Author's note:

Double release today in case you missed chapter 176.

Again, We didn't quite hit the target of feedback that I wanted for the new story. But I'll still give you guys the double release all the same. Largely thanks to everyone listed below.

In SH:

@Ploptian, thank you for making the effort. I had a little chuckle at least.

In RR:

Massive thanks to @Bigwave99

Thank you to @DaoSeeker and @Spuddzy as well.

And naturally, all the MVPs are over in Patreon.

@Jonas gave a very detailed breakdown of my first chapter which I am REALLY appreciative of. Frankly, that's where the largest bulk of my contemplations are from.

Not sure what their username is in the other sites, but you guys owe him big time. Because I actually wasn't going to do the double release until I saw their comment.

Big thanks to @t3chn0fr34q as well. A long time supporter and harsh critic as ever. But in a good way.

Also, another massive thanks to @bob bobson for all their suggestions.

And thank you to @Aleo_Art as well.

***

Manectric came out swinging with an Electric Terrain — Thunder clouds formed and casted over the stadium, roaring with fury.

The hallmark of an Ace to Elite Tier Pokemon was their ability to transform the battlefield and claim a domain. Pokemon were powerful beings and, if trained properly, were able to reach lofty heights, capable of sowing disaster in their wake.

Martial Pokemon like Scyther, however, were unable to lay down their domain in such a tangible way. Instead, they relied predominantly on Aura and willpower, a much more difficult feat to accomplish than simple weather and terrain manipulation. In other words, it was the difference between an external expression of power compared to internal accumulation where the former held an early advantage.

Unfortunately, Justin’s Scyther had yet to reach his full potential. Despite his nascent Aura, Nina could tell that the Flying Bug Type still had a ways to go when compared to well-established martial masters like Bruno.

So when Manectric and Scyther clashed, the difference was clear. Type advantage aside, Scyther simply could not match blows with Manectric as he flashed all over the arena like a bolt of lightning. Even the skies were unsafe as Manectric used his body as a lightning rod to strike at Scyther with pinpoint accuracy.

Nina nodded in approval. It seemed that Lucy took her advice seriously and trained up her Manectric’s special attack. That said, instead of diversifying and spreading Manectric too thin, she opted to incorporate the amplified Type Energy in his physical attacks instead.

Scyther did his best. In particular, his Swarm ability activated at the very end as he was on his last legs and managed to cut through the Manectric’s tough bristles to inflict severe damage onto the Electric wolf. However, an explosive Thunder from Manectric ultimately fainted Justin’s Scyther.

The boy was unfazed though, merely flashing a grin and a thumbs up at Lucy. Feeling glad at his friend’s improvement. The audience cheered at the exciting battle and Justin made his next choice — a Houndoom.

“Oh? I didn’t know Justin got himself a Houndoom.” Nina remarked.

“That’s ‘cause we haven’t been keeping in touch with him,” said Kerry. 

The boy was really bad at responding to his messages and he also swore that he wouldn’t rely on Nina during his journey so he hadn’t been calling to ask for advice like Charlie either.

Manectric was still reeling from Scyther’s hail mary. That said, the Electric wolf was a much more experienced Pokemon than Justin’s Houndoom, which he presumably caught recently. So the match ended up being more even than expected.

Houndoom immediately snickered and barked out a Taunt and Torment combo. When it came to harassment strategies, nothing could beat a Dark Type with their vast array of underhanded debuffs. 

All the while, a Nasty Plot was brewing in Houndoom’s head as it ruminated on all the different schemes it could pull to further undermine Manectric and hit him where it hurt the most. From Nina’s understanding, Nasty Plot might as well be a passive ability with the way that it worked, similar to Espy’s Calm Mind.

When faced with the extremely punchable face of Houndoom, Manectric lost control despite the strength of his willpower. The Electric Type growled in fury and began mindlessly charging at Houndoom, barely heeding his trainer’s commands.

However, it seemed like Justin was having the same issue with his Houndoom as it ignored the boy’s command to play it safe with hit and run tactics, opting instead to rush into a messy brawl with the Manectric. The Houndoom won in the end, thanks to a timely use of Comeuppance to return the damage he received, looking way worse for wear than he began.

Justin groaned. “Dammit Houndoom! Why won’t you listen to me?!”

Nina sighed in disappointment. “Justin probably caught that Houndoom already evolved and failed to tame him before the conference.”

Misty responded with a snort and an amused chuckle. “Yeah, happens all the time with these firecrackers.” 

Nina wanted to say that Justin wasn’t technically a firecracker, but then again, entering the Conference with an untrained Pokemon who had only been with him for a couple of months at most was peak firecracker behavior.

Lucy scoffed and sent out her Magneton, which would normally be a bad idea. But in this case, the nature of the inorganic Pokemon made it less susceptible to Houndoom’s mind tricks. And with Houndoom being so disobedient, Magneton easily outmaneuvered the delinquent Pokemon with hit and run tactics, sustaining minimal damage in return.

Justin returned his Houndoom with a helpless sigh, whispering something inaudible to his Pokeball. His next choice was his Noibat, mirroring the start of the first round and restarting the match that the audience was initially deprived of.

“Interesting, seems like Justin is trying to save his aces…” Nina murmured. It was an understandable decision since they were at the critical midway juncture. It was also likely why Lucy opted for her Magneton earlier when she had better choices.

“How long does it usually take for a Noibat to Evolve?” Kerry asked Nina, eliciting a considerate hum from the girl.

“Well… Dragons in general take a long time to grow. Though trained ones do Evolve sooner, like Lilian’s Sapphire for example.” Nina tilted her head for further consideration. “If I recall correctly, the Noivern line was one of the faster growers, just behind the likes of Trapinch and Flygon. Even faster actually, considering there’s only one stage to their Evolution. 

“But if you’re wondering why Noibat hasn’t evolved yet then I’d say this is pretty par for the course — Justin’s Noibat was quite young when he caught her.” Hence why she was so easily traumatized by Lilian’s assault on her colony.

Nina then turned to her mentor. “What do you think, Misty? Any ideas.”

Misty shrugged. “How would I know? Go ask that girlfriend of yours.”

Nina groaned. “Lilian is NOT my girlfriend.”

“I dunno… She clearly has the hots for you.” The woman quipped, eliciting nods and snickers from Kerry.

“Urgh! You guys are the worst.”

“It’s okay, Nina,” Ali chimed as he reached over to hold Nina’s hand. “We’ll support you no matter who you choose to love. Even if it's the princess of a clan of bloodthirsty Dragon Tamers.”

Nina clicked her tongue in annoyance and extricated herself from her uncle’s hold, opting to focus on the match in front of her instead.

Though to be fair, the current round was quite boring. Both Pokemon began with a Supersonic and Screech combo. Magneton tried to strike at the Flying Dragon Type with Electric moves, but Noibat was just zipping around the arena and persisted with her supersonic, too fast to be caught.

During the brief period that the Noibat spent in the Vermilion Flame, she sparred a few times with Brucey and even received guidance from Sapphire and Nairy at the time. So while she was timid, Noibat was instilled with solid foundations to work with as evident by her intentionally erratic flight patterns and her solid Dragon Pulse — one of those moves that Noibat couldn’t learn in the games but was perfectly possible to do in real life. After all, they could technically learn Draco Meteor as well.

The match dragged on. Magneton was too sturdy to be taken down by Noibat’s ineffective attacks and Noibat was too quick for the clunky magnet Pokemon, though Magneton did get a few solid hits in from time to time.

Nina sighed. It seemed that Lucy was persisting with her bad habits. Had she trained her Magneton to be a wide range special attacker, Noibat would have been cooked by now. In the end, Magneton managed to clinch the win, but was definitely weakened significantly as a result.

Misty yawned. “Analytic — a Magneton isn’t a super computer like your average Metagross, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t smart as heck. What that means is that the more time you give them to think, the more effective their attacks will be. That girl trained her Magneton to be a tank, calm and steady under pressure, didn’t even break under that pesky Noibat.”

Meaning Lucy was playing the long game; setting up solid foundations for explosive growth at the Magnezone stage. If there was any thought in it at all. In the end, it was all speculation.

“Huh, guess I didn’t think about that. Shows what I know.” Nina mused.

Justin’s next Pokemon though, was a surprise for everyone given his conventionally boyish personality.

“A Wigglytuff?” Nina mused in utter bewilderment, eliciting a confused look from Kerry as well.

Misty hummed. “Kid’s chasing after your tail right? Wigglytuffs are Fairy Types.”

Nina gaped in realization. The cheeky kid was trying to develop an anti-Dragon countermeasure. Though it’d be presumptuous to think he was just aiming for her. Justin likely had his sights set on Lilian as well.

Justin’s Wigglytuff was surprisingly bouncy and aggressive as it hopped around like a bunny with a sinister grin on its face.

“See how spiky that little tuft of hair on his head is? And the broader ears? That Wigglytuff is a male.” Misty chimed. The Wigglytuff line was one of those rare female dominated species.

Magneton immediately started with Screech and Supersonic again, but Wigglytuff simply countered it with his own garble of noise, shouting like someone from a C-tier heavy metal rock band with a long history of chain smoking, causing every member in the audience to cover their ears and groan in displeasure. For a species renowned for their singing, Justin sure picked an interesting little outlier.

Even Magneton was affected as it wobbled unsteadily in the air. That slight opening was all Wiggletuff needed to close the distance, bouncing forwards with uncanny speed and slamming into Magneton.

Wigglytuff then proceeded to pin the Magneton on the ground and pummeled it relentlessly while shouting incessantly with his uniquely harsh voice, to the point where even the audience was jeering at Justin to stop the torture. 

Unfortunately for them, Justin ripped another page from Nina’s play book and had his ears shielded with earplugs as he continued to stand idly on his platform with an insufferably sunny grin on his face.

“Po-po!” Poppy squirmed and cried in Nina’s arms, feeling quite offended by the horrid noise he was being subjected to, until Espy placed a barrier around his head to block out the noise.

To Nina’s side, Misty was cackling with laughter, feeling inordinately amused by the spectacle before her. Even Nina couldn’t help but let out a savage grin at all the suffering that her friend had caused.

Lucy scowled and told her Magneton to blast its assailant with Thunder. But Wigglytuff was clearly trained to be a bruiser, because he just tanked the attack, fur frazzled, singed and blackened, let out a gravelly growl and persisted with his attacks through the pain. Uultimately fainting Magneton and howling in triumph with a manic look on his face.

Both Nina and Misty clapped in commendation for that ridiculous display, though they were in the minority as most of the arena was filled with boos and calls for Lucy to beat Justin’s ass.

Lucy’s next pick was her Rhyperior, who Nina previously battled as a Rhydon. And although Wigglytuff put up a respectable fight, some things were just hard to overcome. And in this case, it was the difference in weight class, a very crucial factor in two highly physical Pokemon.

A typical Rhyperior weighed in the hundreds of kilos range, their bodies padded with solid stone armor. So while lacking in mobility, a Rhyperior was very much built like a tank. On the other hand, the Wigglytuff line were more commonly known as balloon Pokemon, due to their tendency to inflate themselves with air and just float away into the skies as an escape mechanism. The difference was stark to say the least.

It was especially a shame because it soon became clear that Justin’s Wigglytuff, though a formidable brawler under the right circumstances, was completely inept when it came to utility moves. His Sing had the opposite effect of putting people to sleep and he didn’t seem to know some of the moves most typically used by Fairy Types, such as Sweet Kiss, Disarming Voice, Charm and so on. 

If anything, when Justin told Wigglytuff to try Charming the Rhyperior mid-battle, after learning that she was female, the drill Pokemon actually became even more enraged and doubled down on her offensive.

“What a shame…” Misty muttered, alongside a nodding Nina. That peculiar Wigglytuff really spoke to their sensibilities as Gym Trainers for some reason. 

“I can already think of a dozen ways to train Wigglytuff and make use of his uniqueness. I really hope Justin doesn’t let this loss get to him and end up stifling his Pokemon’s growth by forcing Wigglytuff down a more conventional path.” Nina remarked.

Misty nodded. “You’ll be seeing him later right? Make sure to talk some sense into him. I’ll send you some notes on how I would go about training that Wigglytuff as well.”

Nina looked towards the severe looking Gym Leader with mouth agape, completely taken aback by Misty’s generosity. It seemed like that Wigglytuff really intrigued her. Not that she could blame her. In fact, if Justin didn’t seem like he could handle it, Nina would try and convince him to entrust Wigglytuff to her instead.

Justin’s next pick was his Blastoise who immediately flooded the arena with Rain Dance and Surf. And it really seemed like Blastoise had been training hard since she last saw the shellfish Pokemon, because that Surf he pulled out was about on par, if not, exceeding Nitey’s. A natural progression given that he was a pure Water Type after all. 

His Rain Dance still needed some work though. But he did manage to combine the rainstorm with Hail, making for a very effective deterrent against the Water and Ice Weak Rhyperior.

The drill Pokemon tried her best, even braving the Surf and managing to conjure a stone platform for herself to stand on, but to no avail. In the end, Lucy chose to swap out her Rhyperior for her Charizard instead. Which prompted Justin to follow suit, to send out his Sharpedo to save his Blastoise’s strength.

And with the terrain so firmly in Justin’s favor, Sharpedo thrived as he jetted through the water at ridiculous speeds, dodging every attack that Charizard threw at him. 

Lucy had tried to counter the terrain by ordering a Sunny Day. But it was clear that the girl was less appreciative of weather manipulation moves as compared to Justin, who was accustomed to Nina and Nitey’s shenanigans. So the orb of Fire that Charizard shot into the air just fizzled out amidst Blastoise’s storm clouds.

If Lucy had allowed the match to continue as it was, then Charizard would just be slowly worn down by the Hail and rain as Sharpedo continued zooming around the water and occasionally chiming in with some low effort range attacks.

So, in her desperation, the girl told Charizard to get close with the intent of baiting Sharpedo. A prospect that Justin greatly relished with a sinister grin as Sharpedo charged out of the water and slammed into Charizard with a Liquidation and Crunch combo.

“The Sharpedo line isn’t native to Kanto, so it’s unlikely that Lucy knows too much about their biology.” Nina explained to Kerry.

“Why does that matter?” The girl asked in return, only for Nina to let out the same sinister grin as their mutual friend.

“Why does it matter? Because the first thing that I told Justin when he caught his Carvanha was to make full use of the species’s innate Rough Skin.” The young Gym Trainer’s words earned her a pat on the shoulder and a thumbs up from Misty.

That said, Charizards were pseudo-Dragons of sorts and possessed scales to match. So the Fire lizard was much more resilient than expected. Breathing Dragon Breath down into the shark Pokemon in his embrace, and letting loose a point blank Inferno and Flare Blitz to roast Sharpedo.

However, Justin’s Sharpedo had always been aggressive since the very beginning and refused to go down without a fight. It thrashed around violently against the Charizard’s hold, shearing off layers upon layers of hardy scales until he began to draw blood from the tender flesh underneath. He then let loose a Hydro Pump at point blank as well, deliberately aiming for Charizard’s tail flame as per Justin’s instructions.

In the end, Sharpedo lost. But just barely, as Charizard landed on the stone platform that his teammate created earlier, looking bruised, bloodied and completely drained — his tail flame barely a flicker amidst rain and Hail.

Nina got up from her seat with a stretch, opting to go engage with her Pokemon instead of continuing to watch the match. “Lucy’s lost.” She declared. “Her remaining Pokemon are Magmar and Rhyperior. None of which stand a chance against Blastoise in this environment, not with his Rain Dish ability active anyway.” 

Given how well trained Justin’s Pokemon were, Nina had no doubts that the boy was able to fully realize the advice she gave him a year ago. Rhyperior might stand a chance if Lucy got lucky. And her Magmar, if well trained enough, could overturn Blastoise’s domain with a sea of lava, but Nina doubted it.

“C’mon Kerr, let's get ready to go congratulate Justin downstairs.” The girl added as she entertained her giggling Popplio with uppies.

***

Author's note:

I spent the last two weeks writing GESTALT to an almost obssesive degree. Time to take a short break and get back to writing Into the Unown.

Again, if anyone wants to check out my new story and provide feedback. I would be extremely grateful.