Chapter 329: The Flashy Abin
Somewhere on the Indigo Plateau, a series of explosions echoed. Even at high noon, a battle was raging like a wildfire.
On one side, a massive, divine bird of flame was unleashing its divine power.
On the other side were four trainers, each with a different Pokémon standing before them, engaged in a fierce battle.
"Kadabra, use Thunder Wave!"
"Weezing, use Poison Gas!"
"Haunter, use Will-O-Wisp!"
"Vileplume, use Sleep Powder!"
In an instant, the four Pokémon simultaneously unleashed their status-inflicting moves, launching them all at the flame bird overhead.
Well-versed in strategy, they knew that to deal with a legendary Pokémon with such incredibly high health, it was best to start by applying some status conditions.
Although The Officials' data stated that a Pokémon could only be afflicted with one status condition at a time, reality was completely different. A Pokémon could very well be hit with the grand slam of paralysis, poison, sleep, and burn all at once.
The flame bird: "..."
This was its second challenge of the day. The last battle, against three psychic- and water-type Starmie and one Chansey that was just there to draw aggro, had already left the flame bird feeling nauseated. And this battle was starting out with dirty tricks?
*No, no way. I'm definitely retiring this year. The trainers these days understand Pokémon more and more!*
Immediately, a sharp glint flashed in the flame bird's eyes, its body radiating a noble aura as its flames burned brightly.
*Hmph, it will take more than this to defeat me.*
"Biii!!"
The flame bird let out a high-pitched cry, raising its proud head as it clapped its flaming wings together.
The next second, a strange green film appeared over the flame bird's body, warding off all the status effects and leaving it feeling refreshed.
"A tough nut to crack. It even knows Safeguard..."
Trainer A quickly recognized the move, his expression turning ugly.
Safeguard, once used, prevented the user from being afflicted with any status condition for a period of time.
"It's fine, I was prepared for this. This time, everyone, fire at my Kadabra!" the trainer with the Kadabra—Trainer B, whose face was obscured—immediately called out.
Although the other three were impressed but didn't quite understand, they still ordered their Pokémon to unleash their moves again. Kadabra, for its part, held its spoon aloft, gathered a current of yellow electricity, and launched it vertically. Pulled back down by gravity, the Thunder Wave then crashed onto its own head.
"Zzzzt..."
"Pfft pfft..."
"Zzz..."
"Boom..."
Instantly, Kadabra was afflicted with paralysis, poison, sleep, and burn all at the same time, its fighting spirit clearly weakening.
The flame bird: "?"
It shook its head, utterly confused.
"Zzzzt..."
But in the next second, an arc of electricity suddenly burst from the flame bird's own body. A few purple bubbles appeared on the tip of its beak, its eyelids began to feel heavy, and a patch of its golden plumage began to smolder with a small flame.
The flame bird was now paralyzed, poisoned, asleep, and burned—four status conditions at once—and its fighting spirit weakened.
"Biii..."
Its expression instantly turned hostile. It kept shaking its head, wondering how it had been hit.
This cocktail of sensations made it want to smash its head into the ground and end it all.
Seeing this, the rookie trainer, Trainer B, laughed triumphantly.
This time, half of his face was visible. He had a neat, short haircut and a clever look about him. He snapped his fingers again.
"Haha, now you know how incredible my Kadabra is! Now, use Recover!"
Kadabra waved its spoon, and a healing green light enveloped its body. Although it didn't completely remove the status conditions, its condition improved slightly.
"Trainer B, what was that about?"
"How did the flame bird suddenly get hit?"
The bewildered Trainers A, C, and D asked, but Trainer B just gave a faint smile and didn't reveal the reason, keeping his methods and glory to himself.
These people were all his rivals in the League Tournament; there was no way he would reveal his secrets to them.
The principle was actually quite simple. His Kadabra's ability was Synchronize. Any status condition it received would also be inflicted upon the enemy.
Safeguard only protected against external status attacks; this kind of internal transfer was impossible to defend against.
"Next up is that move. Kadabra, use Trick!" Trainer B ordered the next attack.
As he spoke, Kadabra waved its spoon and made a grasping motion in the air. At that moment, both its body and the body of the still-nauseated flame bird in the sky lit up with a strange light.
Nothing emerged from the latter, but an ostrich-egg-sized black Iron Ball suddenly floated up from Kadabra's body.
As the spoon waved, the strange light began to change.
"Swoosh!"
The light flashed. The Iron Ball vanished in an instant and reappeared directly in front of the flame bird high in the sky. The bird instinctively reached out with its talons and grasped the black sphere.
*Thud thud thud...*
The moment it touched the Iron Ball, the flame bird seemed to be pulled down by a tenfold gravity. Its body, wings clipped, plummeted from the sky and crashed onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The flame bird: "???"
When the dust settled, the flame bird was seen still on the ground, flapping its wings desperately, trying to take off again. But the Iron Ball in its talons held it fast, preventing it from flying back into the sky.
"Biii..."
And so, the divine bird became a flightless chicken.
Its divine dignity was gone.
The Iron Ball, a held item, was so heavy that it prevented its holder from flying, making them vulnerable to damage from Precipice Blades and Earthquake.
And Trick was a move that swapped held items between the user and the target.
Since Kadabra was already standing on the ground, the Iron Ball had no restrictive effect on it. But for the flame bird, it had been instantly transformed from a divine bird into a flightless chicken.
"Damn..."
"Abin is incredible!"
This combo attack earned Abin his official name and the cheers of Trainers A, C, and D.
In truth, Abin's usual results weren't that great, but he was a clever devil, able to pull dirty tricks out of his sleeve with ease.
"BIII!!"
This entire sequence thoroughly enraged the flame bird. It had a premonition this morning that it was going to have a really unlucky day, and it turned out this human was the cause.
It abruptly lifted its head and spat a dense ball of incredibly hot flame straight at Kadabra!
Seeing this, Abin calmly said:
"Kadabra, use Protect!"
Kadabra simply held its spoon horizontally, and a green barrier rose up around it. The terrifying flame was completely blocked, splitting and flowing around the shield.
The flame bird's level was very high; even the supposedly absolute defense of the Protect barrier trembled under the flame, looking as if it would shatter at any moment. But in the end, it successfully held out until the Flamethrower ended.
"BIII!!"
The flame bird grew even more furious. It lifted its sharp beak again, about to spew another massive torrent of flame.
*Protect can save you once, but not twice! Let's see how you block my towering rage this time!!*
Unexpectedly, a sinister smile crept onto Abin's lips as he spoke again:
"Kadabra, use Disable!"
As Kadabra waved its spoon, the flame bird's body flashed a grayish-white for a second before returning to normal.
But the flame that had been gathering in its mouth suddenly extinguished.
*Beep. The move Flamethrower cannot be used.*
The flame bird: "..."
As a divine being, it really wanted to curse right now!!
"Damn, this trainer named Abin has a few tricks up his sleeve."
"Ash, this person will be a great rival for you."
Not far from the group battle with the flame bird, four people were lying prone on a hidden patch of grass, observing in secret.
The flame bird only accepted three waves of challenges per day. This was the second wave. Ash planned to jump in seamlessly the moment these four finished their battle, but he hadn't expected to encounter such a flashy trainer.
So dirty!
"Don't tell me the flame bird is going to be taken down early?" Todd Snap fiddled with his DSLR camera, getting ready. He couldn't get the perfect angle from this distance, so he was hoping Ash would be the one to finish off the flame bird, rather than having some random stranger steal the kill.
"It's fine, these four probably can't win."
Ash lay flat on the ground, inching forward and secretly closing the distance.
Although the combo was flashy, given the durability of a legendary Pokémon, it wasn't a huge problem. The flame bird was just dazed by the assault right now. Once it recovered, a massacre would follow.
"You can do it, flame bird!"
He cheered for it under his breath.
*Hmph, the kill on this flame bird today belongs to me, Ash of Pallet Town!*
(end of chapter)