Professor Rowan's last Pokémon was Beedrill.
As a Pokémon with full stamina, Beedrill had to create an opportunity for the subsequent Pokémon to win the match. With Clefairy's speed decreased, Luther wouldn't switch out Clefairy to maintain its buff effect; a poisoned Clefairy had the potential to drag down the opponent.
Luther noticed Beedrill on the field and couldn't help but shudder. In the comics, Giovanni had a Beedrill that was quite powerful, capable of taking down a Dragonair in an instant… Although he knew that such a Beedrill couldn't be everywhere, out of respect for Giovanni's Beedrill, Luther decided to play it safe.
"Swords Dance."
Luther was taken aback. Was Professor Rowan really testing rookie Trainers with this move?
First, he was defensive about information, and now he was even bringing out Swords Dance for team support?
Luther understood; this battle was not a test for rookie Trainers at all. He was a transmigrated Trainer with the skin of a toxic tumor, and Professor Rowan was just an old rogue.
"Not a chance! Clefairy, use Shadow Ball."
As soon as he shouted this, Luther suddenly froze. 'Was he an idiot? Let him use Swords Dance! I could just Encore it!'
However, Professor Rowan laughed. In a high-intensity battle, both Trainers needed to maintain a high level of focus, and over time, it was common for one side to be led by the rhythm of the other.
This time, Professor Rowan's move was also driven by emotion; he wanted to take a chance on team support, so he led with Swords Dance. However, Luther, who reacted more strongly to Swords Dance, had forgotten that he could simply Encore Beedrill and then follow up with a move.
Beedrill nimbly dodged the Shadow Ball, gliding past it and charging toward Clefairy.
"Pin Missile."
The slowed Clefairy received Luther's command to dodge, but it still took a lot of damage during its ascent, and Beedrill, darting in and out, didn't give Clefairy any time to retaliate.
Professor Rowan didn't dare to continue using Swords Dance. By issuing commands while Beedrill engaged in skirmishes with the slowed Clefairy, he knew that Luther was waiting for an opportunity.
With Clefairy having buffed itself four times with Calm Mind, it only needed one Shadow Ball to take down Beedrill. However, Beedrill, with just one Swords Dance, didn't have that much error tolerance.
The battle scene began to look quite grim, with Beedrill and Clefairy exchanging damage outputs with Pin Missile and Shadow Ball. As for the effective Fire Punch… unless Clefairy could fly, it wouldn't hit Beedrill.
Despite its reduced speed, Clefairy's battle experience and Luther's judgment complemented each other, allowing it to successfully dodge the Pin Missile attacks. Beedrill was much faster than Clefairy, but it didn't dare to enter the range where it could accurately strike Clefairy.
This led to both sides exchanging air damage outputs for nearly five minutes, with neither side landing a hit. The battlefield was filled with flying dust, and the air was lit up like fireworks, yet neither side had touched the other.
This farcical scene stemmed from both sides' caution, but the one at a disadvantage was Luther.
Although Ariados had been taken out by a fierce Shadow Ball, it still managed to spit out Toxic before leaving, causing Clefairy to continuously lose stamina. Initially able to dodge the Pin Missile with ease, Clefairy gradually began to make mistakes due to the effects of Toxic.
After another Pin Missile nearly hit Clefairy, Luther finally made up his mind to seek a change. If he didn't seek a change, Beedrill could simply maintain its rhythm and, when Clefairy's stamina ran low, use Swords Dance to prepare for a finishing blow, leaving Luther's remaining Pokémon waiting to be team-supported.
With speed not being an advantage against Beedrill, his only asset was his attack power.
Luther glanced at the battered battlefield and had an idea: "Use Shadow Ball on the battlefield."
Professor Rowan looked at Luther and then at the already pockmarked battlefield, unable to figure out the purpose of this Shadow Ball.
The Shadow Ball directly hit the ground beneath Clefairy, sending a massive cloud of debris flying into the air.
"Get into the mist."
"I won't let you have your way." Professor Rowan pointed at Clefairy, which had rushed into the mist, and commanded Beedrill: "Use Pin Missile to shoot into the smoke."
Using the terrain was not something Professor Rowan had never seen before. Luther wanted to use the splashing dust cloud to launch a surprise attack on Beedrill, so all he had to do was let Beedrill stay at a safe distance and mindlessly release Pin Missile.
"Continue using Shadow Ball on the battlefield."
Several Shadow Balls shot out from the mist, and the dust cloud that originally covered a small area now enveloped most of the battlefield in a gray haze.
Not only the audience but also Luther and Professor Rowan, the two Trainers on the sidelines, could no longer see the situation on the field.
All that remained was the sound of Beedrill's rapid wingbeats, with no sign of Clefairy. Beedrill was confused, firing Pin Missile into the swirling dust. Professor Rowan and Beedrill could no longer determine Clefairy's position and could only blindly try to hit Clefairy through the smoke.
The barrage of Pin Missiles continued to miss, and the sound of Shadow Balls echoed intermittently through the mist. Each time a sound rang out, Professor Rowan directed Beedrill to cover that direction with Pin Missile, yet still, they found nothing.
Luther was listening intently.
The battlefield was filled not only with the sound of Pin Missile slicing through the air and Beedrill's high-frequency wingbeats but also with the faint sound of footsteps. This sound would occur every time a Shadow Ball was launched; it started in the center of the field but had now moved much farther away.
After watching Beedrill fire another blind Pin Missile into the smoke, Luther knew he only needed to issue one command.
"Shadow Ball."
The purple-black energy ball shot up from beneath Beedrill, hitting it directly.
The sudden attack caught Beedrill off guard, and before it could react, it was sent flying, losing its ability to battle before it even hit the ground.
Sachiko raised her flag in disbelief: "Beedrill loses its ability to battle; Clefairy wins."
No one understood what had happened during this exchange, including Professor Rowan. Luther had not issued any other commands aside from Shadow Ball, meaning that this attack was accomplished through the combined efforts of Luther and Clefairy.
"How did you do that?" Professor Rowan felt a sense of unreality.
Luther pointed to his ears.
"Sound?"
"When Clefairy was first hit by Pin Missile and went into the smoke, I heard its footsteps. From that moment on, it didn't move erratically. Of course, the dust from the Shadow Ball obscured our vision, which also worked to my advantage."
"But you didn't order Clefairy to change position. Was that part of your plan too?"
Luther shrugged. "I'm not a prophet; how could I do that? In a situation with no visibility, perception is hindered, and Clefairy chose its attack position on its own. I was just responsible for the timing of the attack; that's all."
Professor Rowan opened his mouth, hesitated, and finally gave a light applause.
"You've won; the match ends here."
Luther felt a rush of excitement and was stunned for a moment before asking, "Do I qualify to receive a Pokédex?"
Professor Rowan exchanged glances with the researchers nearby. "Do you know what it means for a rookie Pokémon Trainer to defeat the Research Lab's examiner in their first battle?"
"Qualified…?" Luther answered tentatively.
Professor Rowan smiled wryly. "So far, fewer than ten people have become Pokémon Trainers and defeated the Research Lab's examiner on their first day. To put it another way, the last person who debuted and defeated me on their first day was Cynthia, and now she is the Sinnoh Champion."
Luther was left speechless, his mouth agape. This was not what he had planned. Luther had intended to slowly train his Pokémon team, then accompany Ash to take down Tobias, fulfilling a childhood dream.
He envisioned watching Ash win the championship, sending him off to meet Serena in the Kalos Region, and playing matchmaker while he leisurely returned to the Sinnoh Region to join the Pokémon League and take it easy.
The script and title were all set; he would join the Pokémon League as a member of the Elite Four, fishing for Pokémon and living off the spoils, collecting cute and powerful Pokémon, and mentoring new Trainers while finding a lovely Trainer to marry.
Now, that seemed impossible. The old man, Professor Rowan, looked at him with intense eyes. If it wasn't for some special hobby of his, he must think he was a promising talent, a real find…
After the victory, Luther suddenly felt a rush of clarity. Professor Rowan had mentioned a Trainer similar to himself in the past. It didn't take long to realize it was Cynthia… He had really messed up.
Debut Peak sounded great, and it was indeed exhilarating, but he had to consider whose Debut Peak it was.
Cynthia's Debut Peak; every piece of media had shown what kind of formidable character she was. Known as the "Ice Queen," "Sister Cabbage," and "Cynthia," she had six Pokémon with both coverage and training and strong bonds.
The TV series showcased her sending out Garchomp to educate challengers, and no one from the Elite Four had ever passed her challenge.
With such a powerhouse standing there, anyone wanting to challenge her had to weigh their own worth. Aside from high-level chuunibyou patients like TV rival Paul, who thought they could take down Garchomp with six Pokémon, there were virtually no fools in the entire series who would humiliate themselves.
Luther knew his own level; he was just an average player who had watched a few battle competitions and understood some strategies, not even close to being hardcore. Aside from his young Dragon Slayer Marill, he only had a Ralts left.
If word got out that Luther had achieved the same results as Sister Cabbage back in the day, he would probably have people lining up to take him down as an easy target… stepping on a rising star to prove their own worth. After all, if they couldn't bully Cynthia, could they bully him?
(End of Chapter)