Chapter 369: Father-Daughter Duel (Part 1)

Chapter 369: Chapter 369: Father-Daughter Duel (Part 1)

Chapter 369: Father-Daughter Duel (Part 1)

The day after Ash cleared the Petalburg Gym.

With a heart full of trepidation, May stood in the position of the Gym challenger.

Norman did not break the rules just because the challenger was his own daughter; he kept a straight face and said:

"May, let me see how much you have grown during this time!"

May took a few deep breaths and replied, "Okay!"

"The Gym Challenge between Gym Leader Norman and the challenger May is now beginning. The match will be in a 3v3 format..."

As Kinji’s voice trailed off, Norman was the first to send out his first Pokémon—Slakoth.

"Slakoth, huh? Beautifly, take the stage!"

May chose to send out Beautifly.

"Beautifly, use Bug Buzz!"

"Slakoth, use Shadow Ball!"

Starting off with a big move, Beautifly used vibrations to create ear-piercing sound waves for the attack. The sound of Bug Buzz made Slakoth feel very uncomfortable, but it endured the noise and fired off a dark purple energy orb.

"Beautifly, dodge it, then use Quiver Dance!"

At May’s reminder, Beautifly gained altitude to avoid the damage, then spun its body to initiate Quiver Dance.

She put on a perfect performance of the strategy Ash used yesterday during his Gym battle, utilizing Slaking’s Truant ability to stack buffs.

Norman had no way to deal with this. Although his Slakoth and Slaking had undergone training to overcome their abilities, an ability was simply a Pokémon’s nature. He could only shorten the duration of the ability’s trigger, not eliminate it entirely.

"Slakoth, use Hidden Power!"

"Beautifly, we’ll use Hidden Power too!"

Both Pokémon unleashed Hidden Power simultaneously.

Hidden Power is a very peculiar move; its type changes according to the Pokémon using it.

The Hidden Power used by Slakoth was a Normal-type energy attack, while Beautifly’s was Bug-type.

The two moves collided, instantly causing a violent explosion, and thick black smoke shrouded most of the battlefield.

"Beautifly, take this chance to use Sunny Day!"

May seized the opportunity once again to lay the groundwork for the rest of the battle.

On the sidelines in the spectator seats, Ash watched May’s choice and couldn’t help but show a strange smile.

This girl learns really fast. Buffing Beautifly was one thing, but planning out the subsequent moves so steadily... is this what they call a ’black-hearted’ little cotton-padded jacket?

Sunny Day was released, and the smoke on the field cleared completely.

"Slakoth, use Blizzard!"

"Beautifly, use Silver Wind!"

The levels of the two Pokémon were not very different. As a high-damage move, Blizzard was not something Silver Wind could cancel out, even without the Ice-type bonus for Slakoth.

The two different wind attacks stalemated for less than ten seconds before Blizzard broke through the Silver Wind and hit Beautifly.

"Beautifly, return!"

May didn’t intend to fight to the end right away and chose to switch Pokémon, "Blaziken, I’m counting on you!"

"Chaa~"

Blaziken had long been impatient to show itself.

"Blaziken, use Blaze Kick!"

"Slakoth, focus and dodge it!"

Blaziken’s muscular, long legs were covered in a layer of flames as it launched an attack at Slakoth. Slakoth swayed its body and dodged the first kick, but Blaziken twisted its waist and slammed its other foot into Slakoth’s face.

This heavy, powerful kick took Slakoth out instantly.

"Slakoth is unable to battle! Blaziken wins!"

Norman showed a look of gratification and sighed, "May, you have raised Blaziken very well!"

"Of course, Blaziken is my starter Pokémon!" May said proudly.

Norman smiled, "Heh, don’t get complacent just yet. My next one is this. Go, Vigoroth!"

"Vigoroth, use Fury Swipes!"

"Blaziken, use Double Kick!"

Vigoroth waved its powerful arms and rushed toward Blaziken at high speed. Facing the aggressive Vigoroth, Blaziken raised its leg to meet it.

Bang! Bang!

After two dull thuds, both Pokémon retreated a few steps simultaneously.

This exchange was a stalemate.

May gritted her teeth and said, "Blaziken, use Flamethrower!"

"Vigoroth, we’ll use Flamethrower too!" Norman chose to go head-to-head.

The two tongues of fire stalemated, and the temperature inside the entire battlefield rose sharply.

Norman was an expert at raising Vigoroth. Although Vigoroth was at a disadvantage in terms of level, its combat power was not inferior in the slightest.

Neither side took substantial damage from this exchange, but Vigoroth’s stamina had clearly dropped a bit more.

"Vigoroth, use Slash!"

"Blaziken, use Fire Punch!"

Vigoroth jumped up, pushed off the Gym wall, and pounced toward Blaziken. Blaziken’s fists were ignited with fire as it struck at the incoming Vigoroth.

The two hands fell into a stalemate again, but it didn’t last long before Vigoroth pulled away due to the heat of the Fire Punch.

May was very lucky; the Fire Punch triggered a burn effect, applying a debuff to Vigoroth.

Norman frowned. It was the same probability, but his Blizzard hadn’t triggered a Freeze effect even once during the challenges from yesterday to today.

Now, May just landed a single punch and it triggered a burn effect immediately; this was unreasonable!

"Very well, Blaziken, press the attack! Use Fire Blast!"

Under the enhancement of Sunny Day, the power of Fire Blast was terrifying. Vigoroth didn’t even have a chance to dodge and was hit squarely by the explosion.

"Vigoroth is unable to battle..."

Norman recalled Vigoroth, "May, it seems you’ve learned quite a lot while staying with Ash during this time!"

May chuckled, "Ash has been a huge help to me, so Dad, you’d better be careful with your next choice!"

"Is that so? In that case, I’ve decided. Go, Chansey!" Norman said.

[Pokémon: Chansey]

[Type: Normal]

[Gender: Female]

[Level: Early Elite]

[Ability: Natural Cure (Status conditions are healed upon returning to the party)]

[Potential: Elite]

[Moves: Charm, Mimic, Focus Punch, Light Screen, Skill Swap, Sing, Soft-Boiled...]

"Mr. Norman actually raised a Chansey?" Brock said in shock.

He didn’t expect that a straight-laced guy like Norman would actually capture a Pokémon like Chansey.

Caroline smiled, "Unh-huh, this Chansey usually stays deep in the ecological park taking care of the Pokémon inside; it rarely comes out."

Ash glanced at Chansey’s panel and asked, "Auntie Caroline, is this Chansey also one of Mr. Norman’s main Pokémon?"

"Oh my, Ash, you could tell even that?" Caroline said in surprise.

"Yeah, although Chansey isn’t radiating an Elite-level aura, Elite-level Pokémon have a very distinct temperament compared to ordinary ones."

As long as it wasn’t a Chansey with the Serene Grace ability, Ash believed that May could win a 3-on-1 battle and wear Chansey down.

A Serene Grace triple-lock Chansey is an incredibly underhanded tactic; it’s definitely not something a half-baked rookie like May could handle.

Of course, Ash also took a closer look. Fortunately, the Chansey Norman had didn’t know Toxic, otherwise May would still be dominated by this pink devil.

Loving Book So Far Check Out 80+ Advanced Chapters At Pa Treon:

patreon.com/FicTonic1