Pokémon: Sandstorm Sovereign

Chapter 25: A Dirty First Place

"Basalt, don't get ahead of yourself. The battle hasn't even started yet. Who will win is still up in the air!"

Frank was so angry he wanted to curse, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. He had seen arrogant people before, but he had never seen anyone as arrogant as Basalt. To start by asking, "You're not planning on surrendering?"—what kind of person says that? The key was that Basalt had a completely serious look on his face, as if this was all perfectly natural.

"Could it be… that your Munchlax also learned a new move, but you've been hiding it?" Basalt raised an eyebrow, looking Frank up and down thoughtfully.

Previous experience had already proven that Munchlax, relying solely on Tackle and Rollout, stood no chance against Drilbur's Sand Tomb. Since that was the case, for Frank to still be so indignant, his eyes burning with fighting spirit, he must have found a way to counter Sand Tomb.

"Ah, this…"

Frank's heart skipped a beat. This was bad, he thought. Loose lips really do sink ships. Basalt had guessed it.

After losing two consecutive matches to Basalt and his Drilbur, Frank had been enduring hardship and working his butt off, training his Munchlax relentlessly. And to deal with Sand Tomb, he had spent a lot of money to hire a move tutor to teach his Munchlax a new move that it could master in a short time. He hadn't used it until now, saving it for a critical moment to achieve the element of surprise.

But now, Basalt had seen his trump card ahead of time.

"We'll see on the battlefield!"

With a cold snort, Frank turned and left. He really didn't dare to stay any longer. Given how cunning Basalt was, if he let himself get drawn into too much conversation, he was afraid his entire strategy would be exposed. Now was the time to run.

The finals were about to begin. To ensure both contestants were in good condition, Ms. Anya gave Basalt and Frank a special 30-minute break.

…

Time passed quickly. The match was about to start. Frank and Basalt were already standing in their designated areas. Munchlax and Drilbur were glaring at each other, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife.

"Chari~"

"Lax~"

It was nothing more than old enemies meeting again, their eyes burning with hatred.

However, compared to their previous battles, many more people were optimistic about Basalt's chances this time. They all felt that he would win. After all, the strength Drilbur had displayed so far was greater than Munchlax's, and Drilbur had already won two previous encounters… there was a precedent!

Only a small number of boys who were close to Frank and knew some inside information were full of confidence in him. They were eager to see Basalt defeated.

"Both sides, take your positions. Let the battle begin!"

With the referee waving his small flag and giving the command, the battle officially started.

"Drilbur, Sand Tomb!"

"Munchlax, Harden!"

Almost at the same time, Frank and Basalt gave their commands, and both stuck to their old tricks.

RUMBLE!

With Munchlax at the center, the ground in a 3-meter diameter on the battlefield instantly collapsed. Under the influence of Ground-type energy, the soil turned into rolling quicksand, like a vortex swallowing everything.

As for Munchlax, with its speed, it was impossible to escape, but it didn't seem to want to run anyway.

Voom!

Munchlax curled into a ball, and a white light flashed across its body. Its defense was instantly boosted.

In the real world, there was no concept of turns, so the damage from Sand Tomb was continuous. The speed at which the opponent lost health was related to the attacker's power and the defender's defense; it wasn't a fixed fraction per turn. Therefore, Munchlax increasing its defense was, in a way, slowing down the rate of health loss and increasing its survivability.

"Lax~"

After using Harden, Munchlax's body below its stomach was already completely submerged in the sand, making it extremely difficult to even move. But in its eyes, there was not a trace of fear, only determination.

Basalt frowned slightly, a faint sense of unease creeping in. He decisively gave a command, "Drilbur, Rock Tomb, full power!"

When fighting a moving target, to ensure accuracy, Basalt would have Drilbur hold back about thirty percent of its power to increase the attack speed. But now that Munchlax was trapped and immobile in the Sand Tomb, it was like a stationary target. There was no need to hold back.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Five rocks, each the size of a human head, materialized out of thin air and hurtled towards Munchlax like cannonballs, threatening to blast the opponent to pieces.

Faced with the rock cannonballs, there was no fear in Munchlax's eyes. It took a deep breath, and a rough song, loud and passionate, erupted from its mouth.

"Is that… Round!"

Basalt's eyes widened.

Round, a Normal-type move, attacks the opponent with a song. If a partner uses the move right after, its power increases.

A loud sound wave emanated from Munchlax's mouth. The moment the sound wave made contact with the rock cannonballs, Basalt clearly felt the rocks seem to freeze, their flight speed slowing down considerably.

"Chari~"

Furthermore, because sound travels faster, before Rock Tomb could even hit Munchlax, Drilbur was already clutching its ears in pain, half-crouched on the ground.

The move Round had struck first despite being used second!

BOOM!

Fortunately, Rock Tomb, though delayed, still arrived. The moment the rock cannonballs smashed into Munchlax, it cried out in pain, and its Round was forcibly interrupted.

After this exchange, both Pokémon had taken considerable damage. Neither had gained an advantage.

Munchlax's special attack talent wasn't high, but Round was a same-type move for it, so its power received a significant boost. On the other hand, although Drilbur's Rock-type affinity was not bad, Rock Tomb was not a same-type move for it, so its power was not boosted. In addition, don't forget that Munchlax had also used Harden to strengthen its defense beforehand. If Munchlax hadn't been unable to master Harden further or its body unable to support a second boost, Basalt would have been done for. If it could just endlessly boost its defense six times like in the games, the fight would have been impossible.

"Rock Tomb!"

"Round!"

Once the two Pokémon had recovered, Basalt and Frank shouted their commands in unison again.

It was clear that Drilbur's proficiency with Rock Tomb was higher than Munchlax's. So, each time, Drilbur would successfully cast Rock Tomb first, then Munchlax's Round would hit Drilbur, and finally, the rock cannonballs would smash into Munchlax. The two Pokémon were just trading damage, hurting each other.

"If this goes on, isn't it just going to be a battle of stamina?" Class President Leo frowned slightly. Munchlax was unable to dodge, and Round was an area-of-effect attack, so Drilbur couldn't avoid it either. Thus, the battle had devolved into a slugfest, and the spectacle had plummeted.

"Looks like Frank is going to win this match after all! When it comes to stamina, what Pokémon can compare to a Munchlax?" Chad, Frank's lackey, chuckled, a smug look on his face. He was Frank's little brother, so of course, he had to speak up for his big bro. He shared in Frank's glory.

Hearing this, the surrounding students were speechless. Munchlax was a Pokémon known for its incredible stamina. They didn't know if there were other Pokémon in the world with better stamina than the Munchlax family, but in any case, Drilbur certainly couldn't compare. No one could deny this.

Soon, the third exchange ended. Drilbur was already panting heavily, a few drops of sweat rolling down its forehead, its face showing fatigue. Its strength was still too low; using Rock Tomb three times in a row had consumed a huge amount of its energy.

Basalt estimated that it could use it at most two more times. If Munchlax wasn't down by then, Drilbur would collapse on its own. Although the Munchlax opposite him didn't look too good either, having taken a beating from both Rock Tomb and Sand Tomb, just by looking, Basalt felt that Munchlax probably had the advantage.

Drilbur… is going to lose?

Basalt bit his lip, his brow furrowed. Although victory and defeat are common in battle, when defeat was truly imminent, Basalt didn't want to face it. He, Basalt, did not want to lose.

"It seems this battle is my win!"

Seeing Basalt's furrowed brow, Frank was in an exceptionally good mood. He finally had the feeling of being vindicated.

"Not necessarily."

But the moment Frank's words fell, Basalt abruptly looked up, his gaze fixed on him, a slight smile on his face.

"What?"

Frank was stunned. Suddenly, he had a very bad feeling.

"Drilbur, use Mud-Slap! Target: Munchlax's mouth!"

Basalt waved his hand and gave the command.

"Chari~"

With a sharp cry, Drilbur instantly understood Basalt's intention. A mud ball formed in its hand, and it hurled it forward.

Swish!

The mud ball traced a perfect arc through the air and landed squarely in the mouth of the Munchlax that was just about to start singing.

Munchlax: (((;ꏿ_ꏿ;)))

Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!

Munchlax spat, its mouth full of mud. It had no choice but to interrupt its Round.

At this moment, the entire class finally remembered: Basalt was a character who had made his name with dirty tactics!

"Basalt, you're so despicable!" Frank roared.

He had seen dirty moves before, but never this dirty. Throwing mud in your opponent's mouth? Have you no shame?

"Despicable my ass!"

Basalt couldn't be bothered with Frank. He turned and commanded, "Drilbur, continuous Mud-Slap! Don't give Munchlax a chance to open its mouth and sing!"

Splat-splat-splat…

Clumps of mud flew like bullets, continuously landing on Munchlax's body. Compared to the high-power, high-consumption, non-same-type move Rock Tomb, using Mud-Slap was a breeze for Drilbur. It consumed very little energy, and its sustainability instantly skyrocketed. On top of that, with the continuous damage from Sand Tomb, the situation was instantly reversed.

The key was, Munchlax couldn't dodge. Its body was now buried up to its neck in the sand. It was difficult to even raise its hands to block the mud.

Munchlax had become a turtle in a jar. If it didn't open its mouth, it would just have to take the hits. If it opened its mouth, it could expect to eat mud. It was a lose-lose situation.

And so, a minute later, Munchlax finally, unwillingly, saw its eyes swirl, and it lost the ability to battle.

"Munchlax is unable to battle. The winner is… Basalt!"

As the referee made the ruling, the champion of this competition was finally decided.

However, in contrast to Basalt's joyful face, the other students looked at him with disdain.

Because Basalt was really, really dirty.