A Battle Like Child's Play

"Sorry, sorry, my fault, my fault."

At that moment, Lulina stood on the battlefield, continuously apologizing to her Chewtle. She had rushed over in such a hurry that she had forgotten to bring any Pokémon. No matter how one looked at it, it was utterly absurd.

"All right, save the apologies for later. Get ready now. I'll be the referee. One Pokémon each; whoever loses their ability to battle will be declared the loser. No objections?"

Haisewai interrupted the farce on Lulina's side.

"No problem."

Blake shrugged. After taking off his work gear and setting it aside, he spoke.

"Kehehe! Kehehe!"

Gastly floated over excitedly and gave Chewtle a provocative wink. Chewtle immediately stopped sulking at Lulina and turned toward the opponent it had fought so many times without ever defeating.

"Chew!"

Chewtle cried out twice at Gastly, looking quite imposing.

"Great! Chewtle! This time, we'll definitely defeat Blake and Gastly!" Lulina shouted with fighting spirit.

"Good. It seems you're both ready. Take your positions! Ready! Begin!"

With Haisewai's command, the match officially began.

"Gastly! Haze!"

"Chewtle! Shell Smash!"

The two sides gave their commands almost at the same time. There was nothing wrong with Lulina's order. Gastly did not excel at physical attacks, so Shell Smash, which traded defense for attack power and speed, was naturally a viable choice. As for special defense, Chewtle's was poor enough that it hardly mattered.

However, Blake's choice made Lulina's move completely pointless. Gastly controlled the Haze to blanket the entire field, and the attack boost Chewtle gained through Shell Smash vanished at once. Of course, its defenses returned as well, but Gastly had undoubtedly gained the greater advantage. The Haze it released had not dispersed and still covered the field. Though it no longer possessed Haze's special effect, it still obstructed vision without question.

And in the darkness, Gastly's advantage was magnified without limit. At that moment, not only Chewtle, but even Lulina and Haisewai could not find Gastly after it blended into the Haze.

"Chewtle! Rain Dance!"

"Gastly! Toxic!"

Having battled Blake many times, Lulina knew that if the Haze remained on the field, there would be no point in continuing. Among the moves Chewtle currently knew, Rain Dance was the most suitable choice.

But clearly, Blake and Gastly would not let Lulina and Chewtle have their way so easily. Using the Haze as cover, Gastly had already silently approached Chewtle. Just as Chewtle used Rain Dance, Gastly spat out a huge glob of foul-smelling purple-black sludge that coated Chewtle's body. Chewtle's expression immediately turned ugly, but it still persevered and completed Rain Dance. At once, a fine drizzle fell from the sky, dispersing the Haze across the field.

"Toxic? A very good choice. Lulina is going to have a hard time now."

Haisewai greatly approved of Blake's decision. A Ghost-type's greatest advantages were its elusive movements and its use of all sorts of negative status conditions. Blake's two opening choices had not only deprived Lulina of her stat boosts, but had also inflicted continuous damage. Toxic's damaging effect was beyond doubt.

"Damn it! Chewtle! Bite!"

"Dodge! Tactic A!"

Lulina gave her command in frustration. It was always like this. For some reason, Chewtle kept ending up poisoned, confused, asleep, burned, or suffering some other condition. It was simply unbearable!

"Kehehe! Hehehehe! ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ"

Hearing Blake's shout, Gastly let out a strange cry, pulled a face, and giggled as it dodged Chewtle's Bite. Then it turned and fled, beginning to race madly around the field. Chewtle, having been toyed with, immediately scurried after it on its short little legs. Unfortunately, a Speed stat of eighty completely crushed one of forty-four. Without Trick Room, Chewtle truly could not catch up.

"Damn it! Chewtle! Shell Smash!"

"Haze again!"

Before Chewtle could finish using Shell Smash, Gastly spewed a mouthful of black smoke into its face. The stat changes from its recent Shell Smash were reset once more. Not only that, Gastly took the chance to lick Chewtle's face. Unfortunately, it did not trigger paralysis, but that did not stop Gastly from turning around and running away again.

The battle had already been decided. Poisoned and lacking any ranged attacks beyond a mediocre Water Gun, Chewtle had absolutely no way to fight back against Gastly's shameless tactics.

In the end, Haisewai called a stop to the match. Without question, Blake and Gastly had won. Blake walked up to Chewtle, took out a Pecha Berry, and held it to the mouth of the Chewtle that was nearly sick from all that running.

"Chew... chew..." Exhausted to the point of collapse, Chewtle struggled to swallow the Pecha Berry. At least the Toxic was dealt with now. As for its stamina, it would need a trip to the Pokémon Center.

"Very good tactics. You made full use of Gastly's strengths—its speed and versatile status moves. The coordination was excellent. You're quite a good Trainer, Blake."

Haisewai smiled as she praised Blake.

"It was all right. We've battled many times, so we know each other pretty well. Besides, Lulina's Chewtle still can't use Liquidation, and it lacks ranged attacks. Otherwise, I wouldn't have won so easily."

Blake spoke modestly.

"Modesty is a good thing, but too much modesty comes off as hypocrisy. Your command ability truly is impressive, and you're very good at playing to your Pokémon's strengths while avoiding their weaknesses. I believe your future achievements will be limitless. But do you only have this one Pokémon?"

Haisewai waved a hand at Blake. Her personality, as the daughter of the sea, was as bold and unrestrained as the ocean itself. She did not care for false modesty. Good was good, bad was bad, and she never hid how she felt.

"That's right. This guy only has Gastly. Teacher, you know about his family. Other than Ghost-type Pokémon, they hardly ever catch Pokémon of other types."

Lulina walked over while holding Chewtle in her arms after using a potion on it.

"It's a family custom. There aren't many Ghost-type Pokémon around Hulbury anyway, so I haven't caught one for now. Besides, I like my current life. I train because Gastly likes it, but personally, I prefer taking it easy. Hahaha."

Blake scratched his head and laughed. He was telling the truth. He had worked himself to death from overtime in his previous life; now that he was wealthy in this one, could he not enjoy himself a little?

"Is that so? All right, then. I won't force anything on you. But I still have to give you the gift I promised. I just don't know whether you'll like it."

Haisewai looked at Blake and finally nodded without saying anything more. Still, she took a map from the small pouch at her waist and handed it to him.

"This is a map of Rat Reef nearby. There's a shipwreck there that has been stranded for many years. I heard that some Pokémon have taken it over as their den, and one of them appears to be a rather rare Ghost-type Pokémon. You can go take a look when you have time. One Pokémon is still too few." As Haisewai spoke, she winked at Blake with a smile.

"A shipwreck at Rat Reef? Thank you, Ms. Haisewai."

Blake solemnly accepted the map. Though he had no intention of becoming a Champion or anything like that, since he had come to this world, he naturally wanted to see more Pokémon.

"Too much gratitude makes feelings grow distant. Remember that. All right, I have things to do, so you two can keep playing. Lulina, I'll give you your gift after class. I'm leaving first."

With that, Haisewai waved and left, decisive and energetic, striding away like a dragon and tiger.