but Primeape kicked it in the stomach to finish it off.

And that was that.

We just... what?

Sam suddenly realized he was in the lead.

“Return, Hypno,” Franklin said.

Primeape was left panting. Franklin only had two Pokémon left. He had one more unknown team member and his freshly evolved Alakazam. Primeape wasn’t in the best of positions—the Confusion and his own Fire Punch together meant one solid attack could finish him off. Not just that, but Franklin clearly had a Psychic Type team. Whatever his next Pokémon was, it would definitely have the Type advantage.

“Venomoth,” Franklin named.

Sam blinked.

But that’s—

“And Franklin sends out a non-Psychic Type Pokémon!” Mr. Pokémon yelled.

“For those of you confused, it’s not uncommon for Psychic Type specialists to include a Bug or Ghost Type on their teams,” Falkner explained. “Those Pokémon help counter Dark and Ghost Type opponents while still being capable of Psychic Type attacks themselves.”

The Venomoth’s pale purple wings kept it in the sky above the field. Tiny legs tapped its thorax. Sam bit down on his tongue.

When it came to his team, training time for this tournament had been limited. There were still a few gaps on his Pokémon’s movesets that he hadn’t been able to fill in. Most of the time, his team members could place themselves in synergistic roles for one another. Currently, on his team, three of his four Pokémon could attack opponents in the air.

The only Pokémon that couldn’t was Primeape. He was limited to melee attacks. He didn’t have any moves to wear fliers down yet. He was the Pokémon that was meant to come in and take out otherwise difficult opponents, not one to help weaken an opponent’s team.

Primeape tried to run, but the Venomoth brought itself through the air. Falling off its wings was a powdery dust that caused Primeape to lock up in an allergic reaction. He sneezed multiple times over.

“Stun Spore,” Sam identified with a growl.

Franklin called for a Psybeam. An attack like that didn’t require the Venomoth to get close.

All Sam could do was sit back and watch Venomoth safely attack the immobile Primeape from range. The Psybeam hit, dealt super effective damage, and with the damage he took earlier, this attack was enough to finish Primeape off.

“...Return.”

This was a consequence of using all of his switches earlier. Franklin was able to position his team members to have the advantage, now.

At least I can somewhat do the same.

Coming in after Primeape was Misdreavus.

“Shadow Sneak. Confusion.”

She dived into the floor, using a shadow to rush at where Venomoth fluttered above the ground. Franklin called for a Supersonic, but the harsh screech the moth Pokémon let loose didn’t carry the highest rate of success. Misdreavus was able to resist the otherwise confusion-inflicting move and use her momentum to fling herself into the air. The flying bug was ripped free of its own flight thanks to her Confusion. The super effective attack didn’t faint it, but it disrupted its momentum to weaken how well it could dodge.

“Psybeam!”

“Shadow Ball!”

Two moves struck. Misdreavus was clipped by the Psychic Type beam, but Venomoth took the ball of dark energy directly to its chest. It fell to the ground, legs going tight against its body. Its eyes weren’t closed—they were unable to—but it was no longer staring at anything, utterly unconscious.

“Return,” Franklin said.

Sam stayed quiet. The match had been brutal. Once the first few exchanges happened, the rest of the fight had been back-to-back knockouts so far.

The crowd was going wild. Sam had a chance to pull off a win.

He just has his Alakazam left. One more Pokémon! And the Pokémon I have out is a Ghost Type!

Sam was absolutely favored. He just needed to not stumble before the finish.

“Prepare yourself,” Franklin said.

His confident tone made Sam nervous.

When Alakazam reappeared, it looked rejuvenated. Its burn was still there, but its time within its Pokéball had allowed it to rest.

Against Misdreavus, it started with a Recover, buying itself time while continuing to suffer from Quilava’s burn.

“Shadow Sneak,” Sam said.

A shadow darted towards it along the ground. Alakazam stayed in place, waiting until right before Misdreavus reached it—

“Teleport!”

“Confuse Ray!”

She burst outwards, affecting nothing, but her eyes quickly locked onto Alakazam across the field as a grey beam struck it between the eyes.

“Yes!”

Sam hissed a cheer under his breath, clenching a fist within his jacket’s pocket. With Alakazam confused, it was going to struggle to attack that much more.

Sam would have withdrawn Misdreavus from the match here if he felt his victory was more secure. However, he recognized how absolutely deranged it would be to do something like that in the finals, where Franklin likely had more tricks up his sleeve.

“Focus. Look around you. See where it’s going to be instead of where it is.”

Alakazam might have been lost under the illusions inflicted by Confuse Ray, but it managed to get a hold of itself to close its eyes, but it was still confused.

Its head glowed blue, and Misdreavus unleashed a Shadow Ball. However, Alakazam used Teleport to move away.

How did it see that coming?

The answer came when Alakazam teleported again, unprompted. It was using Teleport without knowing whether or not it was under attack.

“Time your next one well, Misdreavus,” Sam said.

She nodded once, mumbling her name as her eyes flicked about to follow where Alakazam popped in and out across the field.

Her Shadow Ball grew slowly as she began to drift towards the center edge. She wouldn’t need to worry about Alakazam appearing behind her there, and being in the center gave her about an equal distance to attack no matter where Alakazam appeared. The Shadow Ball grew and grew as Alakazam appeared in random spots away from her.

“Perfect. Now, do it, Alakazam,” Franklin ordered.

It suddenly appeared next to Misdreavus. She yelped, turning its way and trying to release her attack, but it proceeded to disappear, and she yelled in horrible pain.

It was like a flash of light that came from nowhere. A zap of Psychic Type energy shot out of nothing to strike where Misdreavus was actively floating.

Sam was confused, but the announcers explained it for him.

“A Future Sight! It’s rare to see that move outside of species like Xatu and Espeon.”

It might not have been super effective, but Future Sight was an incredibly strong attack. Given that it was a fully evolved Alakazam attacking an unevolved Misdreavus, she crumpled to the ground.

“Trainer Samuel, please send out your next Pokémon,” the referee said.

Sam was silent. Misdreavus disappeared back into her Friend Ball.

This has been a slog. We’ve traded off Pokémon one-by-one just to end up in the same exact scenario we started in.

Except this time, neither of us have a team behind our Pokémon.

Sam had to wonder how he’d compare to Franklin—statistically, at least. The other trainer’s Alakazam was clearly the strongest Pokémon he had, but at how many stars was his team rated? Given Franklin had sent out a Natu, he clearly only had five Pokémon; a more experienced team member would have been chosen if available. When trainers went back and forth to trade Pokémon like this, it generally meant they were roughly an even match.

Still, he’s probably only a five star trainer, just like me. Alakazam is a head above everyone else.

Sam held up his last Pokéball. He stared at Franklin before looking right at it.

“I trust you. Finish it off,” Sam whispered.

He released his final team member. The battle would be decided how it started: through a match between Quilava and Alakazam.

When the referee called for the battle to resume, neither Pokémon immediately acted. Similarly, both trainers stayed silent. Sam wasn’t sure what was going on in Franklin’s mind, but Sam was considering which trick he wanted to rely on, himself.

In the end, it was Franklin who gave a command first.

“Psychic!”

“Swift, distract!” Sam yelled, settling on a final strategy.

Alakazam teleported to get within range of Quilava, but she unleashed a Swift that forced it to use Teleport to avoid the move’s strike. The stars missed their target and sailed high into the air. Quilava pushed off the ground to try to lunge with a Quick Attack.

The usually fast move wasn’t fast enough. A telekinetic Psychic tore Quilava off the ground and into the air. Alakazam held up its spoon as if it were a weapon’s sights, focusing on its target and preparing to squeeze Quilava into submission with its Psychic Type grip.

But it paused.

Quilava poured her everything into a single move: a Leer.

It did nothing. Alakazam didn’t even wince. All it did was scoff, as if annoyed that Quilava thought a Leer of all things be effective. However, what it clearly didn’t expect was for Quilava to reply with a smirk. She stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at the confused-looking Alakazam.

Why? To distract, as Sam had ordered. Something smacked into the back of Alakazam’s head, causing it to suddenly stumble forward. Turning around, Alakazam peered upwards and learned a hard truth.

Swift was an attack that homed. It never missed in the first place.

While some stars had indeed gone off into the distance, a good portion of them had curved around to now be rushing right back at it.

“Teleport, quick!” Franklin yelled.

A barrage was coming Alakazam’s way, but it wasn’t the Swift’s barrage that was going to hit it first.

This distraction had been multilayered, two-fold. Quilava had drawn its attention away from the Swift, and now that Swift drew Alakazam’s attention away from her. Released from its Psychic, she fell out of the air and used the momentum of that fall to tuck her head in and pull herself tight. She blazed with a Flame Wheel that sent her slamming into Alakazam’s side.

If it had been more experienced in battle, it would have known to keep an eye on the Swift. But, Alakazam was a competitor in a mid-level tournament. This strategy was good enough. The Flame wheel knocked the air out of it, and from behind, the stars of the Swift assaulted its back.

For a moment, the field was silent. The impact of Flame Wheel let Quilava push off of Alakazam to land on her feet. She stood with her flames blazing, her ability activated thanks to her current level of exhaustion.

The battle was determined by a single wheeze. Alakazam tried to bring up an arm, but it suffered from a full body wince.

It was still burned, after all.

The Psychic Type fell to the ground. Alakazam no longer possessed the energy to continue.

“Franklin has no more usable Pokémon. Samuel is the victor!” the head referee yelled.

The audience was deafening. The announcers yelled through their microphones. A deep roar pierced through the thousands of shouts as Ursaring screamed his support next to Redi.

“We... won,” Sam said.

He felt numb.

This wasn’t supposed to happen, was it?

He was sure that even with all of his training, his team wasn’t supposed to win. He’d lost in the first round of his first tournament. That meant he was supposed to reach the second or third at most here, right?

But he’d won. He’d beaten Franklin. He’d beaten Victor. He'd beaten Edgar too, and he’d beaten all of the Pokémon that involved. But this wasn’t just a success for him as a trainer. This wasn’t just because of what he had learned in the New Pokédex, either. His Pokémon had been the ones to fight in these battles, and his Pokémon had been the ones to push themselves to actually follow and master all the harebrained ideas Sam had thrown at them.

Sam hadn’t just won. His entire team had won, too.

We actually did it.

He couldn’t find the energy to recover from the shock.

As he stood there, the fallen Alakazam was returned, and Franklin let out a sigh. Quilava came bounding over to jump into Sam’s arms. He easily hugged her back.