"You have quite a sharp tongue." Klei lowered his voice, "I'd like to see if you can stop me with just one severely injured Absol and a few small fries."
As he spoke, he threw out two more Pokeballs.
With a flash of red light.
A Ariados and a Drapion.
Judging by Nidoking's strength, they should both be at Gym Leader Level.
However, it was obvious that both Ariados and Drapion were not in good condition, with clear injuries on their bodies.
But three Gym Leader Level Pokémon, along with a Trainer who knows them well, and a reasonable strategy...
Even if Absol is stronger, taking on three at once doesn't guarantee victory.
Unless it has already broken through to the Elite Candidate Level.
But judging by Absol's earlier serious and cautious demeanor, it's clear it hasn't reached that level.
'How did Absol win earlier?' Natsuhiko wondered.
In reality, Natsuhiko didn't know that when Klei and Absol first encountered each other, they had just escaped from Meteor Village, fleeing from the Meteor People's pursuit, and Klei's Pokémon were somewhat injured in the process, resulting in a tie with Absol.
After staying at Meteor Falls for so long, the remaining resources were used to restore Nidoking, so Nidoking, as Klei's trump card, was in fairly good condition.
'In a one-versus-three situation, even if Absol is a bit stronger, it's risky. Beedrill and the others are still under Jirachi's wish state, which might give them some advantage, so it's best not to disturb them if possible.'
Natsuhiko quickly thought of a way to respond.
'The only advantage now is that the opponent doesn't know that Absol has recovered. So the first round of collision is crucial, and we must catch them off guard, ideally causing a loss in their ranks.'
Bending down, crouching atop Absol, pretending to whisper instructions into its ear, when in fact using Yujira's psychic power made it unnecessary.
Natsuhiko had just met Absol, and wasn't quite sure of its capabilities and condition, nor did Absol know his style, so blindly commanding it might not help and could even hinder its performance.
So he just shared the strategic plan and goals with Absol, and how to operate and fight depended on Absol itself.
Just like his previous cooperation with Agatha's Haunter.
Listening to Natsuhiko, Absol nodded occasionally.
By the end, it looked back at him with astonishment and incredulity.
Seriously?
"Opportunity!" Klei inwardly shouted, seizing the moment when Absol turned its head to launch an attack.
"Here it comes."
Natsuhiko patted Absol, then quickly retreated, tossing out three Pokeballs.
Sharpedo, Shuckle, and... Ditto.
Since Beedrill and the others couldn't move for now, they must protect themselves to prevent a direct home invasion by the opponent.
"Ditto, transform into Sharpedo," Natsuhiko instructed.
Then they saw the Ditto on the ground twist and transform, another Sharpedo appeared in the field.
After being together for some time, even though Ditto and Sharpedo didn't have a close relationship, transforming into Sharpedo wasn't a problem.
"Roar?"
Seeing an identical version of itself, Sharpedo let out a low growl, its body trembling lightly.
'Oh no, this terrifying human has found my replacement. That squishy thing can turn into me. I've lost my last bit of usefulness!'
With a face full of despair, Sharpedo was already envisioning its fate.
Roasted? Or steamed?
Or that "shark fin" dish that's always mentioned?
Then it saw Natsuhiko looking at it with a cheerful smile.
Sharpedo felt a shiver deep down, forcing out a smile.
"Listen to my commands later and behave."
There's still hope!
Sharpedo nodded repeatedly, if it had hands, it would surely pound its chest with a "thump thump" sound.
Meanwhile, as Natsuhiko arranged things with Ditto and Sharpedo, Absol and Klei's three Pokémon clashed fiercely.
Behold.
Nidoking leaned forward, a silver-blue energy beam spewed from its open mouth, a Frozen Beam!
And you could see, as Nidoking released the Frozen Beam, part of its body emitted a faint glow.
"Life Treasure Pearl?" Natsuhiko squinted his eyes.
As one of the First Generation War Gods, this Forced Traits Nidoking is currently a popular tactic in the Pokémon Realm, causing the price of Pokémon with forced traits to be generally high, and Life Treasure Pearls to be priceless.
Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to cultivate them.
Simultaneously, Ariados and Drapion also launched attacks, still bearing their injuries, mostly serving a distracting role.
Drapion used a Fighting-type Technique, Slashing Tile, to restrain the Dark-type Pokémon, while Ariados from a distance used Missile Needle, also a technique that restrains Dark-type Pokémon.
A three-sided attack!
In Klei's eyes, Absol, no matter how reluctant, would have to endure damage from at least one or even two Pokémon to reach his Pokémon.
"Here it comes." Natsuhiko murmured in his heart.
And then he saw.
Absol's form suddenly flickered in a folded manner, executing the Electric Flash Technique, not only swiftly dodging the attacks but also quickly closing in on Ariados.
"What?!"
Klei's eyes widened slightly in disbelief.
Absol had recovered?
How?
He then involuntarily focused on Natsuhiko, who stood calmly not far away.
Was it him?
However, before he could figure out how Natsuhiko did it, he heard Natsuhiko slowly state:
"One."
One?
Bam!
The Flash-of-Lightning Absol knocked Ariados down.
The dull yellow glow around its sharp horn flashed, transferring a viscous, dense energy to its paws, pouring it entirely onto Ariados.
A Rock-type Technique, Sharp Stone Attack!
Pinned down to the ground, Ariados didn't even have time to struggle before the Sharp Stone Attack burst from beneath it, with a thick, hard, gigantic object piercing right through!
One down!
This was Natsuhiko's first goal for Absol, as the target posing a threat second only to the Forced Traits Nidoking.
Because the Insect-type Ariados restrains it, being a Dark-type Pokémon.
While Drapion, despite being part bug, loses its insect attributes once evolved from Skorupi, hence not as threatening as Ariados.
This tactic is also one of the strategies Natsuhiko arranged for Absol.
Called...
Forceful Overthrow!
Seeing Ariados go down, Nidoking and Drapion were furious, launching a frantic attack towards it.
However, Absol countered with the Raid Technique, dodging their attacks once more.
Returning to Natsuhiko's side, giving him a look of appreciation.
This tactic, brutal and effective, it... kind of liked it.
"Shuckle, Defense Split."
Prepared in advance, Shuckle absorbed a white light from Absol, then swiftly reflected it back to it.
Although Shuckle's and Absol's strengths differ significantly, with defense being Shuckle's forte, it could somewhat enhance its Defense Power.
Thus, Absol became tougher.
Immediately after, Natsuhiko commanded Sharpedo and Ditto, transformed as Sharpedo:
"Bite it!"
The two Pokémon didn't hesitate, biting into Absol from the left and right.
Dark-type Technique, Bite!
But because of an innate advantage, they didn't inflict much damage on Absol.
However, the Dark-type Technique used on Absol triggered a white glow.
Its Heart of Justice trait had been activated!
This tactic is called: "Bite."