Absol—Punishment, Sucker Punch, Assurance, Psych Up, Me First…

Those bizarre moves, strung together in the hands of the “gambler” Grimsley, unleashed a terrifying, unbelievable synergy!

Absol roared, eyes blazing, and fired off the very move Lady Lilligant had wanted to use!

Phew… what a handful! Lady Lilligant thought to herself, with a touch of regret.

So many of her techniques shine with teammates on the field. In a one-on-one, facing a “gambler” like this, winning cleanly isn’t easy.

He can use my moves. He can block my advance. He can suppress my stat boosts…

Because his Trainer is anything but ordinary!

“In head-to-head combat, being suppressed isn’t your fault. You’re built to support partners.”

“In that case, let’s hand the rest of this fight to a partner!”

Absol’s Leaf Blade struck home, and Grimsley clicked his tongue, half-teasing:

“You predicted Me First, so you chose Leaf Blade instead of something stronger, huh?”

“However, my Absol’s Ability is Super Luck! Leaf Blade crits easily to begin with—so this one was a crit!”

A critical hit!

Lady Lilligant staggered back, leafy fronds torn, and finally sank to one knee.

Grimsley: “Time for a switch, right? Show me your second!”

“One flaw of many Fighting-type Pokémon: they often lack strong countermeasures to status/utility moves! They may have a few tricks, but against truly dirty tactics, they grow helpless.”

“I may be at a type disadvantage, but… don’t underestimate me. Luck helps decide matches, sure—but the main key is experience, day after day.”

Hikaru nodded. “You’re right. My Lady Lilligant excels at teammate support, so she is lacking against this kind of trickery.”

“So yes, I’ll bring in my second partner. But before that—”

“Entrainment.”

Lady Lilligant exhaled a fragrant breath and began an elegant dance. The scented rhythm swirled around Absol—and altered its Ability!

Dance with a peculiar beat. Make the foe mimic your motions so their Ability becomes the same!

Super Luck → Hustle!

Absol felt a surge of raw power and threw back his head with a pair of howls!

“More power, so that’s an Attack-boosting Ability.”

“Over-amped and hard to aim… mm, so Accuracy drops?”

Grimsley tilted his head. “Eh? You voluntarily gave me an Attack-raising Ability? The Accuracy drawback is real, but I’m a gambler!”

“Absol, Hone Claws!”

“A-wooo!” Absol raked his claws in a furious, precise rhythm—sharpening his focus and boosting his Accuracy!

Seeing Hikaru’s unreadable face, Grimsley chuckled. “As you can see, there aren’t many moves that raise Accuracy—but my Absol just so happens to have one!”

“Now Absol’s even stronger. One clean graze… and your Pokémon might be erased!”

Absol’s status: Attack +3, Defense +2, Speed +2!

And Accuracy +1! The Hustle drawback—neutralized!

In this state he’d become a little monster, fully capable of sweeping a challenger’s team!

Grimsley: “Let the lady rest. Assurance.”

With a light, courteous slash—as if a gentleman escorting a lady offstage—Absol felled Lady Lilligant. She could no longer fight.

But Hikaru didn’t return her to her ball. He began treatment immediately.

That earned a satisfied smile from Grimsley. “Gentle to the lady… ah, she seems a bit flushed.”

“Your bond with your Pokémon looks high.”

Lady Lilligant’s cheeks indeed turned faintly pink. She didn’t answer. Hikaru did, perfectly naturally: “I like my Pokémon very much—so they like me.”

“Doré~” The petals atop Lady Lilligant’s crown curled ever so slightly.

Grimsley chuckled. “Well then, your second? Let me see… the power she left behind.”

“Right. This is the strength Lady Lilligant left to her partner.”

Hikaru sent the thought.

And a steel maiden, glimmering with Fairy radiance, took the field!

[It’s my fight now! Commencing combat!]

Iron Valiant nodded toward Lady Lilligant:

[Leave it to me!]

“What is that?!”

Grimsley was struck dumb at the sight of Iron Valiant—and so were the onlookers!

A Pokémon none of them had ever seen, yet bearing shades of Gardevoir and Gallade. Most importantly, that sacred, noble bearing…

It had to be part Fighting!

“A holy knight? Fine—let’s keep gambling! Winner takes all, loser gets nothing!” Grimsley snapped his fingers. “Let’s take this match to its peak!”

“Indeed.” Hikaru nodded. “Skill Swap.”

Psycho-light flashed in Iron Valiant’s eyes!

Dark-type Pokémon ignore damage from Psychic moves—but status moves still work!

Absol’s power ebbed like a falling tide!

Absol: Hustle → Quark Drive!

Iron Valiant: Quark Drive → Hustle!

“A-woo?!” Absol felt his Ability swapped but no power rising. Alarmed, he glanced at his Trainer. Grimsley’s brows knit.

He couldn’t hear Pokémon speech, but as a Dark-type maestro, he could read them well enough.

Grimsley frowned harder, a prickle of warning in his chest. “An Ability with… no power? Impossible.”

“Skill Swap… that’s a rare one!”

Hikaru: “Exactly. That Ability has never been seen in this world. Give it to you, and it does nothing!”

“Now, Lady Lilligant’s Hustle—passes on to my Iron Valiant!”

“Partners inherit the power of those before them, passed down the line, growing ever stronger!”

“So then, Grimsley-san—let’s gamble. What’s the next move?”

With just a few words, Hikaru seized the initiative. Against an unknown foe, caution was necessary—but Grimsley simply smiled.

“For a gambler, suddenly turning cautious means you’re about to lose the game!”

“I’m in the zone! Let’s bet!”

He hardened his heart and ordered, “Will-O-Wisp!”

“Wrong!” Hikaru swept his hand. “Misty Terrain!”

Boom! A veil of pale pink mist blossomed across Liberty Garden, enshrouding the grounds like a bursting cloud.

The island became a Fairy’s domain!

The will-o-wisps howled in—but upon touching the pink haze, each was swallowed, one after another, until they were gone without a trace!

Grimsley was rocked. “What is that move!?”

Fairy had only recently been identified. True experts in the type were few. For all his knowledge, Grimsley couldn’t name this field move!

Perhaps when he toured Alola in later years, he’d learn.

Case closed: in the Sun/Moon era, Grimsley traveled to Alola—apparently to find counters to “Fairy!”

The four island deities warping the battle environment—menace to metagames everywhere!

“Misty Terrain. A Fairy-type field. Grounded Pokémon can’t be inflicted with status. Dragon-type damage to grounded targets is halved.” Hikaru offered a crisp primer. “Next—”

Iron Valiant’s eyes gleamed!

Psych Up!

From the very first Victory Dance, the stat changes had been copied, echoed, and relayed—until they arrived at the steel maiden!

Seize victory in your hands! Use the power that calls victory forth!

Iron Valiant’s twin blades began spinning violently, pink light drawn to their cores—not Dazzling Gleam, not Moonblast!

The mist roiled above Liberty Garden, the sky seeming to churn. With a single glance, Grimsley could tell: this unfamiliar Pokémon… her “tier” was very high!

“Protect!”

Whatever it was, he’d blunt it first—but Absol suddenly jolted as if smacked by something, yelped, and then ignored Grimsley’s command, trembling in place.

“Absol?!”

“Flinched?!”

He looked down—and saw a golden-glinting “stone” skitter to a stop.

King’s Rock!

“Exactly. Some moves combo with items. Since you’re an expert at Knock Off, I’ll be proactive—I’ll throw the item!”

“Consider this a gift to Absol!”

Hikaru gestured. “King’s Rock with Fling—on hit, it inflicts a 100% flinch!”

Psych Up’s Attack +3, Hustle ×1.5, plus STAB ×1.5!

Iron Valiant’s pink light-blades whirled at high speed. The move was—

[Target confirmed. Eliminate!]

[Spirit Break!]

A colossal, radiant Fairy charge hammered Absol and took him out in one blow!

As the elegant white “cat” crumpled, silence fell. Even Grimsley hadn’t expected this—he’d raised Absol so high, and from here it should’ve been a simple sweep!

And yet… overturned here!

“Interesting! I lost to the Psychic keystone Skill Swap, and to Fling with King’s Rock…”

“And to Misty Terrain!”

“Hahaha! As expected—unknown Pokémon, unknown moves. That’s a gamble too!”

Though defeated, Grimsley was in fine spirits. He glanced at the exquisite steel maiden, then spread his hands to Hikaru. “I yield to you.”

“Where there are winners, there are losers. That’s victory and defeat.”

“To win, Trainers must grow strong with their Pokémon. For the finest contests of strength, one must have strength to match.”

“There are no eternal winners. Everyone tastes defeat.”

“Whether you went all-out, whether the goddess of victory smiled—that doesn’t matter. Only the result matters. And a loss is a loss.”

“Look—victory shines like sunlight. Right now, you and your Pokémon are dazzling.”

“So… did that one also enjoy the show?”

Grimsley felt a great power roaming nearby. He pointed Hikaru toward the lighthouse entrance.

The mythic Pokémon of victory had appeared!

Time to keep his promise, no?

“Anyone want a signed card?”

At first the crowd was stunned into silence by Grimsley’s loss. But with his laughter and words, their mood quickly recovered!

Even so, they were shocked by Hikaru’s strength. When they turned back at Grimsley’s shout, the “young man” on the battlefield had already vanished!

“Eh?! The challenger is gone!”

“That guy disappeared?!”

“Elite Four Grimsley, sir—what’s going on—”

“He challenged you—and succeeded. Does that mean Unova is getting a new Champion soon?!”

“That’s a long way off! He still has three Elite Four to go!”

“But that young man is crazy strong… Since when did Unova produce someone like that—imported talent?”

“That was just type advantage!”

They chattered, opinions at odds—but the shock in their hearts wouldn’t fade.

Grimsley spread his hands. “Who knows—maybe he swims fast and already headed back across the sea.”

The crowd cracked.

“Please don’t tell outrageous lies!”

Grimsley only shrugged—and then noticed a strange object in his hand that hadn’t been there before, a sharp strip that looked like the blade from Bisharp’s forehead.

Huh. Still pretty keen!

What is this… I’ll ask him later. Ah—didn’t swap contacts…

Mm. I still owe him four hundred thousand!

[Mission Complete!]

[Rewards: Release Orbs ×15, V-Wave Sense ×1, Chance Power (new Release Power unlocked), Prism Star (special gem).]

[V-Wave Sense: A special ‘weather’—a unique seasonal wind. Pokémon matching the V-Wave’s attribute become stronger and grow faster on that day. When the V-Wave blows, Victini arrives—requires obtaining “V-Wave.”]

[Chance Power: A new kind of Release Power from ages past. Increases the roll count for chance-based multi-check moves!]

[Prism Star: A gem seemingly originating from Necrozma. Grants Pokémon or humans immense power, breaking current caps.]

[Craftable after obtaining V-Wave: V Roulette (Victory Roulette)!]

A Prism Star—TCG parlance for a special class, typically quite strong, with the gem’s design echoing Necrozma’s head from the rear.

Deep within the lighthouse of Liberty Garden, in Victini’s chamber—

Using Deoxys’s instant teleport, Hikaru brought Lady Lilligant and Iron Valiant into the ancient room.

Just as Grimsley had said.

An orange-red Pokémon like a little rabbit—or perhaps a fennec—stood waiting: the victory Pokémon, already there.

Perched atop a water pipe, it blinked its adorable big eyes, watching Hikaru with nervous curiosity.

It had seen the battle just now. Neither fighter held malice. They had come for it, yes—but unlike the ones from before.

Such a strange feeling. Victini trusted its own senses. So it dared to show itself.

“Ti-ni?”

Are you also here for limitless power?

Victini asked.

If the person before it indeed sought that power, then it would have to hide again.

It looked at the two human-shaped, unfamiliar Pokémon. Huh… they looked a little alike!

Very pretty. Very strong.

But Hikaru didn’t answer. He asked in return:

“Do you know the V-Wave?”

Victini blinked, face blank with confusion.

“Looks like not yet. Uh, then let’s have a snack first.”

Hikaru patted the C-Device.

“Rotom-kun, Super Change Form!”

“Deploy Heat Form—come out and bake some cookies!”

(End of Chapter)

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