What's the difference between Elite and Ace?
Aside from a substantial boost in overall stats, the biggest difference is how much weaker lower-level Pokémon become in comparison.
Moves like Hypnosis, Sleep Powder, and Confuse Ray see drastically reduced effects.
A Hypnosis from an Elite Pokémon might only make an Ace feel drowsy and struggle to concentrate.
Even if Confuse Ray works, the effect only lasts for a few seconds before recovery.
As for damaging moves, they're even less effective.
Type advantages can still deal decent damage, but if the target resists the move's type, it might as well not hit at all.
Just like now. Plenty of the Ghost-types were using Curse, Spite, and other status moves on Gengar and the others, but the effects were minimal. The idea of instantly losing a quarter of health/stamina didn't apply here.
The result? Gengar, Houndoom, and Arbok just cleared the battlefield even faster!
Once there were barely any wild Ghost-types left -and those that remained only dared to watch from afar- Sato and the others turned their attention back to the Odd Keystone in the center of the collapsed stones.
The "火[1]" symbol etched on the Odd Keystone was flashing faster and brighter than before. The ghostly wind howled stronger, releasing torrents of Ghost-type energy like it cost nothing.
"Gengar, we'll handle things here. If that energy's good for you, take it while you can," Sato said, trying to reassure the clearly worried Gengar beside him.
"Gen… Gengengen~"
But this time, Gengar -usually so obedient- shook its head. It explained a few things to Sato, then locked its golden eyes firmly on the flashing Odd Keystone.
"What's Gengar-aniki saying, Boss?" Mark asked curiously.
"It said the energy in the wind is good for quickly restoring stamina, but absorbing it briefly won't have much effect."
"Alright," Mark clicked his tongue. He could vaguely sense that the wind was different, but unfortunately, he didn't have any Ghost-type Pokémon.
Still, there was no time to feel regret… because the Odd Keystone was now flashing so quickly that you could barely tell it was dimming at all.
"…If that weren't a stone, it'd look exactly like a Pokémon egg about to hatch," Mark muttered.
Sato nodded. That comment actually made a lot of sense.
The next second, a surge of purple-red light erupted from the Odd Keystone!
"Tombtombtombtombtom~"
A chilling laugh echoed, sounding almost identical to Gengar's -in style-. But Gengar had long lost that eerie tone since becoming a "calm ghost."
'…Do all powerful Ghost-types laugh like that?'
Sato had just started to wonder when he was hit with a sudden premonition of danger!
Following pure instinct, he grabbed Yamato and Chanel and lunged sideways into Mark, taking all three of them down.
Whoosh~
A shadow streaked past where Sato had just been standing, vanishing into the darkness just as quickly, as if it had never been there at all.
"Houndoom, Odor Sleuth. Gengar, Shadow Ball, scatter fire!"
Shock and fury crossed Houndoom's eyes. It hadn't sensed anything when the shadow appeared.
With Gengar not inside Sato's shadow, Houndoom had been acting as the protector. But if Sato hadn't dodged just now, the four of them might have taken a direct hit.
"Awoooo!"
A howl split the night as Houndoom lowered its head and began sniffing the air furiously, clearly trying to track the ambusher by scent.
On the other side, a flicker of purple light flashed across Gengar's golden eyes. Dozens of Shadow Balls were instantly formed, and with a sudden swing of its short arms, they all scattered in unpredictable arcs like deflating balloons.
Boom!
One Shadow Ball exploded in midair!
The next moment, a purple ghostly face appeared at the explosion site. Beneath that face was the Odd Keystone marked with the "火" character.
Spiritomb!
"Gen!"
With the combined effects of Odor Sleuth and scatter-fire Shadow Ball, trying to stay hidden was nothing but a pipe dream for Spiritomb.
But Sato couldn't see any fear on Spiritomb's eerie face. It didn't even flinch as the other Shadow Balls flew toward it.
Then, just before they could hit, Spiritomb unleashed countless waves of dark-purple energy in every direction, obliterating every incoming Shadow Ball.
360° Omnidirectional Dark Pulse!
A glint of seriousness flashed in Sato's eyes. Spiritomb had only attacked twice so far.
The first was the sneak attack that even Houndoom hadn't noticed; thankfully Sato dodged it by luck.
The second was this omnidirectional Dark Pulse, whose coverage was even broader than Night Daze…
As expected of a Pokémon so powerful it had to be sealed away, leaving behind legends that scared children into silence. It wasn't going to be easy to deal with.
On the other side, Mark had been briefly stunned after Sato tackled him, but what happened next quickly snapped him back to reality.
Spiritomb's Dark Pulse was so insane it made his scalp tingle.
After helping Chanel and Yamato to their feet, Mark stopped holding back and sent out his other Ace Pokémon: Lucario!
"Lucario, Aura Sphere! Arbok, Iron Tail!"
Mark had never seen a Spiritomb before, and currently there were no detailed entries about it in Sinnoh. But the presence of that Odd Keystone made everything clear to him.
If you're fighting a rock… Steel- and Fighting-types are the way to go!
Sato pressed his lips together. Since Odor Sleuth was active, Aura Sphere wasn't going to miss anyway; he let Mark do his thing.
Meanwhile, he commanded Gengar to charge in once more.
3v1. Neither Sato nor Mark felt the least bit ashamed.
Due to type advantage, Spiritomb's omnidirectional Dark Pulse easily neutralized Gengar's Shadow Balls.
But for the same reason, Lucario's Aura Sphere ignored Dark Pulse entirely and shot straight for Spiritomb's core.
Arbok kept low to the ground, slithering forward at high speed. In the blink of an eye, it was already beneath Spiritomb.
Iron Tail!
"Tomtomtomtom~"
Spiritomb's eerie laughter rang out again. The next second, a pure purple wave of energy replaced the Dark Pulse, firing directly at the three Pokémon attacking it!
360° Omnidirectional Psychic!
"FUUUUG!" Mark cursed out loud. 'What the hell is this thing… every move it uses hits from every angle?!'
To make matters worse, the ranged Aura Sphere was halted mid-flight by Psychic, and Arbok -being a Poison-type- was hit squarely at close range.
Gengar also had a Poison typing, and before it could react, it too got nailed by Spiritomb's Psychic attack.
Where was that "mascot luck" now? Mark, who hadn't seen defeat in years, was suddenly experiencing a full-blown disaster.
For the first time, he began to doubt his own luck…
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150 PS = Extra Chap
+35 Ch Patreon/Romeloff
[1] Fire